Closeness of God

Deuteronomy 31:6, Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.

Isaiah 41:10, Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Have you ever felt alone and helpless? Have you ever felt that God abandoned you? Many people have experienced these feelings. Let's figure it out together.

First of all let's consider the facts, and determine if God really did abandon you. To that end let's make a checklist to see just who was abandoned.

Is your heart clean? 

How often do you dedicate time to God?

What is His ranking in the things of your life?

Do you read His Word? His plan for you?

To follow His plan, or yours?

 Do you treat people as Jesus would?

You can probably find many more examples that would help you determine who abandoned who.  As a matter of fact, none of us are perfect, but God expects us to do the best we can with all our heart.

It is also very important to remember these valuable truths. No matter how much or how bad we mess up, He is there, ready to forgive. God cannot lie, so it follows that, He will never leave you. You have His Word on it.

If you ask the Holy Spirit to help you, He will, because He is the helper, teacher, and guide, that God gave us when we accepted Jesus as our Savior, and Jesus rose from the dead. So my friends take heart, don't be discouraged, it's tough being a human being, but our Creator understands that. He judges the heart, and that is what saves us. God bless you and your family. 

Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, please forgive all of my sins, and come into my heart as my personal savior. I want to serve only you. 

Praise The Lord!

Amen

Life Lessons

Matthew 13:34-35, All these things Jesus said to the crowd in parables; indeed, He said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet. I will open my mouth in parables. I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.

The definition of a parable is, a simple story that teaches a moral lesson. Teaching in Parables was the normal way teachers taught their students. The purpose of that method was to get people to think about the meaning of what was said..

The people that lived in ancient times were almost without exception, uneducated. They were, however, very acquainted with traditions and practices of generations before them.

Matthew 13: 10-13,  then the disciples came and said to Him  why do you speak to them in parables? And He answered them,” to you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given. For, to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in Parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

Jesus story in John 14 tells people he's going to prepare a place, for them, in His Fathers house,and will be back to take them there at the proper time.

When a couple got married, the bride went to live at her husband's father's house.  After betrothal the prospective groom began to build a room addition at his father's house at his father's direction.

The bride didn't know when the groom would come for her. Even the groom didn't know. The father decided when, so the bride must be ready at all times. This was the custom, so people should have had an idea of what Jesus was talking about.

The church is the bride, and Jesus is the groom. The rapture is the call. Just as the bride must be ready at all times, so must the church be ready at all times for the coming of Jesus.  Everything Jesus taught, including all of the parables apply to us today as they did to people back then. As a matter of fact, if you really look at the bible, you will find that we have much in common with people in Jesus time.  We don’t have to reinvent anything.

As a little test for yourself, check out the parables in Matthew, and see how they apply to us today. If you really think about The Parables that Jesus explained to the apostles, you should be able to figure out what most of them mean. God bless you and your family. 

Praise The Lord!

Hebrews 13:8, Jesus Christ is the same today, yesterday, and forever.

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

Lord Jesus, please forgive all of my sins and come into my heart as my personal savior. I want to serve Only You. 

Praise The Lord! 

Amen

My Time With Jesus Tuesday

The Value Of Information

2 Timothy 3:16-17, All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

It is no secret that the world is a mess. Everything is upside down and makes no sense. People are in a moral decline, like never before. Why?

The  answer is quite simple. People live the life they were trained to live, good or evil. So why is evil such a powerful force all over the world, and good so hard to find?

Many people are brought up with the ways and standards of the world. They do what they see others do. They do not stop to think about what they are seeing, because what they see is what many think they should do. Everyday determines who they are, and who they will become.

A life that has very few consequences or responsibilities is attractive to most people. It is an easy sell for satan and the powers of darkness. Evil leaders since the beginning of time, started educating the very young in the ways of the world, so that they would grow up and carry on satans work. .

1 Corinthians 1:18, For the word of the Cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

 It is a sad fact that the churches, parents, and too many Christian and Catholic preachers failed in their God-given job of training everyone. The young especially need to know the ways of the Lord. Parents have unknowingly neglected their duty to God, family, and country, by abdicating the responsibility of teaching their children biblical principles.

Proverbs 22:6, Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

These words may seem harsh, but I speak from experience. I gave up on church at the age of nine or ten, I learned nothing from Sunday service. The Bible was read for two or three verses, and the  sermon usually had nothing to do with it. It was pretty much the same thing at home. We didn't have a Bible so I didn't even know what it was. People at the time felt that they were good and deserving of Heaven because they didn't kill anyone. and that is a quote I heard many people say.

I found out how much God Loved Me, by the grace of God and the Holy Spirit many years later, when in desperation I asked God “ if you are really there, show me”. He did, by filling my heart with His overwhelming presence.  I often think about my past with great sorrow. That sorrow was because I didn't know God years ago.

If you love your children, or anyone else, the greatest gift you can give them is a biblical teaching according to the words of God. The best way to do that is to find out for yourself what the Bible says about your responsibilities, and by your words and actions, you will do more to help people than 1,000,000 words without any action. By the way if you do all this it will help you too! God bless you and your family. 

Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

Lord Jesus, please forgive all of my sins and come into my heart as my personal savior. I want to serve Only You. 

Praise The Lord! 

Amen

A Call To Prayer

Matthew 28:18-20, And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “all authority has been given to me in Heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you; and low I am with you always, even to the end of the age”

There are many people in the world who do not know Jesus, and what He is about. The sad fact is that when it comes to the Holy Spirit, even fewer people know about Him.

As most of us Christians realize, Jesus is the only way to salvation. Unfortunately most of the worlds population is not aware of this. They grew up with instructions about false Gods, or no God at all. Many believe that if there is a Heaven, everyone will go there.

Most of the world walks in darkness of spirit because they never heard the truth. That is where believers come in. I am not saying that every Christian should become a missionary, but I am saying we can make a difference.

We can pray every day for the Holy Spirit to open someone's heart to Jesus. Our prayers are like seeds that we plant.  The Holy Spirit makes them grow. Jesus told His disciples that they should spread the word to all nations, by the same Holy Spirit that will make our prayers powerful.

When we realize that praying is a privilege granted by God, and the Holy Spirit acts on those prayers, we are following in the steps of Jesus disciples. So think about it, what would you have done if you were one of the original disciples. You and I can follow Jesus command today by simply praying for others. God bless you and your family. 

Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, please forgive all of my sins, and come into my heart as my personal savior. I want to serve only you. 

Praise The Lord!.

Amen

A Lesson From The Ants

Proverbs 6:16-19, The Lord hates 6 things; in fact, 7 are detestable to Him; arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plans wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil, a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers. 

The other morning we woke up to find dozens of ants on a windowsill in our kitchen. They left wherever they lived, probably in search of something better.

We decided we had to do something to eliminate this Invasion, and destroy the source. We didn't know how many or where they were. We found ant traps that were supposed to allow ants to take the poison back to the nest in order to destroy all of the other ants. The instructions said, do not kill, let them kill themselves to get them all.

Well we put traps in a couple of places. It looked like hundreds came out and rushed to the trap, attracted by what it held. We didn't kill any, but just let them have their fun. Two days later when we woke up there were no ants. Two weeks later, not a single ant was found.

The reason I write this story is because I saw a resemblance to people in the world. People stray from what is good for them and seek excitement and pleasure in other places. The world is full of places and things that lead to destruction, and almost every one of them looks harmless.

When you invite Jesus into your life, you have an advantage over all of those who have not found Him yet. We have the advantage of the Holy Spirit, communicating from the Father, God Almighty, directly to you. You can be skeptical about that statement or not, it is still true. You will find out if you believe it and do it, that it is as true as the fact that you are alive right now.

 If you ask the Holy Spirit for His guidance in Jesus name, it is as though warning signs 15 feet high were posted in front of you when there was something you weren't supposed to do. By the same token He puts a burning in your heart for the things of God. We have an advantage over the ants, in that we can make a choice for our good or bad. Man was created to use his brain rather than instinct to survive. Take a lesson from the ants. 

I believe God allows all of this in order to separate the good from the bad. The book of Revelation tells the future if you are interested. Just as the ants are clueless about what is about to destroy them, evil people are also clueless.

Seek Jesus, ask forgiveness, and follow Him. The rewards are unimaginable and forever. By the way, in my own personal reading of the Bible, I find that Jesus' parables are a good place to start seeing myself and those I know. God bless you and your family. 

Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

Lord Jesus, please forgive all of my sins, and come into my heart as my personal savior. I want to serve only you. 

Praise The Lord!

Amen

My Time With Jesus Tuesday

Is There A Rapture

Thessalonians 4:16-17, For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangels call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from Heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who  are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air and so we will be with the Lord forever.

Some people are a little confused about the Rapture, and what happens at death. 

Ecclesiastes 12:7,  and the dust returns to the Earth as it was and the breath returns to God who gave it.

In plain English, the spirit goes to God, the body turns to dust, the soul is no more. At the Rapture, the dead receive a body equipped for Heaven and Eternity, and the Believers who are alive are likewise transformed for eternity. At the time of the Rapture, the whole world will see Jesus in the clouds as He calls His people home.

Some people do not believe the Rapture will happen before the Great Tribulation. It seems as though there is a very good case for Believers escaping the tribulation. Let's take a look at what the Bible says, not what anyone thinks.

Revelation 3:10, Because you have kept My word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the Earth. 

1Thessalonians 5: 9,  for God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 21:36, Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.

Matthew 24:36,  but about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Only those who truly repented and accept Jesus as their Savior in their hearts will be taken up. All of your good work will not qualify you. Just knowing Jesus exists will not qualify you to enter Heaven. The sun Himself, Jesus the Christ, knows who belongs to Him. Know Him, repent of all your sins, ask Him to come into your heart and mean it, and you will be saved.

As far as skeptics claiming the Rapture is not true, remind them that eternity is real, and the qualifications for entry to Heaven are the same as has always been written in the Bible. The words in the Bible never change, or get so-called updated, because God Himself never changes. God bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!’.

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

Lord Jesus, please forgive all of my sins, and come into my heart as my personal savior. I want to serve only you. 

Praise the Lord! 

Amen

A Bit of Judas

John 13:21, When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “most assuredly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me”.

If we know anything about Jesus, we have heard about Judas. Judas was disloyal to Jesus in the worst way. Betrayal is going against someone's trust, and that is exactly what Judas did.

If we are real Christians, we trust in God, the name of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. How would we feel or react if God didn't follow through on His Word? What if He abandoned us when we needed Him most? What if all of a sudden we decided not to trust God when things got a little tough?

Christianity is a relationship with God. To put it in simple terms, we trust God will direct us for our good, and God trusts we will follow His guidance. So ask yourself this. If God or you broke that trust, wouldn't that be a betrayal? Would you or I be any different then Judas? Think about that. God bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, please forgive all of my sins, and come into my life as my personal savior. I want to serve only you. 

Praise The Lord!

Amen