New Year, New Beginning

James 4:8, Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinner, and purify your heart, your double minded.

This is the time of year; many people make resolutions about their upcoming behavior. Most people are defeated after a couple of days. Are they weak and destined to fail? Read on.

There are certain ways to act and think in order to achieve success. Let me explain. God is the source of every blessing and once we realize that, it leads us to realize that the best thing we can do is to get closer to God and His ways. The Bible has all the answers.

Galatians 6: 6, Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.

While nothing replaces the Bible, we can take ideas from it as we learn. The Bible is so full of wisdom, that every day we don’t read it, is a day of blessings we miss.

Psalm 37: 5, commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him. And He shall bring it to pass.

Proverbs 16:3, commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.

The list goes on and on. One thing I found enlightening to me was making a list, To see where I stood concerning God’s Word. I started out writing down the number of hours in a day, and how much time I spend on each thing that I do. When I finished it I was shocked to find out I spent several hours on nonsense things, and a minuscule couple of minutes with God’s Word on days I even looked at the Bible.

Believe me, if anyone put in so little effort on anything, they would fail miserably. Ask yourself, how do I even know what God wants for me, and how can I find out how to be rescued from satan’s attacks.

2 John 1: 9, Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.

 For your own good, believe this verse. Many people who believe they are saved will spend eternity in the wrong place. God looks at the heart, and talk is cheap. God gave us His Word as in instruction book, and the Lord Jesus Christ to save us and prepare us to live according to the word.

The plain fact the matter is, the closer you get to God the closer He is to you. And the closer He is to you the more you will be able to hear what He is telling you.  There will be more on this subject later. God bless you and your family. 

Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

Lord Jesus Christ, I am a sinner. I know you suffered and died on the cross and rose again in order to wash away my sins and to save me. I acknowledge those sins and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. I believe and I receive the gift of salvation. 

Thank You Lord Jesus.

The Hidden Lie

John 8:44, You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer, from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of Lies.

We were having our coffee yesterday, and my wife asked me about my inflamed tendon. She asked if I prayed about it yet. I told her I prayed when it happened a few weeks ago. And it was only slightly better, but I believe it is healed.

Let me start by saying I have experienced life and death Miracles, and healings that took what seemed like forever. In my years I am well acquainted with both.

While we were talking the Holy Spirit put in my heart, something I never thought about. satan tries to block our prayers so we don’t believe and resort to blaming God or giving up on prayer.

Matthew 21:22, And if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

John 14: 13-14, whatever you ask in My name I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

Let me explain a couple of truths that many people don’t realize.

1.  satan never rests

2.  God allows things in order to grow our faith.

3.  God usually works through doctors.

4.  Miracles still happen.

5.  Prayer overcomes any situation.

6.  Some things take time.

7.  God’s timing is perfect.

8.  God always hears us.

I learned all these things and more through time and experience. Just as a suggestion I write the following prayer as an example you might want to think about when you pray. This is an example of how I pray, but I’m not saying this is the only way. Use your own words from your own heart.

Heavenly Father, I know you love me and always hear what I say. Thank you once again for hearing me.

Put your hand on the problem area and say, satan, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit I reject this infirmity and command you to take it back.

Heavenly Father I put this problem in your hands and receive what I ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is total healing of every infirmity in my body. I thank you and I praise you for hearing me once again.

God will never ever let you down!

Mark 11:24, I tell you everything you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

God bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

Lord Jesus, please forgive all my sins and come into my heart as my personal savior. I know you suffered, died, and rose from the dead to make that possible for me, And I thank you and praise you. 

Praise The 

My Time With Jesus Tuesday

The Truth In Life

Ecclesiastes 7: 10, don't say, why were the former days better than these? Since it is not wise of you to ask this.

Most people reach a point in life that brings back the good old days. We remember things that we enjoyed when we were young, and the things we did that we can no longer do.

These thoughts are usually triggered by the stress of life in these present circumstances. Our memories usually look at past pleasures and difficulties through the window of time. Some things are remembered as better, or worse, than they were. We may even feel sorry for ourselves and get depressed.

So how do we get rid of those thoughts? We must see them as they are. They were and are just things. We enjoy them as they happen, then they are gone. Everything on this earth is temporary. The greatest victories and defeats are lost in time. All our efforts are chasing the wind.

If we live in the past, we destroy the future. The past blocks our view of the future. We need to leave the past in the past. Look to the future and enjoy every bit of it while it lasts, because someday it will be in the past.

Romans 8: 5, for those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their mind set on the things of the Spirit.

The only thing that is permanent, is eternity. We must consider how long that is. It is forever. Where will we spend it, with God or satan? If we think about God or satan, we should realize that God is loving, good, and truthful. satan on the other hand is evil, hates everyone, and the father of lies.

Philippians 3: 13-14, brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. The one thing I do; Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead.

Think about the fact that whatever we pursue that is of this world, will perish. So why would we spend our lives for that which will not last, and possibly lead to our destruction?

If we receive the Lord Jesus Christ in our heart, we will be guided in life in a way that will give us hope, happiness, and eternity with God. Jesus died for us so that if we accept what He did, birth, death, resurrection, and we repent our sins, we will be saved.

Remember satan is a dead end, leading to destruction. God bless you and your family. 

Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

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

Praise The Lord!

Father I'm so grateful for having you in my life. 

Amen

The Reason

Ephesians 2:8, For by Grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Here we are at Christmas once again. This normal time of happiness closes out a tough year for many people. Their happiness and joy has taken a real gut punch. It may be the perfect time to take another look at Christmas.

Christmas was a pagan celebration to bring in the changing of the seasons the winter solstice. The name Christmas comes from the phrase Mass of Christ. The name of Christmas and the date of December 25th was started in the year 336 ad. After emperor Constantine became a Christian,  he proclaimed that date as Christmas.

Over the years, Christmas evolved into a secular holiday for most people.It  is a time of family and friends, exchanging gifts, and celebrating together in most of the world, There is little or no connection to Jesus.

In times like these, it is especially important to remember the real reason for the season. Jesus Christ. If we think about many of the things we hear, and see, at this time of year, it is easy for most people to get distracted.

The Angels proclaimed Joy to the world to the shepherds, lowest of the low. That Joy would come when people started to realize what a Savior was, and why He came.

Over the years, what we call hymns, and many of the Christmas carols, we're written by people expressing their Joy and reverence for the Christ Child. The next time you hear songs like Silent Night, Oh Come All Ye Faithful, and many others  think about the words and what they really mean. They will touch your soul. They will awaken your spirit.

A couple of facts to remember. Man was born separated from God because of sin. Man had no way to redeem himself. He needed a savior more than a man dying of thirst needs water.

John 3:16 - 17, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Because of Jesus coming, man could be redeemed. Man was saved from eternity in hell, because Jesus took all of man's sins on himself. He had to die in man's place. When Jesus conquered the grave and Satan, man was given Jesus righteousness and was made right with God.

Think about this. If Jesus was never born, as our savior, we would be doomed forever. If He didn't die on the cross and rise again, we would be doomed forever. If all of this isn't a reason for joy, and praising the Lord, I don't know what is.

With those two events in the history of man we have been given a fresh start and eternity with the Lord. God also gave us the Holy Spirit, whose job is to teach us, guide us, and help us to follow the Lord's plan for each of our lives, and to live according to His will. Since Jesus conquered Satan and death, we have the Holy Spirit and we have nothing to fear. 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

The Reason

Ephesians 2:8, For by Grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Here we are at Christmas once again. This normal time of happiness closes out a tough year for many people. Their happiness and joy has taken a real gut punch. It may be the perfect time to take another look at Christmas.

Christmas was a pagan celebration to bring in the changing of the seasons, the winter solstice. The name Christmas comes from the phrase Mass of Christ. The name of Christmas and the date of December 25th was started in the year 336 ad. After emperor Constantine became a Christian,  he proclaimed that date as Christmas.

Over the years, Christmas evolved into a secular holiday for most people. It is a time of family and friends, exchanging gifts, and celebrating together in most of the world, There is little or no connection to Jesus.

In times like these, it is especially important to remember the real reason for the season. Jesus Christ. If we think about many of the things we hear, and see, at this time of year, it is easy for most people to get distracted.

The Angels proclaimed Joy to the world to the shepherds, lowest of the low. That Joy would come when people started to realize what a Savior was, and why He came.

Over the years, what we call hymns, and many of the Christmas carols, we're written by people expressing their Joy and reverence for the Christ Child. The next time you hear songs like Silent Night, Oh Come All Ye Faithful, and many others  think about the words and what they really mean. They will touch your soul. They will awaken your spirit.

A couple of facts to remember. Man was born separated from God because of sin. Man had no way to redeem himself. He needed a savior more than a man dying of thirst needs water.

John 3:16 - 17, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Because of Jesus coming, man could be redeemed. Man was saved from eternity in hell, because Jesus took all of man's sins on himself. He had to die in man's place. When Jesus conquered the grave and satan, man was given Jesus righteousness and was made right with God.

Think about this. If Jesus was never born, as our savior, we would be doomed forever. If He didn't die on the cross and rise again, we would be doomed forever. If all of this isn't a reason for joy, and praising the Lord, I don't know what is.

With those two events in the history of man we have been given a fresh start and eternity with the Lord. God also gave us the Holy Spirit, whose job is to teach us, guide us, and help us to follow the Lord's plan for each of our lives, and to live according to His will. Since Jesus conquered satan and death, we have the Holy Spirit and we have nothing to fear. 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

The Greatest Gift

John 3:16-17, for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.

I would like to tell you a story. This story is about Jesus and how and why He came to Earth on a rescue mission.

Genesis 1: 26-27, then God said, let us make humankind in our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the wild animals of the Earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the Earth. So, God created humankind In His Image, and the image of God He created them, male and female He created them.

Just to explain what the image of God is, I ran across this statement that I would like to share with you. This came from one of the Bibles that I have. The biblical view is similar as people were created in the image of God, embodying His qualities and doing His work. They are symbols of His presence and act on His behalf as representatives. The two words used in the text differ in nuance. Image refers to something that contains the essence of something else while likeness is more connected to substance expressing a resemblance at some level.

Man with his Free will drifted from God’s perfect plan, and in time became his own God. God hates sin, in any form or degree, and man sinned.

God tried to get man back on track for hundreds of years by sending prophets to teach and guide the people. The problem was and is that sin puts you under the control of satan, the picture of ultimate Evil.

It was obvious to God from the start, that man could not pay the debt of his sins to his creator. Man tried with blood sacrifices of animals, but that only covered sin, it didn’t forgive sin.

The only way to pay a perfect God, was with a perfect blood sacrifice. There was no other way to pay for the sin price. Hell was in the future.

Our sinless perfect creator sent His sinless perfect Son, to shed His sinless perfect blood as a way to pay for our sin debt. Jesus came to this earth on a rescue mission. His mission was to live as a man, in the flesh, and experience everything that man experiences. He was to teach man how to live by His example and in the end to be a blood sacrifice to forgive sins for all who accept Him.

This was the first step in God’s plan for man’s Redemption. This was our Creator’s perfect gift to us. His perfect gift cost the highest price that can ever be paid. His Son gave His life for us. The rest of this story ends with His death and resurrection. That story is for another day.

Have any of us really thought about this at Christmas time, or any time for that matter? Have we been grateful for what Jesus did? Have we accepted Jesus as our savior? Have we tried to follow Him in even a small way?

There is a way to show our appreciation. Ask Jesus to forgive your sins and to come into your heart as your savior. One other thing. Tell Jesus that you give your heart and the rest of your life to do God’s will. Celebrate Christmas as Jesus birth, your Redemption, and your new life in him. I did, and it is beyond words.

It is fine to celebrate Christmas with Christmas trees and all the rest of it but let us not forget the most important reason of all and that is Jesus Christ’s birthday. Think on this, if He didn’t come to this earth, and do what He did, we would all be headed for an eternity with satan. This was God’s beginning of the Redemption of all mankind. 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

Living In Truth Or Denial

Matthew 7:21-23, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from Me you who practice lawlessness!

It's a sad thing to say, but many will hear those words. When they do it will be too late. So how can we avoid hearing those words? Many people believe they’re saved because they follow a religion and man-made rules. Salvation is by the grace of God to those who seek Him with all their hearts.

Ephesians 2:8-9, For by Grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Romans 10: 8-9, but what does it say? The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart ( that is the word we preach) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Ephesians 1: 13, In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of Truth The Gospel of your salvation, in Whom also, having believed, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

When you are saved, you receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was sent to teach guide and help you in the way you should go. If God didn’t intend for us to follow His plan, what would be the point to Jesus’ death and Resurrection and sending the Holy Spirit to us?

The Word of God is an instruction book. We must examine our hearts and figure out where we are in God’s plan. When we receive the Holy Spirit upon salvation, we are endowed with gifts that show us and others that we really are saved. 

Galatians 5: 22-23, But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, Joy, peace, long-suffering, (patience) kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

If Someone is really saved, they always carry Jesus in their hearts. We either reflect Jesus’ light or we make Him an accomplice. The key thing to remember is live according to God’s plan, and follow His standards, and not our own opinion. When we follow the standards of the world, we are following satan.

James 2:14-17, What does it profit, my brother, if someone says he has Faith but does not have Works? Can Faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them depart in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus, all Faith by itself, if it does not have Works, it is dead.

God bless you and your family. 

Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

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

Praise The Lord!

Amen