The Great Commission

Greetings My Friends

It is written in Mark 16:15 – 18 and He said to them, "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs shall follow those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak, with new tongues; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover".

These few verses cause problems for many people, including scholars.

First of all it does not mentioned specifically that you must confess Jesus as your Savior, and believe what He did on the cross, and His resurrection was for you.

Second, Bible scholars disagree on whether or not these things died with the apostles, or they are still valid today. I am not a Bible scholar as such, but I think there is ample evidence these miracles are still happening today.

Third, many people are frustrated because they think they are supposed to do what the apostles did, and they can't. They pray to do them, but nothing happens.

Fourth, the Holy Spirit gives gifts to believers as needed. No one has all of the gifts all of the time. When you pray in Jesus name and believe, you will get answers. I do not believe Jesus meant for each believer to have a full-time ministry in each thing mentioned. If he did, all of us would have ministers, and who would we help?

I have learned through painful experience. I believe what Jesus said, I also believe that since I am baptized in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will give me promptings when I am supposed to lay hands, etc.

when you wake up in the morning, just say, Lord whatever you need today, I am available and willing. Mean it in your heart, and the Holy Spirit will do the rest.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive all my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior. Amen.

The Hereafter

Greetings My Friends

Now, that is a word that gets attention. Many people believe there is one, and many deny such a thing. It is very uncomfortable for most people to discuss. Let's take a look at the alternatives. All of us still have time to decide if we believe in heaven, hell, or nothing.

Let us start with nothing after death. If there is nothing, and that is what you believe, I guess it won't matter much to you. However, if the end of life is the beginning of eternity, how you lived your life will definitely have a bearing on where you spend forever. You probably should think about that.

Let's start with the best, heaven. There are stories told, and books written about heaven. All of this is usually written by people who claim they visited heaven. Whether they really did, is open for discussion. Most of these stories agree for the most part. They all talk about indescribable peace and beauty. Whether the streets are gold or not, or joules are everywhere, is immaterial. I think those speculations are intended to give our brains a picture of an extraordinary place.

There are, as you might expect, stories about visits to hell. Again maybe they did, and maybe they didn't. In any case, the stories are about, burning, demons waiting, loneliness, unable to breathe, and other horrible tortures, including the knowledge that you will never get out.

I believe that heaven is a much more glorious place. For one thing, God is a permanent resident. I think that if you try to imagine the most perfect and beautiful place, you couldn't make the tiniest description of what it is really like.

By the same token, I believe hell is so much more horrible than even the worst torturer in history could begin to visualize. Horror beyond imagination. Just as glorious as heaven is, hell is the opposite to the same degree. It is not a joke, you and your buddies will not be partying.

It is hard for the human mind to grasp how long eternity is. It is forever. So, you have a choice. Yes you. God will not send you there. You will send yourself. How?

If you accept Jesus as your personal savior with all your heart, you in effect are choosing heaven. If you reject Jesus on the other hand, you are choosing hell.

It is no joke. Everyone who thinks it is, is in for an eternal surprise. Don't listen to celebrities, people in power, or anyone else. It is your future, you decide.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all of my sins, and by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive all my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior. Amen.

Know the Real Jesus

Greetings My Friends

I think most of us want to really know Jesus, rather than just know about Him. Knowing about Him is absolutely necessary, but it's definitely not the same thing. An example would be your spouse. You probably know all about them, but you don't really know them, until you feel what they feel. Love for most is beautiful, but real love is felt in your cuts.

I have been on fasts, to get to know the Lord better. I read the Bible, listen to CDs, read inspirational stories. I pray regularly and in the spirit. I usually do end up feeling closer to God, but it was mostly about what He did, not who He was.

Not too long ago I was thinking about prayer, and how sometimes we get answers, and sometimes it seems we don't. That is a question almost every Christian has grappled with. A little voice spoke to me, and the first thing I thought of was this message.

Jesus said we should love one another. When you pray for someone to be healed, you must remember that faith works through love. Are you loving your way, or Jesus way. Jesus is love, so the obvious answer is Jesus kind of love, that is what it takes.

Well it sounds simple, but how do you feel His love for you, and how do you have that kind of love for someone else? A fast with prayer is good, but by itself is only as good as your prayer. I have a suggestion that can be a big help. If you follow what I'm going to say, I think it will help you too. It certainly helped me.

Pick a book from the Bible. Try to read two chapters each day, until that book is finished. As you read each chapter, highlight the verses that stand out to you. Pay special attention to Jesus words in red. For this method I suggest sticking to the New Testament, starting with the gospel of John.

After you finish a book, take 2 verses to meditate on each day. Take your time and really meditate on what the Lord said or did. After a while you will begin to know Jesus, without even realizing it. If you spend some honest time doing this, I have found it really works.

I still fast once in a while, but now I meditate on Jesus words and deeds every day. The other person you should definitely know is the Holy Spirit. Meditate on Him too, because even Jesus got His power from the Holy Spirit.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

Perfect Prayer

Greetings My Friends

When praying for someone to be healed for instance, most of us usually don't go about it the right way.

I use the example of healing, because it is almost always one on one. This in itself causes a lot of problems for most people, and could keep the prayers from being effective.

You hear things like, Joe is someone who never believes, or Mary asks for healing all the time, our church is dead, and no one ever gets healed. If you think this way, you will be right all of the time.

If you are going to be in a situation where you will probably pray for someone, prepare yourself. Meditate on who Jesus is, pray in the spirit, and pray for yourself in Jesus name, that you pass on His faith and Holy Spirit power. Focus on Jesus love for you and the person you pray for. Then when you pray for someone in Jesus name to be healed, the chances of that healing taking place are very high.

Never decide if you think the other person will believe or not, that is up to them and the Holy Spirit. All prayer works the same way. In person, or long distance, no matter what the prayer is for.

Look at it this way. We are all farmers in the Lord's eyes. We plant the seeds, and He makes them grow.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, and your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive all my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

The Miracle Worker

Greetings My Friends

This is a brief account of a person we will call Dr. Thomas. A fictional name of course, but the basic story is real.

Dr. Thomas was a heart surgeon. He started in practice in his early 30s. He chose this profession because he had great love and compassion for people who were hurting. In a short time, his fame grew.

He was so good at what he did, that he had a hard time taking care of all the people that came to him. It was said that he could work miracles in surgery. Soon he became the best in the world.

In spite of his fame, he cared for all that came to him. Prince or pauper, it didn't matter to him. One day, he realized he needed help, so he added and Associates to his letterhead.

He found other doctors that he could train. They consulted with him, and in spite of his busy schedule, he found time to mentor them. After a good number of years, age was starting to catch up with him. Instead of doing all of the surgeries himself, he assisted other doctors in the surgery. He was always available when they needed him.

When he got old, he wanted to continue helping people, but he knew he would not live forever. He set up a system with his associates in order to keep his work alive, and future patients getting the best care. In order for these Associates to remain with his group, each of them had to train other doctors, and they in turn more doctors, and so on.

Does this story sound familiar? This bit of creative license is used as an example to explain about the greatest healer of all time, Jesus the Christ, and His relationship with us.

Jesus taught the apostles about love, forgiveness, healing, etc. He showed them all things by His actions. He said he would never leave them or forsake them. He taught them about His father, and gave them the Holy Spirit as a helper. He told them to do as He did, and pass it on through the faith. He arranged for anointed teachers, and the Bible, all the way to us.

Just as the apostles, we have Jesus the anointed one in us. Jesus still wants to save and heal all who accept Him and come to Him. Everything He is and has, He wants to pour out through us. We do not have to pray for anointing to do His work. We have the Anointed One in us, and He will work through us and the Holy Spirit.

Praise the Lord, we have it all. Use it. The supply will never run out. He can't wait to bless people, but He needs us to do it on this Earth. We are His tool.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive all my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior. Amen.

Weeds

Greetings My Friends

Picture life as a beautiful garden. There are many shapes, sizes, and colors of flowers. The combined smell is indescribable. Butterflies make it their home.

If you are with the Lord, the garden gets plenty of Sun, water, and nutrients. Sin comes into life, as a weed comes into a garden.

You pull the weed when it pops up. It's kind of like praying and overcoming a sin. Since this is an earthly garden, another weed pops up, so you pull it out, and make sure you get the root so it doesn't come back. The problem is, you have times were more weeds pop up as fast as you can pull them out.

In life, just as in the garden, whether it is sin, or weeds, you must be diligent and get rid of them all. If you don't keep after either one, they will get out of control.

Diligently seeking God will get rid of sin, and keep it to a minimum. In the garden there are Earth friendly ways to control weeds. Your life and your garden can be things of beauty, if you have the proper remedy.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all of my sins, and by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

Our Standards and God's

Greetings My Friends

As Human beings, we have a great many flaws to correct. Some of our faults are noticeable to us, and some are not.

Probably 99% of the population, has at one time or another, tried to bend laws, or even break some, because we felt that we would benefit in some way by doing it.

If you observe even the youngest child, you can see signs of it. You would be hard-pressed to find someone who didn't make excuses for the things they do. People get to be experts at rationalizing everything they can think of.

The most absurd actions have excuses connected with them. We live in a world ruled by the powers of darkness . When that is the case, most laws are not enforced. As a matter of fact, behavior which was condemned in the Bible, is now legal, because the Bible is old-fashioned. It doesn't meet our requirements. Some people even have the nerve to dismiss parts of the Bible, by denying what was written. It is common to hear that what is written in the Bible is not what was meant by the authors.

Hopefully most Christians don't agree with a lot of what goes on. I for one, believe that God was quite capable of accurately stating what He meant. He does not need any of us to say that He really meant something else. While the law in this broken world can be ignored, twisted, or change to suit, that is not the case with God.

God's world is the world of light , because He is the light. His law is the law. It always was and always will be. We must change ourselves to fit His law, because His law will not change to fit us. The Lord created us, so I am sure He knows how His creation is supposed to work.

I guess someday everyone will find out that a law is a law. The law of gravity for instance is a law, and no matter how you try to color it, deny it,it cannot change how it works.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought salvation. Please forgive all my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

Don't Invite Satan In

Greetings My Friends

Everyone with any sense, knows satan is a liar, and very cunning. I don't think any of us know a fraction of what he is capable of. The garden of Eden was not one of his biggest tricks.

If you ask the average person on the street about satan, they don't have a clue, or they are in denial that he even exists. You might even get some silly answer that says if you don't join a devil worshiping cult, you're okay. There are a few people that believe if you break the commandments as we understand them, you are agreeing with and working with the devil.

I thought I would mention a couple of less obvious ways that satan and demons can get in your life. At first you might think, I am really reaching, but think about it before you dismiss it.

A big one that never occurred to me until a couple of years ago, is movies. Movies with demons, evil spirits, and entities of all sorts, open the door to the devil. Maybe not right away, but as you let your guard down the risk is greater. Any movie dealing with evil fits that category.

If you really think about zombies, vampires and such, and realize what they represent, you'll quickly figure out that they are evil and against God's law. But we don't need to get hung up on movies, because there are other ways that we open the door for satan. When we judge people, talk about people in a negative way, are covetous, all of these are ways to let satan in, and there are countless others. You must be aware that you are not dealing with a fictional character. He is real, and will do everything he can to ruin your life.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought salvation. Please forgive all my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

God's Name

Greetings My Friends

One of the most misused things in this world, is the name of God. There are people who have a limited vocabulary, because most of what they say is cussing, and misusing God's name.

I am sure most of these people never heard of the first 2 commandments, or just ignore them. Using the Lord's name in vain, is about as serious a violation of God's laws you could get.

In the Old Testament, people had so much reverence for God's name, that it was forbidden to say it. If a scribe wrote that name, he immediately broke the writing instrument.

Think about this. Most people, when dealing with a wealthy person, or someone who has a higher position or is famous, they call that person Mr. or sir, etc. they are subservient to another person, but the creator is not generally referred to ,except in bad language.

We all have habits that we get into during our lifetime. A big part of it is the language we use, because a lot of the time, we are mimicking the people we are with. This however is no excuse. I realize we all do things without thinking, but some things are so important, that we must be aware of it at all times. This would include the use of the Lord's name. Remember it is written, that every knee shall bow at the mention of Jesus name. Does that sound like something you should take lightly?

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought salvation. Please forgive all my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

Patience

Greetings My Friends

It is written in James 1:3 "knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience".

When you pray, I'm sure you know that God hears you. Since He hears sincere prayer, the answer is set in motion. If you have been praying for any length of time, you know that the manifestation is usually not instant. You have to wait.

It is written in James 1:4 "but let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing".

As you probably know by now, God values patience. Even though God could answer your prayer instantly, most of the time he doesn't. God wants you to trust Him, and have total faith in Him.

Sometimes we are not ready for what we pray. Sometimes there are other reasons. Sometimes if we get what we pray for, it will cause us to drift away from God. The other night I heard someone say with conviction "God is never late, but he is never early either. His timing is perfect".

Something else. God prepares us for life on earth with his patience lessons. We need patience, to cope with traffic, checkout lines customer service people, and each other. All while this is going on,He is looking out for us.

So when you pray for something, realize that prayer is always answered, and your faith and trust in the Lord, brings patience. Patience if you really think about it, is a test of your faith. Passing that test will always be rewarded.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior. Thank you Lord. Amen.

Authority

We are told in the word, that Jesus gave us the authority to use His name, doing His works, in His absence. I think that many of us don't really get what that means. I think that I finally appreciate what that means, and how encompassing that is.

As an example, a Roman century briefly gave an idea of what authority means, when he asked Jesus to heal his servant. I have a couple examples of my own, that I give strictly to help understand what authority means in the every day world.

I've had a couple of jobs in my career that carried a lot of authority. In one job, I decided what, how much, and when our products were made in 2 manufacturing plants. I also did all of the purchasing for the company.

The second job I had was that of being in charge of a large distribution facility for a major corporation. I was responsible for everything. Production, distribution, budgets, manpower, equipment, you name it. I spoke for the company on all of these things.

Now I will go to the point. You will see why I thought of using these two stories. I had a very high level of authority, but I never really thought about it. I was given this authority, and I just exercised it with full confidence of the company backing me up. I followed the goals in the best interest of the company, but I still never really thought about it.

That brings us to Jesus, and his giving us authority to do what he did, and more in his name. There was a mandate, not a request. I think many of us, including me, had a hard time grasping what that authority involved. We are His representatives on this Earth. We are the tools He must use to accomplish His goals.

If you have a job that gives you the authority to do something, you're expected to do it. You understand that the person giving you the authority, had the authority to pass on. So it is with Jesus, only more so. He is God, not some man.

Always remember this. Authority also carries responsibility. Jesus gave us the authority, or right to use His name. He also told us what to do with it. It is our responsibility to carry out His command. Authority is useless if you don't use it. If you don't use it, it will pass to someone who will.

Jesus said it, because He meant it. He picked all of us for something, and we have to live up to His expectations.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

Jesus Made It Easy

Greetings My Friends

This message is almost like a sequel to the one on authority. Besides authority however, it involves faith.

First of all it takes faith in order to hear that little voice in your heart. When you hear the voice, you have to figure out if it is really God talking to you. Does the message line up with the word? If it does, ask the Holy Spirit about it. If it is the voice of God, ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and help.

Believe me, it is not as tough as it sounds. It gets to be something you do without thinking about. So now that you have that part of faith straightened out, we tackle the biggest part. Faith in action.

Some of us pray for someone to be healed. Then we anxiously wait to see if anything happens. We may even think that the sick person is someone who doesn't believe anything, so they probably won't be healed anyway. We may doubt for various reasons, and not even realize we are really doubting.

If you have authority in the workplace, you make a decision, and expect the proper results. Actually, that is the time you should be concerned, because you are dealing with imperfect people, including you.

Jesus makes it easy. When you proclaim even the most seemingly impossible thing in Jesus name, your job is done. Consider it as the best possible outcome. You are finished with that one. Move on to the next.

When you get authority in the world, you are responsible 24 hours a day. You are subject to all of the whims and twists and turns. It is like being in a never ending war.

When Jesus gives you authority, you do what you are led to do, and Jesus says, good job. Let's fix something else. At that point you have total peace, because He does everything else. A farmer would love to plant seeds, and do nothing else but benefit from the great harvest.

We have authority from Jesus that may seem impossible, but remember, Jesus is love, and He is truth. We have the easy part. Jesus says, I can't grow a crop, if you don't plant the seeds. We have to realize that Jesus doesn't just talk, He means what He says. If He says we are to plant the seeds, then plant the seeds. If we think of ourselves as seed planters, it is so much easier to have faith.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

See It

Greetings My Friends

Lately, I have heard quite a few preachers say that when you see your affliction on Jesus on the cross, you will be healed.

Every miracle you can think of requires faith. When you speak to the mountain, or to a tree, it makes no difference, faith is required.

God gave each person a measure of faith. Even Jesus, when He came to this Earth, had the same measure of faith. Jesus himself said that He only did what His father told Him to do, or what He saw His father do. It is also written, that Jesus performed no miracles on His own, but by the power of the Holy Spirit who was in Him.

When you think about what Jesus said of Himself, and what He told His apostles to do just before He ascended to heaven, you realize what He told His apostles, was a command not a request.

Through all the years since then, that command has come to us. We have authority from Jesus himself to use His name. Whatever we declare in Jesus name, will be accomplished the way He did, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

So you see, the only faith you need, is faith in the power of Jesus name. With faith in His name, the Holy Spirit will bring about what you declare. When you think about it, negativity works the same way. Just switch doubt for faith. Think about this. Doubt is faith in the negative. Whenever you proclaim in Jesus name, just visualize it as being complete, and exactly what you prayed for.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

A Bike Ride

Greetings My Friends

A couple of weeks ago, I started riding a bike. I ride on a very nice bike path in the forest preserves, a few minutes from my house.

This path is paved, about 6 feet wide, and is somewhat undulating in its nature. Kind of like a gentle roller coaster. Small hills and small downhills.

Since this path is through the forest preserves it is pretty scenic. It has a pleasant smell, and the path is almost always shady. On one side of the path is a small canal. When you ride back and forth, the canal is always on one side of you. The whole ride is peaceful to those who focus on it.

I guess subconsciously I felt this was too easy. I set goals for myself, so I could track my progress. Since I just started, I decided to turn around when I reached the 2 mile marker. I timed myself, so I had a goal to shoot for. I planned on going down a gear every other week. The lowest gear is the hardest. Right now you are either telling yourself that you have been there, or you are laughing hysterically.

You may have figured out by now, that if you enjoy the ride you can easily compare it to grace, but the way I did it you would compare it to the law. Instead of enjoying the ride in the surroundings, I concentrated on self-imposed rules and ignored the beauty.

As you know, when you are saved, an unlimited supply of grace comes with it. This grace is given to you, to enjoy life according to the word. If you are under the law, you can beat your brains out, have a miserable life, and you never will succeed. Be smart and make the right choice.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all of my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

The Bible Is the Light

Greetings My Friends

I was looking at some pictures I took the last time I was up north. The pictures are nice, but the real thing was much more impressive.

I was standing on a breakwater, that went out into the lake about a quarter of a mile. The day was overcast, and windy. The lake looked angry, and you could feel its power as it splashed up on the concrete.

Lake Michigan has a history of shipwrecks. There were no lighthouses until the early to mid 1800s. Ships would run aground, smashup on the rocks, and sink, costing probably 1000 lives or maybe even more.

The lighthouses were built to warn sailors about danger. It helped the ships steer clear of the hazards. Those that didn't pay attention, were lost.

While looking at these pictures, I heard a small clear voice. It said "you know, life is sometimes like the angry lake, or a deceitfully quiet Lake. This pretty much describes how life can be. The Bible is like a lighthouse".

This comparison really made an impression on me. The Bible keeps us from all kinds of disasters, if we pay attention to it. If we choose not to, consequences we face could be unbelievably more catastrophic.

When it is sunny, and a gentle breeze is blowing over the lake, it does not mean you stop looking at the lighthouse. The lake can get violent within minutes, with no warning.

You see life is a lot like the lake. Just because everything is wonderful at the time, you must still keep your eyes on your lighthouse, which is the word of God. Your life can turn like the weather. But as long as you keep the Bible as your lighthouse, you may get tossed around a little, but you won't sick.

One final thought. The light in a lighthouse can go out, but since Jesus is the light in the word, you never have to worry about it going out. This message may sound a little confusing, but give it some real honest thought, and I think you'll see what I've been trying to say.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all of my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

Miracles And Blessings

Greetings My Friends

If you read the Bible, you read about countless miracles and blessings. Probably the most familiar, are during the Exodus, and during the life of Jesus.

In the Exodus we see how the freedom from Egypt was accomplished with unbelievable miracles. The journey to the promised land, was one of constant miracles and blessings. The people in general, never stopped doubting or complaining. No one ever got sick, their clothes and shoes didn't wear out, they always had food and water, and they still complained.

They failed to recognize the miracles and the blessings, that were happening every day. As a result of their slave mentality, and unbelief, they spent 40 years on a trip that could have been done in a couple of weeks.

In spite of all the the miracles Jesus did, there were times when even His apostles had doubts. The first time Jesus fed a huge crowd with a few loaves and fish, I think their surprise was understandable. The second occasion that came up, left them wondering what to do. You have to wonder how they didn't know what was going to happen.

The Pharisees were upset by Jesus and His miracles. They were in denial, until it reached the point they couldn't deny any longer. They still told Jesus that they wanted to see signs that proved He was the son of God. You wonder what they were thinking of besides losing their cushy positions.

Now you come to today. I believe all of us, without exception, experienced blessings or miracles in our lives. I am not talking about the fact that we are alive, we can see, we can hear, we breathe, etc. I am talking about something besides that.

Being human we all forget things like avoiding an accident, overcoming a sickness, things that happened that seemed impossible. Some of us have been healed of serious diseases. We have had our lives saved miraculously, more than once.

It is as if after a near catastrophe, we look back and find other reasons that we didn't die or get crippled for life. The most common of course being, boy I was lucky.

Another thing is, I think we are all guilty of not recognizing the hand of God in our daily lives. Finding a job, able to pay bills, food on the table, paying the rent and so on. If you don't think these count as blessings, look at the half of this world that doesn't have what we do.

My friends I think it is a good time to start appreciating Almighty God, and praising Him for all He continues to do for us. He loves all of us, and we should love Him back.

The Hebrew children knew, but got wrapped up in other things. The Pharisees knew deep down, but were jealous, and were caught up in pride and in the world. We should learn from their mistakes. None of us is perfect, but with all of that history we should know better.

If you are a believer, remember, Our God Is God! Praise the Lord!

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior. Thank you Lord. Amen.

The Cross Of Jesus

Greetings My Friends

All through my growing up years, and a large part of my adult years, I never gave much thought to the crucifixion of Jesus. Naturally I heard of it, but I either didn't pay much attention to it, or it was never really explained to me.

I think most people today, only know the Hollywood version. So when you look at a movie, and combine it with lack of real knowledge, it is easy to see why so many people didn't give a second thought to what Jesus did.

We can't place all of the blame on churches. First, you have to actually go and pay attention. In my own life, it seems to me that churches in my childhood, were a lot different than churches today. And I thank God for the churches we have today.

When I was growing up, we sure didn't get Bible instruction in church. We heard a few verses, and that was it. Every Sunday the same thing. I didn't know if there were Bible studies or not, no one ever mentioned studying the Bible on our own, so we didn't even think about it.

A number of years ago, I heard a preacher talk about Jesus and the cross. He actually explained what it meant in detail. I was amazed. I started checking out other preachers, and they all said the same thing. One day one of the preachers said, when it comes to the Bible, don't take my word for it or anyone else's. He said, it is your responsibility to verify for yourself, using the Bible.

Isaiah chapter 53 tells the story in gruesome detail. A pretty good picture of what Jesus endured. You don't get that from a Hollywood movie.

To make the story of what He accomplished for us short and to the point. . By His stripes we were healed of all infirmities and afflictions. The stripes were severe lacerations from the scourging. By His blood our sins were all forgiven, past, present, and future. By His resurrection He conquered death, thereby giving us eternal life, if we choose to accept.

He went through all of this for us. We are saved and entitled to all He did for us, just by acknowledging Him as our Savior and what He did for us.

We should all be so grateful that we walk around with joy in our hearts, and never ask for another thing. God knows we are human and can't do that. But because we accept Jesus and what He did, God wants us to have all good things and the desires of our hearts.

Praise the Lord Jesus Christ, for making the ultimate sacrifice for us.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

Finding Peace

Greetings My Friends

I am starting this message with an honest question. If you are totally honest with yourself, it will undoubtedly help you at times.

Have you ever felt lost? Felt like a cork on the ocean? Empty inside? Couldn't put your finger on the problem? I have.

The last time I felt that way, I kept telling myself that I had no reason to feel that way. A small voice in my heart told me to take a good long look at what I am doing, or not doing.

Over the years, I have developed a kind of routine for my day. While a large part of my day is flexible, one part is not. The first part belongs to the Lord. It includes private time with the Lord, the Bible, morning prayer and communion with my wife, and these messages.

I do this because I feel I need it. It is like eating when you are hungry. I do not do it out of any attempt to bribe God. I do it in order to know Him better.

Okay, back to the voice. I look at my day, and there are times for whatever reason, I don't quite measure up to my idea of fulfillment. Maybe I didn't spend as much time as I wanted to for whatever reason. Maybe I missed communion for a day or two because I got involved with other things. I know God doesn't judge me that way, but I guess I am hungry for the closeness I feel I need.

I never did like written prayers, the exception is the Lord's prayer. I always liked the idea of talking to the Lord. It seemed more real. Every day I talk to the Lord, as I would to my most loved person in this world. It gives me a warm feeling, and helps me realize that he loves me. I use words from my spirit, not just words.

When you have a hard time like I described earlier, talk to your heavenly father. Make sure He is part of your life you cannot do without. You don't have to spend hours a day trying to be holy. Just give Him the first part of your day, and treat it as the most important part of your day. Any day you follow this plan, you will have a much smaller possibility of getting that empty feeling. Even a little time with the Lord at the beginning of the day, will put peace in your heart. It works every time. I very seldom have days like I described, since I realized what was wrong.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

Find Your Place in God's Plan

Greetings My Friends

If you have been reading some of my messages over the past year, you have probably noticed that I use some of my own experiences as examples. Today is no exception.

Watching preachers on TV, can be very inspiring, but they can also discourage you, if you don't look at the entire picture. Some of them have what I will call healing ministries. They talk about how prayer for healing by a believer with faith, can produce results. That is all true. By Jesus stripes, and crucifixion, we were healed.

Now comes the tough part, at least it was for me. I wanted to be able to see people healed so much, I was starting to be obsessed by the idea. I honestly had good motives in my heart. I wanted to help people and bring them to God. I did not want personal rewards, other than that I would be serving God.

I prayed about it daily. I told God that I am His and to use me. I felt that since my reasons were pure, and the fact that other people said the same thing, and were called by God, why not me?

God gives each of us a measure of faith, and the Holy Spirit. A few people are anointed to lead a life like an evangelist, or to have a healing ministry. They are led by and listen to the Holy Spirit. Their lives are totally dedicated to the Lord. God picked these people for what they do, just the way He chose the prophets.

So what about the rest of us? It is written that we all experience gifts from the Holy Spirit as needed. On several occasions I prayed for my healing, as well as for a couple of other people. I prayed because I felt in my heart that I should. When that feeling comes to me, I pray and believe, and healing has happened a number of times. There have been some occasions where I believe miracles happen. These were not healing s, but impossible things that turned out right. All of this showed me that what is written is true.

I started looking at my place in the Lord's plan. Picture the Lord as the master artist of all time. Picture His plan as a work of art. Now picture the masterpiece that He painted cut into thousands of pieces. Each one of us is one of the pieces. As this puzzle starts to be put together, it is a matter of time, until our piece is needed. We don't get to decide where we fit, we only decide that we want to be part of the picture. Each of us is vital to the picture, in order for it to be a masterpiece. Remember I am comparing the painting to God's plan.

If the Mona Lisa had only a part of the upper left, would it be a world-famous masterpiece, or would it be just one more incomplete work? We are all important to God, and no matter how small a piece we are, he still needs us to complete the painting.

So when I put all this in the proper perspective, and realize that I am not the creator, but the created, I can have total peace by realizing, that God is in control, and I don't have to figure anything out or worry about it.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away my sins, and by your stripes I was healed, and your death and resurrection brought salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior. Thank you Lord. Amen.

Physical and Spiritual Exercise

Greetings My Friends

I suppose not too many people, including myself, ever considered the similarities between physical, and spiritual exercise.

It dawned on me a couple of weeks ago. Being retired, it is much easier to get out of shape physically. Since I don't want to fall apart, I looked for an exercise that was befitting my age, and general condition. Riding a bicycle seemed to be a good way to accomplish my goal.

I bought a nice bike, and found a scenic bike trail. We all know how boring exercise can be, so I figured I found the perfect answer. I also planned to ride as far as I could go physically, and the time of day I would go. I reasoned that I had to treat it like a job. If I didn't, I would miss for any number of reasons. This was too important to have a casual attitude.

Well day one came, and I followed my plan. I road a total of 3 miles, and my legs were really sore. The next time I went four miles, and felt like I couldn't go another 10 feet. I consoled myself with the old "no pain, no gain."

Later that day I was having my coffee and thinking about how out of shape I had become. Common excuses came to mind. Boring, no time, lazy. Then the benefits of exercise, and proper diet, seemed like a no-brainer in order to feel good, energetic, and enjoy good health, it took some effort.

At that point, that little voice in my heart, asked me if I realized the similarities with faith. Well, I started to follow the guidance. I must admit I never looked at faith and spiritual life that way.

If you ask a typical Christian if they read the Bible, you usually hear, "I don't have time, I am so busy". Asked them if they pray regularly, and a large percentage of them start making excuses. We won't even get into whether or not they ever mentioned Jesus to anyone.

If you go through life eating the wrong things, and follow a couch potato life, you will probably live anyway, but the quality of life will not be very good. More than likely your future will be plenty of doctors, depression, unable to get out and enjoy the things that people in good shape can do.

By the same token, if you don't regard your spiritual life as worthy, you will miss out on a lot. If you really are saved, heaven is probably your eventual destination. If you don't make some time for God, you can't build a real relationship with Him.

If you don't work at your faith, by reading the word of God, and putting it into practice, you are like the person that does not exercise and has a bad diet. You will probably miss out on many answered prayers. You will undoubtedly make bad decisions without Him, and run the chance of some really bad ones. Healing will probably not happen, because you don't even know that you were healed on the cross. True peace, happiness and joy only comes through God.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. If you value your spiritual life, your physical life will follow. In the physical you build a healthy body, in the spiritual you build a relationship with God. Both require effort, persistence, at times some discomfort, and keeping your eye on the prize. Always find time for God, and talk to Him every chance you get. If your life is so busy that you don't have time for God, you're making the biggest mistake of your life. If you have to, lose a little sleep, but put God number one.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away my sins, by your stripes I was healed, and your death and resurrection brought salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

God Needs You

Greetings My Friends

When Jesus was on this earth, he performed many signs and miracles. He taught people what the Scriptures meant. He explained what God expected from each of us. He showed us how to live by His example.

God has a plan for each person's life. He wants each of us, to have a perfect life now, and to be with Him in heaven for all eternity. He gave us the Holy Spirit to help us.

The Holy Spirit guides us, with a small voice in our hearts. He not only teaches us, but gives us understanding. He gives us the right way to go about God's plan. He helps us adjust to circumstances, and helps us get out of whatever trouble we get ourselves into.

You might be telling yourself, that you know all of this. Possibly you didn't. One thing an awful lot of people don't realize, is that God needs us to accomplish His big plans. He doesn't just make people do this or that. God needs us. We are his eyes, ears, mouth, hands and feet. We are the body of Christ.

Some of us preach, some of us heal in Jesus name, some of us evangelize. Most of us are ordinary people, among other ordinary people. We are in the trenches, passing on what we hear from the Holy Spirit. By words and actions we are to help others find God.

The work the Lord gives us to do, is based on how well we know Him, and how we handle our present assignment. It's like "just because you know how to handle a hammer, it doesn't mean you are a carpenter".

Train for the next step in your journey. The word of God will guide you, and God will give you what you need to fulfill His plan. God needs you!

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior. Thank you Lord. Amen.