A Brief Description of Salvation

Let us start at the beginning. You'll hear many people use the expression “the reason for the season” at Christmas time. I sometimes wonder how many people could give you an answer beyond the birth of Jesus.

After Adam and Eve left the garden, and mankind began to spread, the earth became more sinful with each generation. It got to the point where God decided to destroy mankind. Hence the flood where only Noah and his family were spared.

As man began to repopulate the world, the same old things started all over again, man's sinful nature took over. God sent many prophets over many years to teach the people how to live. God knew man was never going to make it on his own. John 3:16 tells us 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.

God did that because man needed a Savior, and didn't even know it. Only the blood of a pure perfect sacrifice could wipe away man's sin. The only possible answer was God's own son, Jesus..

Luke 2:1-20 tells us the story of the Nativity. This was the beginning of God's plan for the salvation of man. Unfortunately, most of us don't grasp the full impact of Jesus birth. Just a small analogy. Picture your entire body being eaten, inside and out. Every single cell in excruciating pain. Pain so bad, all you wanted to do is die, but you couldn't, you would be this way forever.

At this point someone comes along and says to you, take this pill you will be okay. You take the pill and it works instantly. Would you say thanks buddy, or would you be so grateful that you struggled to express your gratitude.

We are that person my friends. Our sins are eating us up. Eternity in hell is our future. Then Jesus comes on the scene to save us. He tells us to follow Him. Ask yourself, thanks buddy, or un-expressible gratitude to the Lord.. When you stop to think about it, Jesus birth is the first step to eternity with Him because he came to earth on a rescue mission for man, and finished that mission with His death on the cross and His resurrection. So you see my friends when it comes to thinking about Jesus birth as we usually do at Christmas, we should look at the whole story. Christmas is the glorious beginning of man's walk with God if we accept it. That is the reason for the season. 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

Lessons For Old Age

Isaiah 46:4, I will be the same until your old age, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will bear and rescue you.

There have been a number of times over the years when I heard someone say, old people find Jesus because they are afraid to die. I may have said it too at one time. The question is, is it true?

Since I am 80 years old, I think I can give a responsible evaluation, and come up with an answer that is true for many people. If Jesus is your Savior, there is no reason to fear death. 

Psalm 71:18, Even while I am old and gray, God, do not abandon me, while I Proclaim Your power to another generation. Your strength to all who are to come.

Let's take a look at an ordinary lifetime. I speak these things about some people, myself included. As a person grows and the years pass, we get caught up in life, and live pretty much like everyone else. We decide on how much education to get, probably get a job we don't particularly like, getting married or not, and how to handle finances    and so on. As an old sage said “men lead lives of quiet desperation.  The story for too many.

Most of our Lives, we make decisions with emotion, guided by satan. One bad decision after another. If someone tries to give us good advice, we reject it. We don't even realize that satan is at work.

When we are near old age, we realize there must be a better way. We notice a Christian friend that most people made fun of, seems to have it all together. He is happy and successful, so you finally ask him how and why he is so different. He tells you he knows Jesus. At that point you decide to investigate this Jesus you heard about once in a while. Time to get serious.

One of the biggest things you learn is that Jesus died for you in order to forgive all of your sins and make salvation possible.

At this point satan gets serious. He points out every bad decision, every sin you committed, every failure, and every mistake and evil thing that you did. He tells you that you are too big and bad a sinner to be forgiven. He doesn’t  tell you that he was the reason you did all of that.

satan tries the same thing with believers,  but they know better. They are forgiven and God does not remember their past. Since they became a new person they were saved, and pronounced not guilty in Heaven. When you really stop to think about it, who do you think is probably afraid to die, the old guy who knows Jesus or the guy who has followed satan all his life and never changed?

Ecclesiastes 7: 10-11, You don't say, why were the former days better than these? Since it is not wise of you to ask this. wisdom is as good as an inheritance and an advantage to those who see the sun

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

My Time With Jesus Tuesday

Peace In Heart And Mind

1 Peter 5:7, Casting all your cares on Him, because He cares about you.

For years I have heard preachers talking about casting your cares. I started to follow that advice, and it helped quite a bit when my faith allowed it. Like many other Christians I thought it was complaining. We know how God feels about complaining, so why would we do it on purpose?

I checked out the meaning of complaining and found that the definition is, an expression of dissatisfaction or annoyance about something. Okay. So now I checked out the meaning of petition and found that it is a formal request to an authority with respect to a particular cause.

A light bulb was turned on. I found books written by a couple of pastors that explain how and why we should petition almighty God about what concerns us.

Philippians 4: 6-7,  Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

At that point I started to write petitions to Almighty God. They were almost always for other people. Some were simple, and some where like a grocery list. Petitions were for healing, jobs, finances, helping people find Jesus, and many other things.

Over time there were many answered petitions. I am convinced that in a few cases for sure a miracle took place. nothing else could explain the impossible. Talk about a faith builder. 

One night I was having trouble falling asleep because I had a few concerns on my mind. All at once I felt in my heart that I should talk to our Father God. I spoke to Him as you would talk to someone who loves you and cares about you. To make a long story short, I poured out what was in my heart. I felt that He really did care about me, and it wasn't just words from the Bible.

Well I fell asleep talking to my Heavenly Father, and I slept like a baby, and woke up a free man. It was such an incredible experience, I now do it every night, with the same results.

Every morning I thank God for another day, and all He will allow me to do. Then I ask the Holy Spirit in Jesus name, to help, teach, and guide me in the will of God. The best thing you can do for yourself is to start and end your day with our Lord. You will be happier than you can possibly imagine. 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 Life Lesson

Only God can see the future. The future follows His perfect plan, which He had from before creation. If we follow the plan, we win. We end up in Heaven with Jesus for eternity. It's that simple. There is a catch however, it can be hard.

For a long time now, my wife and I have started our day, by asking the Holy Spirit for help and guidance during the day. That help to include everything we think, say, or do, so that we would be following God's plan. What we didn't realize was, that was just the beginning.

Matthew 6:34, this therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. 

Matthew 6:27, which of you by worrying can add one qubit to his stature? 

Okay, just those words of wisdom when taken to heart take many stressful day's out of our lives. We could always count on the Holy Spirit, because He never let us down. Knowing all of these facts, we added one more thing to our family prayer. After we dedicate our day to God, we thank Him and praise Him for the day that was yet to start. In doing so we feel that we are exercising total faith and trust in God. We found out a long time ago, when we put everything in the Lord's hands, we never get disappointed. 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 Answer Is Almighty God

Proverbs 3 5 - 6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your path. 

John Adams said “our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Cal Thomas, an American journalist observed, in a free society, the government reflects the soul of the people. If people want change at the top, they will have to live in different ways. Our major social problems are not because of our decadence. They are a reflection of it. 

Ecclesiastes 10: 2- 3, The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of a fool to the left. Even when fools walk on the road, they lack sense, and show to everyone that they are fools.

Today we have a number of things that have nourished the present circumstances.

*Lawmakers without conscience or guts to do what is right.

*Churches of all denominations that do not teach what the Bible says.

*Pastors who only teach feel good sermons.

*Church leaders who do not follow the Bible.

*Uninformed, and / or apathetic voters

*People who just go along with Injustice because they are afraid of losing friends.

I would say this is quite an indictment of the citizens of this country. We as a people can change things for the good of all. Start questioning pastors and church leaders about their silence about what goes on.

Inform yourself about candidates for all offices. Don't judge just by what the media tells you, see what the candidates have done in the past. Go online to a non-political source and really study what they did.

The next step is to make your votes reflect the actions of the candidates, not just how or what they said in the past. Emotion should never decide anything in life. Get out and vote your conscience.

Proverbs 22: 7- 8, The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. Whoever sows Injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of anger will fail.

Acts 20:30, Some even from your own group will come to distort the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them. 

Our founding fathers knew that our Creator was in charge, and the Bible was His instruction book. We can get back to that. We can even correct the present situation.

2 Chronicles 7:14, If the people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

God bless you and your family here. 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

Remind Yourself

It is written, Psalm 32:10, many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.

Every living person, has problems, doubts, and feelings of anxiety. Not everyone deals with, or is affected by their circumstances in the same way.

If you don't know Jesus, or don't accept Him as your Savior, you must deal with life by yourself. If you are one of these people, you probably know by now that the things of this world are not a cure. When you realize this fact, you probably get depressed and feeling like there is no hope.

Someone who has Jesus has a totally different outlook. They lean on what Jesus said, and give everything to Him to take care of. The Bible is the written Word of God. That being the case, everything in it must be true. When Jesus says something, He is saying and doing what His father tells Him. If you are a believer, you have the same Father.

Jesus trusted His father, and lived His father's plan for His life. Our job is to follow Jesus example for us. If you are a true believer, and leave everything in God's hands, you will be following His plan for your life. Always remind yourself of this, and do it His way, and you win. God's plan is perfect, and is always for our best, whether we realize it or not. God bless you and your family. 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 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.

I want to serve only You.

 Amen

Be Wise

Proverbs 16:3, Humans are  interesting creatures. It seems that when man received the gift of free will, from our Creator, man’s little brain went into hyper activity 

Men took his earthly existence, and decided to correct all of God's mistakes. At least they looked at it that way.

Proverbs 3: 5 - 6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

As man progressed, his ideas for improvement expanded greatly. Man thought he should live in the right place for him. His dwelling was not good enough. So the man went through the whole list. Man thought that if he had a plan for everything, it would all come together, and he would be happy and content. However it almost never works that way. Why?

When we were created it was according to God's plan. God has a plan for each of us. What most people do not realize is, God's plan was perfect for us. All we had to do was follow His plan.

Since we have free will, God allows us to follow our own plan. As we stumble along wondering why something doesn't work, His quiet voice in our heart tries to correct it. We keep messing up, and He keeps trying to get us on the right path.

Philippians 4: 6,  don't worry about anything, but in everything through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Humans plan what to wear so they will look good. They plan a career, a marriage, a family, a car, a vacation, and so on. Nowhere does God fit in.

The one thing most people don't plan is where they will spend eternity. Is it real? If it is, will you get there? Does God decide by flipping a coin? Are you already condemned?

God wants everyone to be saved. We have opportunities all through life, if we pay attention. If we pay more attention to what the world thinks and says, we will never hear God's voice.

The only truth in this whole world is the Word of God, the Bible. If we are saved, we have the Holy Spirit to help us and guide us. When we follow Jesus, and what the Bible says, we have desires in our hearts that were put there by God. Result - success, peace, and happiness. 

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

Times Of Testing

Hebrews 3:12, Watch out brothers and sisters, so that there won't be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the Living God

Apostasy is defined as, unbelieving, Shield World movement away from God.

Falling away is similar to apostasy. It means Rebellion, abandonment of the truth.

The Bible tells us that in the end times, there will be a great falling away of the church. 

2 Thessalonians 2 :3, don't let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

You might be wondering exactly what apostasy  is and why it is. In order to get an idea of what and why, we must look at certain facts that have a lot to do with the answer.

God gave each of us a free will. Because He did that, He cannot go against Himself. He must allow each person to pursue what he believes. In allowing this, we see who and what we are. We can be confident of where we spend eternal life, because it is our decision.

As we look around this country and this world we see many disturbing things. Everything seems upside down, and nothing makes sense to us. Many people ask, where is God, and why does He allow this craziness? 

1 Timothy 4:1 Now The Holy Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons.

James 1: 2 - 3, consider it a great joy my brothers and sisters whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

Do not think for one minute that God is not aware of, or cares about all of the chaos. Before creation, God knew how everything would turn out. He is allowing all of the pieces to fall into place before He says enough is enough.

God knows what each of us will do. He's giving us time to make our final decision. Apostasy or falling away occurs, when we stop believing and trusting in God. It tells us how strong or how weak our faith really is.

Matthew 24 :22 Unless those days were cut short, no one would be saved. But those days will be cut short because of the elect.

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

Spiritual Junk Food

It Is Written, Psalm 66:18, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

It is no secret that exercise and a good diet, makes for a healthy body. Fast food, and no exercise, all of the time will make for an unhealthy body. The same is true for your spirit. The junk food in this case however, falls into a couple of categories.

A. Media, news channels, and  newspapers. Most are full of lies, omissions, twisting of the truth, and just plain hate.

B. Friends and coworkers who gossip, complain, and are usually negative about everything.

C. People you see in public, doing things that may cause you to judge, complain, or do something that will develop unforgiveness in your heart.

D. Pick the wrong people to associate with. Many people will do things with a group that they would not do on their own. Being with the wrong people in the wrong place can bring about a mob mentality.

At first glance you may think it is impossible to avoid all this. Here is the answer to success. Feed your spirit with God's Word every morning. Meditate on a verse that strikes you, it really helps.

In our prayers, we must approach God with a clean heart to get our requests. As you feed on the things of God, you will eventually get there. God bless you and your family. 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 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. 

I want to serve only You

Amen

Look Twice

John 7:24, Stop judging according to all outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgement.

Very few people recognize the fact that human DNA has existed since the fall of Adam. Look anywhere in the world and you will see the same character traits in all people, regardless of race, gender, or country of origin.

If you doubt, look back in the history of humankind as far back as you care to go. With a few minor variations, two thousand years ago is like today if you leave out technology.

Romans 2:1-3, Therefore, every one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things. We know that God's judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth. Do you really think- anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same - that you will escape God's judgement?

Jesus' death and resurrection broke the bonds of behavior, if we accept it. When we come to Jesus, we change into people with a spiritual outlook, and not a carnal one.

We can change everything in our lives by seeing things the way Jesus did. I warn you right now however, it can be very difficult, but with the Holy Spirit and Jesus' name, we can overcome carnal instincts.

Okay let's take a good look at a place to start. The next time you see what you think is a fault in someone, just stop for a minute before you judge. Have you ever done the same thing?

John 8 - 7, when they persisted in questioning Him, He stood up and said to them , the one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.

If each of us measured someone else, by our own past, we would see many of our judgments of others, judging us.

Ecclesiastes 7 :20, There is certainly no one righteous on the earth who does good and never sins.

Christians have the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If we follow the Spirit, we can reflect Jesus' light on everyone we meet. If enough of us do this, we can influence others, and start to change the world for the glory of God .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

Our God - Too Great For Words

Isaiah 40:28, Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the Everlasting God, the Creator of the whole Earth. He never becomes faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding.

Many people read a few verses in the Bible, and think that they know God. Some are disappointed in God because they didn't get what they wanted, when and how they wanted it.

Jeremiah 10:10, But the Lord is the true God, He is the Living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His rage.

Here is a great suggestion. On Monday morning pick up your Bible and ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand what you read and to remember what you read. One chapter every week just one. Even if it takes a week, remembering is more important than how much you read. Underline verses that pop out at you. Then meditate on those verses and how they relate to your past or present life. If you do this regularly, you will know in your heart who God really is. 1 chapter a week will get it done. 

Revelation 4:11, Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because you have created all things, and by your will they exist and were created. 

Something to think about. The name of each person who is born in God's sight, is written in the Book of Life. As each person reaches the end of his or her life, if they rejected Jesus, their name is blotted out. At the final judgment, their names will not be in the Lamb's Book of Life, so they are condemned.

Babies who die before they are born, and children under the age of reason, are not blotted out because they did not reject Jesus. Incidentally, God knows the name of each baby from the time they are conceived. 

Joshua 1:9,  Haven’t I commanded you; be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

When you are saved, Jesus comes into your heart, as well as the Holy Spirit. As you see, God with all your heart, you will get closer to him. You will get to the point where you actually feel his presence. when you get to that point you will want to do his will. It is very rare for God to talk out loud to anyone. He speaks to us through the Bible. The catch it is you have to know what the Bible says.

Ask the Holy Spirit to help, teach, and guide you according to God's will. He will do it, and never let you down. Allow him to lead you, and he will show you as the day goes on one step at a time.

Jeremiah 29 :11,  For I know the plans I have for you by -this is the Lord's declaration - plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

One day the Holy Spirit brought this to my mind. Since the Holy Spirit is guiding my life, as He guided Jesus, I must be following God's will. If I am led to pray for someone's healing for instance, it is the will of God that I do it. I am just passing on Jesus' words.  I believe at that point, it is finished. Think about it. 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

Hate Is Deadly

It Is Written, 1 John 3:15, everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

As most people would probably agree, hate is an ugly thing. Unfortunately, it seems to be normal behavior for many people these days.

People hate other people for various reasons. Most experts feel that hate masks insecurity, jealousy, or feelings that are threatening in some way. Hatred builds to a level that can be totally irrational and dangerous.

Only God can free  people from this  life destroying condition. The verse we started with, tells us how God feels about it.

It is also written in Romans 12:19, beloved, never avenge  yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord"

The best thing we can do to conquer hate, is to pray for those that hate. Pray for absolutely everyone who shows hatred toward someone else. It is pretty obvious that there are countless people that need prayer. Hatred, especially extreme hatred, can be seen by anyone and is not a question of judging the hatred. They are obvious.

People hated Jesus to a totally unbelievable level. Remember that all hate is started and fueled by satan, so it does require God to fix it.  Jesus knows how it feels to be hated beyond comprehension, and we must trust Him to settle it all.

To some people it may seem silly or even ridiculous to talk about praying for people that are controlled by hate, but it is the only answer. If we pay back hate for hate, we are sinning by going against God's will, and law. 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. 

Thank You Lord

Amen