A Lesson From The Ants

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

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

Praise The Lord!

Amen

My Time With Jesus Tuesday

Is There A Rapture

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

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

Praise the Lord! 

Amen

A Bit of Judas

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

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

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

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

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

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

Praise The Lord!

Amen

Are You Afraid

As we all know today's world is in a turmoil that is greater than anything we have witnessed in the past. Seems there's total lawlessness, and the laws of God  are under siege.

Since these times are so extreme and upside down, many people live in great fear. Even the fear is extreme. The average person makes fear-based decisions, and that inevitably makes things even worse in their lives.

Would you be surprised to learn there is a percentage of people that are not afraid. They walk in peace because they trust in God. There are many verses like today's verse. This small group of people trust God, and view these times as temporary, and see future eternity through spiritual eyes.

If you have a goal, and you put your heart into it, you hardly notice anything that would distract you from that goal. If you know who God really is, you will know that His word, the Bible is true. It tells you everything you need to know, to get to your goal of eternity with Him.

I found out in a very personal way, that if I spend more time concentrating on God and his love for me, and less time thinking about what is going on in the world, I don't have a worry bone in my whole body.

Those who sincerely love God, have a blessed life, guided by the Holy Spirit. Hard times come, but God Almighty gets them through it. Turn to God and fear not.

Romans 8:31, What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

God bless you and your family. 

Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

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

Praise The Lord! 

Amen

It’s In The Valleys I Grow

                                             

                                               
                                               It’s In The Valleys I Grow

Sometimes life seems so hard to bear,

Full of sorrow, trouble and woe.

It’s then that I have to remember,

That it’s in the valleys I grow.

If I always stayed on the mountain top

And never experienced pain,

I would never appreciate God’s love

And would be living in vain.

I have so much to learn

And my growth is very slow,

Sometimes I need the mountain tops,

But it’s in the valleys I grow.

I do not always understand

Why things happen as they do;

But I am very sure of one thing,

My Lord will see me through.

My little valleys are nothing

When I picture Christ on the cross;

He went through the valley of death,

His victory was satans loss.

Forgive me Lord for complaining

When I’m feeling so very low.

Just give me a gentle reminder

That it’s in the valleys I grow.

Continue to strengthen me, Lord

And use my life each day

To share your love with others

And help them find their way.

Thank you for the valleys, Lord,

For this one thing I know,

The mountain tops are glorious

But it’s in the valleys I grow.

Being A Christian

Romans 12:2, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

1Thessalonians 5:18, In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Many people have the idea that if they become a Christian, everything will be perfect. Not so. Jesus, the son of God, obeyed the will of His Father. The Bible makes it plain that the life of Jesus was by anyone's definition, extremely difficult. Jesus was the perfect example. In Luke 22:42, Jesus prayed, Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; Nevertheless not My will, but Yours be done.

Job 1:21, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

Job 2:10, But Job said to his wife, you speak as one of the foolish women speaks; shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Life is a test. Are we sincere or not? Are we saved or not? God gave us the Holy Spirit to help us and guide us when we were saved. He didn't leave us to figure it all out. Most of the tests we have in life are for us to see where we stand with God. It certainly is no surprise to God what we do.

When we were children, we trusted  our parents for everything. We believed everything they said, and that whatever they did was for our good, even if we didn't like it. How much more do you suppose, that our Heavenly father takes care of us?

Matthew 18:2-4, Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “assuredly I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven”. 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

Prayer

Matthew 6:7, When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 

For most people, prayer is difficult for a number of reasons. The most common reason is a lack of faith that the prayers will be answered. The next reason is not knowing what prayer is, and not knowing what to pray for.

John 15:7, If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

First of all, you must know who is making the promise. If you don't know God, it is impossible to have faith. You can only have faith in someone you know and trust. God is always truthful and trustworthy. You can get to know Him through His word, the Bible.

Romans 8:26, Likewise the spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 

Prayer is communication with God. When Jesus rose from the dead, He promised to send the Holy Spirit to teach, help, and guide us at all times if we so desire. The Holy Spirit knows what is in our hearts. He takes our sincere, clumsy words, and presents them to our Father as a perfect prayer.

Now we come to the empty words and phrases. Many prayers are not answered, because they were not sincere. God is not someone  you are trying to sell something to. He is the discerner in chief. You cannot deceive Him.

If you know, love and trust God, prayer is easy. When you talk to God, just tell Him what is on your heart and mind. The only rule for prayer is it must be from the heart.

Philippians 4:6, Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

God is with you at all times. Just talk to Him as you would your best friend. It really is that easy. 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

TIME

James 4:13-15, Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money. Yeah you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, if the Lord wishes we will live and do this or that. 

Time is an interesting thing. For most of us, our lives are run by time. Everything we do is controlled by it. Even Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, that there is a time for everything. The fact is that when we are born, we start the process of dying. Life is like a giant spring that is unwinding, and we don't know where it will stop.

Most of us don't pay much attention to the amount of time we have, we just act like it will go on forever. The Bible tells us about time in a way that should make us think.

Mark 13:32, But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 

Luke 12:16-20, Jesus told them a parable. The land of a rich man produced abundantly. He thought to himself, what should I do, for I have no place to store my crops? Then he said , I will do this; I will pull down my barns and build larger ones and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years, relax, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, you fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be? 

It is unbelievable how many people put off accepting Jesus as their savior, with the idea that there will be time in the future. There are too many things going on right now, is the most common excuse. 

If you think that way, you may get an ugly surprise. It is too late when the spring stops. Imagine being in a room with a time bomb. You know the bomb is there, but you do not know what time it is set for. You're having a great time in that room with all your friends. Suddenly a voice on a loudspeaker says, if you leave the room now you will have even better times. What would you do?

Jesus is waiting for you!!!  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

Let It Shine

Matthew 5:14-16, You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.

Are you a collector of things? Is there anything in your collection that you are proud of, and take especially good care of? If you have an especially beautiful item, do you hide it, or do you show it off to others? How much attention do you give to your prized possessions?

This was obviously a set up. If you are a real Christian, are you proud of it, or do you hide it? Do you share it in a way that tells everyone you meet, that Jesus is Lord of your life?

You may have many reasons in your own mind, why you hesitate to tell others about Jesus. As the old saying goes, talk is cheap, or actions speak louder than words. In the beginning, most of us didn't know what to do. Our Heavenly father knew that, so He gave us the Holy Spirit when we repented and accepted Jesus as our Savior.

When we received the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit told us what to do in Galatians 5:22-23. Just as a refresher the verses go like this. 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.

Besides the promise of this Holy Spirit, Jesus also promised that the Holy Spirit would be a helper to us in order that we may do the things we are supposed to do. This is especially true of all the gifts I just mentioned in this verse. 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

Whose Will

2 Timothy 3:16-17, All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

It is human nature to plan, to make decisions, and to think that we are in control. It's also human nature to call out to God when we are in deep trouble and cannot figure a way out. It is also common for most people to make the same mistakes over and over.

Proverbs 19:21, The human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established.

This is the answer straight from God Himself. So what do we do to get in line with God's plan? We find out how God wants us to live, by reading His Word, and living according to it.

First we must know who God is. We must know who Jesus and the Holy Spirit are. We find all of this in God's word, the Bible.

Romans 10:9, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

When we get to this point, we are saved. So how do we know we are on the right track? 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,and Galatians 5:22-25, tell you what to use as a guide, and certainly what you need to avoid.

If you turn your will over to God, and commit everything you do to Him, you will be blessed beyond measure.

John 15:17, If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

As you might expect there are certain conditions for you getting prayers answered besides just  believing. You must wait on the timing of God in order for your answer to come to you. You cannot rush it. God is never early, and He is never late. God controls the universe, surely He can handle your life.  Pray, sit back, and watch God work. Just in case  you don't have the time to look up the verses I mentioned, I will give them to you right now.

2 Corinthians 5:17, So if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; everything old has passed away; everything has become new!

1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived!  Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers-none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:22-25, The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control there is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the spirit, let us also be guided by the spirit.

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

Jesus Died For You

Romans 5:8, But God proves His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. 

Most of us have heard the story about how Jesus died for us. We have seen movies and artists' pictures of the crucifixion of Jesus. Many people see these and dismiss it as no big deal. Some of us actually believe that if He was the Son of God, He didn't feel any pain. Really?

Isaiah 52: 14,  just as there were many who were astonished at Him- so marred was His appearance beyond semblance, and His form beyond that of mortals. 

Isaiah gives us a brief description of how Jesus looked. It was nothing like the clinical idea we get from watching movies and seeing artists' renditions. Was he exaggerating? Let's look at some facts to help us decide.

The Roman army in Israel was composed of the scum of the Roman army. They were a mob of sociopaths. They were serving punishment duty, and were angry beyond measure. They had to take it out on somebody, and Jesus was available in Jerusalem.

The Romans were very good at inflicting as much pain and humiliation on the condemned man, for as long as possible. They loved to drag out the suffering for their pleasure.

The Romans abused Jesus in every horrible way you can possibly imagine. They even invented some new excruciating methods for torture and humiliation. We cannot think of anything they didn't do to Jesus, and that is not an exaggeration.

Luke 23:34, Then Jesus said, father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

How does that compare to our modern fragile feelings about being hurt at the drop of a hat?

Jesus died not just for the sins of those in Jerusalem, but for all sins for everyone, past, present, and future. That does include us. If God loved us so much, doesn't it seem right to love Him back? Do yourself a favor and think real hard about the description I gave you. It is a fact, not like the Hollywood version of what actually happened. 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

It Is Time

1 Corinthians 2:14, But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

When we look around in this world, common sense should tell us that something is dreadfully wrong. Most of us do not realize that the problem is caused by spiritual forces at work. Namely satan himself.

Make no mistake my friend, there is the war of all wars going on right now in this world. It is a war not fought for land or money. It is a war fought for our souls. This is no exaggeration. God and satan are locked in the ultimate battle with the highest stakes ever.

Whose side you are on, is your choice. You have free will to choose God over satan. Choosing God however is definitely not the “Woke” thing, but it is the right thing.

Think about when you were a child. You probably learned right from wrong from your parents. You found out laws are made to keep you out of trouble, if you follow them. Guess what, the Bible is God's instructions to us.

1 Corinthians 15:33.-14, Do not be deceived, evil company corrupts good habits. Awake to righteousness, and do not sin, for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.

If we follow the crowd, we will eventually reap the same reward that they get. Remember these important truths. God never did, and never will send anybody to hell; WE make that choice.

We all know that death is waiting for each of us, we just don't know when. The fact is that eternity waits for each of us.  We don't know when, or where we will end up if we don't accept Jesus as our Savior.

When the time comes, it will be too late to decide. Reality is, we don't have any idea which breath will be our last. Five seconds from now might be too late. Here are some verses to think about.

Mark 4:12, Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn in their sins be forgiven them.

Romans 11:8, God has given them a spirit of stupor, I said they should not see and ears that they should not here, to this very day.

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

Can God Do It

Luke 1:37, For nothing will be impossible with God.

How many times have you heard someone mention something in the Bible, like Lazarus being raised from the dead, and hearing them say how ridiculous it is?

People in the sciences talk against Creation, the parting of the sea in Exodus, and literally hundreds of miracles, that man cannot imagine as possible, let alone do.

Faith sees through spiritual eyes. If you manufacture a god, it might as well be stone or wood, if that God has no power greater than man's power. In order for a God to be real, and worthy to be worshiped, that God should be able to do anything that is in the Bible and more.

If you look at the human body and its trillions of cells all working together to produce what we call Life, how can that be an accident?  Man cannot create even one new cell so how can man be an accident, or just some dust that landed in the right place? Can any object make itself from nothing?

God cannot be limited by what man can do. If God could do no more than man, we would all be gods. Someday even the biggest atheist will bend his knee in recognition of almighty God. God the almighty creator of all that is or will be is a fact. 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 see only you. 

Praise The Lord!

Amen