Being A Lazy Christian

 

Genesis 2:15, then the Lord took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

If you are like me, you have had some occasions when you were feeling like you were not a very good Christian. You probably felt condemned and useless, and we’re convinced there’s no way God could use you.

One day I felt like I got an answer in my heart. satan didn’t have to condemn me; I was doing it to myself. I was listening to his lies about my faith. He was telling me that I didn’t measure up to what a real Christian is. He was telling me that whatever I did, really didn’t matter much, I was just wasting my time.

I discovered the truth later, and it really hit me. satan was the one causing my lazy streak to exercise Itself by planting all that negativity. He knows that if we get a little lazy about our faith, he has a chance to bring us down the rest of the way. I speak from experience. Remember, as I did finally, he can only do what you allow him to do.

Hebrews 6:11-12, and we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

James 2:26, for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

I believe one of the favorite tools in satan’s toolbox is to plant doubt about prayers that have not manifested yet. Once he can convince you that your prayers are not being answered, he invites you to a pity party with you as the guest of honor. Of course, while all this is going on you get even lazier about your faith and sink deeper. I have been there. Praise the Lord, and the Holy Spirit. They told me to read the word. It seems that as soon as I opened that precious book, peace came over me like an impenetrable blanket. Nothing could touch me except the word of God.

I was reminded of a couple of things. God does not see things the way we do. He sees our hearts and forgives. The other thing is, God says we are not to judge anyone not even ourselves. We are to do what we know to be right and leave the results to Him.

Now anytime I feel any negativity I pick up the word and soak in the peace. If you have trouble rebuking satan, remember this, just read the word. He will run in Terror. Peace comes through knowing our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer Of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed, and your blood washed away my sins. Your death and resurrection made my salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. 

Amen! 

Praise The Lord!

My Time With Jesus Tuesday

God Loves Givers

Luke 6:38, give, and it will be given to you; good measure, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

Whenever tithing is mentioned to a group of people, the usual reaction is deafening silence. Tithing can be contributions to the church, or I believe to charities. The Bible says we are to help the less fortunate. The Lord said that if you turn your head from someone in need, you’re hurting yourself. I heard for years that all we have belongs to the Lord and we are to use some of it to do His work. It is written, to whom much is given, much is required.

There are several problems associated with giving. Some people feel that by giving some of what they have they are giving up control or putting themselves in a weakened position. Another problem people mention often is that we are so inundated with requests from charities that it makes our heads spin. It doesn’t help the fact that there are many so-called charities that are nothing but scams.

The first thing any Christian must do, is to believe what the Bible says.

2 Corinthians 9:7, so let each one give as he proposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful Giver.

2 Corinthians 9: 6, but this I say; he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

I can say absolutely and positively that what the Bible says about giving is true. I was skeptical at first, but when I started to follow what the Bible says I guess I was pleasantly surprised the way things turned out in my life.

 Some people may call it a coincidence, but it seemed that all of a sudden I had fewer expenses, Our money seemed to go further. Blessings came out of what some people call nowhere, but they were from God himself. I won’t kid you, it took time to muster up the courage to follow what the Bible says, but the results were undeniable.

It may help you if I tell you some of the things I did to reassure myself that I was giving to the right people. There is a website called Charity Navigator. It tells you how a charity uses the money that they collect. You just identify the charity, and you get the results. You get mail solicitations, and you may see people on the street begging, what do you do. The first thing I do is check out the charity. You can tell quick if your money is going to do any good. Another thing I do is ask the Holy Spirit if I should give to whoever or whatever. Then I wait and follow what is in my heart.

If you’re the kind of person that is concerned about anything being a scam, and you still gave, don’t worry about it. The Lord knows your heart and He will count it for your good.

 As with anything else, always check with the Lord.  A five minute conversation with God Almighty and the Holy Spirit will give you the answer. God bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed, and your blood washed away my sins. Your death and resurrection made my salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. 

Amen! 

Praise The Lord!

God's Promises Sunday

Look To Jesus

Hebrews 4:16, Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find Grace to help in time of need.

When you look at your mail, watch TV, or listen to the radio on the way to work you probably realize that we are being bombarded with all kinds of commercials or junk mail. Commercials are telling you about all types of miracle solutions to problems you didn’t even know you had. Kind of reminds me of a story about the old days with snake oil peddlers.

The advertisers get paid to prey on people’s problems. If no problem exists, they will create one in your mind. One product will take care of a memory problem you didn’t even know you had until they told you that you had one. Improve your eyesight, sleep better, cure all your ailments, Etc. One of the favorite targets is people who are overweight. There are a number of companies pedaling what sounds like a magic bullet. They claim that if you take their pills you can lose as much weight as you want without changing any bit of your lifestyle.

The only thing that gets better is a company’s bottom line. A few people do get better in their own minds, because they believe the product works, and that eliminates the fear that caused the problem in the first place.

1 Peter 5:7, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Well, my friends, I am here to tell you about a real cure for any problem you have. It won’t even cost you a penny. That solution is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You see, God created you absolutely perfect in every way. Things started happening when satan messed everything up when he caused Adam and Eve to sin.

As you can imagine God was not very happy where that left man, so He sent His only Son to make everything right again. Jesus paid a heavy price to redeem us. He suffered, died and rose again in order to make us right with God.

The sad part is that many of us don’t realize what that meant to us. Through Jesus suffering and death, we again became what God created us to be. However, satan is still operating in this world. He’s still trying to sell you things he says will solve all your problems. The cost for what he is selling is eternal damnation.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the other hand, will take care of all your problems. The cost? Believe and trust in Him. Besides receiving all He has for you, He also included eternal life. The Lord Jesus Christ is the real deal. Don’t fall for a cheap imitation. It is your choice, how you live and where you spend eternity. God bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed, and your blood washed away my sins. Your death and resurrection made my salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. 

Amen! 

Praise The Lord!

Do Not Be Deceived

Galatians 6:7-8, do not be deceived, God is Not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

When we were conceived in the mind of our creator, He had a plan for our good. At the same time, He did not want robots who were forced to love and obey Him.

God’s master plan gave each person free will. Free Will gives us the choice of who we will serve and who we will obey. We must make choices.

Either we do everything God’s way, or our way. Whichever way we choose to go there are consequences. If we make bad choices, we will have bad results. Godly choices have good results.

1 John 1:15, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

If we go through life just satisfying our physical feelings, we are headed for disaster. If we choose to ignore the fact that our decisions cause the circumstances, we will never be better off than we are at the time.

When the Lord was consulted first in the Old Testament, Israelites prospered in war and peace. When they didn’t, they suffered loss. The whole point of this, is that God wants us back to Him for eternity. It does not matter how smart or hard-working you are, you cannot do it without Him.

Before you do anything, and I mean anything, talk to your Heavenly Father about which way to go, and wait for an answer. The time you spend waiting will be much shorter than having to do something and then go back and redo it because it didn’t work out. I speak from experience, because I learned the hard way. God bless you and your family. 

Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed, and your blood washed away my sins. Your death and resurrection made by salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. 

Amen!

Praise The Lord!

My Time With Jesus Tuesday

Be Your Best

Jeremiah 29: 11, for I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

The commercial for the Army says that you can be all you can be. The funny thing is, they pretty much stole that line from God. Before you were born, God had a plan for you. That plan was developed by a living God.

When we are born, we really don’t know what God’s plan is for our lives. Many of us don’t even know that God has a plan. As we go through life, starting out as babies, we have experiences that guide us along a path. If we are fortunate, we have parents that can guide us toward the Lord.

As we get older satan steps in and tries to get us going in the wrong direction. He tries to make it seem that there is absolutely nothing wrong with where he is steering us and tells us that everyone does it.

With all of this going on, there’s usually some little voice or sign along the way that is trying to get us in the right direction. Our conscience, and in most cases, it is the Holy Spirit trying to get us to follow God’s plan. One way or another, everyone is acquainted at some point with God. Whether it is someone you know, or just looking at nature, you come to realize there is a creator.

 Proverbs 16: 9, a man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

 Proverbs 19: 21 there are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless the Lord’s counsel-that will stand.

 If you listen to the hints that the Holy Spirit gives you and ignore the things you know are not right that you get from satan, you are starting to get onto the right path. The Lord would put people and circumstances in your life that will guide you if you pay attention and take advantage of it. He also puts things in your heart and at some point, He may allow a spiritual 2x4 hit you between the eyes to wake you up.

As you grow, you’ll find your life slowly changing for the better. The more you become aware of God, the faster it will go. You could be in a situation you are not happy with, but if you do your best and make the Lord part of your life the situation can change. You can believe that change will be for the better. Your situation will probably improve in steps, as you prepare to take them from satan as he tries to discourage you. Just realize he does this because he is desperate. The more you believe in the Lord and put your cares in his hands, the more satan will attack you. That is when you know you are going in the right direction. God never gives you more than you can handle. as he moves you forward at the level you are capable of.

 When you get to the point where you seek the kingdom above all else, you’ll find that nothing is impossible with the Lord. He will get you to where your life will be fulfilling.  He will get you to the plan that God had for you, if you just follow your heart, and that little voice from the Holy Spirit. Remember one other thing. If at any time in your life you hear a little voice that does not line up with the word of God, it cannot be from God. God bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed and your blood washed away my sins. Your death and resurrection made my salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. Amen! 

Praise The Lord

God's Promises Sunday

Because I Can 

Psalm 118:24, This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. 

Today I heard what could be called an innocent remark that really caught my attention. That comment was “it is a shame Christmas is in the middle of the work week”. 

That statement probably reflects the opinion of most people. In a way I sympathize with them, Because at one time I felt that way when I had a regular job.  When we look at what Christmas represents, and not the way the world is picturing it, our attitude about its timing becomes a little different. 

Colossians 3: 23, and whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men. 

Every day is a gift from the Lord. We are here to love and serve Him. Almighty God did not consider if the day He sent the Lord Jesus Christ was convenient to those He came to save. 

The purpose of each day is to get closer to God, by growing your faith. Almighty God will guide us, but we must take a step each day as we are led by the Holy Spirit. It is up to us whether we use it or waste it. 

Proverbs 22: 6, train a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it. 

If you have a job, you cannot hold it very long, if you do it by how you feel, or if it is convenient. Almighty God has a plan for each of us. The goal is eternity with Him. Give Him 100% every day. God bless you and your family.  

Praise The Lord! 

Remember Jesus loves you. 

Prayer of Salvation. 

My Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed, your blood washed away my sins. Your death and resurrection made my salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. Amen!  

Praise The Lord! 

Break That Dam

2 Corinthians 5:7, for we walk by faith, not by sight.

Hebrews 11:1 now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Matthew 17:20, so Jesus said to them, because of your unbelief, for assuredly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

So, what does all this mean? The answer is simple, but it is hard. In my own opinion, I believe this can best be explained by using  the word visualization. 

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ spoke the answer and not the problem. He knew when He commanded something to happen it was as good as done. The Bible contains many verses such as the ones above that tell you that if you trust His word and believe you can visualize the answer to the problem.

The process can be kind of simple. Here is an example. Take a problem and picture a huge damn built by satan right in front of you. This dam is there to block your answer to prayer. Picture your faith is being the water behind a dam.

As you feed your faith and it grows, it is like the water behind a damn rising. As water rises, it is just like your faith rising. It puts more and more pressure on the dam. Before you know it, a crack appears, and water starts to flow. More pressure, more flow. At some point that Damn will burst and disappear. The obstacle has been destroyed.

Whether it’s the mountain that Jesus spoke of, or some other problem in your life such as possibly a health issue, or a financial issue, believing the word of God will get you to where you want to go. It will take some effort at first to believe, but you must continue to believe no matter what your physical eyes see. Everything happens in the spiritual world and eventually manifests itself in the physical world.

Nothing is impossible for God. You expect the sun to come up in the morning, you can also expect your prayer to be answered. You are saved by faith in the word of Jesus Christ, faith in His answering your prayer is just as simple. Just trust and don’t confuse yourself by looking for reasons or ways for something to happen. God bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed and your blood washed away my sins. Your death and Resurrection made my Salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. Amen! 

Praise The Lord! 

My Time With Jesus Tuesday

A Compassionate Heart

Colossians 3:12, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering.

When you read the Bible, you see one of the most important things Jesus did while He was on the Earth. It also gives you a reason why He came to this earth. It all started with compassion. Compassion is basically having pity or feeling sorry for someone, usually in a situation it seems hard to deal with.

God’s love for us, which includes His compassion, is what caused Jesus to come to the Earth and give Himself for us. Just as an example of what compassion is, think about someone you love, and how you feel when they are sick or hurt. You would do anything you could for them, because you feel their pain in your heart. So much more, God has compassion for His creation.

Mark 6: 34, and Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So, He began to teach them many things.

Jesus Christ Our Lord came to this Earth as a man, so that He could experience all the trials and tribulations faced by humans. I’m sure He already knew, but He experienced what being tempted by the devil was like. He also saw the afflictions that the devil put on people. Those afflictions were spiritual as well as physical.

Jesus came and talked to people about trusting in God. Because of His great love for people and the fact that God gave these people to Him, He felt great sympathy for those that were afflicted. He not only preached the kingdom of God He restored physical health, and cast out demons.

People that were suffering from evil spirits, and physical affliction caused by satan, or feelings of despair, were healed by Jesus love and compassion. He showed us the way. There are many times in our daily lives that we can show love and compassion to someone less fortunate than ourselves.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of All Comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves our comforted by God.

A suggestion. Check out the concordance in a Bible for the word compassion. Read the verses that are listed. Try every day to work on compassion for others. It is not going to happen overnight, and it will never be perfect, but every little bit helps. Praise The Lord!  When you start to experience compassion in your heart, you will notice great peace in your heart. God bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed and your blood washed away all my sins. Your death and Resurrection made my Salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. Amen! 

Praise The Lord!

God's Promises Sunday

A Proud Heart

Proverbs 26:10, do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Our topic today concerns one of the things that a lot of us are not even aware of. It is one of those things that are so common that we don’t realize the full impact of what it is. It’s easy to see when someone is prideful, boastful, or arrogant. But what is a proud heart?

If you do some searching, you will find that unbelief is actually a form of pride. Did you ever think that when your unbelief comes into the picture, you’re telling God that your opinion is better. That’s a pretty shocking statement I know, but I believe it is true. Unbelief is doubting what God says; therefore it has to be our prideful attitude that keeps us from believing.

A lot of us fail to realize just how prideful we can be. Whenever we look at someone else, and make a comment to ourselves, I wouldn’t do that, we are being prideful. We are judging someone else, by our standards of behavior. We are saying that we know better than most people.

Proverbs 16:5, Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; though they joined forces, none will go unpunished.

Proverbs 16:18, Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

If we see someone struggling with a problem, it is easy for us to look at them and criticize. We think we have all the answers, and those answers are correct. Without realizing it, we are saying the other person is just weak, or is not very smart. It sounds terrible, and it is, but that does not take away from the fact that it is prideful.

We need to realize that God made everyone the way they are, and He is guiding their steps. When we criticize the other person, we are in effect saying that God is wrong, and we are right. It is no wonder that the Lord looks harshly at pride.

What I have come to find out is something I have not realized that I was doing. I really must pay attention to the things I say and think. We are made righteous by God, and that is because of what Jesus Christ did. Any righteousness we feel on our own is just Pride.

 The big thing to remember is what I have realized. Whenever you criticize or judge someone else, you are basically saying that God made a mistake, and your opinion is correct. Think about that, I did, and I do. Just keep reminding yourself until it becomes a part of the way you are at all times. God bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed and your blood washed away all my sins. Your death and Resurrection made my salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. Amen! 

Praise The Lord!

Thanking God

Ephesians 5: 20, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 Many people, including this writer, has times when it is difficult to be truly thankful. It is a much bigger problem when it comes to thanking Almighty God.

Thanking God is difficult because He is not physically present in our lives. He created and owns everything, including us. What is a worthy gift of thanks?

Psalm 103:1, Bless the Lord, o my soul; and all that is within me, bless His Holy name!

Psalm 100:4, enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with Praise. Be thankful to Him and Bless His name.

These verses give us an idea, but how do we apply what they say?  On further thought the following came to me, I believe from the Holy Spirit.

Thanking God is a heart thing. When we realize all of the blessings and miracles we have received, it touches our hearts, knowing these blessings were a gift to us, even when we didn’t deserve or ask for them.

Since it is a heart thing, it is spiritual. We have the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and since He is our helper, we can ask Him to use our spirit to present acceptable things to our Heavenly Father.

We can also commit ourselves, and those we are spiritually responsible for, to do the plan and will of our Heavenly father.

To help us to remember our thanks and commitment, take the first few minutes of your day and offer the day to the Lord. Before you sleep, thank and Praise the Lord for the day.

By committing ourselves and our day to the service of Almighty God we are on the right track. Don’t be discouraged if you have trouble following what you think is God’s will for you. He will redirect your path to what is best for you. Trusting Him in all things is the greatest Praise and thanksgiving you can give Him. God Bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed, and your blood washed away my sins. Your death and resurrection made my salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. Amen! 

Praise The Lord!

My Time With Jesus Tuesday

Understanding Jesus Love

Romans 5:8, but God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

If you are wondering about how to find or understand about Jesus’ love for you, or why you should love Him, it is not that difficult. Most Bibles have a concordance in the back of the Bible.

A concordance lists the subject and tells you where all the verses are in the Bible connected with that subject. The best thing to do is to take a word in concordance and make up your mind to look up at least one verse every day. When you look up that verse write it down, say it out loud, then meditate on it for 15 or 20 minutes.

When you put in words like Jesus, love, you will have quite a list of verses to look at. If you make it a regular habit, and meditate on it at least one verse a day, you will soon find yourself remembering verses, and a picture will start to form in your mind.

Then start to read the Bible, one chapter at a time, and highlight the verses that kind of strike you. When you finish the chapter start meditating on the verses that popped out at you. They don’t all have to be in one day, just take one or two a day like you did before.

As you are reading the word, and doing your meditations, you’ll find yourself slowly developing a relationship with Jesus. Your faith will increase as you read His words and understand what they mean. It seems when you make an honest effort to understand the word, the Holy Spirit comes into the picture and speaks to your heart.

As you accept Jesus as your savior, you will find yourself doing and saying things that you have never done before. As time goes on you will find your faith has reached the point where you are so excited that you want to tell everybody.

This whole approach may seem awful simplistic, but it works if you are sincere. Just get it out of your head that the Bible is hard to understand. Get a good study Bible, and the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth to you, and you will understand. God bless you and your family. 

Praise The Lord!

TiTus 3:4-5, but when the kindness and the love of God our savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his Mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed and by your blood my sins were washed away. By your death and resurrection, you made my salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. Amen! 

Praise The Lord!