Something to Think About

This It Is Written,   Ezekiel 36:27,  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes,  and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Thomas Paine was an author and political activist during the American Revolution.  His books and other writings were very popular, and he was quoted often.  One of my favorites is  "the harder the struggle, the greater the triumph" and, "what we receive cheaply, we value lightly".
This bit of wisdom applies to the majority of believers.  Take the first part for instance.  We go through life battling satan.  He tries to put all sorts of thoughts in our heads.  Negative thoughts about God, and negative, condemning thoughts about ourselves.  We are bombarded by things of the world.  Even family and friends are used against us.
Jesus died a horrible death to make salvation available to us.  We were forgiven of our sins,  we were healed of all our physical and spiritual  infirmities.  He took the punishment for all of our sins.  All we had to do was except Him and what He did in our hearts,  recognize Him as our Savior, and ask forgiveness.  Pretty cheap price for us, but an unimaginably high price for Jesus.  Jesus did triumph over satan and death for us.
To make a long story short, Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to help us win the battle for eternity with Him.  He gave us the word to guide us, and to give us an idea of what Jesus did for us,  so we don't take lightly all of the blessings and sacrifices Jesus made.
We would do well to thank God every day, and realize what Jesus gave us, because it is the only priceless thing that ever was.  Have a blessed day. Praise the Lord!
Written by the inspiration of 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.
Thank You Lord
Amen

How to Love Your Neighbor

It Is Written, 1 Timothy 1:5, now the purpose of Jesus commandment (Romans 13:8-10) is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.

It Is Written, 1 John 3:18, my little children,  let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
When you hear about loving your fellow man, most people feel that it is too hard to do. The reasons most people feel that way is, they associate love with romantic love, or love for their children.
The Hebrew and Greek biblical definitions for love include, compassion, pity, benevolence, kindness.  These definitions are more than likely what the early church understood about loving others.
Most of us don't realize how many times in a day, or week, we show this type of love to others.  If we use these definitions for love, and pay attention to the people we deal with, we'll see how much love is shown to us.
Be kind, thoughtful, helpful, compassionate, giving, in your everyday life, and you will be much happier.  A happier person attracts love.  When Jesus said we are to love our enemies, I think He was expecting His listeners to show this kind of love to even those we don't especially care for.
 When it comes to loving your neighbor, it was commanded by Jesus, and He expects us to show that love to everyone we meet.  I'm sure He realizes we may fall off the track, and He forgives us, but we must get right back to loving as we are told.  Have a blessed day.  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.
Thank You Lord
Amen

Hope Is a Positive Thing

It Is Written, Titus 1:2,  in hope of eternal life which God,  who cannot lie, promised before time began.
If the average person read this verse, it would probably not seem very comforting.  Hope as the dictionary and the world define it,  means maybe something will happen.  The dictionary of Bible words however describes hope as waiting to happen,  trusting, and expecting to happen.  This is a very different picture from what we have been brought up with.
In everyday life we are accustomed to instant everything.  When that is the case, waiting becomes difficult.  Another biblical definition of hope is being patient.  Patients by the way, builds faith.
As we know by now, God does not play by our rules, we must play by His. In order to take full advantage of all His promises, we must know what the rules are.
Everything in life comes with instructions for success.  We all know how that goes.  God's instruction book is the Bible.  He spells out everything for total success.  Since He cannot lie, and He loves us, it is worth the effort it takes to learn His rules.  When you do, you realize that hope is in fact God's guarantee.
So my friends, is easy to see that if you view hope the way God does, your prayers become positive, and will yield what you pray for.  Faith and hope, are twins as far as I can tell.  Have a blessed day.  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.
Thank You Lord
 Amen

Dreams Can Hurt

It Is Written, Proverbs 5:21,  for the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,  and He ponders all his paths.
In ancient times, people believed strongly in dreams and visions. They guided their lives by dreams.  The Bible is full of stories about famous people and how dreams and visions influenced history in many cases.
Today most of us scoff at the dreams we have when we sleep.  Dreams have a tendency to be nonsense.  Bits of this and that, that make you ask, what was that all about?
Since almost no one pays any attention to dreams that make no sense, man found something to take their place.  We make plans to make things happen that make us happy.  They are in fact called dreams.  These dreams we tried to follow sometimes even obsessing about them.  As a matter of fact we can get so wrapped up in our dreams, that they end up destroying our families and our lives.  The reason is, we don't  know what is best for us, and many times we head off in the wrong direction.
Rejoice!  There is an answer.  Let your life be guided by God.  Ask Him for His plan for your life.   He sees it all, we don't.  He has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us in that plan.  How many times have you felt like something inside of you told you to do something?  Well my friends, that was the Holy Spirit trying to guide you on the right path.  I have found out the hard way in my life, that when I make plans, they end up being disastrous.  When I didn't listen to that little voice, again disastrous.
Sometimes it is hard for us, to forget our plans and dreams, and to count on God.  The only thing I can tell you from personal experience, is that every time I counted on God instead of myself, I was blessed beyond anything I expected.  At this point in my life, I can honestly tell you, for me it is a no-brainer to trust God.
We all have a free will, so trusting God is a choice.   Once you tell God that you want to follow His plan, there is nothing stopping you from going back to your plan. Although I think it would be unwise to do so. That option is yours.  If you follow God's plan, and give it an honest chance, I think you will stick with it.  Have a blessed day. Praise 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.
Thank You Lord
 Amen

Convicted Verses Condemned

It Is Written, Luke 6:36,  therefore be merciful just as your Father also is merciful.
Many people are under the impression that convicted is the same as condemned.  In the dictionary of Bible words, convict means to admonish, and condemn means to punish.
When the Holy Spirit convicts you of a sin,  He is doing you a big favor.  He is pointing out something you should repent for.  If not for the Holy Spirit doing that,  we would probably live in sin.
The 10 Commandments did the same thing.  Until the Commandments came along, each man lived as his heart dictated.  As we all know, the heart can get pretty ugly.  Now they were given a set of laws to judge their behavior.
When Jesus died on the cross, he forgave everyone, and freed them from condemnation.  Even though Jesus took away the punishment we all deserve, many people would not accept what Jesus did, and refused to repent, or accept Jesus as their Savior.  They in effect condemned themselves.
If the Holy Spirit brings up a sin, He is helping you to get right with God.  He is not condemning you, so don't condemn yourself.  Have a blessed day. 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.
Thank You Lord
Amen

God Is a Spirit

It Is Written,  John 4:24,  God is a spirit,  and those who worship Him,  must worship in spirit and truth.
What does that mean?  Is it hard to do?  These questions have been asked for years.  The answer is not complicated.
If you read God's Word, you have no doubt figured out that God frowns on insincere sacrifices and prayer.  Cain's sacrifice was an example of an insincere offering.  Jesus talks about the rambling prayers of heathens.
In order for God to hear your prayers, they must come from your spirit.  It stands to reason that flesh talks to the flesh,  and spirit to spirit.
Okay, but how do you do that?  When you speak from your spirit (heart) you must speak with no hindrances such as unforgiveness,  lack of love for others, and so on.  With a clean heart, speak the truth in love for God.  God must be in your heart, not your cares and plans and whatever.  It is best to have total concentration in the conversation you are having with God.
Recently I read a book written by an old-time preacher that said he believes satan is not compelled to listen to us if we try to cast him out,  without being united in spirit with God.  I guess he doesn't listen to words that are just talk either.
So what it all boils down to, is that when you pray to God,  if you do it with all your heart, you are talking to him through your spirit.  Have a blessed day. 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, by your death and resurrection you brought me salvation.  Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.
Thank You Lord
 Amen

Seed of Faith

It Is Written, Jude 1:20,  but you,  beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.
It is pretty common for many Christians to feel like they don't have as much faith as someone else.  Some feel they need or want more faith, so they pray about it.
The reality of faith is this.  God puts the seed of faith in each person's heart to begin with.  Just as apple seeds are alike,  so are seeds of faith.
The heart of a man is the soil.  Luke 8:11 says the Word is the seed.  It is up to each of us to give that seed nourishment in order for it to grow. Studying the Word enriches that soil.  The water for that seed is love and forgiveness to our fellow man.  The light is Jesus, and the knowledge of Him and what He did for us.  Following God's perfect plan for us, makes it grow to whatever level we are led to take it to.
Man in his nature, no matter who he is, knows deep down inside, the existence of God.  It is up to each of us to recognize and follow what our heart tells us.  Salvation is the fruit and gift of God to those who will accept it.  Have a blessed day.  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.
Thank You Lord
Amen