God’s Light

From the beginning of time God showed forth his light. After creating the heavens and the earth and seeing it was formless and empty with darkness covering the face of it and His spirit hovering over the waters, God made light. God said let there be light and there was light. God saw that the light was good so He separated the light from the darkness.

Did you ever think that God has never existed in the shadows of darkness? God has never walked into a dark place. Because God is light, everywhere He goes His glory drives away the darkness.

Did you ever meditate on what sunlight does and what it would be like without it? Without sunlight I don’t think anything could exist.

Think about how you feel on a dark, cloudy, gloomy day compared to a bright sunny day. I think some of the reason many people get depressed in the winter months, especially in the northern part of the world, has a lot to do with a lack of sunlight. Without sunlight everything would die and be nonexistent.

God not only provided the sun for light in the daytime but He also provided the moon to light our path at night. Light is very important to mankind and the Lord provided it for us to enjoy.

But God did not stop there He provided His Son, Jesus, who would bring spiritual light into the world because Jesus was the light. The Word says in John 1: verses 6 – 9, "There came a man who was sent from God, his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light, he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world." (NIV Bible). John gave testimony about Jesus’ being and bringing spiritual light and life into the world.

John 1:4,5 says, "In Him was life and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not understood it." Before salvation men are spiritually blind, walking in spiritual darkness.

Read what it says about this in Matthew 4:12-16, "When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles — the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." This was a prophecy from the Old Testament about Jesus being the light.

Without the Spirit of God dwelling in a person he is spiritually blind. Jesus came to set the captive free, praise God, to bring people from spiritual darkness into spiritual light. Did you ever hear the saying "blind leading the blind?" It’s true if a person tries to accomplish the will of God without the Spirit of God living within them. The things of God are spiritually discerned so without being born-again you cannot understand spiritual things.

When God draws a person to Jesus and the Spirit convicts that person of sin, and if the person repents and confesses their sin, God forgives them and they are covered with the blood of Jesus. Then Jesus comes into that person’s life in the form of the Holy Spirit and that person is born-again. The person’s body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit, praise God. The veil has been removed from their eyes then they see through spiritual eyes and they receive spiritual understanding. This is what you might call bringing someone from spiritual blindness into God’s marvelous light.

I want to touch on one more light source, it is found in Revelations 21:22-23 it says, " I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or moon to shine on it for there will be no night there." Verse 25 says, "On no day will its gates ever be shut for there will be no night there." God’s glory will light up the new Jerusalem someday, that is an amazing truth for us to think about.

If God’s light shines that bright, what about you, are you letting your light shine in this dark, sinful and dying world? In Matthew 5:16 it says, "In the same way let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven."

Question: Are you letting your light shine or are you hiding your light under a bushel? The world is watching you, what are you showing them? Are you a living testimony that God can be pleased with, or are you a chameleon changing with every circumstance and situation? You are the Lord’s hands and feet and mouth to glorify God, are you? I hope you are, if not, repent and change your ways and ask the Lord to forgive you and to help you glorify Him. This is God’s purpose for your life. Think about it and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord. God Bless you and have a great day.

Concerned

Question:  What are you concerned about?  I am asking believers this question.

Can you be a Christian and not have compassion and mercy for the lost?

It seems to me either you can’t be a believer or many in the church are hypocrites.  Let me make this clear, there are no Christian hypocrites in the church, there may be some that act like hypocrites but according to the dictionary a hypocrite is a pretender or an actor.  

Think about this, if every person that is in the church won one soul to the Lord the churches couldn’t hold them all!  Either there are many non-believers in the church or there are many believers that have no concern for the lost.

Think about your own experience with the Lord, how many souls have you personally won to the Lord with God’s help?  Do you seek opportunities to share your faith with others or have you bought into the lie that says you shouldn’t talk about politics or religion.  I heard that statement a while ago from one of my sisters and it bothered me for quite sometime.  That is the world talking trying to keep everyone in the dark on both subjects.

Jesus, when he told the disciples to tarry in Jerusalem, spoke about John baptizing with water but said they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence.  Then in Acts 1:8 Jesus said to them, “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be my witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”  This tells me that if you are a Christian, and not a pretender, then you have the Holy Spirit in you and you should have a concern for the lost.

I thank and praise the Lord that He has used me many times over the years to witness and to share the greatest story and blessings that have ever taken place in human history.  I admit that it seemed easier years ago to share than it is now but I still try.  I think that some of the problem is that as the years go by we tend to lose some of our excitement and joy.  We let circumstances and situations cloud our view then we start focusing on ourselves and our problems that we become so concerned with ‘us’ we can’ t be concerned with anyone else.  

If you always look at the clouds in your life, you may miss all the rainbows.  If you focus on the circumstances, situations and hurts in your life you will be totally consumed with yourself and no one else.  You will more than likely be angry and bitter and even become mad at God for what you are going through.

Think of Jonah, who is a prophet of God, as he was in the big fish’s belly he cries out to the Lord.  Jonah said in Jonah 2: verse 7, “When my life was ebbing away I remembered you Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.” In doing this Jonah was seeking God’s compassion and forgiveness.  Jonah’s problem was he wanted God’s compassion, love and deliverance but he had no concern for the Assyrians because they were Gentiles.  

You may not have realized it but God’s mercy and grace and His great compassion was extended to the Gentiles in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament showing that God loves everyone.  He is not willing that any be lost but all come to repentance.  

This is the reason Jonah was running from God it is recorded in Jonah 4:1-3,

“But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.  He prayed to the LORD, “O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home?  That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish.  I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.  Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

What is wrong with this picture?  Jonah wanted God’s love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness for himself but not for the Ninevehites.  He was so angry he wanted to die!  There may have been up to 120,000 people and Jonah wanted God to destroy them all.  At the end of the chapter we read that Jonah was more concerned about a vine that God allowed to grow up to shade his head then he was for all these people.

What about you, are you concerned about lost people or are other things more important to you?  I think we, like Jonah, wanted God’s mercy, grace, forgiveness and love in our lives and we received it, now we should want to pass it on.  If there is any reason why you aren’t witnessing and sharing what God has done in your life think about what is written here.  Then pray and ask the Lord for a fresh anointing and the power and boldness to be a witness for Him.  This is His will for your life.  Also ask Him for a deep concern and love for the lost, then start sharing what the Lord has done and is doing in your life. Don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord!  God bless you and have a great day.       

Achieving Your Potential

God wants only the very best for you. We know the Word says, "All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

So does this mean we can sit in the corner and everything will work for our good? I think it means if we walk in the Spirit and not gratify the desires of the flesh and we seek God’s Kingdom first, these things will take place. I think on God’s part His intentions are always good for His people but we can hinder God’s work in our lives by the choices we make.

One of the problems I see is that when God blesses us we don’t always see it as blessings. For instance, chastisement, or punishment, may not be seen by us as a good thing or a blessing, but without it we would be rebellious children. I am convinced that everything that happens to a believer is filtered through the hands of God. In other words nothing can happen to a believer that God doesn’t allow.

Think of this, many times we bring things on ourselves that we may blame God for, or we may blame on the evil one. I am not saying God causes everything to happen to us that we see as terrible but He allows them after we have made the choice to cause them. Another thing I am not saying is that the evil one never has a hand in our choices. The evil one can’t make us do anything but he is there to tempt and deceive us and don’t forget he has helpers.

Let me give you an example of what I am saying. Think about Jonah’s situation, he was supposed to go to Nineveh and preach repentance but he chose to go to Tarshish. God, being faithful to His Word, caused Jonah to rethink his decision. If you were to contemplate what took place and you didn’t know the end of the story you would think it was curtains for Jonah.

First there was a great wind and a then a violent storm arose, then Jonah was thrown overboard and the sea grew calm but Jonah was not in the clear yet, he was swallowed by a large fish. Would you say that all was well for Jonah? Not in your natural mind you wouldn’t, if you didn’t know the end of the story. But what God allowed was for Jonah’s good. Without this happening Jonah might have never repented and fulfilled God’s purpose or potential for his life.

We will never achieve our potential in God by our natural way of thinking, we have to think from a biblical and spiritual point of view. Jonah was thinking from his natural mind. Because of Jonah’s experience he repented and started thinking with his spiritual mind. He went and preached to the Ninevites and they repented and were not destroyed. There were more than a hundred and twenty thousand people spared and many cattle as well.

Understand it wasn’t God’s choice that caused Jonah to run from Him, no it was Jonah’s choice. God could have killed Jonah and destroyed Niveveh but His love and mercy prevented Him from doing that. What looked like a terrible thing turned out to be the best thing in this whole situation for Jonah and the Ninevites! At that time Jonah achieved his greatest potential for God. Only when you make the right choices and decisions can you achieve your greatest potential in God. But even if you make a bad choice and sin like Jonah did, God will help you to make the right one.

Maybe God has been dealing with you over something you have done, or are doing right now, don’t run away from God like Jonah did, repent and confess and let God help you to achieve your greatest potential in Him. The Word also says in Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." So let God help you to achieve your greatest potential in Him today and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord. Have a great day and God bless.

Is God Frustrating Your Plans

Question: Will God ever frustrate a believer’s plans? The answer is yes!

Question: Can a Christian become an enemy of God? The answer is yes!

When you become a believer and are born–again, your focus and attention is more than likely on the Savior Jesus Christ. You have become a new creation in Christ. You have been covered by the blood of Jesus, washed and cleansed of your sins and forgiven, you became an heir to the Kingdom. You have been given the Holy Spirit to dwell in you and your body became a temple for the Holy Spirit. God’s peace and joy has filled your heart and soul and you were very excited about what had happened to you, at least this was the experience I had, praise the Lord.

You probably started attending church regularly and reading your Bible and spending time with the Lord. You had a striving prayer life and enjoyed the Lord’s company. You probably couldn’t wait to share your experience with other people and you may have seen people give there hearts to Jesus because God used you in the ministry of soul winning. I can’t be sure of others so I am writing from some of my own experiences. My conversion you might say was a radical one, I was so excited that I experienced all of these things in great measure, praise God! And I am still excited and praising and thanking the Lord quite often, even writing praise songs, at times, that I sing in the morning to praise and thank the Lord among other things.

This is the problem many times, it seems as time goes on our fervor can begin to wan and our excitement and joy can start fading and we start becoming interested in worldly things. Materialism isn’t anything new in the world or the church. It isn’t that God is against us having things, but when the things we have own us then we have a problem. Not only that but when the places we go and the things we spend our time with become more important than the Lord and His kingdom then we start to become an enemy of God.

Let me share what James wrote about this subject. In James 4:4 he said, "You adulterous people don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." We live in the world but we are not to love the things of this world. We are sojourners just passing through. We need jobs and a place to stay and essentials to live. And God knows that, the Bible says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33) God is more than willing to provide the things we need to live on.

Like I said God isn’t against us having things, no, it is the things we have that we fall in love with that are the problem. Think of this, money isn’t the source of all evil but the love of money is. You have to be real careful not to fall in love with the things you own. There is no way you can love God and also the things of this world. Sometimes as Christians we want to see, feel, touch and become friends of this world. When we become so engrossed in worldly things and start neglecting God and His Kingdom, that’s when we get in trouble and become God’s enemies.

In James 4:5 it says, "Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to live in us tends towards envy." When we get in this position we engage in another battle, but this battle is not with the enemy of our souls, this battle is with the Lord. The Lord loves us and He will do whatever it takes to get us to repent and put Him where He belongs in our lives. He may cause our plans to fail and frustrate our every move. He can make us very miserable people. He can keep us from getting the rest we need, causing sleepless nights. When we start putting things before God and depending on them it shows that we have pride in our lives and God knows how to humble us.

This reminds me of the story about King Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel chapter 4, after he had a vision that Daniel interpreted for him. Daniel told the King what would happen to him in the future, and twelve months later it did. Verse 33 starts out with, "Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of Heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird." It is hard to imagine that God did this to a man but He did. Like I said, He knows how to humble people.

He got Nebuchadnezzar’s attention and this is how he responded, verse 34 says, "At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar raised my eyes towards Heaven and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High, I honored and glorified him who lives for ever. His dominion is an eternal dominion, his kingdom endures from generation to generation." Then in verse 36 and 37 it says, Nebuchadnezzar speaking, "At the same time my sanity was restored my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was returned to my throne and became even greater than before. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the king of Heaven, because everything He does is right and all His ways are just. And those who walk in pride He is able to humble."

If God loved this King that much to turn him around, He will do the same with us if we start falling in love with the world. But in the end it will be our choice to make. So if you find yourself in this situation I hope you will make the right choice. God Bless you and have a great day.

Hang Onto Faith

In Hebrews chapter 10 verse 38 it says, "But the righteous one will live by faith." It also says in that same chapter verse 35, "So do not throw away your confidence, it will be richly rewarded." The Hebrews were struggling with trying to hang onto the promises of God and we have that same struggle today.

Sometimes we pray and pray and the answer we want doesn’t come. When that happens we can get very disappointed. Sometimes we feel like we are barely hanging on. Sometimes we can become very desperate and grow weary of holding on to the faith we have professed for so long.

I have said this in other lessons but it is worth repeating, we are in a battle for our souls and our enemy is very much alive. Much of his battling with us will be in our minds. He is the great deceiver and a liar.

When we read the news or watch it on TV most all of it is negative. The world paints a bleak future with a lot of deception and lies. The non-believer is so deceived they can’t tell the truth from a lie or they just don’t care. Think of this, if you listen to the same lies over and over again you become desensitized and after awhile you receive whatever it is as truth. It is like putting a frog, or lobster, in water, as the water heats up they don’t seem to notice and they don’t even try to get out of the water.

Don’t be deceived by the things you hear. It seems like the enemy has come in like a flood and has infiltrated every form of logic. He has even worked his way into the church and caused havoc. There are so many people that believe a lie instead of the truth. Think about the people that are dying, and have died, for what they believed was truth and it was a lie. The name of Jesus and all that He stands for is hated.

If you are not careful you will believe that our enemy is winning this battle but he is not and he never will. It may seem at times like he is running rampant and nothing can stop him but the Bible says, "When the enemy comes in like a flood the Spirit of God will raise a standard against him." (Isaiah 59:19) The enemy will only get so far and then he will be defeated. I want to encourage you to not loose your confidence, God will break through on your behalf and His promises will come to pass.

Let me share what the writer of Hebrews said to encourage the believers in his time and I hope it will encourage you also. Verse 32 in that same chapter says, "Remember in those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering." The writer wanted to remind the believers that even though they suffered a great deal they held their ground in the face of it all. At that time they were probably so excited they would have endured anything for the Lord. Isn’t that the way you felt at you conversion?

Then it goes on in verse 33, "Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution. At other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated?" I don’t know about you, but these things happened to me and I need this reminder.

Not many of us have experienced what the Hebrew believers did according to this next verse, in verse 34 it says, "You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions." The writer is encouraging these believers to remember how joyful and happy they were when they first came to believe. At that time they were ready to give up everything just to have that personal relationship with Jesus.

What about you, didn’t you feel the same way? Try to think of it like this, we may have lost some battles along the way but we haven’t lost the war. We may be very discouraged with the things we see and hear. Maybe our prayers and expectations haven’t been answered or met the way we wanted yet, but God is still on the throne and He has it all under control. In His time He will come through. Please don’t throw away your confidence and don’t give up, you will never be sorry. Hang in there and keep on keeping on. Keep the faith and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord! God bless you and have a great day!

Wavering Between Two Opinions

This is the way I see it, we have two ways we can go, we can go the Lord’s way or the world’s way. When God draws us to Jesus we have a choice to make, we will choose to follow the Lord or follow the world. We can either choose to be transformed by renewing our minds or we can choose the world and conform to it.

I thank God that He doesn’t force us to make either choice He leaves it up to us.

If we don’t make the right choice He can make us very miserable and He probably will because He loves everyone and He wants him or her to make the right choice, but we still have the choice. This way if anyone rejects Him they will reap the consequences. This proves that God doesn’t force anyone to go to Hell they choose to go there by the choice they make.

I was reading in 1^st Kings 18 this morning where King Ahab sent Obadiah, a devout worshiper of God, to try to find grass for Ahab’s horses and mules to keep them alive because it had not rained for three years at that point. There was a severe famine in Samaria at the time because King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, led the Israelites into sin introducing them to Baal worship. As Obadiah went along he came across Elijah, the Prophet of God. Elijah was on his way to meet King Ahab. When Elijah met King Ahab, Elijah told the king to bring all the people of Israel to Mount Carmel with all 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who were supported by Jezebel. When they were all together Elijah told them this, "How long are you going to waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God follow Him! But if Baal is god follow him!"

If you haven’t read this story take time to read it don’t just take my word for it.
This is where I got my title for this lesson. There are many that are at a crossroad and they need to make a choice. If God is God, and He is, follow Him. If Baal is god, which he isn’t, follow him. Baal represents the world and all that is fake and phony. We tend to think that many people followed and worshiped many strange things in Bible days, and they did, but we are just as guilty today for there are many idols occupying our lives.

God said, "I will have no other gods before me." Don’t forget God is a jealous God and He won’t share His deity with anyone or anything else. If you are spending more time with something you own, be careful you may become a slave to it and it may become an idol in your life. Idols can be much more than statues we put on a pedestal and bow down to, no, they can be the things that are most important to you, and like I said, that you spend most of your time and energy on.

Remember what Joshua said in Joshua 24:15, "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve! ….As for me and my house we will serve the Lord." These people were serving idols also and they had to make a choice, just like you and I have to. Will we waver between two opinions: the world’s and the Lord’s? Or will we choose the Lord?

That is also my choice, my wife and I are serving the Lord, praise God, I can’t thank and praise Him enough for that. There is one in our immediate family that is still teetering between two opinions and has to make a choice, I would appreciate your prayers for this one to make the right choice. Don’t forget the choice is up to you. Will it be God or the world? You cannot straddle the fence! You may find yourself at the crossroad, and I pray you make the right choice. God bless you, have a great day.

No to Flesh

Question:  Are you allowing the flesh to dictate your decisions and to stir your emotions?  If you do your flesh may cause you to become a basket case.  Choose today to say no to the flesh and yes to God’s Spirit and walk in Him and you will have a sound mind. Praise God!

The flesh is a terrible taskmaster.  If you walk in the flesh you will gratify its desires.  If you yield to the flesh you will not be able to resist sin.  We have a choice every day to crucify the flesh and walk in the Spirit or allow the flesh to control every aspect of our lives.

Paul said in Galatians 5:16, “But I say walk by the Spirit and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.”  Your flesh wars against the Spirit and always wants its own way. Your flesh may try to convince you that everything is right when in all reality everything is wrong.  The Bible says in Proverbs 3:5,6, ”Lean not unto your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will guide your path.”  

I have said this before, many people have an opinion but there is truth.  You can know if you are walking in the flesh because the Bible tells you what the works of the flesh are and the Word of God is truth.  They are listed in this same chapter Galatians5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are plain: Immorality, impurity, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife.  Jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing and the like.  I warn you as I warned you before that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God!”  

There is a lot here to think about.  I would suggest that you take every one of these words and if you are guilty of any of them repent, pray and confess them to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. The other ones you are not guilty of, pray and ask the Lord to keep you from these sins.

Now on the contrary if we walk in the Spirit we will receive the fruit of the Spirit which are in verse 22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control: against such there is no law.”  Now which are you walking in, the flesh or the Spirit?

The Word says in verse 24, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires?  What does crucified the flesh mean?  What happened to Jesus when He was crucified?  He died, that is what it means, we have died to the flesh and we never have to walk in the flesh again.  

Verses 25 and 26 of that same chapter say, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.  Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another.”  My prayer for you is that you walk in the Spirit and never the flesh.  

Remember as a Christian you have the power to resist sin and the works of the flesh every day. Think of this, if you have two dogs that are identical, the strongest one will be the one you feed the most.  In kind of the same way if you feed on the Spirit and walk in Him you will be spiritually strong.  If you feed on the flesh and walk in it you will become spiritually weak, the choice is yours, I hope you make the right one.  God bless you, have a great day.      

Father’s Day

I heard someone mention Father’s Day last night and a thought popped into my mind. I don’t think I have related this day to our heavenly Father. I would like to say happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there and wish them a great day. I would also like to say happy Father’s Day to my heavenly Father.

Usually we give gifts to our earthly fathers and try to help them have a better day. Many families get together and spend some time with each other and try to make their dads feel special.

Have you ever wondered why they picked Sunday for Father’s Day? I tried to find out why Father’s Day is always on Sunday but I didn’t get a satisfactory answer. Is it just something else used to distract us from what Sunday’s should represent, the day that Christians worship? Something to think about, I am not against Father’s Day in any way, I am a father, but with all the other days of the week, why Sunday. It is the same with Mother’s Day, why? It may seem kind of silly to debate this, but what does our heavenly Father think? While we are celebrating our earthly father, what about our heavenly father?

The Bible says He is a jealous God, I wonder if this bothers Him. The Bible says to keep the Sabbath holy. Is that what we are doing celebrating Father’s and Mother’s Day on the day we call our Sabbath? I am not trying to start an argument or make anybody mad but has anyone else thought about this? My wife and I have set Sunday aside as the day we look at as our Sabbath and we have really tried to honor the Lord on that Day.

It seems to me that most people spend Sunday like any other day outside of going to church once or twice. Don’t mind my rambling; how is that keeping the Sabbath holy? Have you ever questioned what keeping the Sabbath holy really means? I guess that if you asked a hundred different people you would come up with many different answers. I believe it is a day of worship, a day of praise and thanksgiving and a day of rest. A day set aside for the Lord, not the world. It is a day to rejuvenate for the up-coming week. It is a day to set aside worldly pleasures and honor the Lord. If you don’t agree with me that is your choice, but please pray sincerely about it and let the Lord speak to you about it, don’t just lean on your own understanding.

I used to think Sunday was the most boring day in the world, and I don’t mean going to church, I loved that, it was between church that bothered me. But as time went on God changed my whole perspective about it and I started enjoying just spending time with the Lord, church and resting in between. I believe that God has blessed my family and me many times because of our stand on Sunday. In case you think this is legalism, which is usually the easy answer given, it is not. We do it because we choose to and not for any other reason except we know that it pleases the Lord!

Now, you are wondering if we will have Father’s day at our house? The answer is yes, but I am thankful to the Lord for putting this thought in my mind, and I will honor Him on Father’s Day and it will have a whole new meaning for me. Praise God! Have a great day and God Bless You!

Will You Be Ready

I wrote a song called, "Will You Be Ready On Judgement Day." This is a subject that many Christians don’t seem to want to talk about or hear about. I guess there are many reasons for this way of thinking. The truth is some day we will all stand before the Lord and face the judgment, and we all need to be preparing for it now!

The Bible says, "judgement starts at the household of God." There is no doubt in my mind that we are in the final days and the Lord’s imminent return. Regardless of why you don’t want to hear about it, it is going to happen.

Jesus said, "Now learn a parable of the fig tree! When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Matthew 24:32–35
K. J. V. Bible.

What was Jesus talking about?

Matthew chapter 24:4–14 Jesus speaking says this, "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye not be troubled for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse (various) places. All these things are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliever you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall arise and deceive many. And because iniquity (sin) shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come."

These are the things that Jesus was talking about, the things He said had to take place before the end comes. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that most, if not all, of these things are taking place now in this generation. This is why it is so important to be ready on judgement day.

This is not a time for Christians to be running and hiding but it is a time of rejoicing for our redemption draweth nigh. This is a time for the non Christian to fear and turn from their wicked ways, repent and confess their sins and receive Jesus into their heart and their lives.

God will take care of His people when the time comes. We shouldn’t fear. The Bible says, "perfect love cast out all fear."

Let me end this lesson with a few more verses. Jesus said this in the same chapter in verses 29-31, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the Heavens and the powers of the Heavens shall be shaken! And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet. And they shall gather together, His elect from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to the other."

Now I have done your homework for you, there is much more I could say but I think I said enough for now, so be of good cheer and keep looking up. Don’t let the evil one, or anyone else, knock you out of the race. Run with your eyes on the prize and be an overcomer, then you will be ready on judgment day. Praise God and have a great day!

Mourning to Joy

I was talking to my daughter Shelley yesterday and she shared Psalms chapter 30 with me and talked about what it meant to her. So I thought I would write a lesson on what it means to me.

This is a Psalm that David sang at the dedication of the Temple. David starts out in verse 1 with, "I will praise you Lord for you have rescued me. You refused to let my enemies triumph over me." I love the fact that David praised the Lord, it is so important that we praise the Lord also. So why did David praise the Lord? Because he knew that God had given him victory over his enemies. David was a man of faith and he knew where his help came from, his help came from the Lord. I want to stress something here, it is also important to praise the Lord for just who He is and not for anything He has done, for God is worthy of our praise and David knew this very well and I am sure he did it often.

Verses 2 and 3 say, "O Lord my God I cried out to you for help and you restored my health. You brought me up from the grave, O Lord you kept me from falling into the pit." King David also knew about prayer and he knew who the great physician, and healer, was and trusted Him for his healing. I am not sure what David’s problem was but it must have been life threatening because he mentions going down to the pit. Praise the Lord He healed David and David responded with praise.

Remember the story of the ten Lepers that Jesus healed and only one came back to praise Him and Jesus said something like this – weren’t there ten healed where are the other nine? Does only this foreigner return to give glory to God. The man that returned was a Samaritan, the other 9 were Jews and they despised each other.   (Luke 17:11-19)

This teaches us that not everyone is thankful even when they receive a miracle. David was the kind of man that appreciated and loved the Lord and was willing to praise Him. In verses 4 and 5 it says, "Sing to the Lord all you godly ones, praise His holy name! His anger lasts for a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may go on all night, but joy comes with the morning."

Thank the Lord that He doesn’t stay angry at us forever or we would have no hope. The good news is, if we have sinned against the Lord and we repent and confess our sin, He is faithful to forgive us our sin, praise God! The consequences of our sin may cause us to weep for a time, and it should, but with God’s forgiveness comes joy and David knew this very well. Praise God for His unmerited favor that lasts a lifetime.

Verses 6 and 7 say, "And in my prosperity I said I shall never be moved. Lord by thy favor thou has made my mountain to stand strong, thou did hide thy face and I was troubled." We cannot put our trust in prosperity, it can vanish, we need to put our trust in the Lord. He will never let us down, praise His name.

In verse 8 David says, "I cried to thee O Lord and unto thee I made supplication." David’s supplication, or prayer, is in verses 9 and 10, "What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? Shall it declare thy truth? Hear o Lord and have mercy upon me Lord, be thou my helper."

Then the Lord answered David’s prayer and David was very excited with the answer, forgiveness had come and joy filled his soul. This is what he said in verses 11 and 12, "Thou has turned for me my mourning into dancing: Thou has put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness. To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God I will give thanks unto thee forever."

The Lord had turned David’s mourning into gladness to the point that he felt like dancing. He was so overjoyed that he couldn’t keep silent he had to praise the Lord. He said, "O Lord my God I will give thanks to thee forever." What about you, can you say the same thing that David did? Will you thank and praise the Lord forever? Has the Lord turned your mourning into joy, do you feel like dancing when you think about what the Lord has done in your life?

Too many Christians look and act like they swallowed a prune. There seems to be no excitement or joy whatsoever in their lives. I have seen this for many years. Haven’t they been forgiven, washed and cleansed by the blood of Jesus? Haven’t they been set free? Who is getting the credit for all the things the Lord is doing in their lives? God inhabits the praise of His people, He loves it when we praise Him. I wonder how it makes Him feel when we don’t praise Him?

I think Jesus answered that when 9 out of the 10 lepers He healed didn’t come back to give glory to God for their healing.

Whoever you are reading this, please don’t forget to praise and thank the Lord daily, it will make Him happy and it will also help you. God bless you ~ have a great day.

Spiritual Armor

How is your armor holding up?

Armor was very important to Roman soldiers. Every piece he wore was there for a purpose and that purpose was to help him defeat his enemy. He wouldn’t think of going into battle without any part of it. Roman soldiers took very good care of their armor plus they made sure that their swords were very sharp. Their boots protected their legs and ankles because the enemy was looking for any way they could to cripple and destroy them. Their boots had sharp spikes under them for stomping on their enemy, breaking bones and ankles or whatever got in their way. They were covered pretty much from head to toe. They wore a chest plate to protect their upper body. They wore a belt to hold things together, without it they were doomed. They had a shield to protect them from swords and arrows which were intended to kill them. Like I said their armor was very important to them and they didn’t go into battle without these things being in good order and properly in place. Paul was relating to the armor of the Roman soldier when he wrote about the whole Armor of God.

My question to you is, how is your spiritual armor holding up? Is it in good shape or is it developing cracks that the enemy can penetrate, trying to kill, steal and destroy? We can have the armor on but it may not be doing the job it was intended to do. Just like the Roman soldiers had to make sure their armor was in very good, useable shape we need to make sure our spiritual armor is in good shape, able to protect us.

à Are you walking in the Spirit each day or have you let yourself become complacent?
à Are you spending time with the Lord or have you let the cares of the world take priority in your life?
à How has your prayer life been lately and are you having devotions and spending more time with the Lord than you once did?
à Are you still excited or have you let people, and the enemy, steal your joy?
à When is the last time you took time out on your own to praise the Lord and to thank Him for who He is and what He is doing in your life?
à Are you taking time out of your busy schedule to read and study God’s Word? à Have you been sharing the Word with others, witnessing and trying to win people to the Lord?
à Are you in church at least once, or more, a week fellowshipping with other believers?
à Are you involved in any kind of a ministry furthering God’s kingdom in some way?

When you start neglecting some or all of these things you start becoming complacent and your armor starts developing cracks. You can start to become more comfortable with temptation and sin. What is happening is you are letting the enemy have an entrance through the cracks in your armor and you know what his purpose is.

The town of Sardis was built on high cliffs and the people thought they were safe from any enemy. They figured that they were impenetrable. Their problem was they were so sure that no one could defeat them that they became complacent and weren’t aware of what was going on while they were kicking back and relaxing. Their problem was that their foundation was deteriorating and had begun to crack. As time went on the cracks became bigger and bigger until they were big enough for a person to squeeze through. Then their enemy came when they least expected it and surrounded them and captured them. (This information I read in my devotional by Rick Renner "Sparkling Gems" but I translated in my words.)

Just like the people in the city of Sardis allowed the foundation of the city to crack and deteriorate, we can allow our spiritual armor to deteriorate and crack. If this is you, you are in a very serious situation, but let me give you some encouraging news. It says in Revelations chapter 3:1–3, "To the Angel of the church of Sardis write: This is the message from the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know what you are doing, I know that you have the reputation of being alive, even though you are dead. So wake up and strengthen what you still have before it dies completely. For I find that what you have done is not yet perfect in the sight of my God. Remember then what you were taught and what you heard, obey it and turn from your sins. If you do not wake up I will come upon you like a thief and you will not know the time when I will come."

This is a warning and also an encouraging Word from the Lord to the church of Sardis. They could continue in the way they were going and completely die or they could turn from their sins and start doing the things they were taught, the things that they used to do and be revived and forgiven. It is also a Word for anyone who finds themselves in this position today, allowing their armor to crack. If this is you, repent and return to the things you learned and are now neglecting to do. The choice is up to you, I hope you make the right one. God Bless and have a great day!

He Touched Me

I think most of you know or remember the song titled "He Touched Me." This song has been on my mind for awhile now so I thought I would write a lesson on it.

If you are a Christian you have had the Lord touch you in a special way and you know what I am talking about. I have had the Lord touch me several times over the years. There is something different about the Lord’s touch on your life.
As we go through life we touch many people’s lives for either good or bad. Also many people touch our lives the same way. Some of these people we seem to never forget either because of a positive or negative experience.

But there is something different about the way the Lord touches us. If the Lord has touched you in anyway you will never forget it. When the Lord touches you it usually results in a miracle, something very positive always happens if you allow it. When the Lord touches us it is always from a motive of love. Even when He chastises us, it is from a motive of love. He never does it to harm us or hinder us.

When I was around 21 years old, the Lord touched me and it felt like someone put their hand across my chest, and all the guilt and shame and fear was gone at that moment. I felt like I could fly, I felt so free! I asked some people about the experience but I didn’t get any help from them, so I kept on doing what I always did, but I never forgot the experience. At different times through the years, since that experience, I feel that I have been touched by the Lord and I haven’t forgotten them to this day. Sometimes I think it is important to stop everything you are doing, just to think about the times the Lord touched you, and what you experienced at the time. If you take the time to remember what the Lord did when He touched you, don’t be surprised if the tears start falling from your eyes.

I remember about 32 years ago when I finally was truly committed to the Lord He delivered me from drugs, alcohol and cigarettes also the carousing lifestyle I was in. Praise God, I was free of all these things. He has also touched me and delivered me from depression that I had for twelve or fourteen years and He also miraculously healed me of asthma. Over the past few years three different eye doctors told me that I had macular-degeneration in my eyes. I went back to have my eyes examined about three weeks ago and the doctor said I had no macular- degeneration at all in my eyes, praise God. If you have been touched by the Lord, I don’t have to tell you how it feels, you already know and you will never forget it. Enough about me let’s read what the Bible says about what happened when Jesus touched different people’s lives.

In Matthew 20:29-34 Jesus and his disciples had left Jericho and a huge crowd followed them. They came across two blind men sitting beside the road. When these two blind men heard Jesus was coming their way they started shouting, "Lord, son of David have mercy on us!" The crowd told them to be quiet but they just shouted all the more. "Lord, son of David have mercy on us!" Then Jesus stopped and asked them what they wanted Him to do for them. They replied, "we want to see!" Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes, instantly they could see, then they followed Him! Jesus’ touch made a tremendous difference in their life. He brought them from physical blindness to being able to see, but that’s not all, Jesus stirred up what little faith they had and they followed Him. The day before they had no hope of ever seeing again but then the touch of Jesus made the difference, changed their whole outlook on life and gave them a different perspective. These men would never forget the touch of Jesus on their lives or what He had done for them. It doesn’t record it but they most have been very excited being able to see again, nothing like a faith booster, praise the Lord!


There was another time when Jesus and the followers of John the Baptist were talking, when a Jewish official came to Him and said, "my daughter has just died but come and lay your hands on her and she will live." Jesus and His disciples got up and followed him. When Jesus went into the official’s house, after everyone else went out, Jesus took hold of the young girl’s hand and she got up. She was not only sick, she had died and Jesus being true to His word raised her from dead. In John chapter 11 verse 25 Jesus said to Martha, Lazarus’ sister, "I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me will live even if he dies." He said this just before raising Martha’s brother Lazarus from the dead.

Can you imagine how excited this little girl was to say nothing about her parents and everyone else that was there? The whole scenario changed when Jesus came on the scene. And none of them would ever forget what happened that day when Jesus touched her. In fact it says the news about this spread all over that part of the country. This story is in Matthew 9:18–26.

So you go and do likewise, if the Lord has touched you, get excited about it and start sharing it and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord for who He is and what He has done in your life. Have a great day!

God Cares For Us

Have you ever thought about why God cares for us?  I have thought about this and I have pictured myself as a speck in this vast universe.  I cannot comprehend how vast and high the earth really is.  God dwells in the third Heaven, how far away is that?  If you have studied the universe, which I haven’t, you know much more about it than I do plus you have a better understanding of it then I have.  If God created the universe, which He did, why does He care for us?  When I think of what the Lord has done and how powerful He is I am humbled at the realization of who He is. How can anyone comprehend these things? We cannot.

I came across a Psalm this morning that spoke of this question. It says in Psalms 8:3 & 4, "When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers – the moon and the stars you have set in place – what are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you should care for us?"  What is David trying to say in this Psalm?  He is proclaiming the glory and majesty of the God of the universe. When Christians really get the true scope of God’s majestic appearance and His awesome power they will learn to praise Him. One of the things I want people to acknowledge about me and to remember me for, is that I was a man that praised the Lord and encouraged others to praise Him also.

David also said in Psalm 8:2, "You have taught children and nursing infants to give you praise." David knew that only God could bring about praise in everyone’s life. The Bible says that in the end times, "Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." Philippians 2:10

We know that God cares so much for us that He was willing to lay His deity aside and come to earth to become the God Man and give His life a ransom for all.  But that doesn’t answer the question of why God cares for us.  David said in Psalm 8:5, "For you made us only a little lower than God, and you crowned us with glory and honor."
David also goes on to say this in Psalm 8:6-8, "You put us in charge of everything you made, giving us authority over all things, the sheep and the cattle and all the wild animals. The birds in the sky, the fish in the sea and anything that swims the ocean currents." It is amazing to me why God did all these things for us. Who are we that we deserve all these this? We don’t deserve any of it or anything good from God, He brought it all about because He cares for us.

Lastly David said on Psalm 8:9, "O Lord our Lord the majesty of your name fills the earth!"  David knew how to praise and I love his heart for he had a heart of praise, and that is what I pray for.  I want to be able to praise the Lord in any situation and I want it to be spontaneous.

Why does God care for us? The answer is simple, because He chooses to.  He is love and He can do what He wants to, and what He chooses to do is love and care for us. Do we deserve it? No! Can we do anything to obtain it? No! Can we buy it? No! He does it because He wants to. He loves us and cares for us more than we will ever know.

Knowing these things I want you to start thanking Him and praising Him for He is worthy.   Do we praise Him for what He does?  No, we praise Him for who He is and what He is!  Right now is a good time to start praising Him. God bless you and have a great day!

Aging

I thought I would speak on this subject today. First I want to say it is hard to advance in years. If you live long enough you will also experience this phenomenon.

I don’t consider myself real old yet but already I am experiencing changes in my life. Sometimes I don’t remember things as well as I once did, which is troubling. Another thing is I am not near as strong as I was and most of the time I can only talk about the things I used to be able to do. I have noticed that things I didn’t fear at one time are starting to bother me some. If I am not careful I can get very irritated at things that may not have bothered me so much at one time. Sometimes change seems to be harder than it was when I was younger. As you get older you tend to get pains in places you didn’t have when you were younger. Your bodies start changing and you start noticing wrinkles and your good looks start to fade. When I was young I could sleep through the night without much interruption, but as you age you may be up two or three times in a night just to go to the bathroom. When it is cold you feel it more as you age and it is harder to breath when it is real hot. You can fall into the couch potato syndrome very easily. Doing exercise is much harder and more painful especially if you’re not used to it.

I am not there yet, thank the Lord, but I think of the people in nursing homes. They have been taken from their homes and, in many cases, may not see their loved ones again. It is sort of like the old saying, "Out of sight, out of mind," so they feel rejected and abandoned and many are. It is hard to imagine what these people feel like. I am sure that many of them feel like this is the end and they are just waiting to die feeling death is better than living the way they are at the time. Many aren’t treated very well in nursing homes and they hate it.

You may be thinking older Christians shouldn’t feel this way and you are right but many of these people are not Christians. And even Christians can get down and depressed and feel lonely and unwanted. What they need is compassion, love and patience.

Some of these people can be very grouchy and very negative and extremely hard to work with. In fact it takes a special kind of person to be able to work with some of these people. Many people over the years have not been suitable for this kind of job; stealing, misusing and being very unkind treating some of these people terribly. I know it can be very frustrating at times working with elderly people but we need to remember these are people that Jesus died for and He loves them very much. Believe it or not some people that work in these situations count it a privilege and use it as a ministry and not just a job.

It might sound like I am being hard on some people but that is not my purpose for writing this. What I want to do is help those that are working in these positions to have a better understanding of what older people feel like when they are older and in these situations. You might think of it this way; try to picture yourself getting up one morning, taken from your home and everything you are familiar with and placed in a home with people you know nothing about, how would you feel?

I am not an expert on this subject but I have some hands on experience in this field. Never had a job in a nursing home but I have visited different ones many times and tried to encourage the people. Many of these people have to share the same room with maybe three or four other people. They lose most of their privacy, which is not easy on them. Most of them can’t even eat by themselves because of all the others around them.

I know I have talked about most of the negative things that elderly people experience but for many of them that is all they see and feel. I don’t want to put everyone in the same box, so to speak, because there are many that try to make the best out of their situation. Many seem to be somewhat happy, but far too many aren’t.

Just think if you are in these places as a non-Christian, what hope do you have? They probably feel like they’re wasting away with no purpose whatsoever. What they could use are people with the gift of encouragement, that truly love and don’t just talk about it. People that will reach out with compassion and mercy showing that they have been with Jesus and He has changed their lives. I could go on and on but I think you got the message.

Please don’t let this message be a rebuke or anything negative. It is intended to be an informative message to help you understand many of these things as many elderly people do. I hope this message helps all that read it. Praise the Lord and have a great day.