Life is Short

Regardless of how long a person lives, whether it is ten or a hundred or more years, it is a short period of time when you compare it to eternity.  Read what it says about life in James 4:13-14, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”  

Many people think they have a long period of time to live when they are young, so they are going to make the best of it and do their own thing and then when they get old they will get things right with the Lord.  Others don’t hardly give it a thought.  Then of course, there are the atheists that say they don’t believe there is a God.  They believe in evolution, which they can never prove and every time they come up with a theory they end up being proved wrong and the charade goes on and on endlessly, just like their theories, being deceived and deceiving others.  People can come up with all kinds of excuses to reject God, but everyone’s time is short and the excuses are going to run out.  Even people that knew there was a God wouldn’t acknowledge Him because their foolish hearts were darkened.

Read what it says in Romans 1:18-25, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

All one has to do is look around at what has been created and they will know there was a designer, a creator, and that was God as it says in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Also check out John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”  

It is your choice to rebel against God, and just keep putting it off, but you don’t know how much time you have.  God loves you and is not willing that any be lost but all come to repentance, but He has graciously given each of us a free will so we can make the right or wrong choice.

Read John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

Repent and ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins and to come into your heart and life and to be your Lord and Savior.  If you are sincere, I believe He will forgive you and you will become a child of God, a born-again believer.  Take your time and let Him fill you with His peace, love and joy, then you can go forth rejoicing and thanking Him for His precious grace and love.  Then go share what He has done for you with others.  It is important to find a Bible teaching church and start growing.   

Something to think about, the choice is up to you, but don’t put it off.  God bless and have a super day!!

Rest for the Soul

Read these three verses in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

A yoke is a heavy wooden harness that is put on the shoulders of oxen attached to whatever they are going to pull, which many times is very heavy, taking a lot of work and energy to get it where it has to go.  What a relief it must be when the yoke is removed and the burden is taken off the animals’ shoulders.  Just like the animals, people can be weighed down also with a yoke of burden which can come in various forms, such as; sins, excessive demands from some religious leaders, oppression and persecution.  Some people can even grow weary searching for God plus there are other factors also.  One of the big factors could be stress and then there is fear and anxiousness.  The answer to all these things is Jesus, who alone can lift your yoke of bondage and set you free.

Read what He said in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

The thief will always be there tempting us to wear the yoke of bondage through all the things I mentioned earlier in this Tidbit, but Jesus came to give us the abundant life.  Instead of ‘taking’ as the thief does, Jesus ‘gives’ from a heart of love and compassion.  His plan for us is to prosper us and not harm us but to give us a hope and a future and also eternal life where we will live with Him enjoying the abundant life forever and ever, where there will be no more heavy burdens from the things I mentioned earlier, praise His name!!  And the neat thing is, we don’t have to wait, we can have it now.

He is so committed to His love for us that He was willing to be crucified, die and be buried, which meant horrible pain and suffering and even being separated from God the Father for us.  Jesus came to die for the sins of the whole world, something we will never comprehend with our finite minds.  Think of this, Jesus was willing to do this, for no one on earth had the power to kill Jesus, if Jesus didn’t allow it to be done.  Just like there was no hope for us to be reconciled to God because of our sins.  He loved us so much He spread out His arms and died, so that we might live, this is the kind of God we serve.

So, if you want your burdens lifted, lay them at the feet of Jesus and take up His yoke upon you and learn of Him and you will find rest unto your souls, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  Something to think about, and if you would like to know Him personally, repent of your sins and ask Him to forgive you and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness and be your Lord and savior!!  The Word says to seek Him while He may be found, so what are you waiting for?  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord!!

There is Forgiveness

These are some of the greatest words of hope ever spoken, “There is forgiveness.”  What a terrible place to be if there was no hope, and what would be the purpose of life if there is nothing but nothing, as the evolutionists teach?  I listen to debates between creationists and evolutionists and the evolutionists’ theories and their way of thinking is so empty, while the creationists’ view is so positive and full of hope, but more importantly it is the truth.  Did you know it takes more faith to be an atheist than a believer?

Archeologists have proven many of the things that are in God’s Word, but what evolution has proven is nothing, it is all theory.  The Word of God declares this, and it is the truth, in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth,” and it goes on to say what else He created; read the whole chapter.  I challenge anyone to read this in the Word with an open mind and a true desire to know the truth, asking God to open your eyes and mind and reveal the truth to you and see what happens.

Then read chapter 3 in Genesis which helps you see why we are all in the condition we are in.  We are all born with a sin nature because of what took place in the Garden of Eden.  The Word of God says that we have all sinned and fell short of the glory of God.  It also says that there is none righteous, no not one.  God is so righteous that He cannot even look at sin, so sin separates us from this holy God.  Many say that God isn’t fair or just, because we didn’t ask for the condition we were born in.  God is just, because He provided a way for us to be right with Him when there was no way and we were doomed to destruction, death and hell.  We could never be in right standing with God by our own efforts and He knew that, so He, because He is a just God and the only true God, provided a way for us to be right with Him.

Just to make this clear, about our birth condition, read Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.“

And this was God’s way for us to be right with Him, read Romans 5:6-11, “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

God loved mankind so much that He provided a way for us to escape His just wrath, please read John 3:17-21, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

These are the very words that Jesus spoke and Jesus faithfully fulfilled these truths by giving His life freely because no one could have taken His life, that’s how much He loved us.

In 1 John 1:9, it says this, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  Although we were sinners, Christ died for us so that we could become the righteousness of Christ.  Like I said earlier, these are some of the greatest words of hope ever spoken, “There is forgiveness.”

Read Isaiah 1:18, “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’”  This was spoken to the Jews at the time but I think it could relate to all non-believers also.

Read 2 Peter 3:8-9 “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

Enough said, if you would like this hope and are not a believer, or born-again, repent of your sins which means to turn and go in the other direction showing that you’re sorry for your sins and ask the Lord to forgive you and to be your Lord and Savior.  If you are sincere, I believe that He will do just that and you will become a child of God, praise the Lord!!  Take your time and let the good Lord fill you with His peace, love and joy, then go and share what the Lord has done for you with others and start growing in your new found faith!!  Don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord.  May you have a super and blessed day!  P.S. Something to think about!!

Living in Bondage

Every person that has come to Jesus in true repentance, believing that Jesus is the Son of God and that He was crucified, died, was buried and raised again, asking Jesus to be their Lord and Savior and to forgive them of their sins and to cleanse them of all unrighteousness, has been born-again, I believe.  I believe that this is the prerequisite, but there is not a particular formula, only the Lord knows the heart of a man or woman and his, or her, intentions and only He can bring about the rebirth of a person.  Once a person is reborn, they receive the seed of God within them and the Holy Spirit and are the temples of the Holy Spirit, they also become new creations in Christ and are covered with His righteousness and washed with His precious blood.  At that point they have been set free of the bondage of sin that they were enslaved to.

I believe we should be striving for perfection from that point on, I don’t believe in sinless perfection, but I believe we should not practice sin.  Read what Paul says about this in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

We should take on the role of loving the sinner, but hating any form of sin.  Like I said earlier, we are set free from the bondage of sin but we can put ourselves back in bondage again because of the way we respond to the temptations that come our way, or you might say, things that can cause us to sin.  

Let me try to explain what I mean.  If a man pumps iron, and enjoys it and benefits from it, but it gets to be what you might call an idol in his life, would getting rid of the weights be a solution?  It may be, but on the other hand that is not dealing with the main cause of the problem.  The weight set is not the problem, and saying you will never touch a weight or workout with them again, can put you in bondage in the future if you ever want to work out again.   What we need to do is work on the thing within us that caused us to feel that way.

I knew a guy that had to have and be riding motorcycles and it seemed to be the most important thing in his life.  The motorcycle wasn’t the problem, the problem was how he felt about the motorcycle, so getting rid of the motorcycle and vowing never to own one again would have put him in a certain kind of bondage if he ever wanted one again and unless he dealt with the problem he would be in the same situation but with something else that he would put all his time into.  We have to be careful how we choose our words and the best thing we can do is deal with the cause of the problem that made us feel the way we did in the first place.  

Read Matthew 5:27-30, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”

I don’t believe Jesus was saying to literally dismember yourself, a blind man can still lust.  In this case this is relating to marriage but I think it could relate to other things as well.  There are some things you need to get rid of and never go back to, like if you have a drinking problem, or let’s say you are hooked on drugs, porn, prostitution, lying or stealing and so on, you need to flee all these things and also deal with the causes, and when you are set free you should never go back and get caught up in those bondages again.  But should we always get rid of the things that frustrate us, stress us out, make us angry and tempt us to sin?  I don’t think so.

That is sort of like the person that has a problem with lust taking his eyes out; the eyes aren’t the problem, they may contribute to the problem, but like I said you can be blind and still lust.  There are many things that contribute to temptation but not all of them are sin in themselves, the thing we need to do with the Lord’s help, is to learn how to control ourselves and our habits and resist the temptations and repent from the heart when we allow ourselves to be overcome by them.

When King David sinned with Bathsheba, he didn’t get rid of her, he repented.  You can read his repentant prayer in Psalm 51.  Bathsheba was not the problem, lust, rebelliousness and who knows how many other things were involved, like shirking his duty and selfishness.  The thing that helped him was true repentance.  

If we get rid of everything that has a potential to cause us to sin, we may not have much left, plus we will still have the problem and we will be in bondage and still not deal with the main issue that caused the problem in the first place which is within our hearts.  At one time I owned a number of different kinds of birds, I had so many I was called the bird man by some people.  Some of these birds were very loud, along with their repetition of screeching, which would stress me out and make me very angry at times, so I would eventually get rid of them.  Was it the birds fault?  No, they were just doing what birds do, I was the problem.  The Lord may have been using them to help me deal with my patience and my anger, but instead I just got rid of the birds which seemed to help but I wasn’t dealing with the main problem that was inside of me that caused the frustration, anger and impatience.  

So, if the Lord is allowing things to take place in your life to help you to be more transformed into His image, don’t just get rid of everything, ask the Lord what He is trying to show you, then ask Him to help you to better deal with the circumstance you find yourself in.  Ask the Lord for discernment in what to do or how to handle the situation, also you can seek some Christian counseling, but be wise with your words and the vows you make.  Deal with the thing that’s inside you that causes you to be frustrated or angry to the point it causes you to sin.  Repent when you need to.  Once you get that under control, you may not have to get rid of what caused the problem in the first place.

Something to think about!  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!

Death

Have you put to death your old life, the old man with all its sinful practices, and put on the new man and you are being renewed daily by the words of the Lord?  Are you being set free daily or are you still in bondage to your old sin nature, living a legalistic life, trying to keep the whole law instead of enjoying the freedom the Lord has provided for you through faith in His atoning work that He provided through the cross?  

Sometimes we can be so deceived, we think we are free, but instead of living by faith we start living by the law that can never set anyone free.  Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom (liberty).  Sometimes believers try to please the Lord to the point that they become legalistic, trying to keep the law that they have been set free of, instead of living by grace through faith.  The Word of God says this in Romans 1:17, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

The Galatians had a problem with this, read Galatians 3:1-14, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?

Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’ But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for ‘the just shall live by faith.’ Yet the law is not of faith, but ‘the man who does them shall live by them.’

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

In the Old Testament there were ceremonial laws.  These laws relate specifically to Israel’s worship.  One example is in Leviticus 1:1-13.  They primarily point forward to Jesus Christ, these laws were no longer necessary after the death and resurrection of our Lord.  We are no longer bound by those laws but the principles behind them, such as worship and love of a Holy God still apply.

There were also civil laws.  This type of law dictated Israel’s daily living in that day that cannot be followed specifically in our day because our modern society and culture are so different than theirs but the principles behind the commands should guide our conduct.   

The third type is the moral laws.  This sort of law is the direct command of God.  An example is in Exodus 20: 1-17 (the Ten Commandments).  They require strict obedience and they reveal the nature and will of God and still apply to us today.  We are to obey these moral laws, not to get eternal life, but to live in ways pleasing to God.  These notes about the different type of laws were taken from my Bible in the Bible notes.

We don’t grow spiritually by keeping certain laws but because of God’s work in us.  Just as we are saved by Christ we also grow by faith in Christ.  The Galatians stumbled when they insisted on keeping the Jewish laws.  They, or we, could never be saved by the law or works that we could accomplish.  Read what it says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Something to think about!  Have a great day and may God bless you and yours!!