Will You Be Ready

As the end seems to be getting very close, are you ready to meet your maker?  God’s word says only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will go to be with Him for eternity, so if your name isn’t found there then you were not ready.  I wouldn’t say these things unless I really believed them to be true and very reliable statements.  I believe that there is, and have been, so many people deceived, thinking that their good works will get them into heaven so they keep doing things as sort of brownie points that will appease the good Lord and he will be happy to let them in when the time comes.  I don’t want you deceived, so I will give you a dose of reality; the word says emphatically, before our true conversion, which means before we have become born-again, our righteousness, or what we think is righteous, is like filthy rags.

Please read Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

Now please read 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.”  

This makes it perfectly clear that we can do nothing, as far as our own works are concerned, to obtain salvation.  It is all in the Lord’s hands; I believe we are all called but few are chosen because of our responses to the call.  When we are called, we can respond with a hardy amen to the Spirit’s conviction and truly repent, turning from our sins in our consciousness of mind and heart and confess our sins, asking the good Lord to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and to come into our lives and to be our Lord and Savior and be ready on his return.  Or, we can reject the calling and go on living our lives our way and never be ready when Jesus returns to get his people, if we are still alive at the time.  

No man knows the time or the hour when Jesus will return, but each one can be ready whether we are here or have already departed going where we have determined by our own choices and free will to choose.  The choice is up to each of us, what will yours be?

May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you all have a super day!!

Fighting Battles

Be kind to everyone because everyone is fighting some sort of battle.  I believe that, if the truth were known, everyone has a battle going on inside them about something or other.  Some of these things no one will ever know about because they have been kept under lock and key, so to speak, down deep in the recesses of one’s heart and mind.  

The problem is some things are so detrimental to a Christian’s growth, and may hinder their growth for years, because it holds the person hostage.  Like something they may have done or have been a part of or something they may have said, possibly something so grievous that they can’t seem to get over it.  Maybe it is something that happened to them at some point in their lives and they meditate on it far too often and it has helped to make them a very bitter person.  I’m not trying to be insensitive, I realize that some people have been through some horrific things in their lives and life can feel like it has a strangle hold at times, but I know the One who can set you free and when He sets you free you will be free indeed.  

Jesus is the reason for the season and the answer for what you need to be set free of.  I myself and thousands and thousands of people have been set free by trusting in Jesus.  God’s word says this in 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.”

   

If God loved the world that much, which includes you and me, and He sent Jesus, his only begotten Son, into the world, not to condemn the world but through him the world might be saved, and you and I are included, then all we have to do is truly repent, which means turning away from your sins, having a change of heart and mind and turning to God, confessing that we are  sinners in  need of His grace and mercy and forgiveness; then ask the Lord to be your Lord and Savior and then be prepared to be set free, if you are serious about your decision to follow Jesus!!  This is the best news ever, that the God who created the world would send his only begotten Son who had no sin, into the world to be the sacrificial lamb for those who would scorn him and reject him and also for those who would repent and put their trust in him, praise His holy, holy name.  If you haven’t yet, I pray that you will make the right choice today and see what the Lord will do.  The Word says to taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him, Psalms 34:8.

For all of you who never paid much attention to the real reason for the season, I pray that this year you will have a real true life experience with the King of kings and the Lord of lords and you will be set free of anything that has you in bondage.  Seeing it is Christmas Eve, let me encourage you with this in Luke 2:11-14, “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’”    

Have a very merry, merry Christmas and a happy, happy New Year and may all of you be truly blessed!!

Tis The Season

 I want to ask some questions:  how many of you are far too busy on Christmas to really enjoy this time of the season, and how many are discouraged and hate to see Christmas come?  How many of you will go into debt and struggle trying to pay off what you will spend on presents and preparations until the next time Christmas comes around?

For many, this time of year brings back many bad memories and past hurts and we need to show compassion and kindness and love that is more than just talk, which happens far too often.  To me this time of the season radiates hope, good tidings and joy and good will and excitement.

I would be amiss if I didn’t bring this into the foreground and that is this, Christmas is far too commercialized, for many people it is a time to get off work and party and get stoned, and also to make lots of money on.  I think at times we are so preoccupied with the parties and all the preparations and the shopping, that we are involved in, that we lose what the real reason for the season is all about in the first place.  

Most true Christians celebrate this time of year as Jesus Christ’s birthday, which at one time, from my understanding, was a pagan holiday.  Also, from my understanding, December 25 was not the day that Jesus was born, it was in the spring probably around March 21, when things start warming up and new life begins to take place.  When the trees and bushes and flowers and grass begin to come alive.

Well, whether that is true or not we celebrate it on the 25^th of December.  If we are not careful, like I said up above, we will miss the real meaning of Christmas because we get so preoccupied with everything else that is going on around us, the shopping and the preparations that we are involved with.  Jesus is the reason for the season, and we need let our families and friends and neighbors know about it.  I know we hear Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas from people, it seems like people want to take Christ out of Christmas, but if that happens, I see no need to celebrate Christmas at all.  So, let’s keep Christ in Christmas and not let the jolly man, called Santa Claus, plus other things take our minds off the real reason for the season.  

I pray that this has been a blessing and an encouragement to one and all. May all of you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours with His perfect peace, love and joy and health and happiness and may you all have a very Merry Christmas!!