Don't love the world

^“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2: 15-17, KJV).

Do you think you can't overcome the world? Do you think it is too hard to make it in this fallen world, to survive and keep your faith? You can, Jesus tells us we can overcome this world if we believe in Him.

The world is a hard place to live in. Sin is normal. Society is falling apart all around us. The government has taken God out of the process and people are mean to Christians and believe us to be a group of people that don't fit in the "new" world's rules and demeanor.

We are commanded to not love the world or things of the world. This can be difficult, but it's about action and attitude to overcome the world. To overcome the world we need to put Jesus first in attitude and action. We live in a fallen world that is ruled by Satan and he has all sorts of things in his bag of tricks and trades to ply towards Christians to distract us and to try to draw us away from our walk with Christ.

What is your priority? Do you love things in this world more than Jesus? Do you love your car, you hobbies, your relationships with others, etc. more than Jesus? Do you focus on other things more than you do Jesus, putting them before worshiping and loving the Lord? If you do, you need a change in direction and focus towards our Lord and Savior. He should be our number one priority, the first thing we think of in the morning and the last thing we should think about when going to bed.

It is fine to have hobbies and to enjoy life for Jesus wants us to enjoy our life, but problems can arise if you put the things of this world before your Lord. Do you pick up your bible and read it or do you instead turn the television on to watch your favorite show? If you did, you put the world before God. Did you skip church to watch Sunday football? If you did, you put God in second place, not first. You get it? Anything that comes before your Lord is what is important to you. If you put God first always, then you have proven that the Lord is always your first priority.

Remember that our God is a jealous God and he wants our full attention to Him and not anything else. When the Holy Spirit puts the things of God on your heart, you need to listen and obey. If you have a tug on your heart to study the Word, or read a Christian book, or participate in a church outreach, you should choose to listen to the Holy Spirit and obey instead of doing other things that puts Jesus out of being your first priority.

The world is full of daily distractions meant to pull us away from our Savior. We need to be careful and conscience of these distractions and put God first in our daily lives. Does this mean we don't watch our favorite football team play, or go out and have dinner with friends, or participate in our hobbies? No, but your attitude and actions should be towards the Lord as your first priority when faced with a decision of distraction or God. The world will want you to put God out of first place, but you need to recognize and resist this pull from the world.

We need to be able to separate the evils of the world from the godly things of our walk with Jesus to ensure Jesus is our first priority in life. Not everything in this world is evil, but Satan will try to use the world and our inherent weaknesses to tempt us to stray from our walk with Jesus, to separate us from our first priority; our Savior. He does this by tempting us with the things in the world that are evil and ungodly but are tempting to us nonetheless. Things such as lustful temptations, new age spiritualism, conforming to what society now accepts as normal like gay marriage, abortion, etc., satan will use our weaknesses against us to keep us from putting Jesus first. He works every angle of our weaknesses to get us to be worldly and stray from the teachings and commands of Jesus.

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5: 2-5, KJV).

We can overcome the world by putting Jesus first. If we follow the teachings and commands put forth in the Bible then when we are tempted by satan and the world we can resist and overcome the world and the wiles satan tries to use against us to separate us from our Lord and Savior.

If you are a Christian but are living worldly, now is the time to turn your back on the worldly life and turn your face towards Jesus again. Jesus is the way, the truth, and life. Focus on God and the Word. The Lord wants us to enjoy life, but not to the extent that we put God in second place. The Holy Spirit will guide you to know what things in life are worldly (evil) and what things in the world are acceptable to God to keep you on track. The Holy Spirit will not lead you astray, but will help you to stay on the path of righteousness to eternity, to keep Christ as your first priority.

If you’re not a follower of Christ, you live in the world and are of the world. Your focus is on the things of the world and not of God. Your focus may not be on evil things of the world, but nonetheless your focus is not on Jesus as your priority. Your focus may be your career when it should be on Jesus. You may idolize people, value material possessions, or place hobbies first in your free time when you should focus on Jesus.

When you turn to Jesus and become a follower of Christ, your attention will turn to Jesus and eternity with Him in heaven. Your old priorities will become second to your relationship with Jesus. Following Jesus does not mean giving up on aspirations or hobbies or whatever, but you will want to put Jesus first and foremost in your daily routine and thoughts.  Once you do this you will want to live for Jesus. You will want to do His will for you and do things for Him and turn from you old ways.

Having Jesus first and foremost in your heart and mind in this fallen world is a blessing. Satan will try to get you away from Jesus by tempting you with the old worldly things that you used to do and put first as well put in front of you new temptations of the world based on your weaknesses. Satan is a sly being and will want you to believe the evil is good and Jesus is not real or not fun; resist him. Society in general has turned from God and satan wants you to conform to the ways of the world. Resist him; know that the new norms in society (gay marriage, legal marijuana, abortion, etc.) are not of God.

To know what is of God you must read His Word and guidance as put forth in the Bible. The Bible is our playbook on how to live, love, and survive in this fallen world. Living in a fallen world is difficult, but with the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and the love of Jesus for us, we can survive and come out of this world with eternity in heaven as our reward. It is a difficult walk at times, especially when faced with temptations, but the journey is well worth the effort.

Take note that the relationship walk with Jesus takes great work and effort on our part. We must be active and participate in what the Lord wants us to do and how to live and love. Our relationship with Jesus in not an autopilot effort, it requires us to participate fully with open hearts and minds to conform to what Jesus has for us and wants from us as followers of Him. We cannot expect Jesus drag us through life for eternity with him. We must walk with Him and grow with Him in our relationship daily to give us His heart for others and assurance of our salvation.

Friends, don't conform to the things of the world. Do not idolize things in this world. Focus on Jesus and idolize and worship Jesus. Only through Jesus can you have eternal life with Him in heaven. The world will not do anything to get you to heaven. The things of the world will only lead to a dead end of death and separation from Jesus. Focus on Jesus and put the world behind you in your thoughts and actions. Remember, the world will pass away one day, but belief in Jesus is heaven for eternity.

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7, KJV).

Wisdom

“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7, KJV).

 

Wisdom is defined as the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; discernment, or insight.

Wisdom is gained through life via experience and/or observation of the actions or interactions with others. Sometimes wisdom is inherent in the situation, such as knowing it is not wise to jump off a building because the consequences are known to have a dismal outcome.

Godly wisdom is gained through study of the Word, prayer, and shared knowledge with other Christians such as your minister or Sunday school teacher or other scholars of the Word. I find that wisdom comes with experience, learning from your mistakes and failures as well as through reading the Word and observing others. When you do something contrary to the will of God, fail to listen to the Holy Spirit, or ignoring what you have learned as to the commandments of Jesus, you gain wisdom from those mistakes and failures.

Wisdom is not a short study exercise; it is part of a life’s long journey that grows as you grow in your walk with Jesus and being in tune to what the Holy Spirit is telling you. The bible verse above tells us that we need to get wisdom and with it, get understanding.

With understanding, coupled with wisdom, you are able to better discern right from wrong, what is godly and what is not, and what the Lord wants from you. Wisdom and understanding are pillars to our walk with Jesus, for without them we are by default foolish and will make mistakes and create failures for ourselves on a regular basis.

By having wisdom and understanding, we can be assured that when faced with moral rights or wrongs, we can have the understanding, based on gained wisdom, to make the right choice or help others who have yet to reach the level of wisdom that you are at. Not only can we impart wisdom to others, be we can gain wisdom through understanding of observation of what others have done right or wrong, moral or immoral, godly or ungodly.

The Bible is full of wisdom and by reading the Word, wisdom can be gleaned through the documented life of Jesus' teachings and other writings in the other books of the Bible. The Bible imparts to us the wisdom that the Lord wants us to have to be successful in our walk with Him. He wants us to be wise in our daily interactions with others and with Him so when we need help we can use the Bible as our guide to making wise decisions and to have a better understanding of what Jesus wants for us and from us as follower of Christ: A foundation of wisdom and understanding to guide our lives.

To be wise does not equate to being smart nor does being smart make someone wise. One can learn math and memorize formulas and processes to get to the right answer, but wisdom is being able to apply that knowledge to what lies at hand. I may know what is right and what is wrong, but it takes wisdom to do what is right. A fool has no wisdom and is guided through life by instinct and worldly knowledge of what society says what is right or wrong.

The Bible indicates that life begins at conception, for the Lord knew us in our wombs, and therefore we have the knowledge and wisdom of when life starts. A fool who is unwise may have knowledge of what the world says about when life begins, and therefore has no wisdom, or understanding, of the biblical aspect of when life occurs and is therefore likely a supporter of abortion and is unwise.

The same goes for homosexuality. The bible is very clear on what a relationship between same sex couples equates to. Those of us who have read the bible and read the verses regarding this have gained wisdom from the bible about what constitutes a relationship in the eyes of God. Those fools who don't know the bible, who don't know the foundation of family that God has imparted to us, are likely supporters of or are neutral when it comes to their stance to same sex relationships.

You see, when you gain wisdom from reading the word, listening to the Holy Spirit, and knowing the teachings of Jesus, you can discern and have an understanding of the commandments of God and the guidance He puts forth for us to live our daily lives to eventual eternity with Him in heaven. God is wisdom and we would be wise to listen to what He has to say in His Bible and understanding through the Holy Spirit. To ignore these teachings makes us fools and fools make bad decisions and are unwise to the things of God.

For those who don't know the Bible, I consider you fools. Those who don't know Jesus or even Christians that ignore the guidance of the Holy Spirit or pick and choose what they want to believe in the Bible, I count as fools too. The Bible is our guidance to life, to life eternal in heaven. To pick and choose what teachings and guidance to follow that are put forth in the Bible, or ignoring the understanding gained through listening to the Holy Spirit, puts you out of line with what God wants from us and gives us Christians a bad name. There is nothing worse than an unwise Christian to impart their "wisdom" to others that in the end are contrary to what God actually means.

If you are not wise and have no understanding, you probably don't realize this because you are blinded by the world and your own ignorance. I by no means am a completely wise person because I believe wisdom comes to increase as you walk with Jesus and study the Word; I'm humbled everyday by my lack of understanding and wisdom in various aspects in my walk with Jesus. I am young and have a long way to go. Yet I can say I have more wisdom than a lot of people in the world, including those who proclaim they are Christians because they go to church on Christmas Eve and Easter.

Do you want to be wise and have understanding? I do. I want more of it every day and seek it out daily. By humbleness in study, and listening to the Holy Spirit, we can all gain more wisdom and understanding of the Word and the Lord. Jesus will not fail us in our quest for more knowledge to gain wisdom and understanding. He wants us to have wisdom because with wisdom, we are aspiring to emulate Him more and more and to live our lives according to His will.

For you fools out there, study the Word. Listen to the Holy Spirit, and follow the teachings that Jesus and his disciples have given us in the bible. By studying the Word and listening to the Holy Spirit, we gain the wisdom we need to survive this fallen world. We are able to discern what God wants from us, how to live, and how to walk to increase our closeness to Jesus. By sitting on the sidelines and not seeking the Lord or his teachings leave you stagnant in your level of wisdom and understanding, which to me makes you foolish and unwise and unable to move forward to a more complete closeness with Jesus.

How much wisdom you want or have is your decision. I, for one, want as much as I can soak in daily. I want the wisdom of the Lord so I can have better discernment and understanding of what He wants from me. I want wisdom so I can impart the message of salvation to the unsaved for the glory of God. I want wisdom to lead others Christ. I want wisdom to ensure I'm on the right path to salvation. What kind of wisdom do you want? That is for you to answer for yourself.

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” (James 3:17, KJV).

Your fellow wisdom seeker. God bless and may you gain more wisdom daily.

 

Not Forsaken

"And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed. (Deuteronomy 31:8 KJV)

The Lord will not fail me or forsake me. Wow. I forget about this a lot. I feel so desperate at times in my walk with Jesus, especially during the quiet times of my walk when I feel I am not in touch with Jesus; you know that fulfilled feeling of Jesus in your heart. There are times when I feel that Jesus is being quiet in my life, kind of letting things roll on without being there. This verse though reminds me otherwise, that He goes before me, will not fail or forsake me, and I don't need to be worried that He isn't there.

This is easy to forget though when in times of trouble. Sometimes it seems like the whole world is falling all around me. Problems at work, drama at home with the family, health, well being, etc. It seems that at times the Lord is absent from my life, letting things go on auto pilot, leaving me to face and deal with the world without Him with me.

This isn't true though. The bible says differently. I just need to remember that God is always there, even if it seems like He is sitting on the bench of life and watching me stumble and fumble everything in my life. God isn't sitting on the bench. He is standing fast, waiting for me to call Him into the huddle for the next play in my life. I just forget to invite Him to that huddle on the field of life.

Financial woes, relationship issues, family drama, health concerns, etc., Jesus is there just waiting for me to stop relying on myself, waiting for me to invite Him into the solution to my problems. Yet time and time again, I try to do things my way, try to fix things myself without His help. I'm wrong to do this because I should know better. I usually figure this out I needed Jesus in the equation only after I fail and get an "F" in my solution.

When I return to the problem and invite Jesus to help me out, things always seem to work out for the best and I get an "A" in resolving whatever issue or problem it is that I had. Will I ever get over myself is this? I sure hope so because I would save myself great grief and heartache and stress if I would just remember that Jesus will not fail or forsake me, but He is going before me, creating the paths I need in my walk to eternity.

I remember one occasion where this stands out in my mind to this day. It's a memory I remind myself of when I forget to involve Jesus in my solution, to ask him for guidance through prayer, that when I finally did, I was taken care of and things worked out; I was not forsaken or failed by Him. Let me give you an example.

I was a police officer in Las Vegas, NV, at the time. My wife (former) had left me and our two year old to live the Vegas lifestyle to its fullest. It was February of 1998 and I was still in training and finished a 10 hour shift, getting off at 1am. Before I went to get my daughter from the sitter, my partner and I stopped off at a restaurant to relax and talk about our day. Long story short, is that while there at the establishment, six gang members came into the same place we were at (a police officer hangout) and began casing the place. Since it was late there was only my partner and I, a couple patrons, and a few workers there.

The moment the gang members walked in, I got chills up my spine and I looked at my partner and he looked at me. The both knew the gang members were casing the joint and we told the manager to tell them to leave because we both had the he-be-jeebies about the group of kids that walked in.

When the manager was escorting the group of kids out, they began beating him up and dragged him outside. We told one of the workers to call the police and we gave chase by following the group outside. When we got outside all six gang members had the manager on the ground and were kicking and punching him. We intervened and announced ourselves as police officers. The group of kids turned on us; three against my partner and three against me. Time slowed down as we fought our own fight: six against two.

They kept trying to reach for our firearms and we spent most of our time trying to protect our weapons while trying to defend ourselves. I got decked in the face pretty hard by one of the kids and I threw him against the wall then was attacked by the others while trying to handcuff him.

We ended up letting them go because we were on the losing end of the fight but as they ran off, one got into his car and he tried to run us over and drew a weapon on my partner. I took cover behind a car in the parking lot and my partner didn't fire his weapon due to a pedestrian being in a possible cross fire situation.

Needless to say when we dusted ourselves off I was bleeding, had shoe prints on my chest and was pretty shook up. (Responding police caught them up the street.) I wasn't so much shook up from being in the fight, but was shook up upon realizing at that moment I could have been seriously injured or killed and who would take care of my daughter? Her mom was nowhere to be found and I had no family in the city.

I was greatly troubled by this thought and was trying to figure out what to do: keep my job (I loved being a police officer) or quit to ensure my daughter would have a daddy. One night I cried out to the Lord, really cried out, in tears and angst. I was alone in my apartment when I did this. Then just as clearly as someone was standing next to me, but at the same time being surrounded, a voice answered me and told me I needed to quit my job and leave the city or I would surely die. I will admit that I argued with that voice but again as clearly as before, I got the same answer. The voice assured me that if I listened and obeyed, I would be taken care of and need not worry about what would happen next. I turned in my badge and service weapon in the next day.

The point of this example is that I was not forsaken or failed by Jesus. Within a couple of weeks, I found my former wife, served her with divorce and custody paper work (she signed both without question), packed up my stuff and my daughter and stepped out in faith and moved back Oregon, my home.

(I want to step away for a moment and let you know at this time I was not saved, yet the Lord was with me. Looking back with 20-20 vision, I can say he knew my heart and his perfect plan for me was just beginning because of my obedience to His voice at the time and other times led to my eventual salvation and to be where I am today, to where I am going.)

Jesus didn't fail me, not one bit. I obeyed His command to me and stepped out in faith and I was neither failed nor forsaken but was blessed with a better life, a better future. I believed Him and knew in my heart I could trust that enveloping voice that February day in 1998. When I do things my way and fail, I just think back to that day and know that I can trust Jesus to not forsake me or fail me and know that He is working His plan for me; I need not be dismayed, He is in control.

How about you? Do you do the same as I do? Do you forget sometimes that Jesus is in control and that He will not forget about you? The times I need Him most are the times when I seek Him with all my heart, mind, and soul. I need practice at seeking Him for the mundane things in life and the small things going in on in my life. If He is there to help me move the mountains in my life, how much more of Him is there for my daily needs, concerns, and problems?

It's a rhetorical question. Of course God does not fail or forsake us, because the Bible tells us so. He goes before us, preparing the way for the plan He has for each one of us. All we have to do is believe in Him and listen to voice via the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not lead us astray but will keep us on the right path by gently and sometimes forcefully tugging at our hearts to keep us with Jesus' plan for our walk with Him.

God is constant and consistent. It’s me that isn't. I've strayed at times; it's me that has forgotten that He is there for me and that I'm not forgotten about. He will never forsake me; I forsake myself. We all have a purpose and are more than ourselves. God loves and cherishes each one of His children.

Are you a child of God? Are you saved by the blood of Jesus? Have you strayed or forgotten about the power of God and that He does not forsake or fail us? It us that fail ourselves and sometimes we blame others or God Himself for our failings. He is there for you, for me, for all His children. If you've lost sight of Jesus, now is the time to cross over and back to His path for you. Just ask Him for help. Remember He goes before you and will not fail or forsake you.

If you don't know Jesus, you probably have felt pretty small in life; forgotten about, forsaken by a God you don't know. I know. I've been there, and so has every Christian before they were saved by the blood of Jesus. What you need to know is that Jesus loves you and wants you for His own. Ask Jesus into your life. Ask Him to take you over completely to be His. By being one of His own, you won't be forsaken or failed and you won't feel dismayed in life.

Jesus is the saving grace that will take you to heaven, as long as you believe He died for you and your sins. By accepting Him as your Lord and Savior, you become a child of His, never to be taken from His hand. I guarantee that if you truly seek Him and accept Him in your heart, you will be a changed being. You will be blessed in your new self and will feel a love and power that you knew never existed before you knew and accepted Jesus.

Take some time to get to know Jesus. First and foremost, ask Him into your heart and your life then get yourself a bible (or dust the one off on your shelf) and read about His life in the first books of the New Testament. Let Him lead you through the Holy Spirit. Let Him be the driver in your life, guiding you to where He needs and wants you to be. Don't forget to pray and to pray a lot. Talk to Jesus daily and put your burdens on Him, ask for His guidance, and talk to Him about your day; successes and failures.

God loves you and wants your love for Him.
God bless

Peace and Thanks

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful" (Colossians 3:15 KJV).

I was reading and came across this verse in the Bible. It is so simple, yet so powerful to me. Let God rule your hearts and be thankful. This sums up a lot of things for me. It got me thinking about what I am and not at peace with and what I am thankful for as well as where my heart is on a lot of different things in my life.

It made me think of where my heart is today. Is it really peaceful, is it loving, is my heart thankful? I can say it is most of the time. I feel the peace of the Lord in my heart, even in times of trouble. My heart knows that God is control and I need not worry about anything. What I know and what I feel though are sometimes at odds with each other.

I have a tendency to get stressed out real easy over the little of things and the biggest of things. I know I shouldn't because I recognize that God is in control, but nonetheless I do. I guess it is a flaw of my personality but I'm working on this aspect of myself and probably will for a long time. At the end of the day, I do feel the peace of God that rules my heart.

When it comes to my salvation, I have great peace in my heart. I know that I'm saved. I know I will go to heaven with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I'm not worried about that. I think that this is the greatest thing to have peace about, to me at least. Yet at the same time I sometimes don't feel peace at the things happening to me in my daily life and happenings that are part of everyday living. The daily living stuff is my challenge. I’ll discuss some of the major things I’m not at peace with.

I worry about my kids and what is going on with their life and their salvation. I lack the peace that I should have regarding their salvation and how they live their life. I don't know what is in their heart, what is truly in their heart regarding Jesus. I know that they know what to say to me when I talk to them about Christ, but what is in their heart, I cannot discern very well. I pray for peace in my heart that their salvation is secure and I'll be with them in eternity.

I struggle and worry with what will happen to my two oldest kids who will graduate this year and how they will survive in the world and the worldly ways away from our home. Will they slip and fall? Will they turn from the Lord after being introduced to what the world has to offer? They are young and will be faced with real world troubles and temptations that I recall facing and falling into when I was their age. I pray that they hold fast to the teachings and examples my wife and I have shown them as they grew up.

I stress about my job. As a federal worker, we are faced with cuts and layoffs and furlough days. We live well below our means thanks to God and can weather financial storms well enough that we won't starve or lose the roof over our head, but I still stress about that. I know I should have peace in my heart from God regarding this, but as I said before, I'm a worry wart and am not there yet. I pray for the peace of God to know that I will always be taken care of, me and my family.

I worry about my health. I have poor health with a litany of health problems. I worry about how my health will deteriorate as I grow older and how long I will live. I hope the rapture occurs sooner than later so I don't have to worry about my health anymore, but for now, I'm not at peace with my health. I have not come to terms completely with the problems I have and every time I go to the doctor, I seem to get diagnosed with yet another problem. I try my hardest to be at peace with my health problems and to accept that I have them for a reason unbeknownst to me, that God has allowed me to be burdened with these problems for his purpose. I pray for peace of heart with my health problems and to allow God to work with them through me to gain others for Christ.

Enough of the negatives. I want to turn to the positives and what I'm thankful for in the peace of God in my heart. My thankfulness is so much greater than my worries and my peace of heart and thankfulness out number my lack of peace in so many facets of my life that I cannot list them all here without boring you to death, so I'll just talk about the top thankful things in my mind today.

First and foremost I'm thankful for Jesus. What Jesus did for you and me on the cross is the most selfless act. I'm so very thankful for His grace and sacrifice for us so we can spend eternity with Him. His selfless act is the most thankless gift that I am thankful for. I have peace in my heart that He is real and His act of being a sacrifice for us is true. I give praise to the Lord!

I'm thankful for grace. Without grace I'd be doomed. Every day I seek out and need grace. I make mistakes and poor decisions in my walk with Jesus, but through grace, I'm forgiven and can receive forgiveness daily. Without grace I would be a withered weed, with no hope of salvation. I thank the Lord everyday for his grace and He knows I need it every day to renew my relationship with Him as I walk on my path of salvation. Thank you Jesus for your promises.

Even though I have poor health, I'm thankful that I can still work for the Lord. Even though I struggle with coming to terms with my illnesses, I'm thankful and have peace in my heart that God has a plan for me and it will be revealed to me in baby steps or one day in actualization of a revelation. I know I can relate to others with health issues and can use that sympathy and empathy to bring people closer to the Lord and to help them in their walk with the Lord, that no matter how bad things may be, peace of heart can be attained and salvation can be assured regardless of health.

I'm thankful for my family and my job. Even though my kids push me to the edge of sanity, I love them all dearly and want only what is best for them. They are truly a reflection of God's grace and they challenge me, unknowingly, to work on my walk with Jesus so I can better emulate the love of God. In this horrid economy, I'm thankful that I have a good paying job and I can support my family to ensure all their needs are met. Thank you Jesus for helping me be a good father and that I am employed.

I'm thankful for the Bible. Without the Word of God, I wouldn't have a roadmap to salvation. The Bible gives me revelations every time I read it that help me understand the Lord better and to guide me on my walk with Jesus. The Bible is my crutch I use when I need to get closer to the Lord because reading about Him, His life, His teaching, and His guidance, gives me hope and energizes and inspires me in my walk with Him. Thank you Jesus for your words and guidance as put there by you for me.

What about you? Do you have the peace of God in your heart and are you thankful? Have you ever reflected on your status of peace and thankfulness? If you haven't, try it, it is a great exercise to see where you stand on a number of issues in your life; what you should be thankful for, and what areas of your life you may need to work on for the peace of God and thankfulness. I know by thinking and writing about this I have a lot of work to do in many facets of my life, but overall I have an overarching faith in my peace with God and being thankful for Him and what He has and will do for me.

If you don't know the Lord, you are lacking in the peace He can give you. Having the peace of God in your heart is a great feeling. You will feel secure and sure that Jesus is real and He wants you for His own. Your worries will be lessened and your assurance in eternity will be strengthened. How do you get this peace, this assurance in your heart? To get this you need Jesus. You need to accept Him as your Lord and Savior.

Jesus died for you and me by taking our sins upon Himself so that if we accept Jesus as our Savior, that He died for our sins, we can live in heaven with Him for all eternity. I believe everyone wants to go to heaven and to get there the only way is through Jesus Christ. Please accept Him. Time is short; everyday is a day closer to you meeting Him. Learn all you can about walking with Jesus and living your life for Him and through Him.

 

God Bless