You Need Jesus

We all need Jesus. Do you know this? Have you accepted Him into your life and heart?  There are those that go to church, many for years, that have not been told they need Jesus for salvation. There is great apostate in some churches that skip this vital part of what Jesus is about: Salvation.

 

John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

 

Have you ever heard this in church? The years I went to various churches I never heard this nor was it brought up.  Why? Are there some churches scared to mention that Jesus is the only way to heaven? Or are they scared they may lose membership if they mention the truth of this matter? I don’t know the motives of preachers of why they avoid this topic but it is important.

 

I question how many people have been going to church for years and years and have never known this truth.  I wonder how many of you reading this have never known this or know someone who doesn’t know this.  It is out there though, the lack of not knowing that Jesus is the way to heaven.

 

In the last church I attended, with the old and new preachers, for five years, I never heard about Jesus being the way, the truth, and the life for everlasting life in heaven. There was always some series about life’s troubles or topics related to worldly things. They did this to draw people to the church with these feel good messages but rarely mentioned Jesus. The new church I go to is a bible teaching church that speaks the truth and talks about Jesus throughout the sermon.

 

Psalms 40:16, “Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.”

 

Those people who have been church goers for years but have never been introduced to Jesus is a failure of the pulpit.  These people will be in for a surprise during the rapture and judgment. They will have missed the boat to salvation. They will be left behind and will be judged without the blood of Jesus coving them. It isn’t there fault, but still, it is what it is.

 

There are people in churches and out of churches that know of Jesus. They have great knowledge of the bible and can teach and lead, but they never accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. I wonder why this is?  Why do people not understand and commit this simple act to ensure their salvation.  I don’t know, it is a mystery to me.  In my old church, they would have baptisms once a month. Many months would pass before someone was baptized. I think if churches would commit to teaching the truth of Jesus and His salvation offered to us, there would be a line of people there every month.

 

If you are one of these people who knows about Jesus but hasn’t committed to Him, it is time to do so. You need Jesus.  Time here on Earth is short and with the end times prophesies happening it is vital that you get Jesus now.  Just having knowledge of Christ and that He exists is not enough to get you into heaven. It is accepting Him into your heart, soul, and mind that are the key to salvation from this horrid world we live in. To avoid hell, to escape the grip of Satan, you need Jesus. To be spotless during the judgment, to be in the Book of Life, you need Jesus. Without Jesus, the gates of heaven will be closed to you and you will be lead to the open gates of Hell. 

 

Sounds harsh, right? Well it is truth.  I think a lot of preachers avoid this kind of talk for fear of losing parishioners in their church which means less membership, ending in less money.  They don’t hit on heaven and hell because of fear. I believe if you teach truth of heaven, hell, and salvation, then people will come and the church will grow.  People inherently want to know the truth, even if it hurts their feelings. Some people need to hear about hell to spur them on to Jesus.

 

There are folks out there that don’t know Christ is the way to heaven. They think going to church and listening to feel good messages and helping at the church will earn them a seat in heaven. What they don’t know is that they need Jesus to get to heaven.  What a great thing it would be if preachers taught the truth. Would they lose some of their congregation? Sure, but those that stay will hear the truth of needing Jesus to get to heaven and will be saved. Instead, people are swayed to believe that church is enough, that church makes them a Christian.  You aren’t a Christian until you accept Christ. You aren’t a Christian because you take communion or are a greeter at the door or help with the daycare.  These things are fine and dandy, but without Jesus they are dead works in the eyes of God.  No matter what they do, no matter how hard they try to be good, there is no hope for them unless they have Jesus. 

 

When I pray for people at the altar call, the first thing I ask them is if they are saved and know Jesus as their personal savior. You’d be surprised at how many say no but want prayer anyway. I then pray that God enters their heart for salvation and then pray for their needs.  It saddens me that so many don’t know Christ but want the benefits of being a Christian. 

 

There are so many opportunities missed at church or outside of church. A lot of people that are not regulars come to church seeking help with problems and seek out prayer. But the opportunity is missed to introduce them to Christ in their time of need. They need Jesus, not some prayer to make their problems go away. They get their prayer and then leave, with the missed opportunity to be introduced to Christ. What a shame. 

 

Look, in summary, I just want to get the point across that not everyone who goes to church or says they are Christian are saved and know Jesus.  When we talk to these people, we must ask them if they are saved or not. If they are not saved, it is a great opportunity to introduce Christ to them. By doing so you are reaping and adding to the kingdom of God. By doing His will for us, which is to be advocates and to spread the word of salvation to others we will reap more and more.

 

One thing I like to ask when people say they are saved is to ask for their testimony. If they don’t have a testimony of when they came to Christ, it is an indicator to me that maybe they really aren’t saved and need Jesus in their life.  This is your opportunity to explain salvation and point them in the right direction to Christ, to a true relationship with Him.

 

We all need Jesus. Let’s be advocates to others that may not know them at church or in passing. Let’s get moving and add to the kingdom of God! So the next time you pray for someone or are having a conversation at church with someone, ask them if they are saved. You may be surprised by their response.

I am Free

“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren” (James 1: 4-16).

There you are, watching from the sidelines. He walks by you ever so slowly. In front of him is the dangling carrot of temptation that keeps him unfocused on anything else. The lead shoes of guilt slow him down as he works hard to drag his feet while climbing up the hill, pulling regret behind him.

His hands are bound behind him with the chains of sin, getting tighter with each step, pulling his shoulders down further and further. The tears running down his face are not of joy but of the pain of worthlessness. The end of his path is a cliff. Beyond the cliff is the judgment and the lake of fire.

This man has never known a life any different than this. He thinks and believes this is what life is about, that this is normal. Life to him is full of temptations that he can’t overcome; guilt from giving into wickedness. Pain from feeling worthless for the life he is living.

He thinks God is a bad god that just likes to toy with him. He tells you God likes to make him suffer, likes to see him in misery. He asks you what kind of loving god would do this to a man. You tell him he is wrong and there is hope. He shakes his head at you, looks straight ahead again and keeps shuffling up the hill.

He has a stirring in his heart, but he doesn’t know what it is or what it means. He just thinks it is just more burden on him, nothing else, nothing more. His problem is that he is stuck in the world and lost in an endless cycle of self destruction. He is headed to death. He doesn’t know Jesus. He’s never heard of Christ. No one told him about Jesus before. He was each one of us and is us.

When reading this, did you see and feel it, because I did? I was writing about myself and what I’ve seen in others. I can totally relate to this unnamed man. His name is mine, your neighbors, your family members, and your name, too.

None of us were born and grew up “mightier than thou” as some would like to impart or portray to you in their “perfect” Christian lives. We were all and are like this man. “Not me!” and “Who is this guy telling me who I am?” I’m telling you the truth. If you don’t believe me, that’s fine, some folks have little fantasy islands that they live on.

If you are a Christian and have not ever been tempted by sin, show me the secret of how you do it. If you’re not burdened with guilt or worthlessness when you commit or still live in sin, show me how to not feel this way. When you fail, how do you not feel regret? I’d like to know because I’m a Christian and feel these things. Maybe I’m just not as perfect as some of you.

The difference between the man described above and who we are -- is that he did not have Jesus as some of us do. Jesus is the missing ingredient in people’s lives that are burdened like the man described. Those of us who have Jesus are forgiven and don’t have to be tied down to the world like the unsaved. We are free. I am free.

John 3:17: “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

Jesus doesn’t want us to suffer like that man. He wants us to be beautiful people in our soul, to be joyous and reflect His love to others. God didn’t create us to destroy us in the end. He created us to make a choice, an eternal choice of accepting and loving Him as our Creator or to love Satan and the world that he controls. Our choices have eternal consequences.

Let’s address this man from a Christian perspective now:

He can break the chains of sin through the power of Jesus and take off the shoes of guilt, now knowing guilt will not slow him down. His temptation may be dangling in front of him all the time, but he can choose to ignore it or grab it and throw it to the wayside when it’s there. The tears? They are no longer of pain, but of joy for Christ.

You know that hill he was climbing? It is no longer going to darkness, but up to light that is heaven bound. This is how Jesus changed the scenario for this man, once he accepted Christ in his heart. No more regret pulling him down, nor burden weighing down on his shoulders from sin.

Do you stumble sometimes? Don’t bother answering, I already know the answer to that question. (Hint: It should be, “Yes.”) What do you do when you stumble? Do you act like some do and pretend it never happened, put it away in your mind and try to hide it? Or do you pray for forgiveness?

You can’t go out every Saturday night and party it up and then on Sunday ask for forgiveness, and repeat this every week. That lifestyle defeats the purpose of avoiding sin. Instead you are using Christ in a deadly game against yourself, using and thinking His forgiveness can be toyed with and manipulated with.

Wrong.

Okay. Let’s say you haven’t partied for years, but there was one day of the weekend that you did. One of two things would most likely happen. You will either feel the Holy Spirit convict you for your devilish deed or you won’t feel bad about it at all. If you aren’t convicted by the Holy Spirit that what you did was contrary to Christ, if you didn’t feel that heavy guilt but instead brushed it aside, then you are not in a good place with Christ.

If you did feel convicted for your deed last Saturday night, then good for you. Your heart is in the right place because you were convicted by the Holy Spirit. What’s important is what you will do next Saturday and the next. The Holy Spirit will let you know very clearly that what you did was wrong. It doesn’t have to be partying, it can be anything. The important point to take away is that once you are convicted, you pray for forgiveness and strive to not to do it again!

I’m guilty of doing sinful things because I’m a sinful human, always fighting but slipping up sometimes. The difference from my old self and my new self is that I learn from my convictions from the Holy Spirit. I don’t ignore Him, but instead listen to Him.

I’m like a child; the Holy Spirit has to slap my hands to keep me from touching the stove until I learn that by touching the stove I will get slapped. Only as I get older (i.e. grow with Christ) do I realize I was not being punished by the Holy Spirit, but that He was protecting me from getting burned. This is how He works.

When temptation comes, and I know it will, I have learned to trust the Holy Spirit. Because if I don’t, I know the consequences of doing wrong. Sin leads to death, which I don’t want of course, so I rely on the Holy Spirit to guide me to the righteous path and to convict me to ask for forgiveness when I choose not to listen to him (slap-ouch).

Some may feel it is a burden to try to be so “good” all the time. I say there is a freedom in it. I am freed from the chains of sin. The burden of sin is taken away and I’m free to love my God, my Christ, with all my joy and all my heart.

Mathew 11: 28-30: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

The burden of being a Christian is not hard, if you have Jesus. If you think it is hard to be a Christian…hmm…I don’t know, maybe you’re really not a Christian. Seriously. Being a Christian, that is—being saved, is a freedom from your self. You are free from the bondage of the world and of Satan’s grip he had on you.

Personally, I find that being a Christian is fun and no burden to me to be one; but this is me and my opinion. I was set free from my old self by the grace of Christ when I accepted Him into my heart.

eel like this is begging the question: What is freedom? That depends on what you believe. If you don’t believe in Christ then freedom is to do whatever you want, how you want, regardless of how you feel. Feeling this way is the man described above in the beginning of this article.

he thing is this: So many don’t know the weight they carry. It’s like me, I’m a fat guy, but I don’t notice the extra weight I carry. But if my wife were to carry the extra 100 lbs I carry, she would surely feel it and it would pull her down. Same thing that unsaved people don’t realize; they are carrying the burden of guilt, sin, worthlessness, etc. on themselves and so it is normal to them.

Once Christ is found and is in one’s heart, that burden is taken away and WOW what a refreshing thing it is: Christ is freedom. Without that extra weight I would feel as if I suddenly disappeared, weight wise. How great, like flying or running or doing something joyous. This is what Christ does for us when we accept Him and lay our burdens on Him. We are suddenly released from the burdens of the world holding us down. We are free.

Romans 6:18-23: “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Without Christ you are spiritually dead. The wages of sin is death, a separation from Christ forever after your physical body dies and your spirit is released. With Christ, you die and your released spirit from this world goes on to heaven to be with Christ. What would you rather have? Separation from Christ in hell or joined with Him in heaven?

When you commit yourself to Christ you choose to serve righteousness to holiness. Anything less is not up to par. You can’t serve two masters, you must choose one. I hope you have chosen righteousness and not iniquity. We live an unholy world with Satan in the driver’s seat. Yet, even in the midst of this we can choose to get into the car with Christ and let Him be the driver for our souls. He will lead us to righteousness and will make us holy.

I don’t mean to sound harsh, well maybe a little, but if you choose to serve the world and be part of the world’s evilness, then you are damned. It is unfortunate for someone who thinks he or she is a Christian but they really live in the world. They think they can have it both ways, but they can’t. I see a lot of people doing this. They are slaves to the world but try to be Christian at the same time. Such a shame, this is. I hope those of you who are you reading this are not one of those people.

The solution to this problem is pretty easy: Choose freedom in Christ. Choose Christ over the world. Put Christ first. Christ is the way, the, truth, and the life. I don’t ever recall the Bible saying the world is the way, the truth, the life. If you believe this or are walking on both sides of the street, you are in trouble.

The journey is long. The fight is hard. There will be challenges along the way. Be steadfast in your love and following of Christ and you will be heaven bound. Don’t give up my brothers and sisters. Life can be tiring in the world but there is freedom in Christ.

Condition and Position

Position with Christ

Condition in life

We each have a condition and position in life and in our spiritual life. They don’t necessarily line up, but if you think about it, we all have a condition in life and a position in your Christ relationship.

What is the condition in life? It can be many things.  It can be whatever is going in your life. It can be your past, present, and perceived future.  For many, the conditions are: financial, marriage problems, addictions, medical concerns, etc. etc. It is basically your physical world and your condition in it. Maybe you are having a hard time financially. This is a condition. Maybe it is an overwhelming stress at work. This too is a condition. Maybe your poor health is getting you down. This is also a condition. Get the point? Your condition is based on the tangible world we live in and the circumstances that you face on a daily basis. Conditions change but your position should, at a minimum, be constant with your relationship with Christ. He loves you and doesn’t want life to affect your relationship with Him. 

Your position in Christ is separate than your condition in life. There is a difference. Your conditions may change, but your position doesn’t.  Your condition in life should not affect your position in Christ. Yet, for some, it is easy to let conditions change your position.  Regardless of you condition, your position should be constant and ever growing up, not down. What do you think about this?  I think it is a pretty good depiction of life and Christ as explained to me by my Christian mentor. 

Let’s say that your condition has changed. For example, finances, something we all have or are struggling with. Just because your condition (financial troubles) have gotten worse or are failing, shouldn’t affect your position with Christ. They are separate. Don’t tie your condition to your position with Christ.

When faced with worldly problems, your position with Christ should never be tied to the conditions you are facing.  Just because you face challenges in conditions in the tangible world does not mean your position should be changed in the intangible: our hope in Christ.

Let’s take me for example. I have very poor health. This is my condition. Some days it is worse than others, some days it is not.  My condition is health problems.  As my mentor explained to me, my condition has nothing to do with my position with Christ.  Conditions change and my position with Christ is not changed. Just because I live in a broken body, it doesn’t have to relate to my position with Christ. My condition may change but my relationship with Christ is unchangeable. If I trust in Christ and still seek Him my position will not move down, but will stay constant or go up, regardless of what ills I’m facing in the world and what Satan tries to throw at me.

We all face troubles and our conditions will change, but the constant in all of this is the strength we can have is in our position with Christ.  You can do one of two things with your conditions. One, you can let it bring down your position with Christ. Two, you can let it raise your position with Christ.  What do you do when faced with bad conditions in your life? How does it affect your relationship with Christ? Ok, I’ll give you the answer: your condition should not affect your position.

I had never thought of this before and it makes perfect sense to me now.  I used to tie my condition to my position.  When I felt bad because of health or some other conditional problem, I felt my position with Christ changed for the worse. How wrong I was.  As my mentor explained to me, we are in a fallen world and with it come attacks from the Devil to our physical bodies and other conditions to try to get us to change our position with Christ. We must fight this and remember that conditions don’t change our position. With our faith in Christ, we will not be affected by Satan and the conditions in our lives he messes with.

Even during times of blessings, when our conditions move to the better, it should not falsely change our position with Christ for conditions will change for the worse eventually because Satan has a way of throwing wrenches into our lives.  With true strength in Christ our position should never change with Him when Satan gets involved in our conditions.  When our conditions change, our position with Christ should always be improving, not losing. 

This is why when we face adversity, we must remember that it is a condition and does not change our position.  Remember that we can do all things in Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). We can overcome our conditions and endure our conditions while at the same time still hold our position with Christ.

Isaiah 41:10, “Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

Regardless of your condition, God is still with you and will uphold you (position).  Your conditions may change, but your position with Christ should not be affected by your conditions. 

Satan will try to change your conditions for the worse in an effort to get you to change your position with Christ.  Satan will use challenges to get you to lose faith, but this should not be so. If you remember your position with Christ, the conditions of your life should be meaningless in your relationship with Christ. Fight Satan and his efforts to use life against your relationship with Christ.

Christ is love. Christ is our redeemer. He is our Rock and our Salvation. Remember this when conditions in your life challenge you to lose hope in Christ.  Keep your hope alive and seek more strength for Christ to not let your conditions affect your positional relationship with Christ.  Regardless of what is happening in your life, Christ is there for you, arms always open, to wrap you in His love.  He will help you overcome your conditions, or challenges, you face as long as you keep the faith.

Remember that your condition does not affect your position. Remember that God is steady and sturdy in His ways and won’t let you fail. You may stumble, but he will not let you fall down.  Keep working on your position with Him and disregard your conditions as they are just distractions from Satan to try to swerve you away from Christ.

Light and Darkness

“And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! How shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha,” 2 Kings 6:15-17.

I read this today and it put me in awe. I’ve read it before but never had the imagery in my mind of this event. Can you imagine, seeing the spiritual world like Elisha. To have enough faith like the Prophet Elisha to see what is really going on in the world seen and unseen.

There is Elisha and his servant, standing at the battlefield, both looking on. The weather was clear and the servant could see the vast army in front him. He feels doomed by their numbers compared to theirs.  His faith is shaken. He asked his master what they should do, his voice shaking and his feet ready to turn and run.  Elisha tells him not to worry, that there are more with them than what the enemy has. His servant does not understand. What he sees is their forces outnumbered by the opposing force and his fear is still with him.

Seeing this fear and confusion in his servant’s eyes, Elisha prays that the servant’s eyes be opened to see what he sees. All of sudden the servant’s eyes are opened and he sees the spiritual realm overlaid with the physical world.  What an amazing site he must have seen: God’s angels surrounding them.  The forces of angels on their side, dressed in white, flaming with fire, ready for battle with their armor glistening in the sun. Their eyes focused on the task ahead with confidence worn on their faces. Spears, arrows, chariots with strong horses, all poised for battle, waiting for their chance to defeat the dark forces opposing them.  High on their horses they eagerly await to serve the Lord and protect His people with their numbers far greater than the opposing force’s and the darkness facing them.

This makes me think about today and the battle of light versus darkness going on right now in our time.  The battle must be greater than all the rest because of the times we live in.  Prophesy is being fulfilled and the rapture in imminent. We are in the midst of a great battle, but we can’t see the spiritual world fighting with us.

There are forces surrounding and protecting us from the darkness. These forces of light are helping us fight our battles with darkness, day in and day out. Even when we don’t think they are there, they are.  Am I wrong? Based on what happened with Elisha in 2 Kings, I have to believe there are spiritual forces from God working with and for us as we survive in this world fighting Satan.

This brings us back to our current battles with darkness. Darkness is void of light. God is light. Therefore anything not of light is of darkness. We live in a dark world. I’m not referring to nighttime or the cycles of the sun, but of dark forces.  This dark force is evil.  It is of Satan, his workers, and is of the world.  Does the darkness over shadow us at times, otherwise known as sin? Of course it does, but light is stronger than the darkness and can pierce the darkness and envelope us with the love of Christ. 

Before each one of us was saved, we were born into darkness.  We lived dark lives in a dark world and didn’t know that the darkness was darkness. We just thought it was life.  What a change that occurred in us when we were saved! We took that leap out of darkness and dove right into the light of the Lord in an instant.  What a wonderful image.

Now looking back, I image my past as wearing a dark robe around me, just thinking it was a robe.  Little did I know that what I wore was the robe of darkness with sleeves of the world.  I did things that I now know were wrong, I did things I became ashamed of when I was wearing the robe of darkness but I didn’t care at that time.

As I look back and accepted Christ, I see myself ripping the worldly sleeves off and tearing the robe of darkness off and throwing them on the ground. I jumped head first into the light. No, I didn’t step into the light, but I jumped. Once I did this I was wrapped in the warm arms of Jesus, not having to worry about my past, my shame, my embarrassment, or my regrets that I felt before. 

Paint a word picture for yourself of your saving grace and when it happened to you. I think we get caught up in the world and may forget that day when we ripped off darkness and put on light.  Some have just started this journey and can vividly remember when they crossed over to light. Others have been on this journey for years, and maybe have forgotten that time they tore the darkness away.  Remembering the darkness I used to live in and remembering the leap I took makes me kind of giddy right now. I have a smile on my heart and it refreshes me to remind myself of what I’m doing and why I came to Jesus. 

I can remember growing up as an angry child due to my circumstances surrounding my childhood.  I was mad at my family, at the world, and rebelled in my own special way. Looking back I can see that God still was working on me: retrospect gave me 20/20 vision. The many times I should have failed but didn’t; the internal drive given to me to get out of darkness and not repeat the past.  I can still imagine that day I tried to shoot my step dad (remember I had a bad childhood) and how God intervened and at the last millisecond the gun went off, the bullet went up instead of strait when my mom pushed me.  I was a good shot and what happened was to me a miracle. If God wasn’t watching out for me in the darkness I was in and shone light on me for that moment, I would probably be writing you from jail right now.  There are many more stories, but I think you get the point.

As I aged in my late teens, God began working on my heart to pull me out of darkness.  I had a seed planted in me earlier by my uncle when he used to drag me and my sister to church with him on Sundays when we were little. As I got older, I drifted, but the seed was planted in my heart and the light began to pierce my heart, though I didn’t know it. 

During those 15 or so years of the seed being planted, it was a long time before germination.  I had the pull on my heart but I resisted. I resisted because I liked the darkness because it was, at least at the time, fun. The drinking, the women, the parties; you name it and other than drugs, I did and tried most everything the world offered me.  I loved the world and everything in it. Looking back, I can’t imagine the darkness I was wrapped up in, the lack of love I actually felt, and the emptiness I had.  I did my best to fill my emptiness in my heart with the world.

In my 20’s I began going to church but was still living in darkness though the seed had sprouted and had begun to grow, just a little.  It wasn’t until I was in my 30’s that I took that plunge from darkness into light and I haven’t looked back since.  I look back on my life and can’t even imagine how I survived without Christ. Literally, I mean, I should have had died a few times, but God is faithful and (without me knowing) had plans for me. It just took a long time for me to come around. I can remember vividly the time when I looked down the barrel of a shot gun in my teens, or when I was a police officer wrestling with a guy with a gun. God was there to intervene on my behalf, to make sure I was safe.

God doesn’t want you or me to live in the darkness. He wants us all to live in the light. “Why me” I ask myself sometimes? Why did I end up in the light when others did not?  The way I grew up and lived almost guaranteed that I was destined for a hard life, jail, or death, but God had plans for me.  Look, I know that God uses all things for His good, but I still in the back of my mind I wonder sometimes why I turned out as I have and why others did not.

I’m guessing some of you are thinking, “What is this guy talking about?” I know, I know, it was my choice to jump into the light while others did not choose to do so.  Yet there is still a .00001% thought in my mind of why God intervened in my life so much when I was younger that guided me to where I am today.  I’m I the only one who wonders this?

When I jumped into the light that day a few years ago, it was great. I’m horrible with dates, so I can’t give you a specific day on the calendar, but that moment I accepted Christ I was truly a changed man and felt the light wrap around me.  Sure, before I had said I accepted Jesus many times, but it wasn’t real. It was not full commitment to join with Him. That day though when I thought I had cancer I accepted Christ:  I changed. By doing so I could look back and I could see the darkness I lived in and was able to see the light I was now walking in. 

Everyone has their story of darkness and light.  Each one of you faced darkness at one point in your life, whether you were saved as a child or saved yesterday.  There is a sense of peace and joy in knowing that you are not in darkness anymore. You know what I mean.

Just because we live in the light though, doesn’t mean that dark forces are leaving us alone. That is why we fail sometimes. We let our guard down and a piece of the darkness sneaks into us.  Lash out at someone before? That’s the little bit of darkness seeping in: You’ve got to fight it. Commit a sin? Don’t lie now, we all do it and mess up. The thing I find about messing up is that when I look back, I made the conscious choice to do so and immediately regret the action I took or the thing and thoughts I had.  God is faithful though and will still forgive us and we get back onto the path of righteousness.

Put simply, we are fighting a battle but we are not alone. Like Elisha was surrounded by angels ready to fight and protect him to ensure a successful campaign, we too have the light and power of God that he had around him to help us in our fight with darkness.  Darkness is all around us and will never stop poking at us until the end of our lives on this Earth.  We continue the fight and we endure. 
If you are perusing this article and don’t know what I’m talking about, I will tell you that you too can escape the darkness in your life.  You don’t have to live in darkness anymore. Do you feel a void or emptiness in your heart? Know that the life your living isn’t up to par with what your heart is telling you? If so, you can step away from the life your living now and step into a life of eternity with Jesus.  Jesus offers you life eternal with Him in heaven. He wants one thing to do this: your heart.  If you confess to Him your sins and believe in Him, that He died to atone you of your sins, then pray to Him and accept Him as your Lord and Savior. Your eternity is at stake.

follow peace

HEB 12:14 KJV

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

Peace with all men.  And holiness. Two very good principles to live by. The verse says that without these no man can see the kingdom of God. What this is basically saying is that you should love your neighbors and be holy. Two simple yet distinct concepts to live by.

Having peace, or love, of all men can be hard sometimes especially when you are wronged by someone. We are charged with forgiveness to others by the bible and by Christ. I find that it takes more energy to hold ill will towards others than it is to forgive and let go. This makes it easy for me to have peace with all men.

As for holiness, we must follow the teachings and examples Christ showed us during his time in this earth. It is a lifetime journey and we have two things that will help us to do this: the bible and the Holy Spirit. Bible is our written and living word of Christ. The words and teachings in the book will guide you to live a holy life and to ensure you stay on track with Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is our inner voice to also help us in our walk with Christ. Once we were saved we received the gift of the Holy Spirit. He is in our heart to help us discern what is right or wrong in this crazy world we live in., to keep us holy in the eyes of God.

The journey is not easy but with the bible and Holy Spirit we will finish our journey with the end being eternity in heaven with Christ.