Love Never Fails

Love Never Fails

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8, NIV)

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love” (Galations 5:13, NIV)

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2, NIV).

“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22, NIV)

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7, NIV)

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-7, NIV).

Above are just some examples of the plethora of verses regarding love found in the bible. Love is something we should all embrace and live for, for others and for Jesus for He loved us and gave His life for us on the cross for our sins so if we believe in His life and resurrection we can spend eternity with Him in heaven.

I will admit before I was saved I didn’t love as the Bible says to love. I mean, I have always loved my family and friends and life, but not in the sense of what the Bible says. I lived life for myself, my selfish ways, always looking out for number one: myself. I wasn’t patient, I wasn’t necessarily kind, and I had bitterness in my heart for the wrongs done to me by what I thought was punishment from God, a toy He played with to make my life miserable for His own pleasure of watching me struggle.

I used to live completely in the world and fulfilled and fell for the temptations of the world that were best for me and that I felt like doing, regardless of the consequences. I partied, I slept around, and I didn’t love others. I looked out for myself only and fulfilled my own desires of pleasure without a second thought to the plight I was heading for: hell. 

Only once I was saved did I realize all the wrongs I did to others, to myself, and how much I let God down by my actions, words, and the life I had led from a teenager until I was saved. Did I mature in my ways as I got older, yes, but I was still reckless in my younger years and did all the wrong things I thought were right, for me and no one else.  I was on the wide path to destruction and I didn’t know it and didn’t care at the time. 

Once I found Jesus, once I was saved and began my walk with Him, I realized how bad a life I had lived and thanked God that I made it to salvation before it was too late for me. Only as I delved into the Word and walked along with Jesus did I realize what love truly is and what it means for me, others, and my salvation. I realized how I used to live was not in love but in selfishness filled with fulfilling my own desires without second thought to the repercussions that occurred. How many people did I hurt? How did my selfishness affect other’s lives? How bad of a person was I really? 

If I met some of the people I hurt and affected negatively, they would not recognize me and would say I am a different person. Why? Because I have the love of Jesus in me now and emulate that love to the best of my abilities. Do I fail sometimes? Of course I do. I’m not perfect. I’m not holier than thou, and mostly I am a human in a fallen world full of sin. Yet I strive to live for love and portray that love to others in the way that Jesus wants me to.

For me, it’s about attitude and demeanor. If I keep love and compassion in the forefront of my mind, I emulate that love of Jesus to others and myself, reminding myself that it is my duty to love myself, love others, and most importantly, to love Jesus. If I keep that attitude of love at the forefront of my mind, I’m a happier person and feel good and closer to the Lord. When I slip, when I fail to love, when I get angry or frustrated I feel guilty. I feel separated from God and I do my best to make amends and pray for forgiveness.

What about you? How is your love attitude? Do you just love yourself and not others? Do you look out for number one (you) or do you look out for others and show love towards others? At first I found this hard to do in the beginning of my walk with Jesus. It was not an automatic magical change in attitude but it took work and time through prayer and reading and taking to heart the words in the Bible about love and caring for others.  As time passed and I learned more about love, I began working on my love attitude towards others. I failed a lot at first, but now, even though I still slip sometimes, I can say that I show love towards others a majority of the time.  I urge you to emulate the love of Christ to others. 

It’s a great feeling to have the love of Jesus in your heart. Looking back on my walk and my life before knowing Jesus, I can’t believe the amount of love there is from Jesus; it is never ending and fulfills me more each day in my walk with him. I have a compassion for people I never had before and a love for others I never imagined I could have before I was saved.  Retrospect gives you 20/20 vision of your past life and I can testify that the love I had before Christ was an empty love, not nearly as full of love as I now feel in my heart and soul.

Jesus makes love complete, for He is love and all He has for us is compassion and love. He wants us to love others as He has loved us. To emulate that love in our life to reflect His love for others to show compassion, empathy, sympathy, and the care for others that can’t be offered or shown without the love of Christ in our hearts. To deny Christ’s love is to deny God’s perfect love for us and separates us from the Lord.

If you don’t love as Christ loved you, what are you doing with your life? You need to question your standing with the Lord and ask yourself what you are really doing. Are you emulating the love of Christ in your life to others? Are you showing and feeling overwhelming love for others that hurts your heart when they are in trouble or need support? If you don’t you need to reevaluate your attitude. This love should be towards believers in Christ and more importantly to unbelievers who don’t know Jesus.

By having love in your heart of that comes from Jesus, you can’t help but have love for others and concern for their eternity and well being. Showing love isn’t going through the motions at church by helping with the food bank or kitchen to feed the poor, it is the attitude you have when helping others. If you feel compelled to help people out of motives other than love then you are wrong. If you go through the motions of church and your Christian life without the attitude of love at the forefront of your existence, then you are wrong. Reevaluate yourself and test yourself to see where you stand with love for others and your love for Jesus.

Having the love of Christ in your heart will truly change your being. If you have love in your heart, you know what I mean and what I’m talking about. Yet, if you don’t know the love of Christ in your heart, you’re missing out on a huge part of your walk with Christ.  The love of Christ in your heart is so overwhelming it is hard to put into words. It is a feeling of great love and compassion. The love of Christ in your heart will fulfill you with an endless fountain of love and compassion for others that will bring you to tears at times. 

If you are saved and don’t have that feeling of the love of Christ in your heart, you need to pray for it. You also need to read the Bible to discover how Christ showed His love and compassion to others. Once you are filled with that love and it grows in your heart as you walk with Jesus and study His ways in the Bible, you will not regret it. You will feel real fullness of love that you haven’t experienced before and a compassion and care for others that you hadn’t had before. Your soul and heart will change and you will want more and more of that love every day. The love of Christ and His fullness in your heart is ever growing and you will want to seek more of it day to day.

When you have that love and compassion of Christ in your heart, you can’t help but love others as God loves you. You will radiate that love to others and people will see that love in you and the compassion you have for them. They will appreciate it and they will know you are a true Christian who has God’s love in your heart. This in its self can lead others to Christ for they will feel and see your love and compassion and will want that for themselves.

You see, love never fails. If you love you can’t ever go wrong with your actions and attitude towards yourself and others.  If people still shun you, that’s okay, because with love you can look beyond that and still show them love by your words, actions, and attitudes.

Have you ever met a bitter person who hates the world, hates people and just has a sour disposition about them? When you talk to them with love and compassion, sometimes it softens their heart. If you show them love and compassion in your interactions with them, they change, just a little bit, but enough to know what you stand for and what you radiate to others. You never know, that bitter person’s heart can be softened by your showing of love and compassion that eventually leads them to the Lord.

We as Christians need to always strive to show the love of Christ towards others. Many Christians don’t and it makes me questions their standing with God. If you go to church or meet other Christians, you can usually discern their true intentions and their love of God by their words and actions. There are a lot of bitter Christians out there that don’t emulate the love of Jesus. By their actions, they show the world that Christianity is not what Christianity is about. It’s about love and compassion through Christ.  By their negative words and bitterness they show the world and others that they truly don’t have the love of Christ in their hearts and turn people off to find Jesus.

By showing the love of Christ to others, people may want that love and want to know how and why you have it. Christians in the best of times and the hard times should always show the love of Christ through them so that others can see that we trust in the Lord and know that He is in control.  Many times when there is a crisis at home or work, it can be easy to get angry or bitter. I’ve seen it at my workplace. When a crisis occurs, when a deadline isn’t met, people get angry at others and show bitterness in their heart. Me, I stay calm and collective in my demeanor and actions for I have the love of Christ in my heart and by showing them that love, it usually calms the situation down and the bitterness dissolves and the anger goes away, for how can someone be angry with me when I don’t fight back but show love and encouragement of Christ through my words and actions. Love is very disarming to those that don’t have it.

If you want this kind of love you need Jesus. If you want to be filled with love and compassion for others, you need Jesus in your life and in your heart. If you are a Christian and lack this love and compassion in your heart it is time to change that through honest and humble pray to Jesus. Get that Bible out and open the word to read about the love of Christ, not just on Sunday’s but every day.

If you aren’t a Christian and want this heart fulfilling love, you can have it. Pray to Jesus to forgive your sins and believe that He died for your sins and was resurrected. Ask Him to begin to work in your heart. Ask Him to give you compassion and love for others as He did for others. Get a Bible and start reading about the life of Jesus and you will begin to have a changed heart. Will this happen immediately? For some yes, for others it will take time as you walk and build your relationship with Christ.

Remember that love never fails. With love anything is possible and can overcome everything thrown your way. Have hope in love and have hope for compassion. Not only will you bless others with your love, but you will be blessed by the love you have and give to others. Trust in the Lord to give you this love and the hope of eternal life and blessings.

Life is Short

The other day I opened my email and a spam email wasn’t directed to my spam folder automatically but was in my regular inbox and the title of the email was “Life is short, have an affair.” Dang.  Check the box next to the email. Push the delete button and it was gone. I didn’t even bother to open it and read it, because I knew it was of satan and would only tell me things I don’t believe in. Life is short, have an affair-ha- how about “Life is short, find Jesus!” 

 

I usually open my spam folder to ensure regular emails didn’t get directed to the spam folder, but I can say that most of the spam I seem to get talk about the things of the world like porn, affairs, secret encounters, sex pills, prescription drugs without prescriptions, etc: bad things of this world.

 

It got me thinking about how many people live this way of life and how lost they really are in regards to their salvation.  I was pretty disheartened thinking about this and was troubled by the fact that a large proportion of the population is without Jesus. 

 

The world is full of temptations designed to get us off our walk with the Lord. In front of us, behind us, to the left and to the right, there is always temptation. Do we fall for temptations of this world? Yes some of us do and it makes us feel lost and disheartens us in our walk with Jesus: it makes us feel like we are not worthy of the Lord. When this happens, satan has succeeded in what he wants from us, to take us off our walk with Jesus. Yet, we have no fear of this, because we are sinners, we are prone to make mistakes and because we are saved and can’t taken from the Lord once we have Him and He has us, we can get back in our relationship with Jesus by asking for forgiveness and moving forward again in our walk with Him.

 

“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28, KJV)

 

For unbelievers, temptation surrounds them as well, but they don’t see it or feel it the same way as we do. It is just part of life for them. It is fun and do they feel guilty for their improprieties?  I’m sure they do and satan has won. He uses temptations of this world to ensure unbelievers remain unbelievers by making them feel guilty and hopeless in life.  It is up to us who are saved to witness and live our lives as the light of the world to attract these unbelievers to us and eventually lead them to Jesus.   

 

As an unbeliever at one time I can testify that I fell for the temptations of the world on a regular basis and felt hopeless and guilty, but mostly I felt empty.  What I believe is that the biggest issues for unbelievers is the emptiness they feel inside that they try to fill with the world has to offer, like I felt. Thanks be to God that I found Him! Yet there are those that haven’t found Jesus yet and they walk and stumble through life trying to fill that void in their soul that they don’t know can be filled with Jesus.

 

Remember how you felt before you were saved? That hole in your heart you felt? The things you did to try to fill that emptiness? Put yourself back in those shoes in your mind to remind yourself of those that aren’t saved and how they feel, the emptiness in their heart, the feeling of hopelessness.  This will give you the understanding of where they are and how they feel, it gives you sympathy and empathy to their situation.

 

Remember the feeling you had when you were introduced to Jesus? Remember that feeling of awe when you were saved and felt the presence of the Lord in your heart and the Spirit of God fall on you? Remember the zeal you had when you were first saved for Jesus, the love you had in your heart, that fullness of love and hope? Now it is our job to do our best to bring this to unbelievers by the gifts given to you by the Lord and by the path He has laid out for you. 

 

Admittedly, there are some unsaved people that don’t realize they have a hole in their heart. Satan has successfully filled them with lies and worldly things that will make it hard for us to break through to them, but with the Lord all things are possible. Prayer is our weapon to soften their heart to be receptive to the message of Jesus and His saving grace.  We must be warriors in this fight for the souls of the lost with Jesus as our commander in chief to lead us and help us lead others to Him.

 

Is this hard? Of course it is, we are fighting against an enemy that has had a lot of experience and tools at hand to deceive many to stay away from Jesus, but we can overcome this with our actions, words, and demeanors around the unsaved. We are surrounded by the unsaved and through us living our lives for Jesus, we can’t help but radiate His love and it makes unsaved people curious about us and what we stand for and what we live for.

 

By living for the Lord and having Jesus in your heart, you can’t help but be radiant in love and affection for those unsaved around us. They are attracted to us for some reason like moths to lights. As we live for Jesus, He will open up opportunities for us to witness to the unsaved and will give us the right words to introduce Christ to them.  For some people, this gift is great and they are very successful, but for others this is hard because of fear of rejection or fear of reprisals from people. We shouldn’t fear though, because God is with us in those times.

 

If we introduce Jesus to others and they reject us, does that mean we give up on them? NO! We must pray for them and continue to live and radiate the love of God to them. Sometimes people may reject you and your words, but the words were given to them and later in life when troubles come, they will remember you and your words and will come back to you or a church for comfort. On the other hand, they may reject us and Jesus completely. If they do this, it is in the Lord’s hand and we have done our job of introducing Christ to them.

 

Personally, I take the approach of talking about my faith when asked about it or approached by someone who has questions. I’m not pushy or demanding, but respond with love and compassion and by my words and actions, Jesus comes through me to them and at that point I can introduce Jesus to them. Do I get scared sometimes? Yes, but once I get talking I feel more confident and with the Holy Spirit as my voice, I say the right words. Do I push Jesus on people, no, but when the opportunity arises, I take advantage of the situation.

 

Most of my witnessing happens online through these articles and on the support group I’m part of for my health issues. I have a verse in my signature block and I get a lot of people that email me asking me more about my faith and at that point I get to witness to them through writing, for I’m a better writer than a speaker when witnessing because I can get my thoughts in order better on “paper” than verbalizing them. One of my gifts of from the Lord is writing and I use that to better his kingdom. Sometimes people write me back and sometimes they don’t but I have at least planted a seed in them.

 

That’s part of our job as Christians, to plant seeds in the field of this world. If we plant the seeds to people they may grow or they may not, but that is our duty, to plant the seeds of faith for others who don’t know Jesus and let Him be the water that nourishes them.  By writing, I can reach more people and touch more people than I can if I verbalize my words. For others out there, your gift may be different but you must use your gifts to plant the seeds of faith for unbelievers. Whether your gift is writing, talking, hospitality, etc, we are charged to use our gifts to spread the word of Christ to others.

 

To any unbelievers reading this far down so far, know that we Christians have nothing but love for you. We want you to join our eternal family with Christ. We want you to feel and know the love of Jesus in your heart as we do. We want you to have the hope of eternity in heaven with Jesus, for He is the only way to heaven. You can’t do it yourself by works or living a good life or having your own views of what it takes to get to heaven. All the good you do, the life you live, and the hope of heaven means nothing unless you have Jesus in your life and heart for salvation.

 

If you want to have eternity in heaven, if you want that emptiness in your heart filled, this moment is for you.  All you have to do is to genuinely pray to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins and accept Him as your Lord and Savior. Do this now and you will become a changed person. The Holy Spirit will fill your heart with an unspeakable joy. You will begin to desire to know the Lord more and more and your life will change for the better. You will see the world and your life through God’s eyes. The Holy Spirit will guide you on your walk with Jesus. You won’t regret this decision.

 

If you are scared or hesitant of this decision, don’t be. God is love and if you want that love to fill your empty heart, that emptiness you are feeling right now, He will do so. He will never let you go and will be with you always in your heart and thoughts.  You will be a new creature, God’s child wrapped in His comfort and love. Don’t miss this opportunity. Your eternal destination depends on this decision right now. Choose Jesus.

 

You don’t know when you life will end and it may end today, tomorrow, or 50 years from now, but you don’t really know. If you don’t choose to have Jesus in your life, you will miss the opportunity to spend your eternity with Jesus in heaven. We all want to go to heaven and the only way to heaven is to believe in Jesus and His promise of eternal salvation with Him if you simply believe in Him, His life, and His resurrection. He died for your sins and you will be washed clean and will be blameless at the judgment seat of God if you simply believe. Life is short, choose Jesus.

 

God bless.

 

John Lysaught

John_lysaught@yahoo.com

Who Are You?

Who are You?
By
John Lysaught

Sue sits in the front pew every Sunday. She wears a dress, has a nice designer jacket on to match her designer purse, has shoes that match her outfit, and her hair is nearly perfectly groomed. She has her bible with her and is open to the page the pastor has referenced for his sermon and follows along intently, taking copious notes as he preaches and has her highlighter handy. She is in the church choir and also goes to Ladies Bible Study on Wednesday nights. She knows the answer to the questions asked at bible study and can reference a verse when appropriate without looking it up. She participates in the food kitchen, volunteers and all church events; is a real go getter. She is looked upon as a true believer by the congregation.

Tom sits in the back of the church. He is rag-tag; disheveled clothing, wearing shorts, a t-shirt, has messy hair, is not shaven, and is unemployed. He has no bible but listens to the pastor and tries to follow along as best as possible, but has a hard time grasping everything he is saying. It is confusing to him and he doesn't really understand the lesson, but he still comes every Sunday to listen and to learn. He doesn't go to any Bible study and doesn't participate in any activities at church. He shows up on Sunday and leaves after the service. When they have the food kitchen open, he goes for a free hot meal and some groceries to get by for the time being.

When the pastor does the alter call, Sue sits and watches and leaves when it seems appropriate, when no one really is noticing. Tom is always the first to the altar call. She doesn't feel she needs prayer and he wants all he can. He is saved and she is not.

Sure Sue was baptized when she was younger, but she did it because it was expected of her; her parents told her she had to do it to go to heaven. She didn't know what it meant and honestly, she doesn't know Jesus. Sue doesn't know His love and His grace. She goes through the motions, but she has never accepted Christ in her life. It seems like it on the outside, but her inside is missing something, she has an emptiness that she doesn’t know how to fill.

Sue does feel blessed. She has nice clothes, a great job, a big house with well behaved children, and a husband of 20 years. She figures she is doing well and God must have blessed her. She works hard for the church, goes every Sunday and participates and helps out as much as she can. Surely she is working for the Lord and feels the more she does the better it is for her salvation but she is not saved; She doesn't really know Jesus, she is trying to fulfill her emptiness by works.

Tom may not have a job, any nice clothes, lives on couches or the street at times, or in jail on occasion. He may not understand all the bible lessons at church but that one time after he last got out of jail, his first visit to the church, when the pastor called out to the congregation for those that want to be saved, to be forgiven for their sins, to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, to have their life changed, Tom went to the alter and received Christ. He is still poor, unmarried, no house, no car; pretty much nothing, but he is happy because he has Christ in his heart and knows and feels in his heart that Jesus loves him. Since accepting Christ, he hasn't drunk and hasn't been in jail and is looking for work while living in a shelter. His life is hard, but he has Christ in his life. That is really all he needs.

Who are you? Are you the pious person sitting in the front of church, looking and acting like you are saved, but haven't accepted Christ? Or, are you the poor sinful man that has nothing of this world but has Jesus in their heart?

Who has it better, Tom or Sue? Tom has it better for he has grace and salvation and he asks for it every day, even more so at the altar on Sunday's. Sue doesn't really think she is a sinner because of her works; she puts on a pretty good act of what she and the world think that Christians should be like. Tom understands and lives the hard life and yet still loves Jesus. Sue thinks she has it good but doesn't have Jesus in her heart. She is doomed to hell, he is destined for heaven.

I want a heart like Tom. I mean, Sue and Tom aren't real people, but I've seen people like them in church and outside of church. You want to see how real a person is? Observe them outside of church, how they interact with others, how they live the example of Christ, how they treat others. I have been surprised at the number of those I thought were "pious" Christians were just the opposite when I ran across them at the store yelling at a store worker, cutting people off in their car while giving the finger, etc. etc. You get the point.

My pastor says that the church parking lot is a gateway to salvation because the moment you park and get out of your car, you are the best Christian the world has to offer. He is joking of course, but he knows that there are a lot of Christian actors in the congregation who turn their Christian persona on the moment they hit the parking lot and lose their Christian attitude the moment they race out of the parking lot.

Who are you like? Are you a parking lot saved person or are you truly a Christian? Do you act the part better than living the part? Do you put on a mask to hide who you really are to others? It doesn't matter because Jesus knows. Jesus knows our heart, regardless of what face you put on in front of others. You can't hide or fake Jesus in your life to Jesus; he can't be fooled.

What Tom understands and what Sue doesn't realize is that they are both sinners, just like the rest of us. The only difference is that Tom asked for salvation and accepted Christ and Sue is working for salvation but has never asked for Christ in her heart and life and for forgiveness of her sins. Sue hasn't grasped the implications of being saved for forgiveness of her sins, to have Jesus in her life. She thinks that if she "goes through the motions" she will be heaven bound. What she doesn't know is she really just needs Jesus in her heart.

There is hope for you if you are a "Sue." I'm not saying that everyone who dresses or acts like Sue is not saved, but I'm using this as an example of what some people like to portray to others so they seem like they are saved. And Tom, not every rag-tag church member is saved, but I used him as a contrast to get the point across that no matter what you look like, how you dress, or your past, it doesn't portray your salvation status. It's what is in your heart that matters, whether or not you have Jesus, not how you dress or act or your past.

Sin is what separates us from God: "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23, KJV).

Ephesians 2:8-10: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (KJV)

What the Sue's of this world don't understand is that it is by Jesus that they are saved, not of works, but by grace and faith in the Jesus and His sacrifice for us. It is through the blood of Christ that we have the promise of eternity with Him if we simply believe in Him and His promises.

Sue doesn't get this, but you can. If you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, you too can be saved. Quit playing church and start living Jesus. Stop pretending you are saved and get saved. Never mind what others may think of you, but live for Jesus. Don't be saved by the church parking lot on Sunday's; get saved for eternity by believing and having faith in Jesus.

You know, one of my favorite verses is Galatians 2:20: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (KJV).

If I have Jesus in my heart, I know he lives in me and directs me in my daily life. He is there when I need to talk, when I need to cry, and He is there to comfort me in times of trouble. He is my Lord and my Savior who I look to everyday for hope. He is what I live for so I can see Him in eternity. I am His.

If you’re playing church or don't go to church or don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, now is the time to get serious about this situation. In terms of eternity our lives are but a drop of water in the ocean. Now is the time to get serious about accepting Jesus. Your eternity depends on it.

Don't want to know Jesus or have Him in your heart? That's fine, that's your decision to go to hell, not mine. But I want to impart to you the importance of eternity. It is forever. Did you get that? Eternity is forever. Regardless of what you think, regardless of how good you are, regardless of what kind of good life you live, regardless of all the people you help and the friends you have or the love you have in your heart, it is all for nil if you don't have Jesus. Nothing else will take you to heaven, only Jesus will. You must accept Him as your Lord and Savior and believe He is the real deal. You can't earn heaven by living a good life or doing good works; you get heaven through the grace offered to you by Jesus, period. Nothing else matters. Simply believe in Him like Tom and you are saved and become a child of God.

Like Tom, once you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, your life is changed. You become a child of God and nothing can take you away from Christ.

John 10: 28-29 (KJV): And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

Romans 8: 38-39 (NIV): For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When you are saved in Christ, you will become a new creature. Your thoughts will change, your motivations will change, but most importantly, your heart will change.  The Holy Spirit will come to you and guide you to stay on the path of salvation, to guide you in a continuing relationship with the Lord, to keep you on that straight and narrow path.

You will begin to grow, with the help of the Holy Spirit, in your relationship with Christ. Your view and outlook on the things of this world will begin to change to a more focused view of what Christ deems as important for you and your life. Your worries and anxieties will begin to lesson as you begin to put your trust in the Lord to guide and take care of you and your life.

Being saved is the opportunity of a lifetime. Don’t miss it. Don’t assume you can get to heaven without Jesus, for he is the way, the truth and the life. Eternity with Him in heaven should be your goal and your life you will begin to live for Christ, not for work, not for material possessions, not for friends, or family, but for salvation. 

Don’t delay. Get saved now. Pray and profess to Jesus that you want him in your life and your heart. Pray to Him for the forgiveness of your sins and that he enter your heart fully and completely and take you over. Become His, not anyone else’s. This decision you won’t regret. I promise you that eternity with Jesus is a by grace a blessing that cannot be denied. Open up your bible and research this for yourself. Study and meditate on the Word of God and be His child to learn His ways and His teachings on life and how you should live for Him.

God Bless.

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