“For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2013

The title of this blog is taken from Luke 6:38 – “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

May God Bless you all in this coming year! May he bless you with good health and prosperity, but I ask him to more importantly bless you with a burning desire to come closer to Him. May the fire of the Holy Spirit ignite in you and truly give you a new life this year!

You see, we always wish each other good health and prosperity for the new year which is good, but so much more important is for us to have a new year filled with a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Your relationship with Christ will define you and the year you have! If you put all your trust and faith in Jesus, He will be with you, He will build you up, He will bless you all throughout the year!

We often ask for things we need and then get mad or disappointed when we don’t get them. But the Lord knows what is best for us, we need to trust in Him. He grants in His time and His way. Many times when we haven’t gotten what we wanted, it was for our own benefit. Many times He denied our request because He knew that what we wanted either wasn’t good for us, was unnecessary or could actually hurt us or someone we love. We may never know or understand why it didn’t go the way we wanted, but we can rest assured that God had a plan, God knew what was best. Friends, trust in Him, He will never let you down.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 26:11

Now I have a challenge for you, this morning’s Turning Point from Dr. David Jeremiah was about tithing was titled “Because it’s His” and begins with this verse:

And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’s. It is holy to the LORD. – Leviticus 27:30

Let me start this with my journey regarding tithing – You see, all my life when I gave to the church, I would always struggle thru the budget and then see what was left and my Sunday offering was what I felt I could based on what was left. With this method the budget was always a struggle and my offering back to the Lord was always the little that was left.

After my study and reading, I’ve learned that this is backwards, truly backwards! You see everything I have is given to me from God! Every dollar, our house, our cars, our possessions are given to us from God! So why am I so stingy giving back to Him what truly is His to begin with?

Back on a personal note, about 4 years ago, I made the decision to truly tithe, truly give 10% back to the Lord as He asks. This was not easy, this is a total mind set change. I was going to give to God first, He was going to get the first 10% of anything I made. Now my weekly giving was going from the little bit that was left each week to the first large cut out of my earnings! How am I going to make the budget work now? Am I going to struggle more? This could really “really cramp my style”. I was truly fearful and apprehensive on how this was going to work.

Well I can tell you now after 4 years, I’m still tithing. I haven’t gone bankrupt. I haven’t even felt like I was struggling with finances. The Lord blessed me for my faith. I “tested” Him, I “called him out” on this tithing thing. I was a doubter, I said “Lord, you tell us to trust you on this, you tell us that you will reward us, well here goes, I’m all in, now show me”. Sounds like something you’d expect from Thomas doesn’t it?

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” — Malachi 3:10

The Lord is telling us, to bring Him our tithes and He will pour out blessings that we can not contain! What a promise!

Guess what? It’s true! Once I started tithing, the Lord has provided, the Lord has opened opportunities and relieve the stresses of finance. He’s enabled me to have enough to help others in need, He has enabled me to offer more to missional work. The Lord once again continues His promise and continues to amaze me!

My challenge to you all, it to try tithing. Try giving back to the Lord your first fruits, give back to Him first. After all, it’s his to begin with! Challenge Him on this one, and more importantly have faith and trust in Him, you’ll be surprised with the result!

I’ll leave you with this quote from today’s turning point:

“God demands the tithe, deserves the offerings, defends the savings and directs the expenses.”
Stephen Olford

Until next time, God Bless you!

I am the way, and the truth, and the life…

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”  John 14 6-7

A verse heard and read often, but have we really heard it?

In our present day society, there are many pressures to compromise on this.  We try to be “politically correct” in all aspects of our lives, but this is one area where there can be no compromise!

If we believe the Gospel and we believe the Bible is the true word of God, then this is the answer!  If we have given ourselves to Jesus because we believe, we have seen the face of God!  Isn’t that awesome?

Ron Hutchcraft had a great message about a week ago where he explored this and I want to share some of his points with you.

In 2 Corinthians 13:5. there is a warning for us:  Listen carefully, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test?”

And more importantly do we want to take the chance that Jesus will answer us like this exchange from Matthew 7:21-23.  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you'”

I love this quote from Ron – Those are some of the most chilling words in the Bible, “You knew all about Me, but I never knew you.”  A very scary thought and one I don’t want to hear on judgement day!

I know this is a divisive subject, but as I have stated at the inception of my blog, these are my writings on my spiritual journey and I am sharing them with all.  I don’t ever claim to be the authority, but I do base my beliefs totally on what I receive from the Bible.

I truly believe that the way to God and the way to heaven is in a TOTAL UNEQUIVOCAL belief in Jesus Christ.  I believe that He shed His blood on the cross as total payment for my sins, past, present and future. I have given myself wholly to His will for me.

With this said, and not trying to insult anyone but sticking to my belief, unless you have given yourself to Christ and you truly believe that He died for your sins, you will not be saved on the day of judgement! Period.

Those who believe that there is a “higher power”, Buddha, Hindu, and yes Muslim also, and who do not believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, I’m afraid are going to be left behind. Don’t take this the wrong way, I’m not saying there are not good people who believe other than Christ, there are.  And I’m also not saying that there are not some very bad “professed” Christians out there.

What I am saying is that, as said in scripture, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,” John 3:36

I also heard another great point this week, I don’t recall a name to give credit, but still it is a good statement.

For someone on the fence arguing the point of believing, I would argue this…Being a believer is a no-lose position!  For if you believe in Christ, and, He is who He says He is, what a great thing!  Everything He taught us is going to happen.  And on the flip side of it, if He isn’t then you’re in the same position you started in and have lost nothing.

This week’s post was a challenging one, but one I felt driven by the Holy Spirit to post.  My faith will not waiver, my trust will not waiver…….there is nothing Satan or anyone can do to me to make me waiver in my love, trust, faith in my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I wish you the peace, love, joy and contentment that can be found in a commitment to Christ.  May He come to your heart and my you surrender yourself to His plan for your life.  I assure you it will be a journey better than your wildest imagination!

May this week bring you the peace and the love of Jesus Christ!

I’m knocking, will you let me in?

Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. – Revalations 3:20

What  a great invitation!

Jesus is at your door and wants to dine with you!  Are you willing to let Him in?

I love this picture, Jesus is at the door knocking, but if you notice, there is no knob on His side of the door!  He can only come in if you are willing to let Him in!

He won’t barge into your life, He won’t rush in the door and yell “I’m here!”  He won’t come in uninvited.  He just knocks softly and patiently waits.  And He is always waiting.  He won’t knock and run away, He just waits.

How often do we become impatient with each other, we try to plan events or we expect others to be there and accept us no matter where or when, but then we become angry or bitter when they don’t open the door for us.

Haven’t you had occations where you’ve tried to do something with others and you call or visit them on several occations but they either aren’t there or don’t have the time for you?  How do we feel?  Usually upset to say the least and at worst angry! Sometimes even to the point where it threatens the relationship.

Shouldn’t we be more like Jesus?  How many times have we shut Him out of our lives?  How many times have we said, “Sorry Lord, but I have other plans for tonight and You aren’t really part of them?  How many times have we hurt Him with these actions?  I know that He is a forgiving God, but when I think of this I can’t help but feel bad.  The one who can help us the most, the one who love us the most and at times I just leave Him out in the cold.  Makes me ashamed……..

Then I look at the time when I do open the door to Him…WOW… what took me so long?  He fills my life!  He makes me feel truly alive!  When I open the door and let His Spirit in, I feel like I can take on anything.  There is nothing that the evil one can throw at me that can hurt me or cause me to stumble because the Lord is with me.

I can do all this through Him who gives me strength. – Philippians 4:13

Great verse to amplify this – If I open up and let Christ into my life, I truly can do all things thru Him who give me strenght!

My prayer for you this week is that you truly open the “door” to your heart to the Lord Jesus.  May you open to Him, freely invite Him into your heart and into your life.  May He fill you with His spirit so that His love flows into you and through you as you encounter others.  May the world see that you have opened the door to Jesus and that they see Him in all you do!

Friends, God bless you all!

Praise You With A Song

Songs and singing in worship, another area that I’ve been watching.  Why is it that we have no problem singing with the radio or out having a good time with friends, but we don’t open our mouths and sing in church?  Sorry, I love to sing in church!  I don’t think I’m very good but when I’m in church I’m singing the Lords praises with all my power!  For those around me this could be a challenge, but sorry you’re going to hear me anyway.

I feel that song and praise are an escential part of the worship service.  My take is that if you don’t participate in the singing, you’re missing a very important part of the service.  Song and praise has been an very important part of worship going back to the Old Testament, and to top it off you see written that it was the men  who did most of the singing and made most of the worship songs!  Men where are you now?

We don’t need to look far to find examples of this.  Just go to the Psalms – the songs of David!  When you open your bible to the Psalms, often there are notes explaining how the instruments are to be played and how each is sung and lead.

Look at 1 Chronicles 6:31-32 These are the men David put in charge of the music in the house of the LORD after the ark came to rest there. They ministered with music before the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, until Solomon built the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem. They performed their duties according to the regulations laid down for them.

And, 1 Chronicles 15:16-24  David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers to sing joyful songs, accompanied by musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals. So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; from his brothers, Asaph son of Berekiah; and from their brothers the Merarites, Ethan son of Kushaiah;  and with them their brothers next in rank: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel, the gatekeepers.  The musicians Heman, Asaph and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals;  Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah were to play the lyres according to “alamoth,” and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel and Azaziah were to play the harps, directing according to “sheminith.” Kenaniah the head Levite was in charge of the singing; that was his responsibility because he was skillful at it.  Berekiah and Elkanah were to be doorkeepers for the ark.  Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah and Eliezer the priests were to blow trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-Edom and Jehiah were also to be doorkeepers for the ark.

Nehemiah 12:45-47 They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did also the singers and gatekeepers, according to the commands of David and his son Solomon. For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.  So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers.

These were important duties!  Why do we shirk on them now!

And don’t think these were only “ancient” teachings of the Old Testament!

Let’s go forward to Ephesians 5:19 singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.

I want you to think about this the next time you’re in church.  Since we believe the Bible is divinely inspired, infallible, and all-sufficient, it is our sole authority for all that we do.  We believe we cannot add to or take away from the Scriptures, nor can we preach another gospel than that contained in the New Testament. We are to be singing and praising the Lord with all our might!  We shouldn’t feel ashamed, or self conscious about how we sing or how loud we sing.  We are to sing out with joy and thanksgiving, raising our hands in praise to the Lord.

So, here’s my warning! If you sit near me or stand near me when I am at a worship service, you are going to hear me!  And don’t be surprised to see my hands go up in praise either because I do love the Lord and I love Jesus Christ and I want Him to know how much I do love Him and thank Him for all He has done for me.

I pray that you think about this and that more so you pray about this, that the Lord will open your heart and fill you with so much joy that you cannot help but sing out His praises!

Sing to the Lord a new song!  Sing it from your heart!

God Bless you all!

I’m so glad Jesus likes golf!

There is a term used in golf called a mulligan.  The best way I can describe this is a “do over”!  That’s why I believe Jesus likes the game of golf!  You see when you’re playing golf with your friends, there are times when you have a terrible shot and they either tell you to take a “Mulligan” or you ask them to allow you to take a “Mulligan”.

In our human walk, isn’t it nice to know that Jesus grants us many, many “Mulligans”?  And to top it off, many of the times he grants us one, we REALLY, REALLY don’t deserve a do over!

It is such a comfort and relief to know that my belief that Jesus died for all of my sins and all of my mess ups, that I am forgiven if I believe in him through the power of his blood sacrifice for me!

“Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is declared right with God—something the law of Moses could never do. Acts 13:38-39

Also, lets look at John 8:1-11,

Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them.

As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery.The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.

They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”  Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.

Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

“No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

Here we find Jesus with a woman who had sinned terribly, but yet Jesus in his great mercy has forgiven her.  He gave her a do over – “Neither do I (condemn her) go and sin no more”

That is truly amazing and truly inspiring.  I am so undeserving of His grace but He loves me that much, that I too, can have a “Mulligan” to try again tomorrow

Friends, we all try hard to do what is right and good, but as humans we all mess up, we all make mistakes and we all fall short before God.  The great thing is that thru Jesus Christ, and what he did for us on that day, we are forgiven, if we believe.  We are forgiven by Gods grace and mercy and given the chance to have a Mulligan, a “do over”.

I have one more request, if you are a reader of this blog and have not given yourself to Christ, I encourage you to really pray on this and take that step.  It will profoundly change your life, that I promise you, because I can tell you He has changed mine and it is fantastic!

If you ever need someone to talk to about your faith or have any questions, please feel free to contact me, my email for this site is thecatholicdropout@comcast.net

May His grace and mercy be over you in this next week and always.

Who is your God?

Hopefully giving you something more to think about.

We all want to believe that our God is the Father in Heaven, Jesus, the Holy Spirit.  We want to honestly say and believe that the Trinity represents our true God.  But, do we really act and pattern our lives that way?  I know I try, I really do, but I also know that I still fall down more than I should.

You see, we can and often do follow similar paths to the early Israelites and the pagans of the old Testament!  They often would drift from God and start worshiping other idols!  They made golden statues of these other “Gods”, they offered sacrifices to these other Gods, and they turned their focus from the one true God!

I’m drawn to the book of Exodus 32 while Moses was on the mountain.
When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”
So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”
All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron.
Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the LORD!”
The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.The LORD told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.
How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
Then the LORD said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are.
Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.”
But Moses tried to pacify the LORD his God. “O LORD!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand? Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’? Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people!
Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.t You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.’”
So the LORD changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.
Then Moses turned and went down the mountain. He held in his hands the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant.t They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.
These tablets were God’s work; the words on them were written by God himself.
When Joshua heard the boisterous noise of the people shouting below them, he exclaimed to Moses, “It sounds like war in the camp!”
But Moses replied, “No, it’s not a shout of victory nor the wailing of defeat. I hear the sound of a celebration.”
When they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing, and he burned with anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain.
He took the calf they had made and burned it. Then he ground it into powder, threw it into the water, and forced the people to drink it.
Finally, he turned to Aaron and demanded, “What did these people do to you to make you bring such terrible sin upon them?”
“Don’t get so upset, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know how evil these people are. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.’
So I told them, ‘Whoever has gold jewelry, take it off.’ When they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire—and out came this calf!”
Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies.t
So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “All of you who are on the LORD’s side, come here and join me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.
Moses told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Each of you, take your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Kill everyone—even your brothers, friends, and neighbors.”
The Levites obeyed Moses’ command, and about 3,000 people died that day.
Then Moses told the Levites, “Today you have ordained yourselvest for the service of the LORD, for you obeyed him even though it meant killing your own sons and brothers. Today you have earned a blessing.”

There are some strong teachings in this chapter.

Don’t we sometimes fall into a similar trap.

Sometimes it’s money that becomes our God, we want to posess more and more, never being satisfied with what we have and sometimes even more reluctant to share it with those truly in need around us.

How about time?  We can be very stingy with our time and with the quality of time we spend with the Lord or doing His works.  We tend to short change Him so that we can do what we want to do, not necessarily what He wants us to do.  I find myself guilty of this one more frequently than I really like to admit.  I let the “rush” of the day interfere with the time I should spend with Him.

Posessions can also be another of our false Idols.  Seems the American way has always been bigger, better, more, more, more.  Look out for #1 first.  This one I think we are all guilty of at times.  We get caught up in all the hype and advertising telling us how good this is or how we really need this or that to show how successful we are.  All of this then becomes another idol that we worship.

I’ve been reading more and more quotes from John Wesley.  I’m trying to get a better understanding of this great man and how he saw things.  A quote he used that helps drive some of this home a good view on our want/need for possessions is this:

“Having, First, gained all you can, and, Secondly saved all you can, Then give all you can.” —from a sermon in the Works of John Wesley

I hope and pray that we all can learn from this, we are all guilty of putting other “Gods” before our one true God, I pray that we can find a way to return to Him before we get to the point illustrated by Moses in Exodus and also in Judges 2:19-23 – 19 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
20 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did.” 23 The LORD had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.

And also the lesson from Jerimiah 44:1-22
1This word came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in Lower Egypt–in Migdol, Tahpanhes and Memphis–and in Upper Egypt:2″This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You saw the great disaster I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah. Today they lie deserted and in ruins3 because of the evil they have done. They provoked me to anger by burning incense and by worshiping other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers ever knew.4Again and again I sent my servants the prophets, who said, ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!’ 5 But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods.6 Therefore, my fierce anger was poured out; it raged against the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem and made them the desolate ruins they are today.7″Now this is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Why bring such great disaster on yourselves by cutting off from Judah the men and women, the children and infants, and so leave yourselves without a remnant? 8 Why provoke me to anger with what your hands have made, burning incense to other gods in Egypt, where you have come to live? You will destroy yourselves and make yourselves an object of cursing and reproach among all the nations on earth. 9Have you forgotten the wickedness committed by your fathers and by the kings and queens of Judah and the wickedness committed by you and your wives in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem?10To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed my law and the decrees I set before you and your fathers.11″Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disaster on you and to destroy all Judah.

The Lord is slow to anger, but we need to be careful not to provoke Him to the point illustrated above.

Friends, let us be careful of our “idols” and I wish you the peace and joy that comes from a life truly focused on the Lord.

Until next time, God Bless!

Why do you go to church?

I’ve been observing and pondering this for several months now.  So now I’m going to pose the question to all of my readers?

Why do you go to church?

Do you go because the sermon/message is short?
Do you go because the minister gives a great message that you can relate to?
Is it because the church is air conditioned?
Maybe you like the hymn selection and the singing?
Or even quite possibly, the food! Donuts and coffee before service or maybe the pot luck lunch afterward!

Well, I’m going to challenge you now.  Isn’t the REAL reason for going to church to spend time with the Lord, in worship (songs and prayers) and in the Word?  Aren’t we called to church, not for our physical needs or comforts or likes, but to further develop our relationship with the Lord?

I’ve observed people coming to church or more like not coming to church depending upon who was giving the message?  I’ve seen families consistently not come to church if someone other than the minister was holding service or even if there were a guest minister or a special program.

I’ve also seen families totally stay away from church because they either don’t like the minister or feel his or her service is too long, the message too controversial or challenges their comfort too much, or they don’t like something another family has done; only to return to church once that person is no longer there!

These actions I’m really wrestling with!  I know it is not my place to make judgement, and I also know that we all will have to answer to the Lord for our actions or our in-actions during the time we are given here on this earth, but I am also human and I do notice these things and wonder.

Again, I ask you – Why do you come to church?

Is it for self gratification?  Is it out of a sense of obligation?  Is it to socialize?  Is it to put on the appearance of an “upstanding church goer”?

OR

Do you truly love the Lord and cherish the time you can spend with Him?  Do you get so excited and pumped up to be in the house of the Lord that you really, really want to shout and sing His praises? Do you want to be there to ask forgiveness for something that is troubling you or to put you burdens upon Him as He instructs us to?  These I feel are true reasons to be in His house.  Any other reason, is purely our selfishness!

In my humanness, I find I really do get upset when I see what appears to be personal agendas in how people worship.  It does bother me when there is the appearance that factors outside of a personal relationship the God Almighty dictate whether a person or family comes to church or not.  I am constantly praying for his guidance on this.

As, I return to writing the blogs, I ask you to pray over this issue.  We are at a time in history where we truly need to refocus our attention to God.  We all need to develop a very personal relationship with Him, through His son Jesus Christ, and allow Him to guide our lives.

So I’ll ask you for a third and final time…Why do you come to church?

Just remember, you may get asked that question once you leave this earth, and the consequences of how you can answer may determine eternity!

God bless you all, thank you for your patience, sorry for the delay between blogs and there will be a new post next week!

The seasons of our lives……….

It amazes me sometimes how God gives us the many seasons of our lives. Most times when we suspect it the least is when he blows in the season of change.

We have seasons with our kids; baby, toddler, child, teen, young adult. And with ourselves, just add middle age, elderly, old age. We have seasons in our jobs; new and exciting, moving up the ladder, plateau, looking forward to retirement, retirement. And we also have seasons in our walk with the Lord and in our church lives.

The bible talks about seasons in several places, the most familiar to all of us is in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Daniel 2:21 – And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

Genesis 8:22 – While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Psalm 1:3 – Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Galatians 6:9 – And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

2 Timothy 4:2 – Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

Seasons can mean such different things, to the farmer it’s time to grow or harvest. It can be a physical time in our lives, but more importantly it is a time in our spiritual lives. But it always comes with times of change.

As man, we tend not to do well with change, we generally resist it, we fight it, we don’t like it. But many times, God give us change to make us better. He does it according to His plan which is always good, even though it is so hard for us to see or understand. At times He will give us change that is very difficult, it will hurt for now, it will not be easy for now, but He knows that it will be good for us. It could be the loss of a loved one, but He will always guide us to new hope and life. It could be the loss of a job that we really liked, or we felt we were actually pretty good at; but in His grand plan, it was not the job He wanted us to do. It could be a financial loss which He may want to show us what it is like to live without or to live within our means, and to use the gifts from Him to further His works not ours. It could even be a physical move from our comfortable home and surroundings to a complete and strange new place, because in His season it’s time for us to do differently.

Friends, you see, seasons come in many shapes and forms. We may have a difficult time understanding or coping with them, but if we continue in the faith, if we continue to focus on the fact that it’s God’s plan, that he will never leave or forsake those who follow Him, those who believe in Jesus Christ, these new seasons will bring on new, exciting, and prosperous times for us. We need to continue to give the Father all the praise and glory for our changing seasons!

Father, I know you are all knowing, all powerful and that Your plan for us is always good and always on time. Please help me to understand these seasons of change, please help me be at peace with these seasons and give me the courage and strength to continue to follow You wherever you lead me with this new season. I will continue to praise You, I will continue to love You and I will go wherever You lead me! I pray all of this in the name of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Amen

This week, I ask you to go forward in any of the new seasons in your life, knowing that the Father always love you and will always be with you to guide you through the next season of your life.

God’s peace be with you all!

The Armor of God!

As any of you who know me, you already know where this post is going just by the title!  My favorite verses in the Bible are Ephesians 6:10-18

10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.
17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Going into this weeks National Day of Prayer on Thursday, I’d like to take a good look at these verses.  Our nations is at a critical time in history with its relationship with God.  The forces of evil are pressing in our her and are making inroads with our government that is pushing God out.  As a nation that was formed with the blessing of God, and now I’m afraid many are turning their backs on Him.

…the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them…

… they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights …

… with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Anyone recognize the above lines?  If you don’t take some time to look up the Declaration of Independence and read it again.

Those who argue the separation of Church and State in my opinion are stretching the intent of our founding fathers.  They all were very aware of the power of Almighty God!

Now back to my favorite Bible verse!

In verse 10 Paul tells us to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power”  Do you really think the founding fathers could have made the courageous move and statement of the Declaration without being strong in the Lord and his power?  At the moment they signed that document, they knew there fortunes, their homes, their families and their very own lives were in peril, but yet they knew and had faith that God would be with them.  We need that type of courage and leadership today, we need leaders who are strong in the Lord and will trust in Him and His power, not mans!

Verses 11, 12 & 13, states – Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.  For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

The following verses will describe the armor of God, but in the three verses above, in essence Paul is warning us, if we don’t prepare ourselves for battle and the battle strategies of the devil, we are in jeopardy of losing everything.  Our ancestors from the found fathers to our not that distant past, have always had a strong faith and made time every day for time with the Lord in prayer and worship.  In the past this type of faith had pleased the Lord and He has blessed our nation with prosperity and abundance.  Our recent history does not look as nice, God is being pushed out of our government buildings, our courts, our cities and towns.  Even our holidays that originated with Him have dropped Him from mention! The evil one is using every effort and method to squeeze in between the Lord and us.  If we are not careful, God will be erased from all mention in our society and the devil will have won!  We need to go back and make sure we have that armor on and secure!

Let’s now look at what Paul tells us is our armor!

Verse 14 – Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness

We need to stand in the “truth” that is the Lord God, and we must live righteously. We need to be truthful in all our dealings, the Lord despises deceit and dishonesty. We are also to live righteously – that is to act in an upright, moral manor.  Look in the news and form your own opinion; how well do you think we as a nation and a government are doing in these areas?

Verse 15 – For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.

I feel we are being urged here to go forward with a peace that comes from knowing the Good News which is our salvation in Jesus Christ.  We are to live the example of Jesus Christ, to be at peace, to spread peace and to love, not just our friends but also our enemies.  He would be very pleased if we could show His peace and love to all the world.

Verse 16 – In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.

We must maintain our faith, that is what will protect us from the devil.  He is relentless, in his battle plan – to steal, kill and destroy.  If we don’t keep our shield of faith at the ready, his arrows WILL find their mark.  I pray that somehow our nation will find its way back to the “Faith or our Fathers” – sounds like a great hymn! 🙂

Verse 17 – Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

In all of this, remember to put on salvation, the salvation in our belief in Jesus, as our helmet, and alway have your sword ready!  The sword of the Spirit, the word of God – the Bible!  Spend quality time reading and studying the word.  The Bible is the best instruction book for Life, it has ALL the answers, but we will never know them without opening the book!  The more we know this book, the better prepared we are for our battle with Satan!

If we take God and the Bible out of our nation, the outcome is not going to be good!

Finally, in verse 18, Paul is giving us one final instruction – Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Prayer, such an important item, we need to pray often, persistently and for each other as believers.  We need to stay alert for the temptations and deception of the evil one.

If prayer is missing from our schools, our government, and our workplace, I’m afraid for where we are heading.

I will leave you this week with these thoughts and prayers.

I pray that we as a nation and our leaders, take a hard look at the true intentions of our founding fathers and our fathers and grandfathers.  They had a strong faith, they wore the “Armor of God” with pride and conviction! We need this conviction again!  We need to live the example they have set.

Heavenly Father, I ask that you continue to bless our nation and our people.  May we stay strong in our faith, may we wear Your armor with conviction.  May we stay true to Your word and resist all the battle plans of the devil.  May our faith be an example to others to bring this nation back to You, so that we can continue to enjoy the many, many gifts You have given us.  We thank You for Your loving care and protection. May the example of Your son Jesus, enable us to shine like a beacon to the rest of world. I pray all of this in Jesus name. Amen.

Have a blessed week everyone!

The 4 a.m. wake up call …

I have to admit, that I’ve come to the conclusion and have accepted the fact that the Lord likes the hour of 4 a.m.! Once again He decided to wake me up at what I always thought was an un-Godly hour because he had plans for me, plans much different than mine. Mine would have involved at least another 2 hours of sleep, but apparently he had work he wanted me to do.

First he wanted me to finish what I started last night, and that was to complete and submit my application for admission to the Licensed Local Pastor program. I am praying that it will be accepted and that I can move forward on my calling to ministry. I ask for your prayers as I begin this step in my life.

Then he had me make contact with someone that’s been heavy on my heart for several years now. I pray that I used the words that He wanted and that it does open the doors to reconciliation.

And lastly, He said………..WRITE! So here I am writing and rambling a bit.

This week in church I had the privilege to lead service and bring the message, so today I thought I’d share the message I gave with all of you. Some of you have heard it already, so forgive me for repeating, but some of you haven’t.

The title of my message was Biblical 3’s.

As a born and raised Catholic, one of the things that we did not do was spend a lot of time reading the Bible or studying the Bible. When I first started reading the Bible, it began to occur to me there were a lot of 3’s appearing.

• In the Old Testament:

God is omniscient, omnipotent, & omnipresent:
omniscient – is the capacity to know everything infinitely, In Latin, omnis means “all” and sciens means “knowing”.
omnipotent – is unlimited power.
omnipresent – the ability to be “present everywhere at the same time”

Noah had three sons (Gen 6:10) and Job had three daughters (Job 1:2; cf. 42:13);

Israelite men were required to appear before the Lord three times in a year: “Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles” (Deut 16:16)

In the instructions for making a burnt offering there are three types of animals that could be used: the bullock from the herd, the lamb or goat from the flock, and the turtle-dove or pigeon from among the fowl.

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly;

• There are also some interesting occurances of 3’s in our every day life – coincidence? I don’t believe so…

The basis of all things, the atom, has 3 basic parts, proton, neutron & electron

The basic elements – earth, wind & fire 3 again

To survive we need 3 things – food, water, & air

Properties of matter – liquid, solid, gaseous i.e. steam, water & ice

Primary colors – red, blue & yellow

• In the New Testament:

The Trinity – Father, Son & Holy Spirit
It is the number of the Godhead, it stands for the triune God. It is formed by 1+1+1, but if the 1’s are multiplied, the result is still 1. So God is three in one and one in three.

When Jesus parents left Him behind, how many days did they have to search before they found Him? Three days.

When Jesus was driven into the wildness to be tempted of Satan, how many times did Satan tempt Him? Three times was Jesus temped by the devil.

Jesus answered Satan’s threefold temptation by citing three scriptural passages Matt 4:1-11).
Jesus raised three people from the dead. The only son of a widow from Nain [Luke:11-4]. The daughter of the religious leader Jairus [5:22-43]. Lazarus [John 11:1-44].

When Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed three times to His Father to remove this cup if at all possible, after the third time Jesus collected Himself and said not My will, but Thou will be done.

Jesus fell three times on his way to be crucified

Jesus was crucified the third hour [Mark 15:25].

When Jesus was crucified how many do we see being executed? Jesus and one on each side of him, bringing the total to three.

Three nails

At Jesus’ trial, how many times did Peter deny his Lord? He deny Him three times. Each denial was for one in the Trinity.

After His resurrection, how many times was Peter asked to confirm his love? Three times one for his denial of the Father, one for the Son and one for the Holy Spirit.

Paul experienced three shipwrecks (2 Cor 11:28)

How long did Jesus ministry last? Three years.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 speaks of how “A threefold cord cannot quickly be torn in two.”

If you read Ecclesiastes 4:8-12, it discusses the struggles of a singular person, and the benefits of two people working/being together, but it ends with the single line above – “A threefold cord cannot quickly be torn in two” I believe this was telling us, that if any two of us keep the Lord, keep Christ, woven into the cord of our lives, we will be stronger and we will be closer and we will never be separated from each other or from him. It was showing us that we need to keep Christ in our lives or the things of the world will pull us apart. I used two young people in our church to illustrate this principal.

I also used another example. I had two items, side by side on the table with a cord between them. The items were touching. The cord represented God/Christ in the relationship. This represented, a relationship between two people, could be a husband and wife, mother/daughter, father/son, you and your job, whatever kind of relationship.
As with most new relationships, they start out really close, happy, fun, but as time goes on, the world starts to impose, we get busy, we get distracted, we get tired, and we may even forget that God/Christ is still present. This was represented by the items starting to get further and further apart. All this while stretching out the cord that binds them. If this goes on for too long, and the relationship drift too far apart and Christ is forgotten, the cord can become frayed or even snap, leaving the relationship broken. But there is good news here! The cord is Christ! If we keep Christ in our lives, if we keep Him as the center of the cord and if we start to elevate Him, what naturally happens? As the center of the cord (Christ) gets higher in our lives, the space between the items or the relationships, gets closer together! Christ brings our relationships back, He brings and keeps us close, He binds our lives with his love! We need to keep Him the center of our lives!

The relationship of 3, has also been illustrated with a triangle with Christ at the top and the husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend at the bottom points. If the husband and wife remain at the bottom without Christ, all they have is a straight line, and they usually are going in opposite directions. But, if the relationship has Christ as it’s focal point and they actively keep their relationship focused on Christ, the closer they move up the triangle toward Christ, the shorter the space between them and the closer they get to each other.

I know this may be harder to visualize without the actual demonstrations, but my main focus of the “3’s” was this. No matter what the relationship, be it husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, mother/daughter, father/son, you/work, etc. There is and should be a third party involved and that is Christ! If you keep Christ as the focus of your group of 3, you can never go wrong and you relationship will remain strong.

As in Romans 8:38 – For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to be, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Friends, may you welcome the third person into your relationships. May the joy and the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen the bond in your relationships and may His presence be a visible sign to those you touch that He is present and He is in control.

God bless you all!