God's Guidance

There have been many times in my life that I have stood at a crossroad and tried to find the best road to take with my life.  Life is not an easy course for anyone to figure out.  There are so many twists and turns which we never expected.

When Moses led the Hebrew Children, he didn't know the best paths to take them down.  He certainly wouldn't have chosen to live in a wilderness where they could never find enough food to eat or where there was not enough water, but that is where God took them.

God didn't just send a cloud by day and a fiery pillar by night to guide them.  He could have done that easily or just tell Moses where to go.  Instead, God, Himself lead the tribes of Israel in the pillar.  Exodus 13:21 His presence was always there before them.

Do you think that when you ask for guidance as to the path to take in your life, God is going to just send you a map?  When you're at a crossroads do you seek a signpost saying "THIS WAY---->"  You are asking for too little.

God, Himself is standing there with you.  In fact, He is always there with you, to guide and direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6  Never fear a decision that needs to be made.  God is there to give you the wisdom and the strength to follow the path God shows you. He won't just point the way to go, but He will lead you.  You will not be able to walk down the pathways of life without Him being intimately involved and always there with you.  He will share the good and the bad until the final day you get to meet Christ face to face.

God does not just send you guidance,  He goes with you to guide.

Photo by jens johnsson on Unsplash 

What is a Life Worth?

I have seen clothing saying "No Fear".  I have seen videos of people doing crazy and dangerous stunts on YouTube, and they seem to personify that slogan.  A real man shows no fear when facing death as he leaps from a cliff and using a special suit, he glides a couple of feet from the ground going around rocks and trees until he finally ends pulling his parachute.

NO WAY!  You wouldn't catch me within 10 feet of that cliff.  These people die when one little mistake happens.  The thrill of defying death in so many ways is addicting to these people.  Even kids do stunts with bikes and skateboards that could easily break an arm, leg or neck.

My question is, why do we glorify people who risk their bodies, health, and lives?  Why is life seen as something to be abused for the sake of entertainment?  Go to YouTube and you will find countless videos that people find funny where people are seriously hurt or killed.  Someone has a terrible fall which could have killed or permanently injured someone and everyone in the video is laughing at the guy before they even know if he is still alive.

We have no value of life.   Our entertainment consists of sports shows such as Ultimate Fighting where people go at each other like gladiators.  They are bloodied, broken and sometimes even killed in those battles.  Boxing doesn't have enough violence and blood for us now.

Life is precious.  God is the giver of life.  It is a gift to us all which we should prize and cherish.  Everyone's life is precious to God and should be to us as well.

Too often life is seen as something to use to gain money by prostitution, sex trafficking, drugs, and even slavery in parts of the world.  People are seen as objects to fulfill our own pleasures and to entertain us.  People are only worth what we can get out of them.

We don't even value our own lives.  We not only risk our lives and health but we allow others to use us because we don't see the value in our own lives.

Are you created in the image of God?  Yes. Genesis 1:27

Did God design you to be the person you are? Yes. Psalm 139:13:16

Does He know you in detail?  Yes. Luke12:6-7

What is your value to God?  The life of Jesus. Galatians 3:13-15

God values you and every human life, that has ever lived and will ever live, so much that Jesus Christ, the Son of God who was involved in all of creation, willing was sacrificed so that you would live forever.  God can create another universe in just 6 days if He wanted to, but there is only one you and He was willing to die because He values and loves you so much.

Photo by Solal Ohayon on Unsplash

How Can God Use a Nobody Like Me?

So very often we look around at the world and think, "I am a nobody.  I am not important.  I have nothing to give in a ministry to God."

We look at what we are and think that we are just a housewife, a truck driver, a salesperson, a roofer or any of a hundred different things and not good enough to really make an impact.  We look at what we are and think God does not have the ability to make us into something greater.

There was a Hebrew man who was a craftsman.  He worked with wood and metal and was good at his job.  He was not good enough though to do what God called him to do, build the tabernacle of God and all the furnishing including the Ark of the Covenant.

I imagine he was well known for his work, but he could never have been good enough for people thousands of years later to know about him.  What made him great enough to be the head craftsman of the holiest artifacts in human history?

"Then Moses said to the Israelites, "See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills-"  Exodus 35:30-31

God filled him with the Spirit of God.  God gave him the wisdom, knowledge, and skills to accomplish the task.  He might have been good, but without the Spirit of God, he could never have created the works he did.

The key to God using you is not what your job is, not how important you are to the world, not how much money you have, and not how much scripture you have memorized.  The true key to serving God is to trust in God.  As a Christian, you have been filled with the Spirit of God.  He is within you.  Trust Him and not yourself.  Turn yourself over to His will and do not let your will get in the way.

Bezalel never thought he would be so important that God would take note of him and tell the world throughout time about him and his work.  Bezalel was not a Moses, but he was willing to be who God made him.  He was willing to follow the leading of God, wherever it took him.

We are to be like Bezalel and just be ourselves.  God did not call you to preach?  Then do not try to be a preacher.  God has called you to something.  Trust God and go where He leads you.

The greatest you can be is to be yourself with God.

Just Sharing My Heart

I just want to take this post to share with you my heart about where I see Christians standing today.

I wasn't sure we would get to 2018 without the rapture occurring and now I feel more certain that we won't get to 2019.  Rapture could occur before I get this post written or before you finish reading it, and it might occur years after this.  The world today is falling apart just as scripture says and the only hope we have is the return of Jesus Christ to come and rule.

But it saddens me to look around and see how unprepared we are for the last days.  Most of what we call Christian churches are led by false prophets who do not teach scripture.  Most of the truly Christian churches do not reach out to the unsaved.  They leave that to the preacher.  Most Christians do not know their Bible, do not know how to lead a person to Christ and have no idea what a true disciple of Christ is.  Many Christians warm a pew and think they have done their Christian duty.

Churches do not teach about the end times and the rapture.  The congregations know nothing about what is to happen in the end times or what to look for.  The scriptures told when Jesus would come the first time, but when Jesus came the people rejected him because they were not taught about the signs of his coming or the signs of who he would be.  We are making the same mistake.

Christians are following after the world.  True Bible Believing, Born Again Christians are falling into the ways of the world.  Sex before marriage, homosexuality, gluttony, trusting in the Lottery more than God, swearing, addiction (caffeine, alcohol, nicotine), materialism and many other sins Christians are accepting as not that bad.

We are fulfilling, at this very hour, 2 Thessalonians 2:3  which says that before the son of perdition (The Anti-Christ) comes there will be a great falling away.  There are many who call themselves Christians who Biblically are not, and many true Christians who are falling into the deception of the world.

I am not perfect.  I have done wicked things in the past as well as today.  I know I am weak but I am trying to follow what the God says in the Bible.  My desire is to please Him and not to be deceived.  It saddens me when I find something in my life that is not as God desires and with the help of Jesus, I turn from that sin.

I hate this world because of what it is doing to everyone.  The worse part is seeing Christian brothers and sister who fall into the traps of sin this world has forged.  I have a brother in Christ, from the group of believers I worship with, who has fallen into sin and it appears he will be divorcing his wife. I still love him but seeing where he is headed gives me great sorrow.  The world has its hooks in him and he does not want to turn back to God.

Please exam your life.  Read your bible.  Spend time with God.  Tell others about Christ. Put aside your agenda and follow God's agenda.  Don't just read and believe the Bible, live it.

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:1-2

Photo Credit: The Passion by A.Currell

They are Out to Get Me!

It's a conspiracy to kill me.  No! I am not crazy or paranoid!  They are plotting to steal from me, kill and destroy me.  If they can't kill me, they try to silence me.  They have been after me for as long as I remember.  It is no use hiding.  They know where I am.  They know where I go.  Perhaps the worse part is that they are after you also!

Yes! They are out to kill you as well.  It is a conspiracy that is worldwide, led by our arch enemy Satan. He is enlisting more and more people to do his bidding.  The world is full of people following Satan and fighting against those who follow Christ, as well as those God has deemed to be His Chosen people.

Jesus tells us that Satan is the ruler of this world (John14:30) and (1 John 5:19).  Those who are not God's belong to Satan.  What is Satan's plan?  John 10:10 tells us exactly what he is conspiring to do.  He wants to kill you, steal your blessings and destroy you, your reputation and all that is good in your life.

Satan has been plotting against the people of God since the times of Adam and Eve.  Don't think he won't work to kill you as well.  He hates you!  Do you think you're safe here in the United States?  Hatred is growing.  Laws are written against God and those who follow Him.  The Children of Satan are conspiring to get rid of God and, if you follow God, you as well.

The only hope we have is found in Christ who watches over us and keeps us safe.  As we get closer to the Second Coming of Jesus, things will only get worse.

"And do this, understanding the present time:  The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed." Romans 13:11

Photo Credit: 061-Evil Eye by Phil Balchin

Judge NOT!!

Have you ever talked to someone about how what they are doing is wrong and they come back to you like a fiery old testament prophet proclaiming, "God says, 'Judge not, that ye be not judged.'"?

Whoa!  Look down on the ground and not into their eyes. Slowly back away and run before they go for your jugular.  What do you do?  They are quoting Matthew 7:1.  It does say not to judge, so what more can you do than to just quietly slip away, rebuked by scripture for what you were saying to them?

What you can do is stand up for what Matthew 7:1 is really saying.  This is not concerning telling someone that they are doing something against God.  We are to help others to recognize and repent from sin.  This verse is saying that we are all held to the same standard, so remove the sin in your life first before you point a finger at someone else.

When we do call someone out for a sin, we are never to judge (condemn) that person, for that is God's job, but we are called upon to inspect the fruit of others.  Matthew 7:16a "You shall know them by their fruits...."  If the fruit is bad we should reach out in love to help them to turn from their wicked ways.

To condense this down, we are to inspect the fruit of everyone, (especially ourselves) and help when someone is going against God.  That means speaking up and showing them what GOD says.  You do not judge them, the sinner, for that is God's job.  You do not point a finger at someone's sin when you yourself are in that same sin.  That is the pot calling the kettle black and it just will not work.  You are to point out what God says about their sin and not what you, the church, the government or what anyone else says.  God's word is the only standard we are to measure our actions by. 

"Joe, I have noticed that you keep doing A.  God says in the Bible that doing A is a sin.  If I can help you to stop doing A, I would be happy to help."

"JUDGE NOT THAT YE BE NOT JUDGED!"

"Joe, I didn't say it, God said it. I am only pointing out to you what God is saying about your actions."

"You have done A also."

"Yes, I did in the past but God showed me I was wrong to do that.  I no longer do A.  I can help you to stop as well."

Remember scripture is your standard and God is the judge as to what is right and what is wrong.  You are God's agent to love the person enough to tell them what God says about their sin.

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."  2 Timothy 3:16

Photo Credit: gavel by janinsanfran

Biblical PUNishment

Ok, let's have some fun today.  After all, Christianity is not all gloom and doom.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine..." Proverbs 17:22a

What are a dentist's favorite hymns?

Crown Him with Many Crowns
Holy, Holy, Holy

How does Moses make his coffee?

Hebrews it.

Who was the smartest man in the Bible?

Abraham.  He knew a Lot.

What kind of man was Boaz before he married?

Ruthless

Why did the eagle sit on the church's steeple?

It was a bird of pray.

Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible?

Samson.  He brought the house down.

What car make did the Apostles drive?

Honda.  The apostles were all in one Accord.

What is a missionary's favorite kind of car?

A convertible.

Which Old Testament prophet took forever to make a point?

"I say...uhhh.." (say it out loud)

At what time of day was Adam created?

A little before Eve

Why did Noah punish the chickens on the Ark?

They used fowl language.

Need an ark?

I noah guy.

What is the difference between Jesus and pizza?

Jesus can't be topped.