John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

God gave us His son, the sacrificial love of God, who sent His only son to die in our place. When we come to Jesus in repentance and are saved, every sin we have ever committed or will ever commit has been paid for at the cross. 

Jesus gave His life on the cross; He alone bled and died for our sins. Our shame and punishment were put on him. As his children, we will never suffer our just punishment for our sins. 

Already, we see we have been given so much. To think that God’s sacrificial love would send his son to die, and that Jesus would willingly lay down his life. But God gives us so much more. Because of His great love for us, we have all we need and are made complete in Him.

God gives us spiritual gifts. These gifts strengthen our faith and walk with Christ.  These gifts empower us and help us to serve and love others well. He has gifted each of us with different gifts, talents, and abilities. Our loving and kind heavenly Father equips each of us to love and serve.

1 Corinthians 12:4 “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.” 

Romans 12:6 “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith.”

1 Peter 4:10 “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”

James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift  is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.”

God gives His children love and compassion, and equips them with love and compassion to be poured out on others. We should reflect His love to others in the same way we receive it from Him. As we experience God’s compassion towards us, it helps us to be compassionate towards others he places in our path. We need to always be conduits of his love in our lives.

1 John 4:9 “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 13:10 “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.”

God has also given us joy and peace.  In  the world, we find chaos all around us. Even today, we have wars going on, and people who are confused about who God made them to be. Joy and peace are not just ideas to reach for, but deep-rooted truths for every believer.  We can find contentment even when things are hard or confusing. When we put our trust in God, He gives us joy and peace in the good seasons of life and the hard seasons of life. It is in reading His word that we are reminded of who he is and who we are, and all the promises he has given to his children. Even on our worst day, we can have God’s joy and peace, because we have read his word and know that He is always with us, He will not forsake us, and we know our future.

Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

John 15:13 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

Nehemiah 8:10 “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

God gives us provision and blessings. Because God has promised to supply all our needs, we can rest knowing that even before the request is on our lips, He knows. He provides for our daily needs and even those unforeseen needs that may be around the corner. We have the everyday things we can see and feel he provides, but we also have relationships, opportunities, and experiences that all come from Him. He gives us blessings upon blessings, and we need to stare at those and remember on our hard days that “this too shall pass.” He even gives us wisdom for all of life’s questions and decisions when we ask.

Philippians 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”

Matthew 6:31-33 “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagabs run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”

James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

Matthew 7:11 “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

God also gives us strength and courage.  All of us at one time or another will feel like we just cannot do one more thing, experience one more hard day, or we will feel afraid, maybe because of a bad medical report, or we have lost a job. There are many things in life that can cause us to feel weak and afraid.  We have various challenges throughout our lives that give us cause for pause. Times when we must once again remember that God has promised to be with us, and provide all we have need of, even strength and courage.

Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us  a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

Psalm 18:1-2 “I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

He also gives us hope for the future. Hope is a wonderful gift that God gives us and grows in us as we read his word. We can look forward into our future, as we read his word and see that we have a bright hope and future home with him for all eternity. We can rest assured that God’s plans for us will be fulfilled, not one of them forgotten. We can know that God is working every situation out for us. 

Jeremiah 29:11 “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 a hope and a future.”

Psalm 42:11 “Why,my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

Romans 15:4 “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”

1 Peter 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

He gives us family, community, and fellowship. When you become a part of a church family, it enhances your walk with Christ. You have other believers who can encourage you both in your daily walk and through some of life’s hardest moments. These relationships can often speak into our lives truths that we might dismiss from someone in our own family. We build one another up in our faith and love, and in sharing the good news of Jesus. 

Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.” 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.”

Colossians 3:14 “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

We can never say that God has left us to fend for ourselves. As believers, we have the power of Christ inside of us, the very same power that raised Jesus from the dead is in us. We have the Holy Spirit in us, guiding and teaching us, strengthening us for each day. We have been blessed with mighty prayer warriors found in the body of Christ. God knows our needs before we ask, and has promised to provide all we have need of, which is differnt that what we  want.  God has promised that no matter how bad this world we live in gets, he can keep us, grow us, use us, and get us all the way home to live with him forever. Even when death comes our way, he will lead us through that deep valley. 

I pray you are encouraged today. As you have been reminded of just some of what  our heavenly Father has given to us!

Deuteronomy 31:8 “The Lord Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Psalm 139:5 “You go before me and follow me; you place your hand on me.”

Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

I don’t know about you, but I find great comfort in these verses, and over the past several months, I have had them come alive to me in so many ways.  I want to tell you about just a few of these in hopes that you will also look deep at your life and see times where you know God went before you and prepared the way. 

Back in May, I went for a routine ultrasound of my breasts. I did my due diligence and left for my vacation shortly after. While on vacation, I received a call that a mass had been found on the left side, and I would require further testing. Once home from vacation, I called my doctor, and they were able to see me for another ultrasound that very afternoon. The next day, I received another call telling me I would need a mammogram because of the mass seen in my left breast. I called and got the earliest available appointment.  During this time, I did not sit around worried or afraid; I had mild concern, as this was not the first time a suspicious place had been found. I prayed and asked the Lord to heal me if it was His will, and also to help me to rest in His Sovereign plan. When I went for the mammogram, a very sweet technician came in and did my test. She then told me the doctor would come in and would most likely  repeat what she had just done. So, after a  few minutes, the doctor entered the room. She asked how I was doing and proceeded to repeat the same test I had just finished. At the completion, she looked at me and said, “ I see nothing here!” No evidence of any type of mass. I was shocked, but elated! She then asked me if I needed anything else, to which I gladly replied, No, it doesn’t get any better than hearing these words: there is nothing here! I left floating!

I was elated and notified all those who had been praying of the great news! Just a few weeks later, I received a call that my mother had taken a horrible fall and was hurt very badly.  I immediately got on a plane and flew back home, not knowing what to expect or how long I would be there. As it turned out, she was black and blue, with a badly broken shoulder and a head injury, a broken toe, and a hurt knee. This began her long stay of 1 month and 2 days in the hospital.  I was there with her until she was released. I cannot tell you how thankful I am that I could stay with her.  Those first few days were hard, and the medicines made her confused, so I was able to be her ears and voice. She was transferred by ambulance 2 weeks later to another hospital for therapy. 

As I sat there, often awake all night, I had time to really think about what God had done for me in the “there is nothing here.” Had the mass been found, I would have started a journey that would have most likely kept me from being able to stay with my mother, but because it was clear I was not only able to stay the full time, I was also able to bring her home with me for 3 weeks and then I started my weekly roadtrips up to her house 6 hours away, (on a good day); leaving on Friday late afternoon/evening and coming home on Monday nights. I did that for 5 months, the last month every two weeks, ending at the end of November.  It was a sweet and holy time I enjoyed with my mother. And I am so thankful that God went before me and prepared everything in the way He had ordained it. He alone knew what was coming, and he made the way straight for me. 

So many times on my drives, particularly one that took 9 hours, I felt as though He was at the wheel, making sure I was safe and sound on interstates where people tend to forget the speed limit! I would be going through heavy traffic, sometimes traffic jams, and His peace would wash over me.  I felt at times that if I looked hard enough, I might physically see Him sitting with me. I had so many mighty prayer warriors who prayed me up and down those highways and byways, and God heard and answered! And I would think about those verses where God has said: “I will go before you,” “don”t be afraid.” I was never afraid; I would feel Him with me on each trip I took. He tenderly cared for me as I ministered to my mother, reminding me of His faithfulness and goodness always, especially in the hard and trying times.

Not long ago, these verses came alive again in the person of my son-in-law. He is a pilot and has a plane he flies for work. Often, my daughter travels with him and helps him with various areas of his work. He has a beautiful plane that has a built- in parachute.  Pretty nice to know if you start to fall out of the sky, you can deploy the chute.  But in doing the chute, you need to know where you might fall or onto whom you might fall.

Well, he and my daughter wanted her to be trained to know how to deploy the chute in case he was incapacitated for any reason on one of their flights, so she took a class on the “what to do scenario”  While there, my son-in-law asked on a whim if he could do a simulation  in one of their test simulators  for his type plane on how to land without power of any kind. They agreed, and he did the simulation.  This is where it gets good! One week later, on a work trip, the unthinkable happened: the cockpit was filling with smoke, and he had no power. He texted my daughter one word… ”PRAY!” She knew instinctively that it was something really bad, she called us crying and asked us to pray, and we did with her, and after we hung up.  His friend, who was with him, also a pilot, but never having flown this particular airplane, wanted to pull the chute asap,(which would total the plane), and also gave several other suggestions on what to do, but my son-in-law decided that at the altitude he was at and the conditions, he was going to radio it in and land it.  And that is what he did. He was met on the runway by fire engines, and even the mayor of the little town was there.  Once down, his friend who was with him said, “If you had done any of the things I said to do, we probably would not be here!  His plane was fixed, and a few weeks later he was able fly it home.  Yes, a very happy ending to a very scary ordeal. This is another great example where the Lord went before him and prepared him for what He knew was coming. 

When my son-in-law was safe, I texted him and said that I hoped he could clearly see how God had gone before him to allow him  to do the simulator because He  (God) knew what was coming! Wow! Just Wow!

I hope these two short stories will encourage you in your walk with the Lord. That you will look for those moments when you know that God was working way before the need arose!  Yes, He is always with us, but He will also go before us, preparing the way!

Blessings friends!

John 1:50-51 “Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

This verse is about Nathaniel, one of Jesus’ first followers.

John 1:45-49  

45 Philip found Nathaniel and told him,“We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote-Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathaniel asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. 47 When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”48 “How do you know me?” Nathaniel asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you. 49 Then Nathaniel declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.

Nathaniel was not hiding from God; these verses show us that God sees us at all times. No matter where we are or what we are doing.  And they also show us that Jesus knew Nathaniel in a deep, inner being way. (verse 47) We may think that we can hide from God. Whether it is out of shame, anger, hurt, or whatever, we believe that we can slip away for a while and He won’t notice our absence or know where to find us. But God sees us no matter how far we go…if it is to the other side of the world, in a cave, another state; He sees us. We simply cannot hide from the all-knowing, all-consuming, all-seeing God.  Nathaniel was surprised that Jesus had known him beforehand, and he recognized that only God could possess such knowledge and power.  Because of this encounter with Jesus, Nathaniel believed and followed Jesus and was among those who received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. He helped to spread the gospel to the early church.

As we read through the passages into chapter two, we find where Jesus is in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, and while there, we read in John 2:23-25 these words: “Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25 He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in man.” Jesus, the Son of God, knows all about what is inside of man. He knows that a man’s heart is deceitful above all else. (Jeremiah 17:9). Jesus had discernment, and he knew that the faith some professed was not a genuine faith; it was a superficial faith. Some who were professing their faith at this moment would later be the ones screaming, “CRUCIFY HIM!” 

God’s knowledge of us, the very depths of our hearts and souls, goes beyond human understanding. He who formed the universe and calls the stars by name knows us because he knit us together in our mother’s wombs. Our innermost parts are known to him. We read in Psalm 139:4, “You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you, Lord, know it completely.” Wow, even our words are known before they pass over our lips…doesn’t that make you want to push “pause” before speaking?

Proverbs 15:3 says: “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching both the evil and the good.”

Nothing that happens in our own lives or on this earth escapes God’s gaze.  Let that sink in for a minute. Nothing….Nothing…. that means no matter where you are or what you are doing, He sees you! No hiding!

Here is another verse to support the “no hiding”. Psalm 139:15-16 “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in secret…your eyes saw  my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”  So….even our unformed bodies were known by God,yet somehow people think they can hide?

It is both reassuring and scary to think that God sees us every second of our existence, even inside the womb. Can you think of things you wish he had not seen? Of course you can, I can. There are things I wish I could sweep “under the rug” and have hidden, yet God has seen every single second of my life: he has known my thoughts, he has known my words…before I speak them (some of which I would like to take back!) Yet, knowing all of this, he still says,”Come to me.” He still came into this world to save sinners like you and me. I am thankful God knows me; he knows even the content of my heart, things I cannot figure out, and He calls me His own. I could never gain access to heaven by being a good person; it is only through repentance and being born again into the kingdom of God that I have access to heaven and the Father.  And as I walk this earth, He is with me, He is watching me, and He hears me; I cannot escape even if or when I want to. My God is here, right now, as I type…even on my worst days and best days, even though I sin, even though I might stumble and fall as I go through this weary land…He is here; present in every single moment, be it good or bad. Let your soul sit with these thoughts, let knowing that the all-seeing God is actually seeing you…make your walk worthy. Let all we do please him. 

In closing, remember God sees you now, wherever you are, whatever you are doing. He knows what has passed and what will come. There is no place on this earth you can go hide yourself away….He sees you, He sees you! 

1 Peter 1:15-16 “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

We have the opportunity to make every day moments holy. How? By doing those things which we know that our father in heaven would do, with an attitude that is pleasing to him. The scripture says to be holy in all that we do. Doing is an action word. Our everyday lives can be holy, those things that seem insignificant at the moment, or those things that causes us to have to sacrifice what we would want to do for what we must do. Holiness is an attitude of the heart.

Whatever the Lord has called us to do whether in our work, helping someone, or giving up something; such as our time, our selfish desires, etc, are made holy when we wholeheartedly do them to please the Lord.

Holiness is being totally dedicated to God, and those things that he calls us to. We can find holy moments sitting in a bad situation in the hospital room, we can find holy moments sitting with friends and talking about Jesus, we can find holy moments in the attitude we have towards our families, and the sacrifices we make every day.

I want to please God, I want to be doing those things that he has called me to do with an attitude of joy. I don’t want to do anything begrudgingly.

As God is working in us, and working out of us those things that don’t need to be there and we become more like him, our lives should be full of “holy moments.” We are different because of God‘s qualities in our lives. When his desires become our desires.

I believe that every time we surrender a “yes” to the Lord when he calls us to the hard, or even the mundane we are made a little more holy, we become more like Jesus. And oh how I want to look like my Savior, oh how I want to act like my Lord!

Every day of my life, I should look less like the world, have less of the worlds attitudes, my life should be a constant overflowing of the abundance of the Holy Spirit inside of me.

Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice, he did it willingly, and found joy in the journey, shouldn’t we?

In 1 Peter 2:5 says: “You also, like living stones are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus, Christ.”

We as the body of Christ are interdependent with other Christians. When God calls us to a task he has also calls others as well, their role may look different than your role, but it is just as important. They too will make sacrifices. We must unite in the great moments as well as the difficult ones.

Remember nothing you do for Christ is waisted, and when you do the hard, the ordinary, the seemingly mundane or the uncomfortable with joy it pleases our Father in heaven and we are made holy, just as He is holy.

Choose this day to have an attitude adjustment, find joy in daily tasks for family, in those hard moments, on those paths that God puts us on that are ultimately for our good, and make us look more like him. Yes, they can seem long and we may have those “why me” questions, but remember nothing is ever waisted in God’s kingdom and every moment is making us look more and more like Jesus!

Matthew 10:38 “Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”

Luke 9:23 “Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must die himself and take up his Cross daily and follow me.”

First, let’s answer the question, What is a cross?
it is a structure, consisting of an upright post with a cross beam, used as an instrument of death. Now let’s answer the question, why do we celebrate the cross? We celebrate the cross because that was the means by which atonement was made between God and humanity when Jesus died on the cross, and took our sins upon himself; He is to be our first love!

The Romans made people carry their cross beam as a way of showing their submission to Rome, their admission, or at least the perceived admission of their guilt, and that Rome had the right to put them to death.

Jesus was completely innocent of any wrongdoing, free from any sin, yet he took the cross beam and carried it after being beaten beyond recognition, for us. He took our punishment upon himself, our shame, and our humiliation. Because of the cross of Calvary, and the debt that was paid by Jesus, when we come to him in faith, repenting of our sins, and are born again, we can live confidently, without condemnation, knowing that we belong to him forever! We stand before him having been washed in the blood that flowed from the cross that day.

What does it mean for me to take up my Cross daily? It means we identify with him, we don’t hide it, we share it. It is knowing that we will face certain opposition, and possible suffering, because we stand in faith with Jesus.

It is a daily dying to our selfish desires and the sin that so easily besets us. We let go of selfish desires, to follow the path that the Lord has placed before us. It isn’t about gaining treasures on this earth, it’s about storing up treasure in heaven. We are called to live righteous lives, no matter what else is going on around us, no matter what the crowd is doing, if it’s not Christ honoring, then we should not be participating.
We are to look different than the world, act different, talk different.

1 Peter 2:9 “ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

We in the United States, do not face some of the horrible things that others do in other countries for standing up for their faith in Christ; many have been put to death because they refuse to denounce their faith, they refused to let go of Jesus. We must ask ourselves can we do the same? If the question is asked, “Do you believe in Jesus?” “Are you a born again believer?”… knowing it would mean your life, would you answer yes?

I pray that you will choose to look like Jesus today, to act like Jesus today, and to talk like Jesus today. And as we approach this time of year, where we celebrate the cross, we call it Easter… that you will truly embrace all that it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, and the price that he paid on Calvary’s cross for you.

Hosea 13:14 “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction.”

Psalm 49:15 “But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself.”

John 5:28-29 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out-those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”

Jesus was raised from the dead; death could not hold him; He is alive forevermore, and because He lives, we who belong to him will live forever with him. 

Death is not a word we like. Even for those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ, it can be scary and hard to process. It can sometimes seem unfair when someone is taken young in life; or what we deem is too soon. That person we have loved, laughed with, sat at meals with, held, and cared for is now gone. We want to keep those we love here on earth; we selfishly think that we know what is best, and to be honest, we just do not want to hurt that deeply; we do not want to feel that grief walking as our companion through this life because to some degree we will feel it each, and every day. 

But scripture is clear that those who die in Jesus, the born-again believer are merely sleeping. Awaiting that day when God returns and calls them to himself. Those sleeping in Christ will break out of those graves and they will meet him in the air. Spirit and body once again together. I cannot imagine what this will look like, my mind races with thoughts of what will happen. 

When we put that body into the ground, it seems cold and dark, lonely even. Our grief is palpable; yet for believers, there is still hope, yes even joy at work in us. Why? Because we know what God’s word promises. God has promised to take us to himself, that where He is we will be. 

What a glorious and exciting thought, knowing that for all eternity we will be with our Lord and Savior! Our faith instantly made sight! However, that is not true for those who die without Christ. They truly are dead and a second death will follow their earthly death. But those who belong to Jesus are immediately in heaven before the One who died for them, who took their sins upon himself, Jesus, our Redeemer.

For those without Christ, they will be judged for those things they did in the flesh while on earth; they have not repented of their evil ways and therefore there is no longer any hope that remains for them; only judgment, condemnation, and the second death. But not a death where they no longer feel, hear, see, or experience pain and suffering, no this death is a death of ever being rescued. There is no longer any opportunity to be saved. Utter darkness void of any, and all hope is their eternity. I cannot imagine being in a place where ALL HOPE is gone, torment constantly with no way of escape. They were ushered immediately into hell when they took their final breath on this earth. 

Why am I writing about this now, Aren’t there more exciting things I could write about, the answer is yes, of course, there is. The Bible is full of the good news of the gospel, it is full of promises to the believers, it is full of knowledge and wisdom for our everyday lives; wisdom and power, and the list could go on and on because everything we need is found in those pages. But to be honest, I long for you to truly know Jesus, I long for you to be ready whenever your time comes to leave this world, and I long for those who stand over your grave to have the comfort and joy of knowing you are merely sleeping, and you will live forever with Christ Jesus. 

When a loved one or friend passes from this life to their life in Christ we as believers think about that “happy reunion day,” when we will join them around the throne worshipping and praising God, receiving our rewards from Him for those things done in His name, for His glory. It is a comfort to us when grief tries to overtake us. We see what will be…on that day.

Wake up people, today is the day of salvation! If you have not called on the name of the Lord, repented from your sins, and asked Jesus into your heart, you can, and by doing so you too will live forever, you too will immediately go to heaven upon your death, you too will have every sin erased from your record and will be washed in the blood of the lamb. Never to suffer any sickness, torment, sorrow, pain, disappointment, etc., ever again. 

Think about it… there is either life or death waiting on the other side, which do you choose? I pray today you will be saved, today you will say yes to Jesus! And for those who know Christ, who have loved ones waiting for you…that day is coming, hold on, walk in the comfort of knowing that you will see them again, and we will all worship the One who saved us for all eternity; our faith then made sight!

Colossians 3:1-8

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden in Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil, desires, and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, and the life you want lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”

How are we as Christians to behave? Certainly, not as the world does. When we come to Jesus, in repentance, and receive salvation, there should be a change in us, not just inwardly, but outwardly as well. We should not look like the world or act like it. We put on the new and take off the old. 

We are told to set our hearts on things above, not on the things below,(the world). We should be concentrating on the eternal, not on the temporary. 

We have died to our old ways, the old person, and we are alive in Christ. And since we have died to our old selves, then we should have little regard for the things of the world, the things we used to do in our sinful nature. We need to seek after those things that please God. As we view the world from God’s perspective, our thoughts and perspectives on the world should change, and those things that used to attract us no longer do.

What are the things that we are told that we should turn away from because they belong to our earthly sinful nature? Sexual immorality- (if you are living a promiscuous lifestyle, or even just being intimate with a boyfriend or girlfriend, it should stop immediately because it displeases the Lord). We must no longer allow ourselves to live impure and lustful lives, we also turn away from any evil, desires, and greed, which is idolatry; (we should not desire anyone or anything above God). All of these things are against God’s will. In addition to these listed above, we are to rid ourselves of anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from our lips. We are made new in Christ, we are given a new heart and new ways of looking at the world. When we seek to please the Lord and see things as he does, practicing any of these things should leave us feeling wretched, and we should run to the Lord asking for forgiveness and help to rid ourselves of our sinful nature. I dare say that if you practice any of these things, (they are a part of your daily life) and you do not regard them as sin that needs to be dug up from its roots in your heart and gotten rid of, you are probably not saved! 

It breaks my heart when I hear foul words coming out of supposedly saved people. How can you allow such filth to flow from the very tongue and mouth that you also use to praise Him? 

As Christians, we should live holy and set apart lives; looking and acting different than the world we live in. We are not to mirror the world and its ways. We Should be making daily decisions to remove anything that would feed or support these desires that are against God, and rely on the Holy Spirit daily in our walk with Christ; so that we can win the battles over our flesh. We are no longer our own, we have been bought with a price. Jesus gave his life on the cross of Calvary, took our shame, and sin upon himself, so that when we come to him repent and turn from our old life,( move away from, no longer do those things) and receive him, we can live new and set apart lives! 

This world is not our home, we look to that eternal and heavenly home with Jesus on high; we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus at all times.

We must read, pray, and fill ourselves with God’s true and eternal word daily. We must die to the sin that so really besets us; so that we can live. But we must remember that we cannot rid ourselves of these evils by simple willpower alone; it comes only through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us. You may do good for a while, but eventually, your flesh will cry out for what it wants and will win! 

I pray you find yourselves leaving behind anything that hinders your walk with Christ, examining your attitudes and actions daily to see if they are in line with God’s Holy word; that you are submitting daily to His authority in your life, and walking in such a way, that you hear, “well done!”