Sunday, November 22, 2009

Let's Give Thanks This Thanksgiving And Always!

Hebrews; 13:15-16
(Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.)
It seems to me that people in general have a very good knack for complaining. If we were honest with ourselves, we all do it from time to time. Then we when really take a good look at our lives, most of us have it so much better that the rest of the world. I read a quote in twitter today and it really drove the point home. "Most of our garbage disposals see more food from a single meal than much of the world sees in a single day". Yet we can always find something to complain about.

What we should be doing is what the writer of Hebrews said. We should always be giving thanks to God in all circumstances. Here we are getting close to Thanksgiving Day and we need to reflect on all that God has given us. Most of us have our health, a roof over our head, heat in the winter, our families, our friends, and a place to worship God without persecution. This doesn't even scratch the surface of what we should be thankful for.

Some of us have given our lives to Jesus and have eternal life. We couldn't ask for a better gift than that and often we forget to thank God for saving us. This Thanksgiving, let's reflect on all we have and thank God for His tender mercies and love which He has bestowed on us. There isn't a single one of us who deserves anything we have because we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Because of His great love for us, we are still alive to celebrate this holiday with friends and family.

I personally thank you God for saving me and giving me eternal life. Thank you for being patient with me and not giving up on me before I came to Jesus for forgiveness. Everything I am and all that I have is a gift from you God. Without you in my life, I am nothing and I give you all the praise and glory and worship and thanks. I'm a child of God thanks to Jesus Christ my Savior and Lord.

God Bless You!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Is It Politically Correct?

Mark; 8:38
(For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.")
It's about this time of year that people start to wish everyone "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". It's just another ploy of the evil one trying to take Christ out of Christmas. Well with me, when someone tells me to have a "Happy Holiday", I like to reply "You have a Merry Christmas". What is this world coming to when we can't even mention the name of Christ, because it might offend someone. Just because they choose to deny Jesus Christ and His birth, I don't and it offends me. Once again, you have the minority telling the majority what they can say and do.

This year, make every effort to tell people "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays". We are celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If the rest of the world chooses to deny this fact, we as Christians need to stand firm in our belief. Maybe they will tell you that they aren't suppose to say Merry Christmas, and that is when you say, "well I can say it". If everyone would start saying "Merry Christmas", that would put and end to this nonsense.

I'm not ashamed of Jesus, are you? As a matter of fact, when we are made fun of or persecuted for our faith, we are to rejoice in this. Glorify God every chance we are given opportunity to do so.
1Peter;4:16
(Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.)

God Bless You!

Monday, November 16, 2009

Children Obey Your Parents!

Ephesians; 6:1-3
(Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with a promise: "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth".)
Obeying our parents isn't something that we should have to be told. It should just come naturally but it doesn't. Because of the fall of man in the garden when Adam disobey God and ate of the forbidden fruit, we all have the sin nature in us. As a child grows, they begin to want their own way in spite of what their parents tell them. Disobedience is a form of dishonoring your parents. Most of our parents want what is best for us and try to give us good advice. But when we don't do what they have said and do what we want, we put ourselves in harms way. This could be drinking alcohol, smoking, drugs, hanging with the wrong crowd, or any other thing that is detrimental to our health.

God, because He loves us has given us commandments to live by. He's not trying to keep us from having fun in life, but to keep us from a harmful lifestyle. All we have to do is look at the number of lives that have been lost because of alcohol. Yes, the Bible doesn't say you can't drink, but it does say you are not to get drunk. Most of us have done things that could have resulted in death, but by the grace of God we lived through it. If you have given your life to Jesus, you are part of the family of God. He is your heavenly Father and He cares for you. Just as your earthly father tried to keep you from harm, so does God.

God has graciously added the promise of special blessings to those who obey this command. God has given each of us life and He knows what is best for each one of us. Jesus was obedient when He came to earth to die for our sin. If He hadn't come and died in our place, none of us would of had any hope of eternal life. But by doing it, He paid the price for our sins.
Romans; 6:23
(For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.)
We can all be thankful that Jesus obeyed and now we can have eternal life through Him. Children, obey your parents, your life will go much smoother.

God Bless You!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Prayer!

James; 5:16
(Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man avails much.)
Most of us if we were honest would say "our prayer life is sub-par or non existent", yet we are instructed to pray without ceasing. Our mind and thoughts are to directed toward God in heaven as we go along our daily life. Yes, we are to pay attention to what we are doing but we need to keep God in the forefront of our daily life. The Bible talks about prayer all the time and we must conclude that it is very important. It is our way of communicating with our heavenly Father. God already knows what we need even before we ask Him but we still must pray. Moses prayed to God that He would not destroy the people of Israel in the wilderness. Elijah prayed to God and God brought down fire from heaven and burned up the sacrifice on Mount Carmel. Many men praying in the Bible and God answering their prayers.

We also are instructed to pray for our leaders whether they are spiritual or political leaders. We need to pray that they will be sensitive to God's speaking. We also should be thankful in our prayers thanking God for all He has done for us. We would not have anything if God had not allowed us to have it. So remember to thank Him for it. We need to pray for the unsaved in the world that they would repent and come to saving knowledge of Jesus. So remember to pray without ceasing and may God bless you.

God Bless You!

Monday, November 09, 2009

Fear Of The Lord!

Proverbs; 1:7
(The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.)
I have heard people say that they don't fear the Lord. They will say "why should I fear Him"? But the Bible is clear that we should have a fear for the Lord. It should be a healthy fear as He is God who created everything that is in existence. He created us and wants us to be obedient to Him in all that we do. If you have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, then you have become one of God's children and He is your heavenly Father. I don't know about you, but I feared making my earthly dad mad by being disobedient to him. I always knew that if I did wrong, there would be consequences in the form of punishment.

If you willfully sin against God by disobeying Him, do you not fear that there will be consequences? The Scripture tells us that God disciplines His own.
Proverbs; 3:11-12
(My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor detest His correction; For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.)
If you are truly a child of God, then you can expect correction when you sin. If you are not getting any correction, then you may be illegitimate and not a child of God. Yes, God does love you and want you to become part of His family, but you must come through Jesus Christ to be saved.

Maybe you haven't given your life to Jesus because you fear the ridicule of man more than the fear of God. You may lose friends when you give your life to Jesus, because you won't run into sin with them anymore. They will see that you have something they don't by the new life you'll live. God tells us not to fear man but to fear Him.
Matthew; 10:28
(And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.)
Persecutors can only harm the body, but God is the one who destroys in hell. So I say, "Fear the Lord and obey Him". He loves you and wants you to come to saving knowledge of Him. Don't say no to Jesus, give your life to Jesus today.

God Bless You!
It's important to obey God and be a light in a dark world.