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Like A Thief In The Night

One night a thief broke into a house he thought was abandoned. As he walked then the darkened house with a flashlight he heard a voice from the kitchen that said, “Jesus is watching you.’ He stopped and said, “who’s there?” There was no answer so he thought he must have imagined it. But after he took a few more steps, the voice said again, “Jesus is watching you.” He decided to walk toward the voice, just before he entered the kitchen, he heard it again, “Jesus is watching you.” He swung the flashlight up and saw a parrot talking in a cage. The parrot said, Jesus is watching you.” The their turned flipped on the kitchen light and said, “Why you’re just a dumb bird.” The he looked in the corner of the room and seen a huge Rottweiler couching. And the parrot said “Get him Jesus.”

You might think it’s strange that Jesus would compare Himself to a thief. Of course, Jesus isn’t identifying with the sin of stealing. But just a good thief (that’s a oxymoron).that tries to sneak in quickly and quietly and escape with His people. That’s an accurate description of how Jesus will rapture His church.

We should all be living as if Jesus was crucified yesterday; raised from the dead this morning, and is coming back this afternoon.

1 Thessalonians 5: 1-4 tells us, “But concerning the times and the seasons, you have no need that anything be written to you. For you yourselves know that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come to then, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape.

We should know these 4 things

1. Jesus will return, But we don’t know the exact day.

Can you imagine a thief sending you a text or email saying, “Just wanted to know that I’m coming to rob your house tonight.” Of course not. Thief’s don’t announce when they’re coming. They sneak in and out.

When I was growing up my Dad used to do military funerals when a soldier or veteran would pass away. My father would keep all the guns in his closet. One night when no one was home the house was broken into and all the M16 rifles were stolen. He was very upset because they trusted him with these rifles. For a long time there would be someone home, or a neighbor would be watching the house.

Jesus told us to keep watch, because you don’t know on what day the Lord will come. We need to understand, if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and not let the house be broken into. So we must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you don’t expect him (Matthew 24:42-44),

There have been times throughout history when many people expected Jesus to return. We use the Gregorian calendar now, but when the Julian calendar turned from year 999 to the year 1000, people expected Jesus to come for a new millennium, the same was true in the year 2000. People were on their best behavior, In the year 1000 history says that worldly goods were sold and money was given to the poor. Prisoners were set free, and many traveled to Israel to wait for Jesus’s return,

In the second and third chapter of Revelation, Jesus gives messages to the 7 churches, which represent all churches of all time. When He wrote to the church at Philadelphia, He says, “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I also will keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth” (Revelation3:10).

In Luke 17 Jesus compares His return to a couple of Old Testament events. “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the dat Noah entered the ark. Then the flood cane and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and suffer rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son Of Man is revealed (Luke 17:26-30).

Are You Ready?

Favorite Side Hustles

What are your favorite side-hustle ideas? My side hustles are during the spring and summer at a few farmers’ markets. People can sell almost anything, from crafts and homemade jams and jellies to eggs, baked items, and homegrown vegetables. This is a no-cost option to make some extra money. There is also a flea market here that charges a monthly fee if you want to set up a space or if you know someone who can sell non-food items for a reasonable fee. These are my two go-to side hustles because they are local and don’t cut too much into your profit. 

God Our Great Protector

Independent Coal & Coke Company Store in Kenilworth Utah -was owned by Aberdeen mine in 1909 remodeled

“The Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one” -2 Thessalonians 3:3 ESV

Every day we experience fear in one way or another. Whether it’s fear of the opinions of others, fear of the future, or fear of the ways of the world, we need comfort and faith.

No matter the situation we should focus on the protection God offers. Every day God gives us His goodness and love. Our hearts need comfort, and our hands need strength as we make space for God to fill.

I used to have fear anytime someone was talking about Satan. He always seemed to be very clever, too clever for me to handle. I have seen to many strong believers getting tempted and eventually falling away from what seemed to be God’s will for their life. I have seen the ways in which the world is tricked by his schemes. I wondered if I would ever be able to defeat this strong and clever enemy.

Sometimes Satan seems too strong to be defeated, too clever to outwit. And many are in his grasp. The Bible tells us that satan is the father of lies. In John 8:44 Jesus tells us, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

Let that sink in for a minute. Everything Satan tells us is a lie. He cannot speak full truth. Every thing he tells us is in opposition to God, who is the author of all truth. All of Satan’s whispers about his strength and our inability to defeat him are in opposition of the word of God. We will find blissful freedom in God’s powerful words of a loving, truthful, Heavenly Father. However, we must allow God’s Spirit (the Holy Spirit) to come in and correct the lies of the enemy we have believed so we can walk in the abundant life that is available to us through Jesus.

Our heavenly Father is a perfect, capable protector from Satan. He promises to establish us and guard us. He is always with us and always knows exactly what we need to withstand the temptation of satan.

1 Corinthians 10:13 teaches us, “No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” This means God promises never to let us face a temptation we cannot resist. Satan does not have the power to force anyone to sin or overpower a person’s free will. His primary weapon is deception. Satan relies on temptation, trickery, and false ideas to get people to cooperate with him. Satan only wins when a person chooses to believe his lies and gives in to the temptation.

Satan lives to whisper our past failures back to us. But our past doesn’t have to dictate our future. In fact, if we allow the Holy Spirit to use our past failures to reveal to us ways He has longed to lead us away from temptation, past sins can become stepping stones on which we achieve future victories.

Titus 2 11-14 says, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to the intent that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age.” God’s grace is the foundation for our victory over the enemy, not our own works. It was in His grace that Jesus died to set us free from this world and restore us to God. His grace leads us away from temptation. And it’s His grace that He offers us every time we confess our sins to Him. God’s grace is powerful, freeing, perfect, and full of love. He knows our weaknesses. He knows our frame. But He is also perfectly capable of being strong in our weakness if we allow Him to be.

God has a perfect plan for every temptation that comes our way. The enemy is not stronger than us. He is not more clever than us. And he will not have victory over us because we have God, and God has defeated Him Our great protector and guard is a very god who defeated Satan at the Cross and will throw him into a lake of fire, resulting in his ultimate destruction. If we have chosen God to be our savior, he lives on the inside of us, has grace for us, and plans to use our past failure and current weaknesses to powerfully defeat our enemy -Satan. I hate my.

Home Exercises

What are five simple exercises to do at home? I don’t have a set exercise plan at home, but I’m sure the stairs I carry loads of laundry up and down, plus normal household chores like reaching, bending, and carrying bags of groceries from the car, count for something. 

The Illusion Of Wisdom

Huntington Utah Lake State Park

“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools” -Romans 1:22

Our world is a mess. It doesn’t take a Ph.D in ethics to realize the world has become a dangerous and messed up place to live.

Understanding why turning away from God can lead to confusion. But true wisdom can be found.

The Bible sometimes gives us a reality check that’s hard to ignore. Romans 1:22 is one of those reality checks. “Professing themselves to be wise they became fools.” In plain English, this means that people who think they know everything can actually be missing the point entirely if they leave God out of the picture.

Paul is writing to the Romans to remind everyone, that no matter who they are, we all need God’s help. The problem isn’t a lack of knowledge; deep down, people often trade the truth for a lie. And we start relying only on ourselves.

The result is what happens when we put ourselves in God’s place. This happens when people start worshipping money, idols, or themselves instead of worshipping our Creator. It isn’t just about statues or ancient rituals, it’s about putting anything or anyone above God in our lives.

When people choose this path, the consequences show up in all areas of life. Paul tells us in Romans that our morals, our understanding, and our relationships get twisted. It becomes not just a head problem, but a heart problem. The more we push God out, the more confused we become, and the harder it is to see what’s truly wise and good.

Biblically speaking, being a fool isn’t about lacking intelligence or education. It’s about missing the real meaning of life. The Bible tells us a fool is someone who lives as if there is no God.

The irony of this is the moment people think they are at the top of their game -smarter, stronger, wiser than anyone else it’s more than likely the farthest from the truth. It’s a disconnect between what we think and what we know and what’s actually real. Without God, our best ideas can lead us down the wrong path.

It’s easy to point fingers at others and say, “Their the problem!” But Paul makes it clear that this applies to all of us. No matter what our religious beliefs, our education everyone does it at some point. They put their wisdom above God’s. No one is perfect. The evidence is all around us. Our families, our history, and our personal struggles show that trusting only in ourselves doesn’t work out well in the long run.

Look at the world today. It’s full of smart ideas, new inventions, and amazing discoveries. We have huge advances in technology, medicine, and philosophy. But with all this progress comes the temptation to think we no longer need God. Many think their own wisdom is enough. The truth is, this attitude still leads to the same problems Paul saw in Romans -confusion, conflict, and heartbreak.

When we trust only in our own knowledge, we risk building our lives on shaky ground. History is full of examples where people thought they had all the answers, only to end up causing pain to others. Whether it’s failed systems, destruction of cultures, or broken relationships. People lose sight of what really matters.

The good news is Romans 1:22 isn’t just a warning, it’s an invitation. The Bible teaches the real wisdom starts with respecting and honoring God. It’s about being humble enough to admit we don’t know everything and being open to learning from the One who does.

Thankfully, the story doesn’t end with humanity stuck in a rut. Paul explains that Jesus is the answer to our confusion and brokenness. Through Jesus, we can receive true wisdom, forgiveness, and a new start. The Gospel is about exchanging our foolishness for God’s wisdom, and darkness for His light.

When we choose Jesus, we can get a new perspective. The Holy Spirit helps us see things differently, renewing our minds and hearts. Instead of spiraling downward, we can grow upward toward real understanding, peace, and purpose.

The takeaway from this is to ask ourselves if we are trusting in ourselves, or seeking wisdom from God. Proverbs 3:5 tells us, “lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” When we do this we can find hope, direction, and the kind of wisdom that lasts.

Which Relationship Has Taught Me The Most About Myself

Which relationship has taught you the most about yourself? One relationship that has taught me the most about myself is my relationship with Jesus. He hasn’t only taught me about myself, but also about my life and Himself.

What He has taught me about myself:
  1.  Grace is the hardest to give to myself.
  2. My failure, past, or accomplishments do not define me.
  3. I am a chronic overthinker. It only acts as a form of worry or anxiety and crowds out trusting God.
  4. Laughing at myself is necessary for my sanity.
  5. When people really upset me, I can be sarcastic to protect my vulnerabilities or create an emotional shield.

What He has taught me about life:

  1. Life can completely change in an instant.
  2. Nature is the most peaceful place to get your thoughts together 
  3. Life will present me with obstacles, and it’s up to me how I react, face, and navigate them.
  4. There is nothing wrong with taking a different path from those around you or one that veers from the original plans, as long as we are letting God guide our steps.
  5. My disagreements can be solved by stepping into the shoes of the other person.

What God has taught me about Himself:

  1. He can deliver beautiful blessings through even the hardest of situations.
  2. Even when everything else disappears, He always remains.
  3. Our strength in hardships depends on how much we trust God.
  4. God does not call people who are equipped, He equips those whom He calls.
  5. He is my best friend, listener, and counselor that I could ever find.
  6. He gives me more than I can handle so I can only rely on Him.
  7. When He is our number one priority, everything else seems to fall into place.

Emotional Destruction: Self Pity

Self pity is a dangerous and quiet trap that turns our focus inward instead of upward.

I used to be a the trap of self pity, focusing only on my pain, and it made me feel like a helpless victim. It wasn’t until I asked God for help that I began to break myself free.

A person stuck in self-pity just complains. It looks like sadness, but maybe it’s just a form of pride. It says that our life should be easier, but I don’t want to work at it to make it better.

I believe that Satan uses self-pity to weaken our faith and steal our joy. When we feel sorry for ourselves, we stop trusting God’s plan for our life.

It blinds us to the many gifts God has given us.

It makes us ungrateful and bitter.

It separates us from friends, family and community because we pull away from everything.

It reaches our actions, so we cannot do any good work.

It is a mindset that rots away our spiritual health. And traps us in a dark pit of our own making.

When we choose gratitude over pity. We can defeat self-pity by turning our eyes upward to God. It is a blessing that destroys Satan’s plan.

Look upward instead of inward.

Healthy Eating Habits

What are your best healthy eating habits? I don’t know if a doctor would call my eating habits healthy. But I can stay at a healthy weight and have energy. In the morning I have to rush out the door.  I usually have a protein coffee I make at home not store-bought. On other days, I make a vegetable omelette with toast. Lunch is something small like mozzarella cheese and pepperoni slices. Dinner is meat, vegetables, and a starch. Then a walk. After dinner, it’s intermittent fasting. 

Healing From The Inside Out

Jesus taught that it isn’t what is outside of us that contaminate us, but it is what’s in our hearts. If we are going to heal, it must begin with our hearts. We have to change from the inside out. And that’s the hardest thing to do because, sometimes we spend so much time trying to bury our hurts, that we get so used to covering things up that we forget about them.

Jeremiah 17:9 tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it?

We cannot change ourselves. Only the Spirit of God can change us. He changes us from the inside out.

The problem is that we will always be tempted to focus on our behaviors, and the more we do, the less we will focus on Jesus. It is by looking at Jesus with deep respect, wonder, and awe that we become changed. This means that the stronger our relationship is with Jesus the more we can trust Him, and the more He will be able to work in our lives to transform us.

We need to realize that our own agenda for our lives isn’t necessarily Jesus’s agenda. So we have to be patient and realize it changed that Jesus wants to work in us doesn’t happen overnight.

This transformation in our lives is what happens when we accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our were having made right with God to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, then he sends the Holy Spirit into our lives.

Paul wrote in the Bible about how the Holy Spirit brings changed from the inside out and his letter to the Galatians.

“ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against such things there is no law” -Galatians 5:22-23

That is what Jesus wants our lives to be like, and a person who is a child of God will become more loving, more peaceful, and more joyful. We will reflect more and more the love of God, which is selfless, pure, and kind.

From the beginning, God gave human beings worth by making us in His own image. But as a human being who rejected God instructions, we fell into sin, and since then we have failed to perfectly reflect the image of God. But Jesus sacrificed Himself to forgive us so we can be born again (saved). When we trust that Jesus is Lord, we can repent and be forgiven by God. Through Jesus, we are changed from the inside out, to reflect the image of God.

The only way to change from the inside out is to invite Jesus into our lives. Jesus can give us a soul makeover. True change has to come from the inside out.

Trust Your Creativity

Trust your God given Creativity. Exodus 31:3 tells us “God has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship.” The unique and quirky ideas that pop in our heads are sparks from our creator. I believe we should not judge the first ideas and we should try. God has given us a specific flavor of creativity.

Our God given creativity is a reflection of our creator, who made us in His image, and it is meant to be nurtured and use for good works. Developing our creativity can bring glory to God and for real the unique purpose He has for us.

Our creativity is a divine gift, reflecting the image of God, the Creator. This inherent ability is not just a personal expression that serves as a greater purpose in fulfilling God‘s plan.

Stepping into our creativity helps us acknowledge our gifts, gives us a chance to explore an experiment, gives us a way to overcome self doubt, and seek inspiration.

Embracing our creativity helps refill God’s purpose by allowing us to reflect His image and bring goodness and beauty into the world.

We should always be looking for ways to integrate faith I’m creative ways.

Simple Like Hacks

What are some life hacks that you practice? My hacks have been in the kitchen. Making my own cream-based soup mix, beef and chicken bouillon, I can make large quantities that can last forever without all the chemicals. Along with mayonnaise it’s an egg and olive or avocado oil and ketchup is tomato paste, water, and vinegar. It’s something everyone already has on hand already. Simple kitchen hacks if you use a lot of these things. Grocery stores have gotten so expensive on these few things I have decided not to engage in there standards. It only takes a few minutes and I get a far better product for less money.

Karma

Do you believe in karma? Is it Karma or “Reaping what you sow.”  Galatians 6:7 describes the natural, moral consequences of human choices within an earthly, life-and-internal framework. 

There are key differences between karma and reaping what you sow. Karma often spans multiple lifetimes through reincarnation. Reaping what you sow focuses on natural, moral outcomes in your current life or eternal spiritual results.

Karma is a cosmic, force, and reaping what you sow is moral order. Karma operates as a bookkeeping system where you balance out positive or negative consequences yourself. Reaping what you sow operates under a personal God who oversees natural consequences, while offering grace and forgiveness rather than a strict cosmic payback. 

Karma can imply that a person’s current suffering or illness is deserved due while “to pass actions. And” suggests reaping what you sow that good and bad things happen to all people in a fallen world, faith in God provides mercy rather than an unforgiving ledger of deeds. I personally believe in reaping what you sow.

“Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” -Galatians 6:7

The Seven Spirits Of God

Cape Royal – Arizona

The seven spirits of God are the multifaceted work and presence of the Holy Spirit. Is connected to the sevenfold description of the Spirit in Isaiah and the symbolic imagery in Revelation.

There are seven attributes that are mentioned in Isaiah 11:2:

  • The Spirit of the Lord
  • The Spirit of Wisdom
  • The Spirit of understanding
  • The Spirit of Counsel
  • The Spirit of Might (Power and strength)
  • The Spirit of Knowledge
  • The Spirit of the Fear of The Lord

This seven fold spirit of the Lord symbolizes, the Holy Spirit’s perfection, completeness, and multifaceted power rather than seven distinct individual spirit.

These appear in the Bible in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 1:4 – John greet the seven churches with grace and peace from God, the seven spirits before His throne, and Jesus.

“ John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: grace, to you and peace, from God, who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne.”

Revelation 3:1 – Jesus is described as having the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars.

“And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: ‘He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars says these things:’ I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”

Revelation 4:5 – seven lamps of fire burn before God‘s throne, identified as the seven Spirits of God.

“ Out of the thrones proceed lightings, sounds, and thunders. There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.”

Revelation 5:6 – A slaughter (slain) Lamb has seven horns and seven eyes, representing the seven Spirits of God sent into all the earth.

“ One of the elders said to me, Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome, He who opens the book and its seven seals.”

The seven Spirits were sent by God and they rested on Jesus all His life. Luke 4:18 tells us that Jesus is telling people,

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He had anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Romans 8:12 connect the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit inside believers directly to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

“And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through His Spirit, who is dwelling in you.”

There is immeasurable greatness of God’s power towards believers, which was worked in Jesus when God raised Him from the dead and seated Him above all rule and authority.