God’s Major Objective

Our world has become a large, impersonal, busy institutions.

We are alienated from each other. Although crowded, we are lonely. Pushed together but were uninvolved. No longer do most neighbors visit across the backyard fence. The well-manicured front lawns are a modern most that keeps barbarians at bay. Hoarding and flaunting have replaced sharing and caring. It’s like we are occupying a common space but have no common interests as if we’re on an elevator with rules such as “no talking, smiling, or eye contact allowed without the written consent of the management.

Painful though it may be for us to admit, we’re losing touch with one another. The motivation to help, encourage, and yes serve our fellow human beings is waning. People observed crimes in progress but refused to help so they wouldn’t be involved. Our fundamental values are getting lost in these confusing days. And yet, it is these things that form the essentials of a happy and fulfilled life.

Our grand declaration of biblical assurance is etched in the rock-like truth of Romans 8 says,

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren” – Romans 8:28-29

Maybe you’ve never stopped to consider that God is committed to one major objective in the lives of all His people to conform to the image of His son.

Something Most People Don’t Understand

What’s something most people don’t understand?

Most people don’t understand that every choice is a decision and with every decision there are consequences. A consequence that can make our lives easier or more difficult. We live the consequences of our actions. We live the consequences of our actions and other people’s actions every day.

Most people don’t think about the consequences before they make a decision or choice. For example, if I drink too much alcohol. I know I will get drunk. Yet, many people don’t think about the consequences of then driving and killing someone.

We are free to make whatever choice we want. But we are not free from the consequences of the choice. Sometimes our flesh days I want something if taken we have do deal with the consequences.

Standing In Heaven’s Judgement Line

Everyone is going to be nudged by God. Commonly. People say we are going to wait in line to see the Lord. In that line, you will be full of emotions, but these emotions will either be positive or negative. The emotion that you feel will depend on you.

What is going to be our emotion when we are standing in that line? Imagine being in that line tomorrow waiting to be judged. Imagine the line moving slowly as you begin to look around at the other faces. People from all over the world. We will see familiar faces as well as unfamiliar faces. Everyone is nervous and excited to meet the Lord for the first time on judgment day,

As we look up the line we see Frank. We all know Frank he was a man who had no food, or friends and his clothes were worn and raggy. Maybe we’ve laughed at him or made jokes about him and maybe felt a little sorry for him at times, but we never stopped to help or talk to him. All of the sudden we start to feel bad. We remember the scriptures that told us to love our neighbor and feed and clothe the poor. But we never really cared until now. Now we are in line and it’s too late.

And then we see Jack, we all know Jack. He was a great guy. He was well-known in town and everyone loved him. We would stop and talk to him. He had great kids and a wonderful wife. He was a local representative and seemed to have everything. He drove a nice car and lived in a huge house. But the problem was that we knew that Jack didn’t believe in God. We start talking to each other in line. Someone asks did he ever go to church. No, no no, is all that is said. Did anyone invite him to church, I thought you would have asked him. Everyone in line says they never did. We all started to feel bad because we never did. We all started to feel bad because we all knew he was going to hell and we passed him every day and said nothing.

Then we start worrying. Is God going to hold us accountable for never mentioning Jesus to him? Will his life be on our hands?

In Matthew 28: 19-20 Jesus says, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, I am always with you always, even to the end of the age,

Mark 16:15-18 says, “He who believes and in baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. We all knew the Bible, but too bad we never told him. No one can look him in the eye because of what we have done. We let him go to hell with a slap on the back and a firm handshake. We are ashamed of ourselves for never mentioning Jesus or inviting him to church.

There’s a guy that comes to talk to me every time he sees me. I bought his wife’s Jeep from a dealership, who recently passed away. I know he doesn’t know Jesus. Yet, I have never invited him to church or talked to him about Jesus. I think now about if I was standing in line on judgment day.

This sparked a reflection of how faithful we are to the Lord. Do we truly serve Him to the best of our ability? Do we not no to church because of lame excuses are plain lack of serious commitment? How about reading our Bible or our prayer life? Do we serve God’s people or do we expect everyone to serve us? It’s easy to take our belief in God for granted on earth. There are always other tasks to accomplish and sometimes television is just to good that night, or our mornings too busy.

It’s sad because we all want to go to heaven but on judgment day we wonder if we will be going. Maybe you never made friends in church when we did go because we were not involved in God’s work. In my church about 10% do God’s work and attend weekly Bible studies or prayer meetings. They are just to busy or tired with earthly life to wonder seriously if they are going to heaven.

Mark 8:36 says, “For what shall it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul.”

What will we exchange our souls?

Luke 9:26 says, “For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed, when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father, and the Holy angels.”

It’s easy to make up reasons why it is just not possible to live up to this verse. And brainstorming to come up with reasons why we still should go to heaven. But the excuses will seem so little when we are standing in line on judgment day,

The scariest words in the Bible to me are in Luke 6:46:

“Why do you call Me Lord Lord and not do not do the things I say.”

The Abundance Of Life With God

“There is a strange melancholy that haunts the inhabitants. Amidst abundance, the incomplete joys of this world will never satisfy the human heart” – Alexis De Tocqueville

In America, we are showered with an abundance of earthly wealth and blessings, but why is it that we are still constantly searching for more never satisfied with the many blessings all around us? What are we missing? There’s an infinite abyss in our lives and it affects our actions as we live in constant vain efforts to fill it.

What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim? We search to fill it with everything around us, seeking things that are not there and help we cannot find. This infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object, yet we reject the word we need from God Himself.

We seek the answers to fill the abyss, yet reject the one thing that can fill us. He gives us the desires of our hearts when we choose Him.

There is one answer to fill this hole and that is letting Christ into our hearts. And start having an abundance of blessings He offers us.

Technology

How has technology changed your job?

How does technology affect my job? I work for God, so technology really hasn’t changed my job.

There is no surprise that technology has changed our lives. But I do with people would research things before they become addicted.

Studies by the National Library of Medicine have shown that for some people being connected can cause psychological issues such as distractions, narcissism, sleep issues, depression and anxiety. And is addictive because it gives us instant gratification.

I have nothing bad to say about technology. But as with everything else there should be in moderation.

Waiting On God Is Worth It

I think there are two types of people waiting on the Lord. One that’s waiting for His promises to be fulfilled, and one that waiting for God to speak to them. Either way, it’s important that whichever group of people we belong to we hang in there and wait for Him.

Abraham was one of those people who waited for God to fulfill a promise, I suppose he would have been content to keep waiting, but Sarah came along with a plan to make the Lord’s promise happen for them. Instead of telling Sarah, “Let me check with the Lord to see if that is what we’re supposed to do,” he went along with Sarah. God had promised Abraham a son and told him that he was going to have children as much as the stars in the sky and as much as the sand in the sea. The Bible tells us Abraham believed God, but when put to the test, he failed. Or maybe he thought this might be God’s answer for them. But the fact that he went along with Sarah’s plan to make her maid his second wife, leaves me to think he wanted it too. Maybe he figured why argue? He loved Sarah and wanted to make her happy. I mean what was so wrong with having Sarah’s maid as his wife, since that was the practice at that time and Sarah thought it was the only way? Especially if you belong to a culture where having a child is the most important thing in the world. In Abraham and Sarah’s time, it was everything.

Imagine the wait that Abraham and Sarah went through to see God fulfilling His promise. Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael, Sarah’s maid’s son was born. God told him he would have a son and now a son is here. The Bible tells us that God didn’t tell Abraham that it was going to be through Sarah until after Ishmael was born. After Ishmael, they still waited for 14 more years for Isaac. It must have brought amazement and relief at the same time that God finally gave them what they waited for. He came through for them when Sarah was 90 years old. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

Here’s the thing, it doesn’t matter if it seems like God’s promise is never going go happen. We need to stay faithful and hang in there because He will come through.

Numbers 23:19 says,

“God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He that He should repent. Has He said, and He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

God will never lie. It is not in Him to lie to us. He hates lying. God will not forget what He tells us He’s going to do for us. If He said it, He is going to bring it to pass, just hang in there and don’t come up with another plan. If you’re itching to get going, it’s better to make your plans known to Him so that you can see if it’s a good idea or not. Chances are that by talking to God He will encourage you to wait some more. Don’t rush into things that you think will get you God’s promise fulfilled. When I feel like waiting another minute is going to kill me, I talk to God about it, and feel like I can wait longer.

We will never go wrong to wait on God, no matter how long it takes. Even if it feels like forever since we’ve heard from Him, it pays again and again to seek the Lord for answers and be ready to hear His voice.

“Without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him“ – Hebrews 11:6

Saying No To Things That Interfere With Your Goals

How often do you say “no” to things that would interfere with your goals?

The key lies in understanding your priorities. I used to say yes to every person in my life, because I wanted to be liked and respected. But it is draining when I did this. So I just stopped. Yes I will help people if they ask and are really in a bind.

While no can be overpowering, I still think first of my goals. I recently had a friend ask me to go out of time with her. She has medical problems and cannot be driving long distances alone. So I canceled my plans to go with her. She had a local emergency and had to cancel, which would be fine, except she forgot to inform me. I showed up at her house and no one was there. I called her and she said she called and canceled her appointment, but forgot to call me. I call that disrespect, especially since she has done this to me before and I forgave her.

My daddy always told me “Fool me once shame on them, fool me twice share on me.”

To truly succeed in life, there are certain things we need to say no to.

A Secret Skill Or Ability I Wish I Had

What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?

A secret skill I wish I wish I had would be playing a harmonica or any other musical instrument.

My father was an amazing harmonica player, I don’t have a musical bone in my body. When I was young I would ask my father to teach me how to play, but I just was unable to learn.

Significance Of Numbers In The Bible

The Bible contains many numbers and each one holds symbolism and significance. Some numbers have similar meanings.

For instance, several numbers symbolize completion and perfection. The numbers, three, four, seven, ten, and twelve all refer to completion, they each signify a different type of completion:

  • 3: Means divine perfection
  • 4: Means completeness and universality in terms of creation
  • 7: Means spiritual perfection
  • 10: Means divine order
  • 12: Means governmental perfection

Numbers 1-10 and there significance:

  • Three: This number symbolizes divine fullness or completion. It is the minimum number to establish a pattern. The Trinity consists of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days. Paul was blinded for three days. Jesus rose from the dead after three days.
  • Four: Four is a creation number of the earth that signifies completeness and universality. For instance, there are four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and fall. There are four elements, earth, air, water, and fire. There are four divisions of the day: morning, noon, evening, and night.
  • Seven: This is the number of spiritual completeness and totality. The number seven appears about 600 times in the Bible. It us seen throughout the Book of Revelation, seven angels, seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials, seven horns, seven candlesticks, seven stars, seven plagues, seven spirits seven eyes, seven lamps, seven thunders, seven crowns. The Tribulation in the end days will last 7 years.
  • 10: Ten is a perfect number meaning divine order as in God’s Commandments. The number 10 is part of our anatomy based on God’s order for us. We have 10 fingers to do the work of God, and we have 10 toes to walk upright.
  • 12: Twelve is a judicial number. Jesus had 12 disciples to follow the pattern of the 12 tribes of Israel. There are 12 gates in Jerusalem. It is interesting to note that in the United States, there are 12 people on a jury.

The Devil Made Me Do It

“The devil made me do it.” Flip Wilson popularized this catchphrase in the early 1970’s. It was a comedy. But he didn’t originate the notion that we somehow would justify our sinful actions by blaming the devil.

In Genesis 3:13 Even told God “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” It didn’t work for her, it doesn’t work for us either.

The devil is our adversary. He wages war against God’s people and is bent on leading us into sin. There are examples of this in 1 Corinthians 7:5; 2 Corinthians 2:10-11; and 1 Peter 5:8. Consequently, we understand the reason for James’s command in James 4:7, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you. The promise he will flee assures us we are not defenseless against satan’s devices. We cannot alibi “the devil made me do it.” because we are able to resist him with God’s help. So, when the devil attacks we can use the following tactics:

1. Run To God

Our first and greatest defense against the schemes of the devil is to live in a right relationship with God. James 4 gives us severity ideas.

  • “You adulterous people. Don’t you know that friendship with the works is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes a enemy of God” -James 4:4.

Jesus was saying: Stop your affair with the world! Quit flirting with the devil. Instead, make the intentional choice to live as an enemy of the world and the devil by aligning yourself with God.

  • “Submit to God” (James 4:7). This means to put yourself under God’s authority. The intent is to stop resisting God and resist and resist the devil.
  • “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). We cannot resist the devil if we are not living in close relationship and intimate communion with God,

2. Humble Yourself Before God

Pride makes us vulnerable to Satan’s attacks. Pride was the devil’s downfall, and he wants us to be prideful. It is one of his chief weapons in his warfare against us. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction and an arrogant spirit before a fall.” James teaches us in 4:6 :

  • “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble
  • “Humble yourselves before the Lord (v 10). To humble ourselves before God means to stop resisting Him, to fall prostrate (stretched out) before Him, to submit to Him and to lean on His power (v 7).
  • Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify our hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail (v 8-9). To call to God in verse 8 suggests James’s audience has moved away from Him. Verses 8-9 are a call to repentance and purity of heart.

James 4 tells us the person who lives in friendship with this world does not view sin as a big deal. And it is through the sind we tolerate that Satab gains a foothold in our lives. James urges us to take sin seriously. Grieve over it. Weep over it before God.

3. Take Up The Word Of God

The Word of God (Bible) is a theme in James 1. We have the Word of God to fend off the enemy’s attacks.

  • By “the sword of the spirit -which is the Word of God *Ephesians 6:17) we stand against the schemes of the devil (Eph 6:11). The devil’s only weapon against us is deception. God’s truth protects us from satan’s lies. (2 Corinthians 11:3).
  • Jesus responded to the devil’s temptations by quoting the Word. “It is written…it is written (Matthew 4:4-5; 7). If Jesus resisted Satan’s attacks with scripture, we also should meet satan’s attacks on the same basis (Psalm 119:9-11).

Jesus was able to use God’s Word because He knew God’s Word. If we do not know the Word, we cannot use the Word. A sword can deflect an enemy’s attack only if we are able to handle it skillfully and precisely, otherwise, we are left vulnerable to Satan’s deception.

The promise of James 4:7 not only eliminates “the devil made me do it” alibi but assures us we can resist him. James 4:4 promises, “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.“ Jesus is our victory.

“When Satan Knocks, I send Jesus to the door.” – Billy Graham

My favorite Type Of Weather

What is your favorite type of weather?

My favorite type of weather used to be summer. I absolutely love it. Thin comfortable clothes and sandals all season. Long summer wallks in the mountains, listening to the sounds of the nearby water flowing, and maybe a scampering of a squirrel or a chipmunk. It brings peace to my soul.

There’s just something about camping by a spring of water and having a bonfire to sit around in the dark with my family, telling stories and having a big glass of wine that warms me heart.