Adios 20's

"Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these [things] God will bring thee into judgment.Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth [are] vanity." Ecc. 11:9,10 KJV

    I was sitting here pondering on what I could blog about, since I have not done one in several months. Since tomorrow is my birthday and I have sorta been dreading this one for some time I thought I would write a little something on the subject. I always said to myself once I hit 30, its over. If I am still single, might as well stay that way, whatever job I am at I might as well just stay there. Just pretty much wore myself down on the fact that growing old "ain't no fun". So where is a guy with my thinking to turn. Well fortunately I have a God that had a lot to say! Our Sunday School claszs recently started studying the book of Ecclesiastes and boy has it been helpful in my processing this getting older thing!

    While I might not enjoy the idea of getting older, I have many things to look back on and cherish, also I have many thinks ahead of me that I have yet to experience. Only the Lord knows whats ahead. 30s could be the best years of my life. Looking back I did many foolish things in my 20s, things that I am not proud of, but because I accepted Christ's salvation I am forgive of those things. I can look back at those fond memories at college and Thank God He allowed me to experience those. I can look back at the sorrows as well. Losing both grandparents that I grew up with was some of the hardest times I had to go through. All of these things in 10 years. 

    Ecclesiastes 11:7- 12:8 Tells us we can look back and enjoy our youth, but we have to accept that its vanity and we all will age. I guess since I am staring dead at 30, might as well accept it and move on!

I know this was short but I blogged this more for myself than for others. I enjoyed, for the most part, my 20s. I am now beginning to look forward to what the Lord has in store for me these next 10 years! 

Did this rambling accomplish anything....... who knows...

Coming of the Lord

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;" 2 Thes. 2:3


    We have all been watching the news, Japan was hit by a 8.9 magnitude earthquake which caused a huge tsunami. Just over 2 weeks ago New Zealand had a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. But the shaking hasn't been limited to the "Ring of Fire". Right here in Arkansas not even 2 weeks ago the ground shook. What else has been happening in the news? Wars, fighting, rumors of wars to come. These events are happening everyday and seem to be increasing as time goes on. What does this have to do with the coming of the Lord? EVERYTHING! Jesus said in Mark 13:8 "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be  in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows." This is where the passage from 2 Thes. comes into play.
  
  We as believers know that Christ is coming soon. Scripture foretold it, we are seeing signs daily that its happening. But the most telling sign is what Paul wrote to the Thessalonian Church. False doctrines had been thrown into their church and Paul was writing to remove those thoughts and once again instill the truth.


    First off, we cannot let anyone deceive us. Do not believe anyone who says they know when the Lord will return. I know I, as well as many other Bible believing Christians, have been saying "the Lord is coming" and things of the sort. But I say it not as something I have con cocked within myself to make me seem smart. I say it by what I have read in scripture. The deceit I speak of come from churches like the one a few months back claiming Christ would return on May 21 of this year. Those are the types of people we must be weary of. Jesus himself said "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." God is the only one with that knowledge. 


   Next Paul gives us the conditions of the Lord's return. He says there will be a "falling away". I can see this as already happened. Our churches have fallen away from the Lord. Sin has taken such a role in the church you can hardly call it a church. Professed believers in churches are saying its ok to drink and smoke. They are trying to pervert the word into saying its ok to be a homosexual. They are allowing divorced and remarried people to take places of leadership inside the church when scripture clearly speaks against it. Things like these are the reason the church has fallen away from the Lord. When you turn a blind eye to one sin, a bigger one creeps in. Its sad the church has had these things covered in scripture, yet they do not even want to try and follow it. People the time is at hand.


  The 2nd condition has not passed, but I feel it can happen at anytime. Paul says the "son of perdition" is revealed. The son of Satan or the Anti-Christ, however you want to describe him. 


   Read the scripture, watch the news, investigate for yourself. You can clearly see God is allowing everyone the opportunity to accept His Son's sacrifice. Jesus came and died for us, because He knew this world would become so wicked that God would have to pass judgement and unleash His righteous wrath on this world. 


   Most importantly Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to spend eternity with Him. While God is a God of wrath, He is a God of Love. He wants no man to perish without accepting Christ's salvation. If you don't know Him today, please get on your knees and asked Jesus to take over your life. THEN find a  friend and tell them. Find someone who you know is a Christian so they can begin praying for you and get you on the right track to serving God. Don't be left behind, because the Lord is coming soon.


Revelation 3:3 " Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."

The Difficult Road

"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" Matthew 7:13,14


    Have you ever had to make a hard decision? What did it feel like? Was it gut wrenching? Did it cause you to second guess your decision? We all have had to make a decision of course, and each one felt like the hardest thing ever until we reach another thats harder. Our decisions include where to go to college, what to study, what career I want to go into. Then relationships come around and those present difficult decisions. Should we go out? Do his\her parents like me? Is he\she the one, should we marry? Harder and harder the decisions can become. We want to make sure what we do is correct. Most importantly does the decision line up with what God wants.


   The scripture taken from Matthew talks about a road, that road is our lives. Its full of decisions. While traveling down that road, God lays out His standards. We have to decide if we are going to follow or not. Thats only part of it. THEN we have follow through with the decision 100%. I stated in a previous blog that God doesn't like lukewarm Christians, Rev 3:16 says "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." So we have to follow what scripture says. (Let me add that I am not legalistic, only by the Blood of Jesus are we saved. There is no work we can do that will get us in or keep us in Heaven.) Thats where things get difficult.


    Verse 14 says "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" When the Lord shows you something in scripture and you grasp it, you have no alternative but to follow it. If you do not, the Holy Spirit will convict you HARD! This is something I am learning more and more daily. It makes decisions harder. You have to decide if you are going to listen to this music, watch that movie, hang out with these people. The list goes on and on. I am seeing fully now what it means by "there will be few who find it". People don't want to make the tough decisions because it might hurt feelings, might lose a friend, might cause others to think you are so different that you are cast out of a group. Let me tell you, if you have come to the conclusion that God said and meant it, you have nothing to fret over, those who reject what God has shown are the ones who have answers to give. 


Its a Difficult road, the life of a true Christian. When you begin seeing how you are to live your life, the decisions get harder. Just know that God is there, Jesus at His right hand, ready to hear your prayers. I had to make a tough decision just yesterday, but it was one that had to be made. I'll be glad to share it if asked. I want others to see what we need to be doing as followers of Christ. We are playing too much, time is getting short. We need to get busy on the narrow road. 

They are Searching

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." Matt. 7:24-27




   The above passage is pretty much self-explanatory. For the believers, who have built their life's foundation on the Holy, Unchanging, promises of God, and follow Him, their lives will stand STRONG. For those non-believers, who have built their lives on the world that is constantly changing and constantly wicked, their lives will CRUMBLE. God says this world will not last forever, but Heaven will be forever. Thats not the point of this blog.


   I like to watch Worship videos and other Christian videos on YOUTUBE and I become more intrigued at what I see in the comments section. There are Christians typing praises to God for helping them, how the theme of the video touched their lives, or how they enjoy the gifts God has given a particular artist. You would think a Christian video would be fully of Christianity. But there is another group that post on there. The non-believers, who are looking to stir the pot. Get Christians to argue so they can confuse those who are not solid in their faith. When I read the above passage, I thought about how these non-believers fit into it. 


  The non-believers are searching for something. They see Christians and how we live so securely, yet because they have built their lives on the world, they can't understand it. So, as humans do, they put pride in the way and attack those who are prosperous. You see all the time people who are successful how quickly the less successful people begin to try and find fault in them, to make them feel better. We Christians are prosperous, we have inherited the kingdom of God. We have it all! The non-believers do not. So what do the non-believers want to do, they start finding the faults, to find that happy place for themselves. Sadly for them, as the above passage says, unless they build their lives upon the foundation of Christ, their lives will be forever crumbling, because the world will continue to change and rot away.


  We as Christians need to continue to be strong in the foundation of Christ, those who are becoming believers need to see the strength of God's foundation. The more these non-believers see it, the more they will come to believe. We know not all will accept Christ, but we must believe that they will. Never know who you might see come to Christ!


Don't know if this rambling makes sense, but it does to me. Maybe it was meant for me!

Christians

    I know its been awhile since I posted a blog, but had a quick word to share! Enjoy!

    At work, our building likes to do something called, "The Word of the Day". Everyone gives a positive word for everyone else to think about. Some say something silly and others quote a deep statement from someone in the past. I tend to make mine Biblical. This morning I had planned on sharing a scripture, but it was more a message for a person in the building about how they acted. I instead changed it to another quote I had heard years before. It still fit the message I wanted to get out towards the one person, yet was a message all those Christians present could think about.
    The quote was paraphrased as "The single greatest cause of unbelief  in Christ are Christians, they acknowledge Him with their lips but deny Him by their lifestyle." If we are ever going to win the lost to Christ we MUST start living as Christ would have us! Why would a non-Christian want what we have if we live no different than them! Just some food for thought!

Seasons of Change

Ecclesiastes 3:1   "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:"

  "Everything happens for a reason", we have heard that quote many many times. Its used practically everywhere. For Christians it has a deeper meaning. Not just that something happens because something else is going to happen. Its God, HIMSELF, placing His hands in the middle of our lives and molding us for something great!

   This morning God did just that in Victory Missionary Baptist Church. Our pastor, Sam Higgs, announced his resignation this morning following the service. For almost 7 years he lead Victory out of some very trying times and during his leading saw around 500 people come to Christ through various programs and services. Those were wonderful seasons, seasons to rejoice! But now Victory enters into a new season, a season of sadness and almost a "gut-check". This season can last as long as WE allow it. God has plans for Victory, what those are no one can say for sure, but as long as we allow God to have total control we know it will be GREAT!

Psalm 30:5 "..... weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning"

Joy WILL come in the morning! My God doesn't lie!



p.s. Remember Bro. Sam and his family as they adjust to the position God has given him!

The Bible, hide its word in your heart, you might not have it one day!

" Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." Psalm 119:11

    Recently I was ask to teach the Wednesday night teen class, with little time to prep, I decided to ask those there some basic stuff about the Bible. I first asked them if they know all the books of the Bible, they knew some of them, but not all. Then I asked what their favorite scripture was, and I was happy to hear some had one while some didn't know have an answer. Then I asked how often they read scripture, sadly they all said they don't read at all, or just when things go bad.

    

   That brought the future to mind. I explained to the teens that one day we may not have a Bible to turn to when we are in times of trouble. Jesus told His disciples that the world would hate those who follow Him. We are already seeing more and more persecution every day. God, Jesus, prayer, and anything holy to God is being taken away or forgotten by those who do not believe in or trust in Him. So it is reasonable to think that one day The Bible will be "outlawed".

   

   So I urged the teens, like I am urging those reading this and myself, to get into The Word and put it in your hearts. God speaks to us through His Word, if we don't have it in our hearts, He can't speak to us. I know I want Him to speak to me...what about you?