"THE TERMS OF MY LIFE"

Good Evening to All!

 What are the terms of my life?  This was a question that a life insurance e-mail sent me yesterday.  Of course, it was just trying to sell me insurance, but it really got me to thinking about my life and what I will leave on this earth when I go.   Not in terms of money, mind you, that is not important, especially because I have no children to worry about.  We have enough insurance to cover our final debts.  That is not the important thing to pay attention to at this point for me.
 
My attention was brought to my "legacy".  The mark I will leave on this earth.  The Bible says to keep a good reputation, a good name.  That is very important.  What is even more important is how much of my life have I spent doing what God put me on this earth to do?  Did I get carried away going through life doing my own thing? 

I am so glad I woke up before it was too late.  I'm sure I still fall short, but at least now I am on the right track.  I am striving to do better, and keep my focus on what I can do for God.

I won't be known for my "smarts", because I didn't finish college, or accomplish anything masterful.  I didn't win a Nobel Prize or Pulitzer, I didn't invent anything, so that will be out of the question.

 Again, when it comes down to it, and I look at the big picture, as important as those might be to this physical world, they are not important.

What is important, is the way God sees me. 

We have all heard it for years.  Christ is coming back for His Bride.  We have also seen how people get the lax attitude of "yeah, whatever".    We need to get out of our complacency and start paying attention.  We watch the world news, the weather and look at the signs that are in front of us. Even the immorality and the blantant mockery of God's Word. 

No many knows the day nor the hour that Christ will come, but we all need to be ready.  The way to assure this is to turn our lives to God.  Live for Him, Love Him and Study His Word like it is the last Book we will ever see.  I say this because there are a lot of people who have the mistaken idea of what a Christian is.  They don't seem to grasp the idea of what CHRISTian means. 

It doesn't mean to "be a good person" but do what you want to.  It doesn't mean we "go to church on Sundays, but the rest of the week do everything contrary to God's Word".  Being a TRUE Christian is LIVING the Word of God.  It means having a RELATIONSHIP with God.  It means to FOLLOW CHRIST and STRIVE TO BE LIKE HIM.  That is what it means to be a TRUE Christian.

I have always heard the expression "history itself".  Well, one thing in history I hope never happens is that our books and Bibles are burned.    There are people already trying to get certain books banned from school and they were classics, with nothing risque or pornographic about them.  Yesterday, I read in an Online News resport how some atheists are trying to counter people giving away Bibles by giving away X-Rated books in a school!  That is ridiculous. 

The difference is unsurmountable.  The Bible won'be be responsible for telling kids its ok to have sex at teenage years, or to contract STDs.   It doesn't show children disrespecting  their parents. What blows my mind is I don't understand how even atheists think this is ok.  It doesn't even have to have anything to with Biblical teaching.  It's common sense.

OK, I need to get off my soapbox and back to my "terms".  Sorry for the rabbit trail. 

This is the "term" of my life.  To live every day like it might be my last and witness to whoever will hear me.  I don't want to stand before God and have Him say I didn't do enough to bring His people to Him. 

Granted, my memory is horrible, so I  don't do well at quoting scriptures word for word, or chapter and verse, but I do spread the gospel by having conversations about them and if a scripture is warranted I look it up. 

That is why I love this blog.  This is one of the ways I feel that I can "be about my FATHER'S BUSINESS". 

What are the "terms" of your life?  Would you be ready if Christ was to come back today?  Have you done your part of being a TRUE Christian and done what God purposed us to do?   He sent the disciples all over the world spreading His Word.  That hasn't changed.  That is what we as Christians are suppose to do as well.    Remember, God says one plants, one waters and He does the increase.

Good Night to All and May God Bless,

"FEAR OF SPEAKING"

Good Evening to All!

(1) And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. (10) And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou has spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. (11) And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? (12) Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. (13) And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. (14) And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he will be glad in his heart.

Goodness knows, how I LOVE TO TALK. My motto for my blog is I write like I talk, way too much! LOL! The thing is, this is true as long as I am in a normal everyday conversation, or writing something from my heart.

If I try to explain something, such as how something works, how to do something, or even give a regular Bible Study to more than one person at a time, It is almost impossible. I feel just like Moses did. Lord, just let me stay in the background. I'll do anything else, just don't make me be a "leader" or have to speak publicly. I will definitely make an idiot out of myself.

I still feel that way to an extent, but I am getting better. before I became the faith which I am now, you would have never caught me talking about the Lord to ANYONE. I was too embarrassed because I get so nervous and tongue-tied. Let me make sure I clarify that. I was not ashamed of being a Christian, I was scared to speak to more than one person at a time. Plus the fact I have always felt inadequate to speak about the Lord because I never felt that I knew enough.

I felt like I had to have ALL of the answers and if I didn't know them I would end up making a fool of myself even attempting to talk about a subject I knew little about.

Well, time has past and I still am very insecure about my public speaking, and I definitely make mistakes. The difference is I pray before I witness, and ask God to
help me. I also ask Him to prepare the hearts of those I come in contact with so that they will be ready and willing to hear. I also start off by letting people know that I am not a Bible scholar, or teacher for that matter, but I do love the Word of God. If they have questions and I do not know the answers, I will find out for them by asking someone who does.

God is with me always. He helps me. In most cases I really feel that He tells me what to say. I say "in most cases" because I am human, and more than likely every now and then a bit of my own opinion or outlook may sneak in. I do pray that God will always clarify that for me though.

According to God's Word, we are to go out into all the world and preach the gospel. He said this to His disciples. Therefore, while He did create the positions of Apostles, teachers, preachers, evangelists and prophets, He told his disciples to go out into the world and preach. Therefore, as we are "disciples" of Christ (Christ's followers) then that should be our job as well.

God will help us. He will tell us what to say, if we ask Him. He will also prepare the hearts of those who we are supposed to minister to. He would not tell us to do something without equipping us to do so. If we do not adhere to God's Word and do as He tells us, we are disobeying Him. If we don't do what He tells us, it is like we are saying we don't believe that He will help us, thus showing a lack of faith, and without faith, we cannot please God.

Some people are a natural at what I call "cold calls". This is just going up to a stranger and asking them questions about their faith, whether they know if they are going to heaven and so on. I myself, cannot do it that way. I will start up a regular conversation about anything kids, the weather, work, it doesn't matter. Somehow, God gives me and intro. Somehow, I am able to interject the subject of our LORD into our conversation, and it goes from there. It is truly awesome how God works that out.

Don't worry about how you will sound. Just think about how wonderful your words are sounding to God, as you bring Him into another person's life.

Think of this as a wonderful way to Please God.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!

"WITNESS IN TRUTH AND LOVE"

Good Evening to All!

I have always loved the writings of Paul. I have a habit when reading from the Bible. I try to envision the person writing the book. What they look like, what their demeanor is. Their personality and so forth.

Before Paul was encountered on the road to Damascus, I picture Him as being haughty, and over zealous when it came to "rounding up the Christians. After God got hold of him it seems as though it definitely knocked him down a peg or two and made him very unsure of himself at first.

I must admit, after reading accounts from all of them, I think Paul is my favorite to read, and he is the author of the following.

"We proclaim the Lord, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. ( "perfect, meaning mature in Christ-according to the Amplified Bible) To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me. . . . My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the fill riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 1:28-29, 2:2-3


I have been researching and researching these verses, and for some reason, I cannot see where what I feel in my spirit and the research explanations come together. So I will just put it out there and if there are any Pastors out there who have a better understanding, I would gladly appreciate your comments.

What I am "hearing in my spirit" is that it is our place as Christians, as the body of Christ, to carry on His work. To continue teaching and witnessing to people about our God as long as we have breath.

There are a lot of us out here who want to do just that, but unfortunately, are over zealous to the point of running people off and scaring them away from Christ instead of bringing them closer to Him. Unintentionally, while "we" think we are speaking in "love" just wanting to plant enough seeds and water so that God can make the increase that we forget, that last part. GOD will make the increase. If we start "pounding" the Bible into people, they will shut down because they will feel we are being judgmental. That is not our job.

In case you are wondering I am speaking to myself LOUDER than anyone else, because I USED to be that way. I hope I have matured enough to know how to deliver God's message in love with no sound of judgment, but I also know I get excited when I start talking about Him and sometimes revert back to my over-zealousness.

I also do this when I read or hear something that is "suppose" to be scripture, but makes salvation sound so vague and trivial. What I mean by that is telling people in so many words that nothing is expected of us for our salvation. My brothers and sisters, that COULD NOT BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. God expects us to Love Him. God wants us have a Deep Relationship with Him, which as in any relationship it takes communication to each other. God expects us to Obey Him and Adhere to His Word. In a nutshell Live for God. Put Him First.

I don't say anything because it's not my place, but I get so frustrated when I hear people talk about themselves as being Christian, yet anyone can see by the way they live, act and talk that they don't walk the walk. The only thing I can do when I see this is say Lord, show them the way. Touch their hearts.

Just through Prayer, and Sometimes Prayer and Fasting I have seen amazing results. I have seen people do a 180 degree turn around. I had people tell me that one day something just came over them and they decided they didn't want to drink anymore, or they realized that needed their money for more important things than partying. I just smile and say well, I've been praying for you, and I leave it at that.

Well, I hope that this post has made some sense to you. Like I said my research didn't seem to match up with what I was feeling in my spirit that God wanted me to say, so I'm hoping this was meant for someone out there.

Be sure and get your pens, paper and Bibles warmed up for tomorrow evening Bible Challenge!

Good Night to All and May God Bless!

Witnessing for God- My Passion

Good Morning to All!

I'm sorry I got behind in my last few posts, but I have been busy with Church functions (fundraisers and preps for them) and just really was exhausted when I got through. I figured you would prefer a "fresh mind". LOL! I'm dingy enough as it is when I'm alert, let alone if I'm extra tired! LOL!

I was going to write about all the names and characteristics of God in the Old Testament, and how they are all culminated into One name, Jesus, which means Savior.

Anyway, I think I will save that for another day. I somehow got on a marketing site, ( I won't say the name, because I don't know about the legal ramifications about that, so I will just say it is a very popular site. I somehow got on there and was looking up Christian Books. At the bottom of the page, they had a place for discussions, so me being the inquisitive type that I am decided to visit. I was appalled. Not at the site, but at the first topic or question. I wrote a "detailed response" and clicked reply, thinking that I could help this person understand what obviously they were either misinformed, or just didn't understand who or what God is. My reply was not accepted because "YOU MUST MAKE A PURCHASE FROM THIS SITE TO REPLY OR DISCUSS. I was really aggravated. There were people making statements, but not really explaining to this person about God. They were really even making me more confused.

This person who started out the discussion was obviously crying out for help. They
were blaspheming God, and calling him egotistical, and other different names, putting Him down for wanting us to worship Him. I don't really think they truly understands what God wants from us. I keep saying they because I don't know if they were male or female. I tried clicking on their "user name", but all it gave me was their purchases from this company "whoopee!" This person really needs someone to reach out to them.

I can't afford to buy something from this site just so I can get on there to help lost souls. These marketing sites should limit their forum discussions to just that their products. Of course, I also know that these forums and discussion groups are just a gimmick to get you to go on their sites and buy. I don't usually even go on this site, so I really don't know how I got there. I clicked on a specific email that didn't have anything to do with this site and somehow or another it took me to it.

I feel such a burden when it comes to this kind of thing. I don't think God would direct me to these people if He didn't want me to witness, but sites like this make it difficult. Ok, I have officially cancelled my account with this particular site. Not that they probably care, but it does make me feel a bit better. I am hoping that this particular person will turn up somewhere else that I "frequent" so that I might be able to minister to them.

I know you are probably wondering why this is such a big deal to me. I tend to let things like this get to me very easily. I am one of those people that don't like going part way, or doing something with a non-chalant attitude. When I do something, I like to put my whole heart into it. I feel that it is our obligation as Christians to get God's Word out, to witness to people and to explain to those who have been mislead. (which this person obviously had been). When I see an opportunity to witness for God, especially to someone who is as wrong as can be like this person was, it hurts my heart not to be able to reach out to them, as well as making me upset at this "forums" that put limits on who can post.

Well, now that I have that off of my chest, maybe this evening I can post something more positive. I best get outside and start crushing cans for my missions offering.

I will post again later this evening.

God Bless!

The New Covenant Continues

Good Evening to All!

"The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord, I will put my laws in their minds and write them down on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
Hebrews 8:8-12

There is no excuse for ANYONE not to know who Jesus is. It is our obligation as Christians whether we are preachers, evangelists, missionaries, or just plain lovers of God, to go out into the world and tell those we come in contact with about Him. I'm not saying we all need to be preachers. I am saying we all need to "stir the hunger" for God in as many people as possible in our life time. There is a church nearly everywhere you look, but people are not going to walk in off the street if they don't know what it's about. I clean a few houses to give me "spending money" and I always try and strike up a conversation about the Lord while I am working. I must admit I have been pleasantly surprised. When I first started getting serious about my relationship with Jesus, I was hesitant. I kept thinking to myself, "they know about God, everybody knows about God. They don't want to hear me talk about Him. Well, that was several years ago. since then, I have grown in the sense that I don't ASSUME ANYTHING. While I may not get some of them to come to church with me, they all tend to perk up their ears and listen. That is the main thing. If they don't want to come to church, it may not be going to "church that bothers them, but the idea of a certain type of church. I know when I first started going I had heard all kinds of strange things, such as they don't believe in women wearing pants, they don't believe in wearing make-up, all the women have long hair, they don't watch TV, and the biggest one of all, they all run around the building jumping and screaming and talking in a funny language. Hearing that would scare anybody off. Well, a lot of it's true, but a lot of it isn't. Like I told my housekeeping client today, it depends on the church. You have different types of Baptist churches with varying degrees of strictness, just like different types of Pentecostal churches. She had said the one she went to before was extra loud and they all started speaking in tongues really loud and so on. That's just not the case with all of them. Yes, our church has a "band" with keyboard, bass guitar, regular guitar, saxophone and drums, but they are not "obnoxiously loud". We do speak in tongues, but not obnoxiously loud. After all, God has great hearing, and he knows we are praising Him. We don't have to break the windows out of the church so He'll hear us. Anyway, the reason I got off on this subject is to get people to talk to others about God, and when they invite them to their church, tell them a little about it so they won't worry about "being scared to death", or feeling out of place. After all, we are suppose to show love and I would bet you didn't send your little one to school his very first day by himself. If I remember right, my mom took me by the hand before school started to meet my teacher so I wouldn't be afraid of "a stranger". This is the way we should look at witnessing to others and inviting them to church.

The time is drawing nigh and I pray that when I go up to meet God, He will say "Well done thy good and faithful servant". You have witnessed to many and have done what I asked of you.

That is My Goal.

Wow! I just used my new Bible (Thompson Chain-Reference Bible) to do some reference research on the above scripture. It pointed me to Hebrews 12:24, which says:And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. (25) See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth (Jesus) much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

I don't think that could be any more plain. We need to listen to what God says in His Word and abide by it.

I hope to get used to my new Bible soon, so that I might be more informed and maybe even more interesting by "bringing more milk or meat" to the table.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!

God Accomplishes His Purposes

*The Caption for this picture is "No Other God"

Good Evening to All!

I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou has not known me: (6) That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. Isaiah 45:5-6

This Devotional comes from "Voices of the Faithful Book 2 by Beth Moore. Commentary by myself.

God Accomplishes His Purposes.

"Rafael" was a tough guy in town, but he had Christian family members who faithfully served the Lord. He chose to make life miserable for his family's pastor, ridiculing and trying to humiliate him. Eventually, Rafael's bullying manner and lawless lifestyle took him to prison.

One day, a family member went to visit Rafael. Rafael bragged to his relative that he was the "king" of the prison. Because he had taken over the prison black market, the other prisoners came to Rafael to purchase whatever they wanted from the outside. He boasted that he could sell anything in the prison. "By the way," he said to his surprised Christian relative, "the next time you're at church, pick me up some of those Christian music CDs and tracts that you give out to people. I can even sell them in here!"

On his next visit, the relative took Rafael some CDs and Gospel tracts. A few weeks later, he visited Rafael again. This time the relative heard prisoners singing Christian songs from those CDs, and he met people who told him they had read the tracts and trusted Christ. As in the case of the pagan king, Cyrus, God sometimes uses nonbelievers to accomplish His purposes.

Father, I rejoice that all across the world, you are using creative ways to engage people with the Gospel. Help me today to respond to the opportunities I have to share Your story with those You bring into my path. In Jesus' Name, I pray, AMEN.

I cannot count the times when I have said "I wish I was good at giving Bible Studies, or Witnessing. I seem to have it in my head that I have to have a "set platform" of which to teach, meaning a formal way of doing it, and be an eloquent speaker. I have taken a few classes, but I still don't think I could walk up to someone and say, "Hello, may I give you a Bible Study on the importance of the Plan of Salvation?" For me, saying that would sound "fake", or like I know all there is to know, which is DEFINITELY NOT the case.

The question is in what "forum" do we because He is my Favorite subject and somehow the conversation more times than not turns to Salvation. I also feel that my blog is another forum. I know there are probably thousands if not millions of blogs out there witnessing or preaching the Gospel. Yet there are many different forms. There are those which subtly plant seeds by typing a few verses then going to a regular format, there are those who are informal like mine and have a variation of witnessing tools such as devotions, inspirational stories and the like. Then there are the more formal type of formats in which the blogger is more knowledgeable and maybe even a pastor of a church using his blog as an outreach. We all have the same goals, just going about reaching them differently.

We all like to think that we know our purpose in life. To raise our family to the best of our ability, to provide for our family and so on. What we fail to realize is that while that is an important "goal" God put us here for a different reason. He told the disciples to go out into the world and preach the Gospel. While our "personal purpose" is to do the above mentioned family thing, God's purpose is more important. If we perform his task and accomplish His purpose then our personal purpose will be met as well, because He Will provide and keep His hand upon our lives, as we are doing His Will.

I feel that God has answered my prayer and let me know what my purpose is in this life. I hope that you will find it in your hearts to pray and ask Him to reveal HIS purpose for you also. Let Him know that His Purpose is the one that is the most important, and that by accomplishing His PURPOSE, your's will be met also.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!