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Why I Think This World Should End

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Grace

God’s grace has been on my mind for some time now. It comes to me that no matter what I do in my life I will never reach a point where I am worthy of God’s Grace. For that matter none of us will ever be worthy of God’s Grace.  Nor am I deserving of God’s Grace. The wonderful thing about God’s Grace is that there is nothing required of us to receive it. God gives it to us without exception.  It is only through Grace that we can experience the Glory of God. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of god” (Romans 3:23). So how do we move from sin to the grace? Matthew 7:7 says, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

God's Judgment

For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

(Mat 7:2 ESV)

Think about this bible verse. What does it mean to you? How do you Judge others?

This is sometimes a hard truth to face for all of us. We all make judgments of everyone we meet. If you think you don’t you’re fooling yourself. You may make them based on what others wear, the type of car they drive, how they talk, and the list goes on and on. It’s the manner in which we judge that is a problem.  When we judge in a human manner we tend to reach for stereotypes. We tend to base our judgments on what we have experienced in people who may be similar to that person.  At one time I judged all churches to be the same based on one bad experience I had with one church.  In my mind because all churches were the same all Christians were the same. If a man came into your church unshaved, dirty, wearing a pair of jeans with a hole in them and an old stained t-shirt, what would you think of him? What if that man was a pastor from another parish who was doing mission work and did not have time to go home before heading to your church.

Often people are judged based on their sins. I feel this is the worst type of judgment.  In God’s eyes all sin is the same. We should never make assumptions about someone else.  We do not know how God is working in their life. We do not know what they are going through.  We should approach others with a heart of thanksgiving and Love, offering a hand of friendship and support and eyes and ears of openness. We need to approach others in a manner that shows God’s love through us.

Beauty

After publishing my first book I took a couple weeks off writing and went to the Mountains of Tennessee for a vacation and my daughter’s wedding. While I was there I got to see the glory and spender of God’s creations. I saw wondrous Mountain views, waterfalls, rivers of clear water, and the peace of a deer grazing along the road. This all could not compare to God’s greatest creation, Love. I got to see the love in my daughter’s eyes as she walked down the aisle to her new husband.  We go through every day with the beauty and splendor of God all around us but we don’t always stop to notice it.  We often walk through life doing the same things over and over again not noticing the things around us. We get up Sunday morning, get dressed and go out the door to church.  We sit in the same seat, talk to the same people and sing along to the songs, and pray the same prayer. It’s all meaningless unless we open our eyes and our heart. See the beauty of the Holy Spirit moving in the singers, the pastor, the ushers and the door greeter.  We have to let the Holy Spirit move in us through our actions and our words.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (ESV)

¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

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A Walk to Understanding God

Well today my New book went on sale on amazon in digital paperback release soon. you can buy it at http://www.amazon.com/daily-walk-understanding-God-ebook/dp/B00LELLCQA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404152257&sr=8-1&keywords=a+daily+walk+to+understanding+god

This book is a collection of my writings over the past 2 years. If your a regular follower of my blog you will like this book. If your not after reading the book I hope you will be.

Listen to God's Voice

I often read a book to my son called Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can you?. Its all about the many different sounds Mr. Brown can make from a soft whisper to the boom of thunder. It got me thinking about the ways God talks to us. In John 10: 27 it says “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me”  So we all know his voice so why do we sometimes not know what god wants us to do? We have to learn to listen to him whether his voice is a soft whisper or booming thunder. It’s not always easy to hear God’s voice among the many sounds of everyday life. Sometimes you have to find that quiet place to pray to God and listen for his answer. Other times God’s voice is Like the thunder, it’s so loud that it can be heard of everything else. As you begin to search and listen to god’s voice it becomes much easier to hear it. You can find God’s voice everywhere, today I found it in a children’s book. Tomorrow he may talk to me through a song. What ever why he does I will be listing, Will you?

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You are Separated from God Only by the Walls you Build

God wants to be close to all of us.  All he asks of us is to believe in him and repent.
John 3:16-17 ERV  Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life.  (17)  God sent his Son into the world. He did not send him to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him.

God seeks a relationship with  every one of us. He seeks us no matter how lost we become.  The only things that come between us is the things we put there. The walls we put up between us and God can be some hard walls to get over. I found the hardest is when you feel like you don't deserve God's mercy and grace because of your past. We think that because the way we lived or the things we did in our past God doesn't want us.  Sometimes its because of the things you do now that you think you can't go to church because you do them now. Maybe its something a self proclaimed Christian has told you that is a sin that you reject god.
Well I'll start by saying you have a father in heaven that wants to be part of your life. The Church is a healing place for sinners not a social club for saints. It doesn't matter who you are, what your doing, or what you've done in the past God wants you and as a christian I want you to come to a house of healing and let god heal your body and soul. Don't let anyone stand between you and the gift God has for you.

Isaiah 55:1 Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

God make it clear he want you to come drink from the living water.

Holiness

I read today that holiness is being in love with God. So what does it mean to be in love with God? when your in love with someone you will do anything for them just to make them happy and to keep them happy. Do you love God that much? Does God come first in your life? Would you give up everything you have and move to another country if he asked it of you? In Mathew 4:19 Jesus calls Peter to come with him and become a fisher of men. Peter gave up everything he had and followed Jesus. He didn't say "but lord I have so much stuff what am I to do with it all" Would you be able to do the same if the lord told you give up everything you have and go to a 3^rd world country? Would I be able to do it? I guess with me there would be allot of “God are you sure you want me to go?” and “why me God?” I sure that in the end I would go.  I think Holiness is something we all work to achieve and that it is achievable.

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Have you given yourself to God or are you just walking the path of a Christian?

Sometimes we do everything we are told we need to do to be saved and be a good Christian.  However, we forget one important thing , and that’s to give ourselves to God. I’m not saying that being a good Christian is wrong. On the contrary, God wants us to be a good Christian and live in His grace through Faith, Hope and Love.  When I speak of giving yourself to God, I mean stop trying to make choices on your own.  Let God take control of your life and do as he wants to do. When you do this you experience true freedom. You realize that everything that happens is according to Gods Plan.  It opens up your heart and soul and allows you to enjoy life and be content with things the way they are. I have learned to give myself to God and have found happiness and peace unlike I have ever known. When things are good I thank God for what I have. When things go wrong I thank God for what I have, and understand that all things are for His glory and part of His plan for me. A saying I used to use jokingly is “everyone can be used as an example even if it is a bad one.” The bad things that happen to me make me stronger and I grow and learn from them, sometimes more than the good things.  Sometimes I will stray away from God because I get caught up in the everyday thing of life, but I can always count on Him to guide me back to the path He has for me. As long as I have God I will never be alone.

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What is faith?

Faith is defined as
strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.

Let me tell you about the truth of faith. When you live in faith things that go wrong are not for nothing they are but an opportunity for God to show you that your faith is not misplaced. A few months ago went to visit Melissa’s father. On the way home we had a blowout. I was unable to change the tire because of the jack so we called our insurance company and they sent someone out and they changed the tire for us. We drove to the nearest Walmart to get a new tire so we would not have to drive home on a doughnut. We arrived at Walmart at 5:05pm. The auto center closed at 5:00pm.  We thought for sure that we were out of luck but I asked the person who was working at the counter if we could get a tire and she said they would do it for us. I know your wondering what this has to do with faith. I have faith that God will look after us no matter what may happen.  This whole encounter could have gone much worse. I had just slowed down because Just before the tire blew. If I had been going faster there is a chance I could have lost control and crashed. Or the tire could have blown when we took the van on vacation and we were driving on narrow roads in the mountains. It made be look closer at the other tires closer and decide that they all needed to be replaced before we go on vacation. 

It is by faith that God save us all

Eph 2:8-9 KJV  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  (9)  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

New Online Bible Study Starts soon

How to Join This Online Bible Study

• Get a copy of the book Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions by Lysa Terkeurst from Christian Books, Barnes and Noble or Amazon.
• Visit us on Facebook to access meeting information and additional resources for our online class- click here 
• Join our class event to access the class and our weekly discussions! -click here

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Do we have free will?

Free will is something that has always been a confusing thing to me. I face the question if God knows everything you will do before you do it does that negate free will? The Bible says if proverbs 16:9. “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”  In John 3:16 it says “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  You can see the confusion. Here is one way to look at it, God is omnipresent so he is everywhere and every when at the same time. So he exists in the past present and future all at once. Therefor he sees all and knows all. So we have free will and what god knows does not effect this free will.  We make our own choices in life. The most important thing about free will is giving it up.  In order to grow in our relationship with God and to fulfill the plan God has for us we must surrender our will to God’s will.  In my life I have discovered that when I walk my own path it may be easy but it is never rewarding. I may find temporary happiness but it is just that temporary. When we surrender our free will to God we walk the road less traveled. It’s not always the easy way, others will challenge you and try to cause you to question your path.  If you stick to the path God has for you find a reward that   is unending and everlasting Happiness.  By surrendering my free will to God I am able to have a peace in my life no matter what is going on at the time.

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Trust in God

We have talked about faith and love. And we must have them both but faith means little without trust. I can say I have faith in God but until I take the next step and give complete control of my life over to God and trust that God will lead me on the path he has for me my faith is hollow. I have walked the path of faith without trust and it was a chaotic path without meaning or direction. I was trying make my own way and telling myself that this was what God wanted me to do and I found myself getting farther and farther away from god. When I finally surrender myself to Gods will and put my trust in God, I found purpose, direction, peace, and happiness. My life became easy. You do not have to understand God's plan in order to trust God with control of your life.