Author: vladmin

There are so many things in life that can distract you from what you really should be doing. Sometimes, the things that take the most time and consume more of your thoughts and emotions are things that are not really good for you.

I have been guilty of overloading my days and still looking for more and more to do. It is like spending quiet time is somehow something that I unconsciously dread. What is weird, though, is when I do find time to simply sit and think (or simply to stop and breathe), I enjoy that time the most.

Perhaps it is the work ethic that was instilled in me by my parents. They would both work all day, come home and tend to five children and then do the work that needed to be done at home. If they took any time off, it was perhaps one evening a week.

I stopped working outside the house almost twenty years ago. In that time, I have run three businesses and then also had my time consumed by various other hobbies and crafts that filled my days to the brink. I stopped working in order to relax and find myself again after my son passed away but instead, I found myself working longer and harder than I had ever done before.

I wonder how many other people do the same? They look for things to keep their days full and, in doing so, like me, never find the time to stop and talk with God.

In recent months, I’ve found my ability to work has decreased. More than that, my desire to fill my days with needless tasks and hobbies has waned. What I am now doing, is asking for God to give me guidance on what he wants me to do.

A lot of that is spending time with him. In doing so, I am beginning to learn more about the heart of God and what is important to him.

Just this last weekend, our pastor challenged us to look at our lives and find areas where we were spending time and money but which were not bringing forth fruit for the kingdom of God. I was immediately convicted of an area in my life that was just that.

He used the analogy of the fig tree that Jesus cursed. It had green leaves but no fruit. It should have had fruit when it was in leaf but no fruit made it useless.

What it reminded me of was when I was gardening and I used my favorite organic fertilizer on the wrong type of plant. I got leaves galore but no fruit. It took me a while to find out that either I should use a different fertilizer or grow different plants.

In the case of my life, the fertilizer is my time, effort, thoughts and money. The plant I was using these on were important to the world but not to God’s plan. For a long while, in my heart, I knew there were things I needed to walk away from so that I could focus on those things in my life that I needed to nurture and grow. I simply did not want to make the changes I needed to make.

Having finally made my decision, I let the people who follow me in this area know that I would be ceasing immediately. I thought that people might not be happy but, surprisingly, the comments I have received, so far, have been loving and encouraging.

I know that will not always be the case when people stop providing their resources to others. The world wants us to pay more attention to their wants and needs than to do what God has called us to do.

Still, we need to cut those lines. It can be hard when we have made friends in those areas. For me, a number of my friends are there and, I’m fairly certain, most will prove to be fair weather friends. Once I have stopped providing the service I have in the past, they will simply move on to someone else.

That’s okay. I’d rather meet new people who are like minded and who want to serve God as I do. I think more than anything, this switch in friends might be the hardest part for many to deal with.

The thing to remember is that a friend who is there just for what you provide, really is not a friend at all. A friend is someone who is there for you as much as you are for them.

So, as my pastor did for me, I now challenge you to look at your life and find areas where you are spending time and resources and which are not bringing good spiritual fruit into your life. This is not to say that all hobbies are bad. I am still keeping several that I really enjoy.

The pastor asked us to pray and ask God to reveal the area that we needed to prune out. I had barely closed my eyes and streaming across my conscience was the thing I needed to stop. I expect that God will give you the same knowledge. The thing you have to do is listen and be willing to do as he asks.

It’s hard but it is the right thing to do. I know that by getting rid of something that takes up so much time, I am freeing myself to be able to do what God has in store for me next. I’m sure that he will do the same for you. All you have to do is ask him.

John 15:1-8

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

People seem ever more hateful these days. There are so many more public venues available for us to spend our time spreading horrible things about one another.

I don’t think that people are worse now than they were in the past, it’s just that society now accepts us being awful to one another. They may rail against bullying in some cases but, at the same time, they will willingly verbally crucify anyone who believes or does other than what they believe or do.

I know that I have had evil and mean thoughts about other people my whole life long. For the most part, I kept it inside and, I suspect, everyone else did the same. Because of our sin nature, we are inclined to be unhappy with other people. Even those whom we love, especially when they don’t measure up to the bars of behavior that we have set for them.

It’s even worse when it is someone who is different than we are. Perhaps because of where they are from or perhaps because of their lifestyle, it doesn’t seem to matter. In any case, they will never be what we want them to be because they are their own person and not a cookie cutter version of what we think others should be.

Truth is, as unhappy as we are about others, we are even more unhappy with ourselves. It’s strange that we vilify others but generally keep quiet about our own sins and weaknesses. It’s much easier to point out the errors of others than to admit, out loud, where we fail to measure up.

So, we have it in us, and always have, to take issue with our brothers and sisters on this planet. It’s just that in today’s world, we have access to places where we can quickly put our thoughts to words and to spread them across the whole planet in the blink of an eye or, more importantly, having second thoughts about what we are doing.

I learned early on that, in this new technological age, putting unkind thoughts into writing can cause those words to live on forever. At the end of a work email, I wrote something unkind (but actually true) about a co-worker to another co-worker. He didn’t read the full message and, of course, he forwarded the email to others, including the individual I wrote about.

I was never able to live that down. It was somehow fitting that for a brief period of a year, that individual became someone who had input into my annual review and potential raises. She made sure that I knew that she had never forgiven me. I knew what was going on and realized that I deserved it. Not the poor review, but her retaliation for what I had done.

I certainly never put anything like that in writing again. I also realized, at that time, not to even talk about co-workers again. It was a good lesson at a fairly young age.

I don’t express my thoughts in writing too often, other than specific opinions about a product or a book when I am writing a review. That is, other than what I write about on this blog. I write here what God puts on my heart and that is to love one another.

We are to love each other no matter how different we are from one another. We are to love those who don’t love us. I try to follow that as best as I can. Still, we’re all people and we all still have those hateful thoughts about others from time to time.

In many ways, I wish that we were back in a time when our behavior was more modulated and that, on the surface at least, we were more accepting and less hateful about one another.

As Christians, the world shows a lot of hate our way. They talk about how hateful and unaccepting we are and how we are all a bunch of hypocrites. Our pastor has talked about this in the past. He told us that we need to work to change the perception that the world has of the church and of Christians in general. That while they still hate us, we love them. It is the right thing to do.

What he hasn’t mentioned is that no matter what we do, the world will always hate us. The Bible tells us that this is what will happen. That hate will continue to grow to the point at which the rest of the world will come together to rid themselves of Christians and, in so doing, rid themselves of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As we are saying something the world does not want to hear, that they are sinners who need a savior (just like us), they will always hate us. Perhaps a few will learn to accept us. Fewer still will join us.

When we are no longer a thorn in their side, the world will turn on each other. They will try to kill anyone who is different. If God himself doesn’t step in to stop it, they will destroy the entire world.

That is what hate breeds. It breeds destruction. Love breeds acceptance and peaceful life with one another. As Christians, we are called to ignore our sin nature and, instead, to do what Jesus told us to do. We are to love everyone, no matter if they love us or hate us. We are to do good to others whether they do good or evil to us in return.

It isn’t easy for us to ignore what comes natural to humans but it is the right way to live. In a world filled with hate, we are called to be the one spark of true love for all people. If Jesus could love us so much he gave up his life to save us, his call for us to love one another is easy in comparison.

Matthew 5:43-48

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

People spend their whole lives striving to become rich. They think that if only they have enough money, they can buy their way to a peaceful life filled with happiness. They think that money is power and that power is what will make things easier. They think that money can change their life and the lives of their families for the better.

While it is true that money is something that people use for paying for shelter, food and clothing, it is not true that it can bring happiness. It can pay bills. It can buy the things that you and your family may need. However, it is not what will fill your life with contentment and keep the troubles of the world at bay.

People have often mistaken a verse of the Bible. The condemn individuals that have wealth by their use of this verse. They will tell you that the Bible says that money is the root of all evil. What the verse actually says is that the LOVE of money is a root of many kinds of evil.

It is the love and adoration of money and what it can provide that is the problem. Money, in and of itself, is neutral. God does not condemn money. Being rich is not evil just as being poor is not a blessing in and of itself.

It is the way that you look at your condition that makes the difference. God tells us to be content right where we are. He placed where we are for a reason. Whether we are rich or we are poor, we are to look to God and not to the world to provide contentment and happiness in our spirit.

There are rich people who spend their lives giving to others. There are poor people who give from what little they have. It may be their time or their prayers if there is simply no money to be given. Both ways of giving are pleasing to God. He gave to us and he wants us to give to others.

There are, though, rich people who are working to make even more money as a way to find peace in their souls. They think that with more and more money and more and more power, they will be able to buy or bully their way to the pinnacle that they have chosen. They love money and what it brings them and they more of it. They will do whatever is necessary to achieve their ends.

There are poor people who spend their time trying to figure out get rich quick schemes. They want to buy their way into leisure and happiness. From where they stand, during struggle after struggle, being rich looks pretty good.

I can understand this feeling. I’ve been poor, too, in this life. The funny thing is that I never realized that my family was poor. I knew that we didn’t have the fancy things that others had but it didn’t bother me too much. For the short time my mother was on welfare instead of working (due to health issues), it didn’t trouble me as I knew that that type of short term assistance was a good thing and allowed us to see the doctor when we were ill.

Until high school, that is. At that time, even though she was, by then, working in a fairly well paid job for the time, my mother decided that two shirts, one pair of pants and a pair of flimsy sandals was enough for me. In order to have more clothes, proper shoes, coat and clothes for gym class, I had to work to earn the money to buy them. So I did.

When I was out of school is when this all hit me hard. I started buying more and more clothes and more and more things that I really didn’t require. It became an obsession that lasted for years. I ended up buying way too much for my children.

It took a serious wake up call to bring me to my senses. These days, I don’t spend money at the drop of a hat. I ponder purchases and how I will use them. If the item makes sense, I will buy it. If it is merely a want and not something that I need, I don’t buy it.

I’ve started businesses and used my earnings for discretionary spending. That was a buzzword for spending as much as I wanted on anything that caught my eye. These days, I fight the desire to start businesses as I don’t feel that is what God is calling me to do. That is the world speaking to me. It says that unless I am trying to earn lots of money, I’m fairly worthless.

Good thing I’ve learned not to listen to the world. The world is controlled by a liar and he lies and lies. His first lie was to Eve in the Garden of Eden and he continues to lie to each of us every day.

When God calls us to his service, sometimes he bestows riches. He says that those who are given much are expected to give more.

For some people, this attitude of giving rather than making money is too much to handle. For some, it is a reason why they can’t follow Jesus. They love money too much and giving control of it to God is more than they can accept.

There are also those who say they are Christians, even pastors, who use their position as a way to fill their own coffers. They build fancy churches and even fancier houses. Some are more truthfully called estates or compounds with multiple acres than simply a home.

They are unwilling to share, even in the face of disaster. I’ve heard of one such pastor who said he didn’t share his church sanctuary with people in a disaster because no one asked.

Really? A Christian should not have to be asked. They should be ready immediately to help their neighbor. If my pastor had done something of this nature, I would expect the elders to admonish him and if that didn’t happen, I would leave that church.

Rich or poor, we have something to share with the world. If nothing else, we can share the gospel of Jesus Christ and his unbelievable gift of salvation that was purchased through his sacrifice. When you think about what Jesus gave to the world and what he went through, giving some time or money is a pretty easy request to fulfill.

It’s time we stop loving money and, instead, love God and each other. Money will never give you a good life filled with contentment and happiness. It will certainly never give you a way into heaven.

Luke 18: 18-27

A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”

“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Who knows the mind of God? Not me, that’s for sure. I don’t understand the way this whole creation thing works. It seems like we could have all been made perfect and never fall from grace with sin. Then everything would be rainbows and lollipops forever and ever, amen.

Okay, I know that doesn’t work either. That would mean that we would not have been given a free will, a free mind, and the ability to choose our own destiny.

Isn’t it funny, that when Adam had perfection right in his own two hands, he still wasn’t satisfied. He wanted more. While he didn’t understand the mind of God anymore than we do today, he somehow thought that if only he could be like God, that things would be even better.

Better than perfection? Yeah, it takes mankind to have such a crazy thought. We come up with good things, new innovations and then, almost immediately, come up with some sick and twisted way to use that innovation for evil.

That is the way that man has thought ever since he first exercised free will and chose sin. I wonder if later that day, Adam wished he had never done so. I know that when I sin, there comes that sick feeling in my mind and spirit that wishes I could undo what I’ve done. Sadly, there really is no going back. Even with forgiveness, we still reap what we’ve sown.

Even if no one ever finds out what we did, what we thought, or what we planned… we still know. It preys on our mind and our soul. It’s like we relive that sin (and even elaborate on it) over and over and over again.
God knows what is happening. All those times we think about unrepentant sin, we are sinning multiple times. For Christians, each sin is something that moves us out of fellowship with God. We don’t lose our salvation but we do lose out ability to communicate with God for a time.

All you have to do to re-establish that link is to confess your sin to God and honestly and wholeheartedly ask for forgiveness and be willing to do what God wants you to do with your life. Sometimes, just the confession is enough but other times, God will want you to apologize to the individual(s) you have sinned against.

You may not think it is a big thing to be out of fellowship with God, but I will guarantee that there comes a time of reckoning. Things can start going crazy. Your life can start coming apart and, when you cry out to God, he does hear you but he can’t stop you from the troubles you have brought on yourself.

Some people think that when Christians sin, they lose their salvation. Some even think that Christians must do good works to continue to earn salvation even after they have accepted Jesus Christ’s free gift of pardon from sin.

Neither is the case. When Jesus hung on the cross and, just before he voluntarily gave up his spirit and died, he cried out “It is Finished.” And it was. And it still is. And so it will be forever.

He saw all of our sins and forgave and died for each and every one of them. That includes sins of those who become Christians, both before and after they received their gift of salvation.

There is no need for more. You can’t add to the great gift that Jesus gave to mankind. You can’t earn anything more than his gift. If more were needed, then why in the world would God himself come to the earth as a lowly man, born as a weak baby and live through the same troubles and struggles of life that we go through?

It took Jesus and only Jesus to save us from our sins. When the thieves hung on the cross next to Jesus, he said to one that he would be in heaven with him THAT day. He didn’t ask him to get down from the cross and witness to people. He didn’t ask him to go and do good works. He didn’t even tell him to stop thinking evil thoughts (which he must of continued to do because, after all, he was a sinner like the rest of us.)

What Jesus said was as you believe in me, you are with me and will be with me forever. God would not require more from anyone else for salvation. God sees us all as equal. We are all his creation. He loves us all equally.

He wants us to accept Jesus’ gift of salvation and to live with him in heaven forever. He does ask for his believers to follow his commandments and his direction. Our salvation doesn’t depend on it but the joy of our walk with God does.

Luke 23: 39-43

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. ”

Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Have you ever told a little white lie and then have it snowball into a continuing fabrication that can last the rest of your life?

It’s hard once you have told a lie to backtrack from it. It may be possible if you do so soon and just say you were mistaken. If you wait too long, the loss of face that could ensue by telling the truth would be very difficult for most individuals to deal with. You would be telling everyone that you were a bald-faced liar.

When you lie and people find out about it, you lose the trust of those individuals. Frankly, no one likes a liar and, certainly, everything a proven liar says thereafter becomes suspect.

There is a case that has been covered extensively in the popular media where a celebrity was given a pass by the prosecution and had their record sealed. That should have been the end of it but, instead, the individual and lawyers went on media afterwards to give their version of the case at hand.

Their statement flies in the face of everything that is known about it. The problem is, by continuing to talk about it, the individual has lost their position of wanting to keep the record and information sealed from the general public. A judge has just ruled that on that basis, the records should be unsealed and made public.

Who knows what the record will show? It may completely exonerate the celebrity or, it may show that person to be a liar.

If the former, the individual will be vindicated. If the latter, the individual will be shown to be a liar. Will there be repercussions? We may soon find out.

In life, when you tell a lie or a fib and continue to do so, what you are really doing is sinning. You might say, but my lie is only a little white one! I fudged my grade average on my resume. I claimed minority status based on a ridiculously small amount of minority blood or, simply none at all. Who is getting hurt by this? Why would God even care about something that doesn’t hurt anyone at all.

Well, it hurts you. Once you start lying, it becomes easier and easier to continue to lie. Your lies can grow until it is difficult for even you to know what is true and what is not true.

With God, all things we do to break his rules are equal in terms of sin. Telling the truth was so important, God included it in the Ten Commandments. There is no little white lie with God. False witness (or lying) is a sin. A sin is a sin is a sin. All sins are punishable by eternal separation from God.

God is holy, just and true. He cannot have sin in his presence. It just simply cannot be allowed. The original sin by Adam, in the Garden of Eden, broke mankind’s relationship with God. If you think that somehow, you have never sinned and you are somehow better than Adam was, think again. By that very thought, you are lying and, therefore, sinning.

If we are all broken and sinners and doomed to eternal separation from God and to spend eternity in Hell, what in the world can we do to fix this?

There is nothing you, by your own efforts, can say or do that will remedy and repair your relationship with God. There are no good works, there are no amount of repetitious prayers, there is simply nothing we can do on our own that will even allow us to enter any sort of relationship with God. We are doomed to be under bondage to Satan, the author of lies, death and destruction.

However, the good news is that there is a way to fix this. Jesus, the son of God, came to earth to live a sinless life, to give us lessons on how we are to live, to give up his life as a sacrifice to cover all of mankind’s sins, and finally, to rise again after death, showing that God is more powerful than Satan.

By his own power as the Son of God, Jesus resurrected himself. He conquered sin and death by his freely given death on the cross and his rise from death. He did so for each of us. It is his free gift to each of us.

All you have to do is accept his gift, which is a pardon for all of your sins. Acknowledge him as God and ask him to direct your life through the Holy Spirit. Ask him to help you live the type of life that he wanted and told us to do.

He knows we will fail from time to time. Repent and, once again, begin to live for God. All Christians have doubts about God from time to time. It is Satan whispering in your ear and filling your mind with his lies. When that happens, ask God to push those thoughts away and ask him to help you with your doubts and disbelief.

Lies are sins and are no better or worse than any other sin in God’s eyes. Sins are where your separation from God stems from. If you want to live for God, confess those sins and ask Jesus to help you.

Exodus 20:1-17

And God spoke all these words: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.

For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

“You shall not murder.

“You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not steal.

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Our church members were asked what question they would ask of God, if they could speak with him directly and get an answer. The overwhelming first choice of questions was a variation on theme. Essentially, the question was, “Why do bad things happen in this world.”

This is a stumbling block for people who are seeking to know God. They have problems believing in a God who allows things such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and any other sort of natural disaster. They also have issues with why God would allow individuals to hurt or kill innocent people and animals.

Apparently, it is a big issue with Christians as well. I never knew that before. I came to terms with this issue when I accepted Jesus and started reading the Bible. The explanation is there but it is one that most people do not want to accept.

Such individuals remind me of my children when they were young. I would make a statement, such as you cannot do this or go there. They would ask “Why?” I would attempt to give the answer and when I was done, they would ask “Why?” once again. It could go on for what seemed like forever and finally, I did what my mother did and answered, “Because I said so.”

God is like that. He has given answers to this question and still we ask why. The ultimate answer is because he said so. He says it in his Word to us, which is the Bible.

So, back to the issue. Why? Simply put, because mankind sinned. Man was given a wonderful and perfect world and was given one rule to obey. He was told that if he broke that rule, he would die. He broke the rule and not only did he die spiritually, physical death entered the world. It entered it for mankind and for the rest of the planet.

I suspect that the entire universe is falling apart because of our sin. Scientists talk about the universe expanding at a faster and faster rate. It seems like it is coming apart at the seams. Here on this planet, disasters and evil doings are happening with more and more frequency. While there are some who are still in denial, many individuals are beginning to feel that the destruction of the planet is within the grasp of mankind.

However, when you give this explanation to people who are asking the question, most will come back with, then why are the innocents suffering? They didn’t do anything to deserve what has happened to them. Sadly, that is true. However, the destruction of this world is not in the hands of God.

Man was given dominion over the world and everything else. When he broke the one rule, he choose Satan over God and, in doing so, gave his rule of this world over to Satan. Satan is evil, he is the one who is bent upon bringing destruction, pestilence and all kinds of evil to this world.

Satan knows that Jesus defeated him on the cross and conquered death when he rose to life again. He knows that his time is limited, though like us, he doesn’t know the day or the hour when Jesus is going to return and rule over the planet as King. Only God, the father, knows when that will happen.

However, like us, Satan also can sense that that day is coming closer. Because of that, he is stepping up his evil plan to destroy mankind and the rest of creation in an effort to show God how powerful he is and to drag as much of mankind with him down into the pits of hell.

Because of Satan’s knowledge, we see more and more evil and destructive natural disasters. We also see fewer and fewer people caring about one another. They are becoming less and less like Jesus and more and more like Satan. They are caring for themselves first without regard to people or society. It is like we are breeding more and more sociopaths daily. As long as they themselves are happy, who cares about anyone else?

In the end, the answer to the question of “Why do bad things happen?” is that man sinned. With that sin, everything evil began and continues and will do so until God creates a new heaven and new earth. The old one is broken and rather than leave us in brokenness, God will create Earth again as pristine.

Just like in the Garden of Eden, with one major difference. This time, the people who will live there will have chosen to follow Jesus. They will have repented of their sins and tried to live as he wanted them to live.

At that time, there will be no more pain, no more suffering, and no more sin. It is a wonderful future to look forward to. However, we live in the here and now. While we cannot stop disasters from happening, we can step forward and help those who have been hurt and who are suffering.

Jesus called us to love our neighbors and to help those who are in need of help. Look to the future but remember to help and pray for others in the present. Also, in showing your love, be sure to share of love of Jesus if the individual(s) are open to hearing about his love and sacrifice.

Revelation 21:1-4

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

I wonder how many of us really know our neighbors. Certainly not me. When we lived in LA, I didn’t know any one else except for those who rented units in our triplex. Even at that, I had only become friendly with just one family. The last I had seen of them was back in the early 1980s. Other than that family, I spoke with others only casually in passing or when an issue arose.

My neighbors to either side? On one side was an apartment building and the renters came and went. On the other side was an elderly lady who only rarely spoke to us and when she did, it was to complain about this or that, including the feral cats that lived close by. She was convinced that as we had cats, it was somehow our fault when the feral ones arrived.

That was pretty much it. Mind you, I lived in this building for close to thirty years. That’s a long time to go without being neighborly.

When we moved to Texas, I figured that neighbors would be friendly. In Austin, that turned out to not be the case. Of course, we gained a bad reputation by doing fairly extensive renovations (repairs really) to the house that we had just purchased. That, plus the fact that we were from California, put us on the outside looking in.

I pretty much sealed our doom as neighbors when I took exception to the neighborhood children using the front of our yard to use skateboards to leap multiple yards out into the street. Our front yard was raised three and a half feet above the sidewalk with a stone retaining wall. All I could think of was that the children would get hurt. They would jump high and then far out into the street and into the path of cars.

So I asked them to stop. When they didn’t, my husband asked. They still did not. So he took pictures of the children so we could find their parents and tell them what was happening.

As it happens, that did stop them. However, the next time I was out tending my yard, a neighbor pulled up and started berating me for invasion of privacy, stalking children and generally being means spirited as the woman who had owned our house previously had let the neighborhood children run wild on her property.

I then asked which of the children were hers. She told me none of them were. So, I asked, why am I wasting my time talking to you when I want to talk to the parents who were going to have to take care of their children when they got hurt? Then I walked away from her and her arguments.

The kids never came back to leap into the street from our lawn. But by the same token, apart from the neighbors to either side, we never got to know any of our other neighbors. I think we had the reputation of being the older folk who would yell at the kids to stay off of their lawn, which of course, had nothing to do with our concerns at all. We lived there for almost seven years.

Then we moved to our present home. We have been living here almost seven years as well. Our reputation is that we are quiet and that we give out full size candy bars on Halloween (that is, until this year when due to my illness, we could not open the door at all.) We have still only talked to a couple of neighbors.

In my heart of hearts, I think I wanted a neighborhood where people were welcoming and kind. Where people went out of their way to meet and talk to new people in the neighborhood.

My guess is that, with the exception of one neighbor, none of them even know that I have been ill. She only found out when she came to tell us that one of our neighbors on the other side had passed away. That was more than a year after my serious illness began.

I’ve checked with several members of our church and they don’t know their neighbors either. They live in very different neighborhoods than we do, so it seems like this might be something that is true in many places.

I guess, these days, it is more likely that individuals do not know their neighbors that well. If they do, it is a very limited number. It’s possible that in smaller towns this is not the case at all. After all, there are only limited grocery stores, churches and schools in a small town.

This has been on my mind recently, as our church has been talking for weeks about our need to love our neighbors, regardless of who they are. I don’t think our problem is with anything personal about our neighbors, it is merely that no one is interested in knowing their neighbors that well.

They want to hunker down and have quiet time at the end of the day. Things are so busy and hectic that many probably view their alone time at home as a respite in a crazy world that seems to be getting more crazy and hateful every day.

One of the things that our church is doing, which I really think is great, is that they are getting together on weekends and going to people’s homes and helping them with chores and repairs. The recipients are either physically or financially unable to do these on their own. For individuals to come and do this for them is not only neighborly but truly shows the love of God.

Unfortunately, due to my illness, I cannot currently be part of this effort. My husband and I have found various other ways to show our love to those who are in need. For us, that is the way we are being neighborly though it is not for people who live in our specific neighborhood.

I’m sure that the majority of those who read this will also have few relationships in their neighborhoods. Still, God has told us to love our neighbors and we need to find ways to show people who live around us that God loves them.

If you look at it in the right way, everyone in the world is your neighbor because, to some degree, everyone in the world lives around you.

Think about it, I’m sure that, if you ask, God will open your eyes to ways to show others that you care. That you care about them because God cares for you.

Mark 12:28-34

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

I received news today of something that most people would consider something of a let-down, perhaps even a serious item of depression. I considered it to be a glorious thing. Something that I had strived for, in my own flesh, (and had achieved) was an area where I was finally surpassed by someone else.

I’m thrilled. It was a daily reminder of a time when I was not following the will of God in my life. The time that I spent, the hours upon hours and days upon days were not put to use in anyway that would show the light of Jesus to the world.

What it showed was me. It lifted me up and got others to either want to be for me or against me. But it was all about me.

Those days are now over and the last remaining reminder of that time is now behind me. I had, well over a year ago, asked God to forgive me, to put me on his path, and to put me to work on things that he wanted me to do.

It’s interesting how we can strive for something and even achieve it. If it is of the flesh, it all falls short and leaves us desiring something more, something different, something that will fill the yearnings of our hearts.

Nothing in or of this world will ever do so. The richest people in the world (who are not Christ-followers) are ever-striving to attain more wealth and thus, in their minds, happiness at last. They venture into areas that are different from the places where they have made their billions.

My guess is that they are still looking for something to satisfy their souls. A number of them are looking towards the heavens in an attempt to reach high above this life and this planet. Something in them knows that they will never be satisfied with anything in this world.

Their answer is to use their own minds and hands (and those of their workers) to reach up and try to capture and control heaven. This is no different from when in ancient times, King Nimrod decided to build the Tower of Babel. According to the Bible, all of the people of the world were in his kingdom. They were his hands and feet in this endeavor. They were trying to reach heaven and become their own God.

God saw this and decided that when people could congregate and could communicate with one language, that they would turn their thoughts and minds towards evil purposes and be able to achieve their vile plans. To stop this, because the time was not yet come for man to reach this pinnacle of evil, God separated the people and gave them different languages so that only a few others could understand them.

The people were scattered over the face of the earth, each by their then-common language. Until recently, there were barriers of language and distance that kept man from gathering again as they did in those ancient days.

However, today, we have fast methods of physical travel and, more importantly, we can communicate with one another in split seconds over the Internet. The barriers of language are behind us as most people can speak English. For those who cannot, there are almost instantaneous translation programs available at the click of a button.

So, here we are once again. People are congregating and coming up with evil. They are finding ways to destroy one another. Not only with weapons but also by giving leeway to do things that, at most times in the past, were considered evil.

We are killing babies before they are born. We are considering allowing mothers to put their children to death after they are born. We are drugging our children. We are telling them that they can choose their own sex. We lie and we cheat. We do all sorts of things that we justify as acceptable when, in our hearts, we know that none of it is acceptable to God.

So, many of us, rather than change our ways, simply deny that God exists. We can deny all we want but that does not change reality. God is the creator of the universe. He was before and is throughout eternity. He is the great I AM. Nothing was made that he did not make.

He even created Lucifer, who was so beautiful his name meant morning star. Lucifer was the highest ranking angel who rebelled against God and tried to become God himself. He led a full third of the angels of heaven in this battle. God won, of course, and sentenced Lucifer, or as we now refer to him as Satan, to eternity in Hell.

God then created the world and mankind to show Lucifer that beings that were created lower than angels, when given free will, would eventually turn back to God, repent of their evil ways and be able to spend eternity with God.

That is where we stand today. Jesus provided the sacrifice that mankind could never provide on their own which could reconcile us with God. With our free will, we choose sin. With Jesus, we were given a way to repent, have our sins paid for by a sinless man (who was also God at the same time), and to accept him as our savior and King.

We also learn to try to live the life that God has called us to live. We make mistakes from time to time (who am I kidding? We make mistakes all the time.) We can repent and ask God to help us find his path and his way once again.

As I started this article today, I talked about one of the ways in which I strayed away from God’s will in my life. I have certainly long repented of it and God has forgiven me as he promised he would do.

Recently, I have been praying daily for him to move me away from the spot that I had worked so hard to be placed in. When my prayers were answered today, it was a wonderful feeling and I am ever grateful that God will answer even such a seemingly silly request from one of his children.

If you are straying from the path that God has chosen for you, repent and ask him to set your way straight once again. If you are a Christ-follower and have not yet found the path that God has for you, ask him to show you what he wants you to do which is pleasing in his eyes rather than in your own.

If you have not yet accepted Jesus as your savior, you are probably still searching for something to fill your soul and provide the sense of fulfillment that we are all born looking for. Look to God and look to Jesus. Ask him to reveal himself to you. If you ask with sincere desire, he will absolutely answer your prayer. It is up to you. Accept Jesus and find the answer that will fill the deep desires of your heart.

If you do not accept Jesus, you will continue to search for something or someone to satisfy you until you die. Nothing in this world, or even in the heavens, that we physically reach out to grab will be able to fill your soul or bring to life your spirit which died when man first sinned in the Garden of Eden.

Isaiah 14:12-15

How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!

You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.

I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.

Being a Christian in the world today is not something that most non-Christian people look fondly upon. They have preset opinions about what Christians think, do and say. Generally, it is not a religion that is well thought of these days.

In some ways, it is somewhat understandable. That is because the media, schools and other areas of public life where opinions are swayed have been busy representing the worst of the worst about Christians. In many cases, they have identified individuals who have committed horrible crimes or whose actions or words are reprehensible, as Christians when, in fact, they are anything but Christian.

The media rarely goes back and makes a correction when they have made such a false statement. Even the few times that they do, the public’s opinion has already been formed. First impressions are difficult to change even when the impression is based on false information.

Christians are the same as other people. They are sinners. The difference is that true born-again Christians have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Jesus has instructed his followers to love one another. He has also told them to forgive those who sin against them. He tells us to do so because he forgave us.

Honestly? It is hard to forgive others. If it were easy, it would be something that everyone does. And yet, very few people are capable, on their own, of offering forgiveness when they have been horribly wronged or hurt.

It seems like, when I read the news, that if a victim is working with the individual(s) who hurt them, it is almost always a Christian who is showing forgiveness and love. Not always, of course, but most of the time.
There are also Christians who have risked and given up their lives to save others who are not Christians. Again, this is a hard thing to do. But Christ followers see the example in that Jesus gave up his life for us while we were his enemies.

We are also called upon to spread the good news of Jesus’ salvation gift. We are to see that the word of this message are spread throughout the world. He tells us to do so because he forgave us. He also warned us that it would not be easy; he told us to pick up our cross daily and to follow him.

At one time, spreading the gospel (good news of salvation) meant traveling to far away places where no one had spoken to the inhabitants about God the father, let alone Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Those who travelled and spread the word often put their lives in peril. Many were martyred for their faith. But the good news is that the Word has been spread throughout the world.

Still there are small strongholds of native population who have never heard the message of salvation. Interestingly, the governments of the lands these small groups inhabit, will not allow missionaries to speak to the native population.

Where Christians are now called to spread the gospel is to their own countries, their own cities, even to their own neighborhoods. So many people have heard about Christians (mostly from the media), but they have not heard the real history of Jesus. It is as if we are now called as missionaries back to the countries that first sent missionaries out to other lands.

Many countries consider themselves post-Christianity. They have moved beyond Jesus Christ. The ones that are not are those where there is real and present persecution of the citizens. Those are the places where people are still actively looking for and finding their Jesus as their savior.

They learn that being saved is not of the flesh but of the spirit. While the government or leaders of other faiths may torture you or put you to death, a Christ follower is assured of eternity in heaven and companionship with God forever.

That is true freedom. That is what Christianity is all about. The media may represent Christ followers as something evil, judgmental and distorted but that is not what Christians are called to do. Nor is it what most Christian are. Most Christians are trying to do what Jesus asked them to do. They fail, of course, from time to time. That is to be expected. Being Christian doesn’t mean you are not still a sinner, it means that Jesus died for your sins and you accepted his gift of pardon.

In most cases, when a true Christian discovers that they have been sinful, for whatever reason, they repent and try to do better and learn not to commit that sin again.

So, Christians, be aware that the world will continue to hate you. The hate is growing. The world doesn’t want to know that they are sinners. They want to believe that they can be their own judges of what is right and wrong based on their own thoughts.

The world will never love Christians. We are still called to love them and to spread the salvation message. While the world will not love Jesus, there will come a day when every knee will bow and they will acknowledge the Jesus Christ is the true King forever and ever. Sadly, for most of them, it will be too late. They will be condemned to an eternity of being separated from God.

It is up to us Christians to spread the news so that even one more individual accepts Jesus as their savior before it is no longer an option.

Matthew 16:24-25

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

I’m very troubled by what is happening to children these days. When I was young, the problems seemed less intense and less prevalent. The problems at home pretty much stayed there and the problems at school where dealt with the teachers and principal. I had problems in both places and, from my experience, they rarely crossed over.

Today, there is so much pressure on children. They are being taught so much and so fast. And yet, they aren’t being taught the basics. The school systems have even decided to stop teaching cursive writing since everything is typed today.

That might be true, but if you want to read original historical documents as they were written, you had best know how to read cursive. It’s almost as if the powers that be want to keep people from reading the lessons of the past.

It also means that these children will not have an identifying signature. Printed letters can be forged easily while cursive writing is much more distinctive and forgeries are fairly easy for experts to detect. How will these children be identified? Will they be assigned a number? Will they somehow receive an electronic implant that identifies one from another?

One wonders what is next. Will they simply stop teaching children to read and write at all as, by that time, you will be able to listen to lessons and input your answers verbally. Will only a certain class of individuals be allowed to learn to read and write and gain the knowledge, insight and critical thinking that comes along with reading the written word?

That reeks of a class of rulers and a class of those who are ruled. Those who are allowed to learn and those who are kept in place by lack of knowledge.

This has happened before. One need only to look to the Medieval period. The peasants were kept in bondage because they didn’t know that there was anything else for them. The ruling class may have had its share of individuals who didn’t bother to learn but that was their choice. The information was there waiting for them.

William Tyndale was burned at the stake for daring to translate the New Testament of the Bible into the common English language. Why? He did so so that everyone could read the message of freedom and salvation available to them. They could read that, in God’s eyes, we were all equal. The act of translation was called heresy and he was killed for it.

Today, it is easy to see that the ruling class of that time was threatened by the message of the Bible being put in the hands of common folk. We know this because we can read the history of the story. Without being able to read, our children will be back in the position of the peasants of yesteryear. The simply will not know.

That troubles me immensely. We learn from our past mistakes. We learn from our past triumphs. Without knowledge of the past, we seem doomed to make the same types of mistakes over and over again.

The mistakes today can, and probably will, come with a greater consequence. We are a people who can create global catastrophes. With very little effort, a devastating world war could be started which could wipe out most of humanity as well as other life on the planet.

That doesn’t surprise me, actually. When I read the Bible, I see that just such a time and day is coming. There will be a day when mankind uses its weapons to destroy much of the life on earth.

There is nothing that can stop it as it is what mankind has been barreling toward. We have been on this path since the Garden of Eden. We Christians can keep praying that God bring the message of salvation to the whole world. We should pray that anyone who will be saved before the Great Tribulation comes upon us, will hear the message of Jesus Christ.

It is our job as Christians to spread that message. It is good to help the poor, to give shelter, food and comfort to those who need it. It is also true that the most precious thing you can do for an individual is to share the good news of salvation.

The Bible tells us it is better to lose the body than to lose the soul. That applies to everyone regardless of their station in life and what their worldly needs are.

My church is trying to reach individuals by doing things for them. Loving them when it is the least thing that they expect. They are showing Christ’s love to them. The only problem is that many of the congregants are hesitant to share the message of salvation.

Helping the poor is good. Feeding their body is necessary. Christians are very good at sharing and helping. I can’t imagine what this world will be like for that brief time in which Christians are no longer able to help. It will be a terrible and desolate time. A time when it is person against person. The hate and anger that fills the soul of those who are left will make the world a horrible place to live in.

Just remember, feeding the soul and spirit is the most important thing you can do. Sharing the love of Christ in what you do for others is good. Just be sure to share the message of salvation while you are doing so. Just tell them about Jesus. Don’t force it down their throats or make it a requirement for them in order to receive assistance.

I know that, for the most part, I am preaching to the choir. However, for a sizable number of Christians, this is a message that is needed to be heard. Don’t be afraid to witness to individuals. All you have to do is tell them about what Jesus has done for you. It is called your Testimony. Just share that and it will be heartfelt and, most times, listened to.

There will others who resist hearing and so, stop talking. Either you are not the one to give them to good news or they have hardened their hearts and necks and will not listen to anyone who speaks of God. I feel bad for them as God will only strive with an individual for just so long. After that, unless there is something so devastating that happens to them that makes them seek God, it will not go well for them.

The one sin that God cannot forgive is an individuals failure to accept Jesus as their savior. That is what, in the end, will doom people to an eternity of suffering.

Let’s do our part to reduce that number. If the message is not told, then it cannot be heard.

Romans 10:9-15

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”