Monday, June 29, 2009

What do you spend your time doing?

My wife and I heard a really good quote recently that said, "we make time for what we really want to do". Sounds simple enough right. I was thinking about that a little deeper and it really is a compelling statement.

What do you truly like to spend your time doing? What do you make time for? How much time do you spend doing what you are making time for?

For those of us who call ourselves Christians lets take a moment to reflect on what we spend our precious time on. It's always good to examine ourselves. If your not a Christian and want to find out what will happen to you when you die go to www.goodpersontest.org

2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?

If we are truly Christians or say we are then we should be living according to His law (Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Friends, the 10 commandments fall under those 2 commands that Jesus gave us. So of course we should strive to follow them.

The Bible says we should spend our time in His word growing closer to Him, in fellowship, being a faithful witness to Him. He commands that of us in the Bible. But yet so many individuals who call them selves Christians spend more time watching TV or doing things that are not even relevant to God! Is all TV evil, no, but what are you watching? Do you spend more time watching celebrities live their lives and people fighting for money than you do serving your Creator??

Most people don't even read their Bibles on a daily basis. We eat to grow and nourish our bodies just like we have to feed on His word to grow closer to Him. If you aren't trying to know more about God or grow closer to Him then examine yourself and see if you should be calling yourself a Christian.

Saying your a Christian is NOT a get out of hell free card. Luke 13:5 says, "unless you repent, you will perish". You have to trust Jesus Christ with everything you have and make Him the Lord of your life! You have to be grateful that He lived a perfect life and suffered the wraith of hell for you and then rose from the dead 3 days later! If you are truly grateful to what He did then why would you not want to serve Him??

I'm writing this because I love our God so much because what He is and what He's done and what He continues to do in my life. I also do not want to see anyone waste their life away because as we have seen recently people just die unexpectedly left and right.

Anyone one of us could die for no apparent reason right now. Get right with God.

God bless you.

Joey

If you have any questions or comments please let me know.

Monday, June 8, 2009

You never know...

You never know if your next breath is your last. You never know if you'll live another day. You never know if your loved one, best friend, or family member will be taken from you at any point at any given time.

The fact of the matter is that each breath we take is a gift from God. Along with the people in our lives that matter. People get too caught up in "why does God allow suffering, why is the economy so bad, why does God let bad things happen to good people?"

I'm puzzled as to why God gives anyone blessing as we are all sinners according to HIS standards, not societies. How selfish are we as humans to think that we deserve anything from our almighty God and creator who we have broken the law against and most of us who have blasphemed His name. We wouldn't use our mother or fathers name as a cuss word so why would we use our Lord's name??

We are all damned to hell whether people want to hear it or not. The answer to the questions above is: God generously gave us free will and we abused it all the way back to Adam and Eve.That is why there is suffering. That is why there is sin, because we, as mankind, screwed up.

God lifts up the nations that lifts Him up and allows our mistakes to carry through to the nations that don't honor Him. Take a good look at America right now. America started our great! I still think it's the best country in the world, but where does God stand in our society right now? Sure, it's great in church, but how about outside the church? Is God honored? They want "In God we trust off of our currency, the Ten Commandments were taken out of schools along with prayer, Hollywood has gotten immensly worse and that unfortunately sets standards for our nation. It is said that America carried a trend of being 10 years behind Europe socially and that is a scary study.

We live in a fallen creation, but through His son, Jesus Christ, came to this earth, lived a PERFECT life and died a horrible and bloody death for us and rose from the dead 3 days later. Buddha is dead, Muhammed is dead, Joseph Smith of the Mormons is dead, Jesus Christ is the only living God. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6. Notice that, He says NO ONE comes to God except through HIM, not any of the dead I mentioned above or their words.

That is what is misunderstood about the Gospel. Jesus didn't come to fill that God-shaped hole in your heart or to guarantee you financial success or health. He came to save us from the same fate all of us share, hell. It is true, He didn't come to condemn us, we're already condemned, He came to save anyone who trusts in Him and repents of their sins.

This is extreme, but important to understand! If you are a Christian are you born again or are a you a product of the modern Gospel, "Say a prayer, ask Jesus into your heart, and your set for Heaven!" I did that about 3 or 4 times before I truly became born again. If you don't know what that is, shoot me an e-mail, message, or whatever, I'd love to talk to you about it!

If you are born again I beg you to share your faith. Spread the law and good news of our risen savior. We can't guarantee the fate of our loved ones. We don't know where they will go, no one but God can. But we can share our faith, and pray that God will unharden their heart so that they will realize their need for the Savior and trust in Him and turn from their sins.

Just because someone says they're a Christian doesn't make them a Christian. Think back to when you were a little kid. For me personally I called myself and believed I was ninja turtle. I even made my mom call me one. I dressed like one, talked like one, acted like one. But no matter how hard I tried I was always a little fat kid who couldn't jump fences with my friends and was a block behind when we rode bikes together. Sad, but true. The point is don't let talk and looks fool you. Anyone can believe they're something they're not regardless of age. That is why we can't always assume that someone is saved.

Most people do not have the luxury of dying on their death bed. Death of this life can be cruel, swift, and unpredictable. I love you and others I haven't even met because God did create us for better things. I do not want to see anyone go to hell, but it will happen. Where will you spend eternity, are you absolutely positive you know the answer to that question? I am.

We are all commanded as disciples of our Lord to share our faith and we should want to try to keep people from going to hell! Because you never know when you will have your last breath or someone will have theres.


May God bless you and yours,

Joey

Again, contact me if you have any questions!