Truth or Consequences?

I have a friend that I've been friends with for over 15 years. I've tried to witness to her over the years, but today, she asked me a question and I thought, "WOW!" Normally she doesn't like to talk about it, but today she did!

She was asking me about who she should pray to. She says she prays and always talks to "God." Bless her heart, she wanted to know if she should be saying the name of Jesus when she prays! I was FLOORED! This is my best friend, who believes in a lot of things that are completely opposite of Christianity. She just asked the one question, but I was spurred on! I explained salvation, how it is achieved through the grace of God when He gave us the "lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world," and she was asking even more questions! This from a person who always changes the subject when I mention it.

I've been witnessing to her for a long time, so please pray for her? Her name is "D." I am protecting her anonymity, but would love it if some of the readers of this blog prayed for her? That would be so cool! We could accomplish what God wills together. She's very confused, but I am highly optimistic about her accepting Christ and making a proclamation about it! 

It can be exciting leading people to Jesus! You just never know what He might do! Bless all who read this and may we all go out and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Amen!

Gravity vs. The Christian!

Have you ever played the game of baseball? I've played a lot of baseball/softball in my day, earning me the nickname "Good Eye." Now if you don't understand the game, a person with that nickname usually never swings at a bad pitch, never strikes out, and always either winds up on base by a hit, or by a "base on balls," which means the pitcher threw 4 bad pitches that the batter did not swing at which were considered outside of the "strike zone." Sometimes I would get a good pitcher that I could hit off of and would hit a grounder in between 1st and 2nd base trying to advance another runner and get called out at first base, which in baseball, is called a sacrifice. I got called "out" plenty of times, but usually it was to advance the runner or trying to steal a base. I might not be able to do those things now, but as an object lesson, baseball is a good fit, so read up!

One thing we as Christians need to realize is that there are people in our lives we might be witnessing to that watch a perfect pitch coming at them, but refuse to swing at it as it sails over the plate, thru the strike zone and into the mitt of the catcher. Point being, while witnessing to those who are lost, some people will bring you down, (refusing to swing), while others will lift you up, accepting Christ and coming into the Kingdom of God, (hitting a home run!).

Gravity people tend to try to bring everything and everyone in their lives down, giving Newton his due. (I still do that sometimes, but hey, none of us is perfect). Depression, disappointment, illness, or a feeling of not being loved is just enough to put someone in the dumps because of the way they've been treated by others or by fate. This causes us to have this tendency to leave a wake of emotional or physical destruction in our path, not just to ourselves, but to others as well. Even after someone gets saved the devil will still use their past to keep them down, thus gravity continues to win, just like the ball sinking just before it goes over the plate, the result of which is usually a strike or a strike out.  

Those who pitch the ball, the ones who try to reach out to the "gravity" crowd, find out pretty quick that perhaps they are not meant to lead that particular person to Christ and that it will take others along the way to help that person get there. While we should never stop praying for them or give up on them, it is not our job to save them. Once they've heard the "Good News" only they can save themselves. That job belongs to them and the issue is between them and God alone. They are the only ones who can swing at the ball or let the ball go by into the catchers mitt.

They have to walk into the batters box and as the balls are pitched, they need to either let it go and get a ball or a strike or swing and get a hit. Some just need to learn how to play the game, but others? They may not want to play at all. It's almost like teaching a kid to trust that you will catch them when they jump off the side of the pool into your waiting arms. They have to learn to trust. Some can, some won't. With swimming, baseball, whatever it may be, you can only do so much "for them," before they have to do it "themselves."  We can only preach the gospel, tell them of the saving grace of Christ's death, burial and resurrection and how Jesus took all of our sins upon Himself so that if we simply believe in Him, we will be saved. He died for all of us and He is coming soon to take His "team" (the Church), back to the original "Home Plate" which resides in heaven!

Nobody can make the choice for someone else to swing at a good pitch or even a bad one. If you've ever been to a minor league baseball game or even a little league game, no matter what is shouted from the dugout or by the crowd, only the batter with his full attention on the ball, can make the choice whether to swing, or not to swing. While you can teach someone the principles of Christianity, you cannot make the choice for them to accept Jesus, that is up to them. When someone we've pitched the Gospel to decides it's all nonsense, it can cause a lot of gravity in our lives as Christian's. It could take a lot of innings to save just one person! And in any baseball game, if the game is tied, it goes into "extra innings," in which pitchers come in from the bull pen to pitch until one team scores, thus ending the game, and it can go as many innings as necessary to determine the winner. (Trivia Fact - The longest Baseball Game in History was on May  1, 1920, with the Brooklyn Robins at the Boston Braves.  The game went 26 innings with a final score of 1 to 1 meaning the game was finally called as a "tie"). In a lot of cases, when you "pitch" Jesus to somebody, they may not swing right away, but somewhere towards the end of the bottom of the 26th inning, they may decide to swing and hit a grand slam! Just to clarify, I'm not talking about a Denny's Grand Slam with pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage. A Grand Slam in Baseball is when the bases are loaded and the player at bat hits a home run, scoring all three runners and himself to score four runs on one hit. 

Wouldn't it be awesome if in our Christian walk, we could all pitch to a friend who hit a grand slam every day? Don't let the gravity get you down. Have some steadfastness and never lose heart! Jesus doesn't want us to give up on people. He wants us to pray them into the kingdom, even if they tell us they don't want to hear about God or Jesus anymore and want to be left alone. Everyone swings at a pitch once in awhile, and that's all you'll need to keep you going and moving on towards the next "batter up!"  Sometimes you will find people who are totally clueless no matter how hard you try to explain it to them. You can try and try, but they are so busy making it all about themselves that they just can't see the gift of Jesus right in front of them, which means, the game isn't quite over, and God may be calling for a relief pitcher to take your place. After you leave the mound, all you can do for that person is pray for them and the one that is now witnessing to them. Just remember, God works on them even after we've finished witnessing to them and at some point, they might get a hit that gets them home! 

But there is something known as boundaries that a Christian must pay attention to as well, or they are likely to fall down to the level of those they are witnessing to. That means we need to be aware of when God is telling us to walk away. You can still be their friend, but don't compromise yourself spiritually to keep them as a friend. Show them you have principles and don't ever waver, because that is exactly what the devil, (the other team?), wants you to do. 

In baseball, there are white chalk boundary lines that run down the 1st base line and the 3rd base line. They are there to determine whether a ball that has been hit down either of those lines is either foul or fair. If the ball is called fair, it is still in play, meaning the ball can be fielded by the other team to get the runner out at 1st or another runner out at 2nd, 3rd, or home plate. If the foul ball is caught, the runner is automatically out. If it is foul and not caught by a player from the other team, the batter gets another chance to hit until he actually gets a hit or strikes out. 

Just like those white chalk lines on a baseball field, there should be a type of "boundary line" that exists in our hearts and minds for when we witness to others. It's really easy to get ripped apart ourselves when the person we've been witnessing to doesn't accept Christ. We must simply trust God for them and expect good things to happen because even in the worst of times, God does not disappoint. Getting caught up in whether the person gets saved or not can shatter our own faith so we must protect it. We must learn to pray about it, walk away and wait for God to send another "pitcher" to pitch the same ideas, maybe in a different way, so that the person can be saved. God has plenty of "relief pitchers" so don't get so caught up in the question of their salvation that you yourself end up burning out! That's exactly what the devil wants! Please don't let him win? 

Sometimes a batter will swing and hit nothing but fouls anyhow, meaning they will bombard you with more and more questions, simply to waste your time. But never stop praying for them because you never know when they might hit a "fair ball," or what Jesus is going to do with your prayers for them!  Don't lose heart, just keep praying!

Sure you'll get rejected, but remember.  You are planting a "mustard seed of faith," (Matthew 17:20), and someone is going to come along and water that seed by throwing a pitch, then another, and another!  You just never know what that rejection might produce! And we should be sharing the love of Jesus with everyone!  You never know when they might hit the ball past you so fast it grazes you on it's way over the fence sending chills right up your spine!

God Bless you all for reading and I hope you will all enjoy watching your favorite teams as they play this season. I'm still waiting for the Tigers to win another World Series myself. Hopefully, someday they will actually do it! Aw, hope springs eternal! They haven't won the Series since 1984! So GO TIGERS!  

I hope you all enjoy the upcoming Major League Baseball season, or just being out with your kids while they play little league! Remember, while you are sitting in the stands this season, that the Lord's return is very near and there are many out there who need Him! The harvest is ripe, so witness your faith! (John 4:35). 

God bless you all! Now get out there and.....

PLAY BALL!

Praise God Anyhow!

"Your eyes have seen my unformed substance and in Your book were written all the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them." (Psalm 139:16). If that isn't enough to Praise God for, there's Jesus, there's eternity with God, there's continued blessings into eternity, (for they shall never end)! There's so many wonderful reasons to praise God, but sometimes our praise button can wear out.

That's what happened to me. I was having so many problems with my back that I got laid off from my job in January 2008, and I really needed that job. I was told that watching me be in pain was really hard on the staff. It had nothing to do with the job I was doing, it was more that they were concerned about me. A few weeks later, I had an MRI and was told I had Spinal Stenosis, a birth defect of the spine. It caused pain so severe I couldn't sleep at night, not even with strong pain killers. Nothing touched it, that's just how bad it was. I've been on bed rest for 7 years because I can't sit, stand, etc., for longer than five minutes at a time before my lower back begins to hurt really bad.

Then came the diagnosis of Type II Diabetes February 2014. I'm finally having success in keeping it controlled which is a good thing, praise the Lord! I'm losing weight and eating better, so I praise God for the self control He is giving me in my battle against sugar!  

Last April I had water on the knee and a finger that was bending at the first joint. I just thought it was infected but as it got worse and spread to other digits, wrists and elbows, I was referred to an RA. She told me right off the bat that it was psoriatic arthritis. I'd never had psoriasis but it ran on my Grandfather's side of the family. Guess what happens when you have psoriatic arthritis? You get psoriasis of the skin and boy does it ever itch! I looked it up and there are five different types and I think I have at least 3 of them. My body's immune system has begun attacking itself, as it does with Fibromyalgia, (caused primarily by the birth defect in my spine), and Psoriatic arthritis. The psoriatic arthritis could cause a second hit on my spine with spondylitis, another horrible painful condition of the spine. On top of all of this, they are having a very difficult time treating me because I have two different diseases that literally attack your spine not to mention your ability to fight off any infection that could come out of these other treatments they can't use.

Am I angry? A little. Am I sad? Yeah, because I'm missing the important stuff, like family, being able to drive or leave my house for doctors appointments, etc. I may be missing a lot of stuff, but I will never give up on getting well. 

Why you ask? Because I'm standing on the promises of God that's why!

"Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They shall soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint." (Isaiah 40:31).

"For my grace is sufficient for you for power is perfected in weakness. therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me." (2 Corinthians 12:9). 

"Naked I came from my Mother's womb and naked I shall return. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21).

"You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book." (Psalm 56:8).

Thank you Jesus for being my rock. Thank You for your amazing grace and how you "work all things together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purposes." (Romans 8:28).

If you need a good support group for a chronic pain issue, please contact the American Chronic Pain Association Support Group website for an online support group where you can talk with other people who have the same condition. Jesus loves you and He wants to help you through whatever it is you are going through. Please let Him help and if you are a Christian? Praise Him in all things, good and bad and see what the Lord does! 

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! God Bless you all!  

The K-LOVE 30 Day Challenge!

There's a Christian music radio station that has been putting out a challenge to their listeners to listen to nothing but their station for 30 days. I'd been listening to their station for years and then suddenly lost them due to a station change. I finally found them again and I ended up having a spiritual experience where I felt like I was standing at the edge of a cliff and God pulled me back from the brink! He then began, through His word and the music, to draw me to Himself and I began walking with Him again. "No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:44). 

So, please do this 30 day challenge? If you are interested, please go to K-Love.comK-Love.com or find it on iHeart Radio at iHeart.com. While you are doing your 30 day challenge, you should tell your friends and ask them to join you in the challenge! I promise. Even if you are a Christian, listening to Christian music for a month will change you forever! It's a way of fellowshipping with God!

The video's I've posted today are songs that have all been played on K-Love a lot but it doesn't really represent all of the great music that I've heard on this station. They play everything from Toby Mac to Tenth Avenue North on their station and some of the music will take you to a better place or a place where you know you need to get right with God. It is a great boost to my day, every day, to listen to K-Love! 

These are indeed the last days and it's time to get right with the Lord Jesus! Just ask His forgiveness and God will forgive you! The Word of God says "As far as the east is from the west; He has removed our transgressions from us to be remembered no more." (Psalm 103:12). This means your sins are immediately removed from the books in heaven. We will sin again, but we have this scripture to give us hope! "Great is His faithfulness! His mercies are new every morning!" (Lamentations 3:23). If you do not do this, you will have to answer for "every idle word spoken" in heaven during the judgment as well as other unconfessed sins. This is why I drive it home a lot that we need to be forgiven daily, because frankly, we disobey Him daily! We may not mean to, but an evil thought, deed, word, act, etc., if not asked forgiveness for, will stay on our records and that can cost us rewards in heaven on judgment day! Lamentations 3:23 shows the faithfulness of God to do what He promises in 1 John 1:9. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This is a daily thing, not just something you only need to do once.

There is nothing we must do but believe on Him, and ask His forgiveness on a regular basis (like every day?). If you do these things, you will not have to worry about eternity! Your name will be written in the Lambs Book of Life the moment you accept Christ as Lord and Savior. Nobody can take that away EVER! However, we are still flesh and blood and we still have a sinful nature, so we are going to sin. Lamentations 3:23 explains how we deal with our sin when we have gone outside the boundaries of how God wishes for us to behave. Reading the bible teaches us God's laws, Jesus teachings, which we should all be following, and we learn more than just right and wrong. We learn about wisdom, love, God's patience towards us, His Son's sacrifice for our sins so that we would not have to endure an eternity in hell, completely separated from God, and how our sins exact the same out come while we're still here on this earth. Unconfessed sins lead to a loss of rewards in heaven so we need to ask forgiveness! The bible also teaches us another very important thing. How to deal fairly with each other, love one another as Jesus loved us and how to take care of each other when one of us is down, lost a loved one, ill, in need of friendship, etc. 

Isn't it exciting? We are at the jumping off place, but when we jump we'll be jumping into the arms of Jesus who is coming soon to take us all home! Things may get a bit scary along the way as we keep our lamps well lit and wait for His return, but He will never leave us, nor forsake us. It may feel like it sometimes, but those are the times that He is carrying us because we are not strong enough to do so ourselves. I truly look forward to the day we are called up yonder! I'm anxious! I want to see Jesus!!!

I hope you enjoy these music videos and that God will touch your heart through them. If it touches you in any way, please share this blog post with family and friends and tell them about the K-Love 30 Day Challenge! If they are not yet saved remember this: "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9). 

Don't Stop Believing!

Sometimes this world can drag you down. You feel like every hallway ends with a slamming door. But don't stop trusting God or believing His promises because you can trust God to make good on what He's promised us in the bible.

Last night, I was watching Hal Lindsey. He was talking about the "everlasting Covenant" God made with Abram in Genesis 12. God confirmed the covenant with Abram in Genesis 15. Please go read Genesis 12:1-5 to see what God said He would do. He uses the 1st person, "I will" which means that He will do as He had promised and that nobody else could fulfill it but Him. In Genesis 15:7-17, God confirms this promise to Abram. He is instructed by God to bring certain animals for a sacrifice, but because God knew that Abram had a simple mind and that a transaction was being confirmed, the ritual of walking between the two halves of the animals who were sacrificed would be the confirmation of commitment of God's promise. But God put Abram into a deep sleep, and came to Him in a vision promising Abram that He would give Him the Holy Land as a possession for all of his descendants. He awoke Abram just in time for him to see the smoking fire and torch walking between the two halves of the animals, which Abram believed they would do together, but God was the Almighty! The Covenant He made with Abram could only be fulfilled by God Himself. Abram received the promise and he obeyed God which God "Credited to him as righteousness." 

The promises of God are timeless and everlasting. He sent Jesus to die a horrific death on the cross at Calvary so that if we just believed that He died for our sins, we could be forgiven and become "co-heirs" with Christ!" Those who believe are called "Saints" in the bible! We were "Chosen before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in Him." (Ephesians 1:4).

So, if we believe, we must trust that God will follow through with every promise He made in His word! Just because you feel alone, or feel like He isn't listening, there may be something He's doing in the background that you can't even imagine! As my friend put it, "He may be working on a future blessing." I found this out the hard way folks. I was in so much pain, the devil used those feelings of misery to rob me of joy, hope, my mind, etc., and I felt so lost and so alone! But God never leaves us, we leave Him! And when we are too weak to walk alone, He carries us! But when we are in misery, we tend to get really confused because we're not feeling like we're even saved? We beg Him for healing and then just get more and more pain, but that doesn't mean He's forgotten us! He actually cries with us! He loves us so much, that when we hurt, so does God! 

Just because you feel like He isn't listening, doesn't mean He doesn't hear every word, so please don't give up? Keep on trying? Life is hard. Sometimes it just downright sucks, but the gifts and promises of God can light you back up when you go dark! Read the word! Don't just read it, because even if you just pick out one scripture and mull it over for awhile, that is studying your bible! You don't have to make it a contest to see if you can read the bible through in a year! You don't have to do anything but select a few good verses, one for each day of the week, or use a Daily Devotional, which you can find online, (check the sidebar for "Daily Devotional - Bible Gateway), and use it to boost yourself in the morning everyday. 

I use Lamentations 3:23 a lot when I write. Some people don't understand that "His mercies are NEW every morning." All we have to do is say a prayer to ask for forgiveness for our sins, every morning or every night, whichever you wish, and the Holy Spirit will begin to lead you! Be humble! Get on your knees, even if it's only in your heart! He knows what you are going through, even if you're too weak, blind, misled by the devil, etc., to see it! You have to realize that His promises are AWESOME! Lean on them! Read them, believe them, have faith that God does in fact love you so much that He gave His only Son, to die for YOU! He took away your sins and if you are a believer, you are washed in the blood and made white as snow! You are already healed! I'm really ill, and I'm already thinking that either way, death or rapture? I'll be ok with it! I KNOW WHERE I WILL BE GOING WHEN I LEAVE THIS EARTH, NO MATTER HOW I END UP LEAVING IT! HALLELUJAH TO THE LAMB OF GOD! I'M SAVED! I BELIEVE HIS PROMISES AND I WILL NEVER LET THEM GO EVER AGAIN!

It's time to give it one more try. So that's what I'm going to do. Care to join me?