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My friends, the Lord loves you, and it is only natural for us to thank God for you. God chose  you to be the first ones to be saved. His Spirit made you holy, and you put your faith in the truth. God used our preaching as his way of inviting you to share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. My  friends, this is why you must remain faithful and follow closely what we taught you in person and by our letters. God our Father loves us.  He treats us with undeserved grace and has given us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope. We  pray that our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father will encourage you and help you always to do and say the right thing.

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17  CEV

According to these verses it could be accurately said that in some sense the Thessalonian christians were the "first ones to be saved."  And that must have been a remarkable experience for them. Peace and joy and all the other fruit of the Spirit filling their hearts and minds like they had never known or even seen before.  

But there will come a day when the last person to accept Jesus Christ turns his or her heart over to the Lord!  The Door to Heaven is now open because of the Blood of Jesus, but on a day that God has decided there will be no more opportunity to accept the Lord and be saved!  No one knows when that day will come, and it will arrive with terrifying finality!  The Door will shut and you will be lost if you don't know Jesus!

Put every other priority in your life aside and let your heart run to Jesus!  If you choose to ignore Him, you will regret it forever!  This is an EMERGENCY call and nothing else matters.  Don't put Jesus in a "Something to do tomorrow" list!

Move Jesus to the top of your TO DO LIST and give your heart to Jesus now!  Don't wait until tomorrow or a more convenient time!  That time may never come! When you leave this life you don't want your list for tomorrow to include "Accepting Jesus."

"Lord Jesus the only thing that matters for the rest of my life is whether or not I accepted You as my Lord and Savior! May Your Holy and Righteous Name be praised now and forever, Amen." 

Knowing About God?

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They know about God, but they don't honor him or even thank him. Their thoughts are useless, and their stupid minds are in the dark.  They claim to be wise, but they are fools.  They don't worship the glorious and eternal God. Instead, they worship idols that are made to look like humans who cannot live forever, and like birds, animals, and reptiles.  So God let these people go their own way. They did what they wanted to do, and their filthy thoughts made them do shameful things with their bodies.  They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped God's creation instead of God, who will be praised forever. Amen. 

Romans 1:21-25 - CEV

What do you know about God?  And if you know anything about Him, do you honor Him and thank Him?  If you do not, these verses warn that you will eventually give up the truth about God and accept a lie!  

You can know everything there is to know about God and still spend eternity separated from Him!  It is not enough that you have mastered all the available facts about God.  Knowing "about" Him is not the same as "Knowing" Him!  

At the age of 6 my parents enrolled me in a school that provided Bible classes every day.  I attended that same school for 16 years and, if my math is correct had close to 3,000 hours of Bible study along with all my other education!

But I never remember, even one class about the personal relationship with Jesus that is essential to walking with Him!  Please understand I am not criticizing the Bible classes.  They gave me so very much useful and precious information about Jesus.  But they did not actively encourage me to commit to my daily walk with Him!  

It doesn't matter how much to know about Jesus, if you don't know Him, it will all be for nothing!  Bible knowledge is wonderful because it gives you the vocabulary of Heaven so you can speak with Jesus in His native language!  Truthfully, the more you know Jesus, the more you will want to know about Him, but simply knowing about Him is not enough!

"Lord Jesus, I want to know You, not just know about You!  May all I know about You help me to know You better today and every day for the rest of my life.  Praise Your Holy Name, now and forever.  Amen."   

Wisely Using Time

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Our Lord, in all generations you have been our home.  You have always been God— long before the birth of the mountains, even before you created the earth and the world.  At your command we die and turn back to dust, but a thousand years mean nothing to you! They are merely a day gone by or a few hours in the night.  You bring our lives to an end just like a dream. We are merely tender grass that sprouts and grows in the morning, but dries up by evening.  Your furious anger frightens and destroys us, and you know all our sins, even those we do in secret.  Your anger is a burden each day we live, then life ends like a sigh.  We can expect seventy years, or maybe eighty, if we are healthy, but even our best years bring trouble and sorrow. Suddenly our time is up, and we disappear.  No one knows the full power of your furious anger, but it is as great as the fear that we owe to you.  Teach us to use wisely all the time we have. 

Psalms 90:1-12 - CEV

I have passed the 70 year mark in my life, but not yet reached 80.  These verses clearly say that the amount of time we have here on earth is decided by God and not by our wisdom or strength.  My goal in life should not be "living as long as possible," but rather I should seek to "use wisely all the time I have."

The idea of retirement is not one you find in the Bible.  Why should someone with the most experience and likely, most wisdom remove themselves from serving in relevant positions of leadership?

The longest recorded life in the Bible was a man named Methuselah, who lived 969  years.  But as far as we know that was his greatest achievement.  In all those years nothing is recorded about what he did that was worthy of mention.

Jesus lived 33 years before the Crucifixion.  But, of course the significance of His life had nothing to do with how long He lived.  Jesus fulfilled every expectation God had for His life.  Jesus never sinned and then He submitted Himself to die on the Cross so that we could live with Him forever in Heaven!

If you are listening to or reading these words, you have this moment to Glorify God by what you  Think, Do or say!  Use this moment wisely, and if God Wills you will have opportunity to use the next moment in time the same way!  

"Lord Jesus show me how to use this moment and every moment for the rest of my life so that You will be glorified in all of them!    May Your Wonderful Name be praised now and forever!  Amen."

Kingdom Within You

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Some Pharisees asked Jesus when God's kingdom would come. He answered, “God's kingdom isn't something you can see.  There is no use saying, ‘Look! Here it is’ or ‘Look! There it is.’ God's kingdom is here with you.” 

Luke 17:20-21 - CEV

Some translations of these verses say that God’s Kingdom is in you, not just with you.  As a follower of Jesus Christ, Jesus is the King of your life and you are His loyal subject.  And all of that, is going on in your heart, all the time.  

How do you know that you are a genuine Christian?  You know by what is happening in your heart!  If your actions are based on how you want to appear to others and not on what your heart desires because you belong to Jesus then something is wrong.

If the Kingdom of God is within you, then Jesus, through the Holy Spirit living in your heart will be directing your steps, words and actions every day!  If you are not a citizen of the Kingdom you can pretend to be part of the Kingdom and some will be deceived, but not the Lord!

“Lord Jesus, may the focus of my heart be on You and doing Your Will as Your Kingdom lives within me.  May Your Spirit come into my heart and rule my life, now and forever.  Amen” 

All About Christ's Love

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I kneel in prayer to the Father.  All beings in heaven and on earth receive their life from him.  God is wonderful and glorious. I pray that his Spirit will make you become strong followers and that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. Stand firm and be deeply rooted in his love.  I pray that you and all God's people will understand what is called wide or long or high or deep. I want you to know all about Christ's love, although it is too wonderful to be measured. Then your lives will be filled with all that God is. 

Ephesians 3:14-19

God wants you to know all about Christ's love!  The love of Christ is seen by what you give, not by what you get!  

I believe, the love of Christ is so great that He would have gone to the Cross, even if He knew that no one would accept His sacrifice!  

Humans sometimes speak of "falling in love." Falling is an accident, but loving someone is no accident.  Real love is a purposeful choice.  Choosing to love someone is all about them, not about you!  Jesus paid the full price for the sins of every person ever born as it says in 1 John 2:2.  But, of course Jesus knew that all men would not accept Him!  

Loving Jesus is not about what you can get from Him, but it is about what you can give to the Lord!  Jesus doesn't need you money or your land.  He owns it all anyway!  The only thing you have that Jesus desires to have and won't take by force, is your heart!  The real definition of "Free Will" is the ability of man to give his heart to Jesus!  That is "the way" you can bless Jesus today!  

Don't worry about understanding "theology" and having a perfect view of all the things of God.  Concern yourself with giving more of your heart to Jesus!  Whatever there is in your heart that you are withholding from Jesus, let go of it today and lay it at the feet of the Lord!   

"But what do I get for loving Jesus?"  The answer to that question is simple.  If you spend all your time focusing on Jesus, His blessings will come in many ways!  But if you spend your time focusing on the blessings, your love for Him will fade and so will the joys of loving Him!

"Lord Jesus, thank You forever for loving me, but most of all thank You for letting me love You!  Show me some new way today that I can express my love for You!  May Your Holy and Righteous Name be praised now and forever!  Amen."

Ponder the Perfect Law

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You must stop doing anything immoral or evil. Instead be humble and accept the message planted in you to save you.  Obey God's message! Don't fool yourselves by just listening to it.  If you hear the message and don't obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave.  But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget. 

James 1:21-25

Your eyes can be a window to flood your soul with God's most beautiful of creations!  But they can also be a door to sinful imaginations.  When you use the most amazing gift of sight to fill your heart with evil desire, you use the gift of God for evil purposes! 

The thing you look at will eventually control your life!  Pornography does that to a person who feeds on its life destructive character.  When you look at and meditate on something that God says you cannot have without engaging in sin, you are on the road to destruction!

But when you look at and ponder "the perfect law that sets you free," you move closer to Jesus and His will for your life!  

It is important to know that God made your eyes with the ability to quickly close and shut out anything you should not see.  He also made eyes so you can keep them open and stare at His righteousness and the beauty of His Creation!  Learn how to close your eyes to the evil around you and keep them open to see the Beauty of Jesus!

"Lord Jesus, help me to never stop looking at the perfect law that sets me free!  And help me to close my eyes to the evil that wants to draw me away from You.  May Your Holy and Righteous Name be praised now and forever!  Amen."

Loving Others and Trusting God

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When we love others, we know we belong to the truth, and we feel at ease in the presence of God. But even if we don't feel at ease, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.  Dear friends, if we feel at ease in the presence of God, we will have the courage to come near him.  He will give us whatever we ask, because we obey him and do what pleases him.  God wants us to have faith in his Son Jesus Christ and to love each other. This is also what Jesus taught us to do. 

1 John 3:19-23

Do you feel, "AT EASE" in the presence of God?  That means you are comfortable when God is near!  The only way to be peaceful when you are close to God is to know that He has nothing against you!

And the only way for God to have nothing against you is when you have been certified "Sin Free" by the Blood of Jesus! 

Then you can have the courage to come near Him and ask Him for the desires of a heart that is given completely to Jesus Christ!  The desires of your heart will surely please God when you live your life to do His will!  

Loving others and trusting Jesus will fill every day of your life!  Let nothing else be the focus of your life as a follower of Jesus!  Then being near to God will be where you will be most comfortable and at peace!

"Lord Jesus, let loving others and trusting You fill the 24 hours of this and every day for the rest of my life.  May Your Holy and Righteous Name be praised now and forever, Amen!"

  

From Deep Inside You

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On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, "If you are thirsty, come to me and drink!  Have faith in me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say."  Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit, who would be given to everyone that had faith in him. 

John 7:37-39a

The greatest evidence of your faith is not seeing mountains move, the dead being raised, or even walking on water!  The most amazing result of faith in Jesus Christ is the "life-giving water flowing from deep inside you."

Out of your heart will flow all kinds of encouraging and uplifting words, thoughts and deeds!  When you completely trust Jesus for every moment of your life, you will know for certain that what is coming out of your heart is from the Holy Spirit!  Like a small child who continually blames someone else for his or her actions, you will deflect all the praise and glory to the Lord, and take none of it for yourself! 

But when your faith falters, out of your heart will flow fruit that does not come from the Holy Spirit!  Fear will occupy where faith once ruled and joy will move away for anger and revenge to take its place!

It is not because you have failed, but rather because you let go of the Faith that had filled your heart.  When you grab hold again of Faith and trust in Jesus the Water that gives life will once again flow from inside you!  

"Lord Jesus, trusting You is all I need to do in this life! Give me the faith to make the path clear for Your Holy Spirit to use me today.  Praise Your Holy Name, now and forever, Amen!"



  

Begin Where They Are

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The Lord's angel said to Philip, “Go south along the desert road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza.”  So Philip left. An important Ethiopian official happened to be going along that road in his chariot. He was the chief treasurer for Candace, the Queen of Ethiopia. The official had gone to Jerusalem to worship and was now on his way home. He was sitting in his chariot, reading the book of the prophet Isaiah.  The Spirit told Philip to catch up with the chariot.  Philip ran up close and heard the man reading aloud from the book of Isaiah. Philip asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?”  The official answered, “How can I understand unless someone helps me?” He then invited Philip to come up and sit beside him.  The man was reading the passage that said, “He was led like a sheep on its way to be killed. He was silent as a lamb whose wool is being cut off, and he did not say a word.  He was treated like a nobody and did not receive a fair trial. How can he have children, if his life is snatched away?”  The official said to Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or about someone else?”  So Philip began at this place in the Scriptures and explained the good news about Jesus. 

Acts 8:26-35

If you want to tell someone else about Jesus Christ, begin where they are at that moment!  The message of Jesus is ready to speak loudly to the heart of every man or woman on earth!

For someone to be ready to hear the Gospel all they need is a heart that is beating and ears to hear!  But where do I start?

I believe that speaking the Name of Jesus in the hearing of anyone is certainly a good beginning.  As you do that, say something about Him that is praise worthy!  Who Jesus is and what He did on the Cross is the message that all men need to hear!

All men have sinned and Jesus died so that they don't have to die!  All you must do is turn your heart to Him and obey His every Word!  It really is that simple, but we try to make it so complicated.

"Lord Jesus, give me someone today to tell about You and the marvelous hope You give to everyone who calls on Your Name.  Praise Your Holy and Righteous Name now and forever, Amen!"      

Life Without Jesus

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With all my wisdom I tried to understand everything that happens here on earth. And God has made this so hard for us humans to do.  I have seen it all, and everything is just as senseless as chasing the wind.  If something is crooked, it can't be made straight; if something isn't there, it can't be counted.  I said to myself, “You are by far the wisest person who has ever lived in Jerusalem. You are eager to learn, and you have learned a lot.”  Then I decided to find out all I could about wisdom and foolishness. Soon I realized that this too was as senseless as chasing the wind.  The more you know, the more you hurt; the more you understand, the more you suffer. 



Ecclesiastes 1:13-18

I have never really enjoyed reading the Book of Ecclesiastes.  All through the Book, Solomon who was the wisest man who ever lived says that life is meaningless!  It is not an encouraging message to say the least.  

But then, this morning as I was reading it again, I realized that Solomon did not know anything about Jesus Christ!  The Savior of all is not mentioned in the Book of Ecclesiastes.  Perhaps the Book could be called "Life Without Jesus."  

Even if you know about God, "Life Without Jesus" is indeed meaningless. 

Without Jesus there is no way to have your sins wiped out!  Without Jesus there is no promise of an Eternity in Heaven!  Without Jesus life itself is indeed meaningless!

Jesus gives meaning and purpose to everything in this world.  Jesus is the only way you can "connect" with God.  The fact that God exists is pretty evident when you look up at the stars.  How to establish a relationship with Him is not obvious without Jesus.  

As a follower of Jesus Christ you may occasionally struggle with discouragement or even depression.  The best way to defeat those and all attacks by Satan is for you to keep Jesus Christ close to your heart and mind and think about Him all day long!  Pray without ceasing because when you cease to pray, you open the door for Satan to speak tempting thoughts to your heart!  

Even if you were the wisest man who ever lived, life would be meaningless without Jesus!  But even the poor and uneducated can live a gloriously successful life here on earth with Jesus Christ!  Jesus gives meaning and purpose to everything!

"Lord Jesus, You are the explanation of all the mysteries of life!  You make everything worthwhile and You overwhelm all the troubles in this life with Your Amazing Love and Grace!  May Your Holy and Righteous Name be praised now and forever, Amen!"

Wonder Filled Life

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But God was merciful! We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much he made us alive with Christ, and God's gift of undeserved grace is what saves you. God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus, and he has given us a place beside Christ in heaven.  God did this so in the future world he could show how truly good and kind he is to us because of what Christ Jesus has done.  You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own.  It isn't something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about. God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. This is why he sent Christ to make us what we are. 

Ephesians 2:4-10

Have you ever heard someone say: "God has a wonderful plan for your life?"

That certainly is true, but you must understand the word "Wonderful."  Perhaps it would be better said that God has a "Wonder Filled" plan for your life! 

As a follower of Jesus you will see things that no one else will see.  You will feel the Holy Spirit come into your heart and mind and control you in every way. You will see things greater than the "7 Wonders of the World" in the lives of those around you who also love Jesus!

Your life will be Wonder Filled!  You will not question the existence of miracles today, because all around you, all the time you will see the miraculous power of God working!

"Lord Jesus, You are the Wonder of my life!  Nothing compares to knowing You and having You, Jesus as my Lord and Shepherd, forever!  Praise Your Holy and Righteous Name, now and always!  Amen!"