The Rest of the Story - The Truth Will Set You Free, Jesus IS That Truth

Here's the thought for the day: How much do you REALLY love your family, friends, 
parents, kids, spouse, etc? Enough that you are concerned about their souls? Have you 
shared Jesus with them? Do you care if they split hell wide open?


and here's my answer.... I love each and every one of you enough to tell you the truth. The
 truth is... If you don't get your life right and get a real personal relationship with God and
 seek Him and His approval rather than man's (or woman's), you will miss the Kingdom of 
God and living throughout eternity. That thought may not bother some people but it's 
where you will spend eternity that is the problem. A relationship with Jesus is not just a 
word here and there. It's not yelling, "Oh Jesus" when a car almost sideswipes you, it's not 
being sick or having a loved one that is sick and praying for healing one day and forgetting
WHO healed as soon as you/they are well. When you are in a true relationship with God,
 you strive to live according to HIS will. You stay away from evil and "all appearance" of 
evil. You follow HIS laws. Some people think that because they don't kill they haven't sinned or that telling "a little white lie" isn't as bad as killing or stealing, well from what I read in the Bible, SIN IS SIN, there is NO big sin, little sin. Yes I love you and yes I care about your soul. Please get your life right with God and then strive daily to keep it that way. We aren't perfect any of us, it's a daily walk not just a one time thing.

The first thing you have to do is accept Jesus into your life.  Accept that HE IS the Son of God and HE DID come to die for all of our sins.  Then you must confess your sins to God, and yes HE does already know them but true repentance comes when you yourself acknowledge them as sins.  The Bible says if you will ask for forgiveness HE will grant it, doesn't say might or maybe but that HE will.  

1 John 1:9(NASB)

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Many people today think the Bible is "just a good book of morals".  It is a good book of morals to live by but it is so much more than that.  It is the living breathing Word of the Most High God.  The instructions laid out in the Bible are not just "good words to live by", they are the life of a Child of God.  You can't pick and choose what you want from it.  When Jesus died on the cross He completed all the man made laws in the Bible, but HE did NOT do away with God's laws.  Those laws being the 10 Commandments.  Even Jesus followed those.  He said, "if you love me, keep my commandments".  He added two commandments that people today think override God's 10 but they don't, they add to.  

My point is that not only do you need to confess Jesus and confess your sins to God but you need to read and study your Bible to learn the ways of God and what He wants and expects.  The Bible tells us that sin cannot enter into God's Kingdom.  The Bible goes on to tell us what sin is, not just with the 10 commandments but in other verses too.  Sin and unrighteousness are the same thing.  

Read this: Proverbs 6:16-19, 16 There are six things which the Lord hates,Yes, seven which are an abomination [i]to Him:

17 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,And hands that shed innocent blood,
18 18 A heart that devises wicked plans,Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 19 A false witness who utters lies,And one who [j]spreads strife among brothers.

Broken down this means pride, lying, killing, trouble making, looking for evil.  

There are other things the Lord hates, adultery, idolatry, fornication, drunkenness, stealing, coveting, fighting.  Most of these don't need explanations but some people try to justify what they do.  (Example:  my husband/wife doesn't give me what I want/need, I love them but I'm not satisfied so I go elsewhere, but I always come home to them.- That is adultery.  Example 2:  NOTHING, I mean NOTHING gets in the way of my football game, or my exercise class, or my soap opera, etc. etc. - that is idolatry; Example 3:  We can have sex, it isn't adultery because we aren't married. - that is fornication.  Drunkenness, stealing, lying, fighting I think needs no explanation.  Coveting - I want to keep up with the Jones, Rockefellers, etc.  I want that car that he has or that dress she has or that husband, that job etc.)  Sin = unrighteousness.  

The Bible says we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory but it doesn't say we are hopeless.  It is a daily walk.  We stumble, we fall but we need to get up and move forward, never looking back.  Ask forgiveness as often as we realize we have sinned.  Ask forgiveness again during prayer even if we aren't sure.  Talk to God all the time, not just when we need something.  What family member or best friend would stick around if we only talked to them once or twice a year or when we needed something and especially if we never came back and said thank you.  

Being a Child of God isn't hard, you don't give up anything, you gain everything.  

Do you love your family, your friends, etc?  This is only a part of the truth you MUST share with them, you must care about where they will spend eternity. You must care about their soul.  You must love them, even if you don't always like them.  You are responsible for what you tell them AND what you DON'T tell them AND what they see you do.  YOU will answer to God one day.  When HE says, what did you do with MY Son?  What will you say? When HE says what did you do for those you love to help them make it into the Kingdom and into Heaven? How did you show your love? What will you say?

As Jesus told Peter, "If you love me, feed my sheep". 

John 21:17(NASB)

17 He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you [a]love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you[b]love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I [c]love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend My sheep.

John 21:17 (KJV)

17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
If you love HIM, feed HIS sheep, if you love them, feed them. HE doesn't mean physical food, HE means Spiritual.
Love you all.  

I truly love you.  If you are committing any of the above sins, you WILL NOT make it into Heaven.  I truly love you, if you do not confess your sins, accept Jesus and live your life for God, you WILL NOT make it into Heaven.  I truly love you, if you continue to live in sin, you will die in sin and you WILL NOT make it into Heaven.  
I truly love you, I want us both to walk this walk and talk this talk for the Lord and make it into not only Heaven but the Kingdom of God that is coming.  I'm not perfect by any means, it is a daily walk and sometimes a daily struggle but the key is to keep on keeping on.  

Matthew 24:13(NASB)

13 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 

How Can So Many Be So Right and STILL Be Wrong?

How can so many be so right and still be so wrong?  That question comes to my mind all the time.  I read some great posts by christians about observing the Sabbath or the coming of the Lord.  Posts filled with truth and backed up with Scripture.  Then I see horoscopes or pictures of half naked people or worse yet, the Word of God taken completely out of context in the next post.  That is why I ask, how can so many be so right and still be so wrong?  I already know the answer to that but it saddens me because the church, God's church, God's people are so easily blinded, so easily led astray.  I'm no exception, my only saving grace is God, again, MY ONLY SAVING GRACE IS GOD.   There is an old saying, "there but for the grace of God go I".  If it were not for the convicting Holy Spirit, for putting on God's armor every day, I don't know what I would be doing, (and I might add I don't want to know!).  Thank you God for never leaving me.  There was a time when I "thought" I was right but I was so wrong.  And please don't get me wrong, I am NOT saying now that I'm always right.  The difference is now I know how fallible I am, now I know that I can be right, but I can be so wrong too.

There was a time I followed man's doctrines and believed man's word over the Word of God.
Why would I do that you might ask:
1)  Because I did not read the Word of God myself.
2)  Because I did not have a deep personal relationship with God.
3)  Because I was unwilling to let go of my beliefs and man-made traditions and let God teach me.
4)  Because I was scared I would have to give up some of the things I enjoyed.
5)  Because it was "easier" to listen to a preacher and believe him, than to study and read the Bible for myself
Wow, that #4 because sounded just like my excuses many many years ago for not giving my life totally back to the Lord.  Because I was afraid I would have to give up some things I enjoyed.  That's a subject for another post but let's just say, I didn't give up anything because I HAD to, it all went willingly.

Back to how can you be right and still be wrong.  The Bible says to "be diligent to show thyself approved".  (2 Timothy 2:15) NASB.  Meriam Webster defines diligent as characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort : painstaking diligent
 worker>.  Steady, earnest, energetic, painstaking?This means God wants us to stay in His Word, to study it, to grow with HIM, not with the world.  We won't get it completely right until the day HE changes our bodies from mortal to immortal, but we can work diligently to spread the TRUTH of HIS Word.  

Here are some things to get you started to search out for yourself.  But before you do, IF you do, I ask you to pray sincerely for God to show you the truth, EVEN if it goes against everything you have been told and taught.  Ask God to open your eyes and ears of understanding.  Be receptive to letting the Holy Spirit teach you.
Ready:  Here goes, God's laws, the 10 Commandments, the 4th Commandment, rapture, holidays, (in particular, Christmas and Easter, trinity, King James Bible, Sunday observance, God's true church.  That's just a few of the things I can think of that I had to relearn.  Now in teaching me the truth about these things, God took me other places ALONG with His Word (the Bible).  The first thing I can remember God showing me was about the rapture.  The word rapture isn't in the Bible!  When you look up how the rapture "theory" came to be, you find out it was an idea started by man!!  You will find a great many "arguments" pro and con but praying and opening yourself up to God will show you the truth.  Arguing fact is one thing, proving and backing up with fact, that's how you get to the truth.  Always back those facts up with Scripture.  The Bible, contrary to what some "say" does NOT contradict itself.  It proves itself, time and time again.
How can so many be right and still be wrong?  By following the world instead of the Word.
God bless you as you study for the truth.

Unlocking the Power of Prayer

Hebrews 11:6, But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
How do we diligently seek Him?  Prayer, constant communication.
James 5:16,Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Quite a lot of people believe you can only pray when you are kneeling, either with your head bowed and your hands folded or with your arms outstretched and looking upward (while still on your knees),  Screaming out and crying to God to make sure He hears you.  Stay with me, don't cut me off because you don't like what I just said and think well she's a flake because you can and do pray like this.  I am NOT saying this is not one way to pray, but I am saying this is ONLY one way to pray.   There are lots of ways and God hears every single one, whether you are crying out loud, screaming, whispering or having an internal talk with Him in your mind.   The key to prayer is diligence, frequency and especially faith!  The wonderful thing about God is that you can go to Him anytime, in any situation or circumstance and in any manner that you are able to do at that moment.  He doesn't care, all He cares about is that you are talking to Him.  Do you know He waits and longs for us to do that?  The key ingredient to ANY relationship is communication, how could it be any less with our loving Father, our creator?  
What I hope to share with you is some major points to help you increase or possibly have a more "effectual, fervent" prayer life.  That is my prayer for you and my leading from the Lord today.
Number 1, you can never be disqualified as a person of prayer so don't let anyone discourage you (including yourself).  Don't ever think you can't pray, if you can talk, you can pray.  Picture a loving Father who is always available, never ignores you, never rejects you, is never to busy for you and is always waiting for you.  Don't allow discouragement over an unanswered prayer to cause you to doubt that God has heard you.  If you have received His son Jesus and are praying in His name, (John 16:23, And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give [it] you.), then God hears you, and something is happening, whether you can see it right at this moment or not.  He is on it!  Every time you pray, you are advancing God's purpose for you.  Our spiritual well-being depends on two kinds of regular prayer.  One is our prayer between us and God, the other is enlisting the prayers of other believers, praying for one another.  (Matthew 18:19, Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.)  We are not in this battle of life alone, God will fight every battle for us, but, we have to call on Him and believe that He is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do.  Then we have other soldiers to go to battle with and for us and that is where prayer warriors come in.  Never be afraid to ask God for anything (in Jesus name) and never be afraid to ask someone to help you pray.  You don't have to tell them even specifically what it is, God knows, they just need to pray in agreement with you.  The other thing is seek to know the will of God so you can pray the will of God.   James 4:3, (KJV) Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume [it] upon your lusts.  Or more simply put:  James 4:3 (NIV) When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.  That does not mean that God will not give you things you ask for, but we have to keep in mind that He will not (cannot) give us things that are contrary to His word.  If what we are praying and asking for goes against any of the ten commandments (God's laws) then we are praying amiss.  If we are praying harm against someone else, we are praying amiss.  You might wonder who would do that but unfortunately there are people who do.  If something we want would take something away from someone else or cause them distress or harm, we are praying amiss.  Sometimes we don't think of the consequences of our prayers on other people.  Because of the length of this blog, I am going to continue this later but I would like to leave you with this.
1) Speak to God anytime, anyplace.  2) It is important to have some quality alone time in prayer with God, (just keep in mind, that is NOT the only time you can talk to Him, so talk to Him quietly in your mind anytime, even if it's just to say, I love you!)  3)  Don't worry if you feel like you are or can only pray for yourself right then, praying for others will come, God knows your heart and feels your pain.  I don't want to reduce prayer to a routine, repetitive prayer or formula but here are a few suggestions to include in your prayer time:  1)  Tell Him how much you love Him, He never gets tired of hearing it, just like we don't get tired of hearing it.  2)  Thank Him for everything He has done for you, if you are particularly thankful for something, mention that specifically.  3)  Admit your dependence on Him, that you are powerless without Him and that you need His strength to make it through your situations.  4)  Confess anything you feel you have done wrong, if nothing comes to mind at that particular moment, just simply ask Him to forgive you where you may have sinned against Him and/or others.  5)  Ask Him for forgiveness for others and express your own forgiveness for harms or wrongs you feel others have done.  6)  Tell Him everything that is on your heart and mind, release it all to Him, good, bad, ugly, everything.  He is the One that you can trust with your inner most feelings and secrets and He won't go tell anyone.  7)  Give Him all your requests, all your needs, all your desires.  8)  Wait for Him to speak to your Heart, this requires allowing Him a little quiet time to speak to you also.  9)  Praise Him for His being in your life and everything He is and does.  Tell Him over and over how much you love Him if that is what your heart is feeling.  10)  You don't need fancy words, or eloquent speeches.  God knows your heart, He knows how you talk, how you think.  Be yourself, come to His throne humbly and with meekness, with an attitude of gratitude.  I've gone to Him at times when I didn't even feel like praying and my faith was weak and said, "Father, I love you but I can't feel You.  I want to pray but nothing is coming, help me, lead me, guide me, comfort me and hold me until I get through this.  Don't let go of me."  You know what?  He did!!!  Praise God.  My relationship and walk with Him is the most important thing in my life and there have been times when I wasn't even sure I could believe He would answer my prayers but those times I asked Him to hang on to me because I knew it would pass.  Those were my lowest valleys, we all have them, we are not alone.  He is with us.  What does it say in Psalms 23?, "yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me", translators say this can also mean our darkest valley.  We have nothing to fear, we serve a powerful God who is fully capable to meet our every need, our every desire.  We only have to have faith the grain of a mustard seed, look at one sometime, see just how tiny it is.  Don't put limits on God and don't put limits on yourself and your communication with Him.  Constant, fervent prayer is simply put - constant communication.  Talk to Him like He is your parent, your best friend, your partner and standing right beside you, because He is.
In another blog I will list some reasons to pray (as if any of us need those, lol) and also an easy way to remember who to pray for.  If these help you praise God, if you already know them, praise God.
In love,
Til next time
God bless

Christmas - Fact or Fiction

The more I study the more I understand why Jesus said it would be easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle. (Matthew 19:24). The enemy is so good at what he does that we commit sin after sin without even realizing at the time we are doing it. The biggest way he gets to us and causes us to break our relationship with God is through "little white lies". The Bible says to keep "all" God's commandments. Even Jesus himself said He did not come to do away with the law but to fulfill it. Meaning He did not do away with any of God's previous laws and especially the 10 commandments (laws). One of the ten commandments that just about anyone can quote you is "thou shalt not lie". So why then as christians is it so easy for us to do and to excuse ourselves for by saying we are doing it for the good of others? A little white lie to keep from hurting someones feelings, a little white lie to cover up another little white lie. The biggest lie of all - "yes Virginia, there IS a santa claus"!! If we thought more of God and less of ourselves we would realize earlier that we are breaking God's commandments all in the name of keeping "Jesus birthday".
I see things from friends all over the internet asking me to join causes and posting signs, "keep Christ in Christmas". News flash: Christ NEVER was in Christmas!! Christmas was started way way before the birth of Christ. Not only that, it began as a pagan holiday to celebrate the birth of the "sun" god (little g). Like many secular holidays, the church incorporated it into christian beliefs "to give christians a way to celebrate without sinning"!!! Plus one for the enemy, the church, christians, bought it. Not only that, they took it one step further and incorporated a lie, thereby breaking the commandments. Teaching your children to believe in santa claus. What happens when they are older and you have to tell them there really is no santa and you've lied to them their entire young life. At the same time, their entire young life you've led them to believe that they can trust you, that you would never lie to them or do anything to hurt them. Any of you reading this that remembers telling your children the truth, what was their reaction. To say that most of them are hurt is an understatement. Many of them refuse to accept the truth for a long time after they are told, and many are angry at their parents.
I have been intensely studying the Bible, searching for God's truths and when you open your Bible and ask God to open up His word in your heart and open your eyes of understanding, He will give you what you ask for. I have been just as guilty in the past of celebrating this holiday, I've believed like many that Christmas was a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. I love the Lord with all my heart, mind, soul and body and I loved Christmas because it was celebrating Him, I thought. Once I actually started studying I've learned that not only Christmas but also Easter are pagan holidays. Please don't take my word for it, study it out for yourself, but, be willing to accept the truth when God reveals it to you. Be ready to change your way of thinking. Remember if you break one commandment, you've broken them all, there is no big sin, little sin. Remember that keeping God's commandments and laws is crucial to your salvation but mostly remember that YOU are responsible for your children's salvation. You are responsible for them learning the truth. We say we teach our children Christmas because we love them, because we want them to love Jesus and honor His birth. Nowhere in the Bible does God tell us to celebrate Jesus birthday, only that He was born. What we need to remember is that He was born and died for our salvation. If the day mattered, God would have put it in the Bible. He has given us Holy Days in the Bible to celebrate and those we should keep. If we have a prayer of making it into the Kingdom of God we've got to wake up, we have got to quit incorporating the world into our lives, into our children's lives. God has something to say about this in the Bible - Matthew 15:9, But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
And in Matthew 15:8, Jesus said: This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
In all "truth and honesty" how much glory does Christ get on the very day the world celebrates as His birthday? How many of us would go to a birthday party for someone we care about and take gifts not to that person but to everyone else attending the party!!!! That's exactly what we do on Christmas. We give gifts to everyone else that is there and how many of us actually even take time to honor Christ? As I said earlier, I was just as guilty. This has been one of the hardest truths for me to wrap my mortal mind around because Christmas was my favorite holiday BEFORE I learned the truth. Why do we need a special day to buy gifts or show our family that we love them? We are free to do that at anytime. We should be more concerned with our salvation, our children's salvation and the signs that we truly are living in the last days. It isn't easy sometimes to learn and accept the truth but if we have a hope of making it into the Kingdom of God, we must do this.
Christmas is NOT a command of God, it is a tradition of men. Mark 7:6-9,

6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
God gave us free will but His original plan was that all might be saved. It's up to us what we do with the truth. We can't just pick and choose what part of God's word we want to believe or live. He gave us the Bible for instruction, nothing can be added to it or taken away from it. You either follow God or man, your choice.
Now that you have learned the truth, you can't unlearn it. I pray that you take it, pray over it and ask God to help you do the right thing in your life, your children's lives, grandchildren's lives, whoever you might speak to.
God bless