THIS ISN'T "LET'S MAKE A DEAL"

Contrary to popular opinion, (both in AND out of the church), God does not play, "Let's Make a Deal", nor is HE Burger King.  He doesn't trade one thing for another and HE doesn't serve everything up "our" way.  
If you have gone to God begging for one thing or another, health, job, money, etc. and have been blessed enough to get that prayer answered. It is NOT because you promised God you would go to church, or promised Him you would read your Bible more or pray more.  It could be for a number of reasons but it is NOT through anything you did that God blessed your life or someone else's life other than you prayed and hopefully you believed.  But even if you had a few doubts and God came through for you, that's just God.  More than likely He answered that prayer for you already knowing that you only meant what you said because you were desperate or scared.  More than likely He answered that prayer for you to let you know how faithful HE is, even if you aren't.  To show you how much HE loves you even if you don't show Him.
How many "deals" have you made with God lately?  How many of your bargains have you kept?  I don't just mean a day or couple of days, I mean diligently trying to do what you told Him you would do. I know about this "Let's make a Deal" game, I played it in the past myself.  Until one day God spoke to my heart and convicted my Spirit and I totally gave my life to Him.  I realized that He had done far more for me than I could ever repay even IF He DID play the game.  

There is NOTHING I can exchange for Jesus giving His life for me.  NO deal I can make sweeter than the gift of Salvation that God gives.  NOTHING to compare to living in Eternity with God the Father and Jesus the Son.  NOTHING.

If you've made some bargains with God lately, now is the time to say, "Father, please forgive me for I truly did not know what I was doing".  Now is the time to say, "God is able to save us but, no matter what, I will serve Him".  As Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo said before walking into the fiery furnace.  "Even if God doesn't save us, we will NOT deny Him, we will not serve other gods". (paraphrase)
Daniel 3:16-18
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. 17 [a]If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; [b]and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

What has God done for you lately?  Things you haven't even asked for: 1) let you wake up this morning, 2) A roof over your head, 3) food on your table, 4) the internet if you are reading this right now, even if it is free internet at the library.  

I'm just trying to show that God blesses us each and every day but it won't always be this way.  Now we get to the serious business.  Many of you, especially if you are my age, have heard parents, grandparents talk about the tribulation and the second coming of the Lord.  Unfortunately OUR children have not heard it enough and their children?? Their children probably haven't heard it at all.  Unless it's from you or they are blessed enough to be in a good God fearing, Bible believing church with a Pastor that preaches the truth of God's Word.  

This to my children's generation:  If you do not raise your children in church and to believe, worship and honor God, do not expect them to do those things when they grow up.
Proverbs 22:6 (NASB) has this to say:  6 Train up a child [a]in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Notice it says, "train up a child in the way he should go" first.  They have to have something to go back to or not depart from.  You are not doing them a favor by not teaching them about God when they are young.  Another thing you must keep in mind is that children learn more by observing than by being told.  In other words, they mimic what you do whether you want them to or not.  When they are grown their thoughts will be, well it wasn't important to my parents so it must not be that big of a deal.  
Remember that while they are small YOU are responsible for their teaching.  YOU will be held accountable on judgement day for your part in teaching them about God.  If you did not make God a priority in their childhood, HE won't be a priority in their adult life.

Here we are back to playing "Let's Make a Deal" again.  God please save my child, please heal them.  I'll do anything, I'll pray more, I'll read my Bible more, I'll go to church more, I'll take them to church".  Sound familiar?  We have probably all done it at one time or another. We have responsibility, Salvation is free but we can't take it and run, it isn't a one time thing, it's a lifelong process.  I'm not saying God won't bless you, I'm just saying we need to quit playing "christian", quit playing church and start living for God, before it's too late.  Quit playing the "Let's Make A Deal" game and start truly serving and loving God, then even though we are not promised an easy life, you WILL see constant evidence of God in your life, you won't have to go to Him with empty promises, you will go to Him in complete faith and watch His faithfulness unfold.

Isaiah 29:13 (NASB)
13 Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their [a]words
And honor Me with their [b]lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their [c]reverence for Me [d]consists of [e]tradition learned by rote,
(PARAPHRASED:  Because people say they love Him and say they will do anything for Him but it's only lip service and doesn't come from the heart because the heart is far removed from Him.  Their reverence and honor consists of the traditions they have been taught and not for true love and worship of God.)

I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS

I was talking to my youngest daughter today about feelings, more specifically about being afraid of making people mad, getting in trouble, etc.  She had some very wise words for a young woman.  She said, "I used to be like that, I wanted to make everyone happy, and do everything right.  I could never even take up for myself.  I started thinking about end times and how Christians will be killed for being Christians and (I) DECIDED that I needed to get a backbone.  I didn't want to be 'afraid' to be who I am and have to go to the fiery pits because I was 'afraid' to stand up for myself and the God that loves me."
There was more to our conversation and who knows, the rest of it might end up being another blog lol.  What my mind has been on this evening is we need to DECIDE, we need to CHOOSE how we want to be.  She took action in her life to make sure she did not deny God.
We all need to take action in our lives.  We need to be prayed up and battle ready because we DO NOT know what we will have to face.  I see a lot of going back and forth Pre-trib, Mid-trib, Post-trib.  I'm not going to argue that in this blog post.  What I am going to say is no matter when Jesus comes back, NO ONE said we would not have trials.  NO ONE promised that bad things wouldn't happen to us just because we are Christian.  What God did promise is that HE would be with us.
Look at Daniel, look at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo, Jesus, Peter, Paul, etc. etc. etc.  They were following God, they were true believers and yet they suffered.  I hear a lot of people say, we are going to be raptured out and not feel the wrath of God.  What about the wrath of satan?  and who says we won't be in a battle?  We are in one everyday, that's why we have to put on our armor every single day.
The Bible says in Ephesians 6:10-13,  ¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
We are in the battle of our lives, for our souls.  We are fighting the powers already of this dark world.
There may come a day when you have to stand up for God, will you be able to?  Think of the shootings that have been going on.  We are precious children of God, however, look at Job in Job 1:1, 1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.  He was also a precious child of God and in the end God restored everything to Job, because He stood.  When the day of evil came upon him, he stood his ground and when he had done all he could, he just stood.  BUT, he went through a battle, one most of us would not be able to withstand.
We have to decide today for each daily battle that we are going through.  The Bible says, "choose this day who you will serve" in the book of Joshua.  Don't wait around until a fiery trial comes upon you.  Decide today.  So if you end up in the lion's den, or walking in the fiery furnace, looking down a gun barrel with someone saying deny Jesus or die you can stand knowing that He died for you and He will be there to bring you home. Things are wrapping up, I've never seen or heard of so many prophecies coming to pass as there are in our life time but it doesn't mean it's over.  It's the beginning of birth pains.  (I'll let you look that up :-)
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.
God bless you and love to all. 

Christians rejoice

As we watch the events of the world around us, not only here but all over the world, should we be worrying or cursing? Or, should we be praising?

As Christians, we should be praising, certainly not cursing, (of course), but we should also not be worrying. At least not about the events going on. What should we be worrying about then, you might ask. We should not be worrying about the state of the economy, we should be worrying about the state of our souls. The conditions of our walk with God and certainly praying for those that don't know Him. Mark 13:29-33 29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors. 30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. 31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. 33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
We should be rejoicing because, as Christians, we should have already read The Book and we should already know the "end" of the story. What we are watching going on around us is one more chapter towards the end of the story. What this proclaims to us is the time when Jesus "splits the Eastern sky" is coming and truly coming soon. We already know everything happens in God's time. We know not the day or the hour but we know it will be soon. Mark 13:34-37 34 For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. 35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: 36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

I say until you all, watch! Read your bible and watch some more. Our God, being the loving just God that He is has given us plenty of warning and plenty of time to get our houses in order. His word says that no one will be without knowledge. Every man, woman and child will have the opportunity to hear about God's amazing salvation. His will for us is not to follow the many, but to follow Him. He has warned us in the Bible not to be swayed. Matthew 24: 4-14 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

When we worry about them taking prayer out of schools and out of public events, we should cast that worry away. They can't take the prayer from your heart. The day may come when you won't be able to speak the Lord's name aloud. If you read the scriptures above and think about the world today, you can see already the scriptures that have come to pass. Many people are hated, people already betray each other. People are "offended" by our beliefs and our love of the Lord. In many countries people (missionaries) are being killed for being believers. We think about this being in far away places but the Bible says "iniquity shall abound". We in the U.S. are indeed a spoiled people. We haven't seen what other countries have but we are seeing. We have fought a long hard battle to get the gospel out to all Nations and now that very gospel is being taken from us here in the United States.

We need to read our Bibles and memorize God's word because we may live to see the time when not only are Bibles and God's word not allowed in public but we may not be allowed to have a bible in our own homes. If you think this can't happen, look at some of the laws we already have taking away our rights as citizens today.

However, as the title says, Christians rejoice, with all the scriptures we see coming to pass that means Heaven is one step closer.