Tag: jesus

A Life of Great Peace and Great Reward

This is an incredible life and you will be living life to the fullest when you have great peace. The Lord offers us not only peace but great peace. A person who has great peace will not stumble when things go sour.

Psalm 119:65 Those who love Your law have great peace, And nothing causes them to stumble.

God’s Word is His law and the Lord says those who will love His Word will have great peace.

Psalm 19:7-11 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.

Not only will someone who loves His Word have great peace but the Lord says that there is a great reward in keeping them. These are amazing promises that He offers. Just as in life if something is very important then there is a great reward for it. Even so, the Lord offers a great reward for something that He puts a great value on and that is being in His Word, loving His Word and keeping His Word.

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Do you have dreams and desires in your heart that you may have or may not have told anyone. The Lord knows your heart’s desires better than you know them. Often He puts desires in our hearts so that He can fulfill them. However, with His promises there are conditions and the condition here is that you must delight yourself in Him. Delighting in His Word is one way in which you can delight in Him.

Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.

Have you been called by His name? Another way of saying that is, “are you a Christian?” If so, then He wants you to find a Bible and devour His Word or read it much and meditate on it. You will find that if you do this then His words will become a joy and the delight of your heart. Don’t wait for the desire to get into His Word or the feeling of wanting to do it. Just do it and then you will find that it will be a joy to you.

 

 

 

A Life with a Problem Solved

Every person who comes in to world has a problem. To make matters worse our problem creates problems. If the problem is not taken care of then the problems in our life become a mess. Our problem can not be fixed or solved until we realize that we have a problem. Our problem is that all of us come into the world with a sin nature. The sin nature is expressed in each one of us wanting to be our own boss and to make our own decisions. Basically, we think that we know what we need and we don’t want anyone else to tell us what to do. We want to be lord and master of our own lives and we don’t want to need anyone.

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; Genesis 3:6a

The Lord had already told Eve that the trees in the garden were good for food and she had seen that they were a delight to the eyes but this tree, of which the Lord had told her not to eat, “was desirable to make her wise” and she would be “like” God. If she was wise and like God then she would not need God. So, she took and ate. She also gave to Adam and he ate of the tree which the Lord had told them not to eat. One of the first things that happens when we try to be in control is that we will feel insecure and fearful.

Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”  He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” Genesis 3:9,10

The problem of wanting to be wise and not needing God is that it leads to other problems. We start responding to our fears and insecurities. This leads to even more problems. We hide ourselves behind all sorts of things, whether it is a facade we put on or more tangible things such as money or success. However, we still have the same problem deep down and that is our fears and insecurities.

Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. Proverbs 26:12

There is not much hope for a fool. The Bible says that a fool is someone who lives as if there is no God. A fool has a problem and does not even know it. There is not much hope for a fool.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
But a wise man is he who listens to counsel. Proverbs 12:15

All of us come into the world with a foolish heart. The Bible says that “foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child”. All of us can see that left to his own, a child will do foolish things. We are not much different as we grow older other than the fact that we try to cover up the foolish decisions that we make. However, the older we get the more foolishness we acquire in our “regret backpack” that we carry and try to bury in our memory. It gets to be a burden. All of us have this regret backpack for all of us have sinned.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23

However, there is a solution to our problem. There is One who loves us and came to take away our problem of wanting to be our own lord. He is the only true Lord and He came to take away our sin of lordship.

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29

Notice that Jesus is the Lamb of God and He came to take away the sin of the world. Sin is singular because this is our basic “sin”, wanting to be our own lord. It is the sin of the “world”. Everyone in the world has this sin. This sin came into the world when Adam and Eve sinned. All of mankind has descended from Adam and Eve. We have all sinned. Jesus Christ alone is the solution to our sin.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

Jesus Christ is the expression of God’s love for the world. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. God became a man and died on a cross for all of us because God loves us. God wants us to live forever and those who will receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will live forever as a child of God.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, John 1:12

The way to receive Jesus Christ and become a child of God is very simple. We must acknowledge that we have a problem and that problem is that we have tried to be our own lord and master and run our own life. Then we must repent by asking Jesus to forgive us and asking God if He would be our Lord and Master. When we humbly get on our knees and ask God to take His rightful place as our Lord then He will come into our life and live in our heart. He will not only be our Lord but He will be our Savior and will save us from the problems that we have made and the messes that we have created. Jesus Christ takes our sin and gives Himself to us. In giving Himself to us He gives us life.

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10b

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6

A Life that Knows His Will

Often people will ask, “How do I know what is God’s will for my life?”.  Is it possible to know His will? There are several ways to help you know the will of the Lord for your life.

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

There are three aspects of God’s will. The will of God will always be good and acceptable and perfect.

Mark 10:18 No one is good except God alone.

God is good. The word good means the highest form of love. God’s will for you will be loving for others. If something you want to do does not express the love of God then it is not God’s will for you to do it. There are many things that are not a sin but they are not loving because the activity may make someone stumble. If you think then that you will do it in secret then it will be okay because it will not make anyone stumble then you are not acting wisely.

Proverbs 18:1 He who separates himself seeks his own desire, He quarrels against all sound wisdom.

God’s will is always wise because He is the fullness of wisdom.

Colossians 2:2,3 a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself,  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

God’s will is perfect. You will know what is God’s will when there is nothing to add to it and nothing to take from it. If you ever find yourself saying, “I really like him “but”…” or “I really want to do this “but”…” then you find that the “but” is what will come back to bite you later on and will bring great frustration and sometimes torment. The Lord has give you authority to help you in your desire to know God’s will. Go to the ones over you and ask them what they think. Often the Lord will speak through them. Maybe that particular thing that you want is His will but not His timing yet. Until there is nothing to add to it and nothing to take away do not do it but wait on the Lord and ask Him to help you.

Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him.

the will of the Lord will always be acceptable. God is holy and He has commanded us to be holy.

I Peter 1;15,16 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;  because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

God’s will can be seen in His commandments. His commandments are holy and He has called us to be holy so His will will never violate what He has said in His Word. His will for your life will always be acceptable to Him.

James 1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

So ask yourself concerning something that you are wondering if it is His will…”Is this person I want to be with, this place I want to go or this thing I want to do” good and acceptable and perfect? If it does not meet these three criteria then do not do it. The Bible says that you will lie down in torment if you “light your own fire” rather than trust in the Lord and rely on Him.

Isaiah 50:10,11 Who is among you that fears the Lord,
That obeys the voice of His servant,
That walks in darkness and has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.
Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with firebrands,
Walk in the light of your fire
And among the brands you have set ablaze.
This you will have from My hand:
You will lie down in torment.

One more thing, is there something already in your life that you know that you should be doing that you are not doing? You need to do what He has already shown you before you will receive more light concerning something else. Obedience brings light.

 

 

 

A Life with Right Choices

Your life is made up of the choices you make. If you make good choices then you will have a good life. If you make bad choices then you will have a difficult life. You make the choices and the choices make you. We all can look back and see very clearly the good and bad choices that we have made. However, your life is only lived once and many choices can not be undone. Only one life and if it is lived right then you will be blessed. How do we make good choices?

Matthew 19:16,17 And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

We can not make good decisions because we are not good. There is only One who is good and that is God Himself. Jesus Christ is the One and Only Son of God. He is fully God and fully man. He is the only One who can make good decisions for us because He is the Only One who is good.

Matthew 13:37 And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,

The Lord is the only One who can sow good seed and make good decisions. He pursues man and calls man to Himself. The only good decision that we can make is to respond to Him and His love in calling us to follow Him. When we follow Him then He will lead us on the good path of life and and we will live forever in His goodness and His love. Choose Jesus Christ and you choose life. If you do not choose Jesus Christ then you are choosing to go your own way and to make your own decisions. The outcome of not choosing Jesus Christ is death, death to the soul and death to the body. You will make bad decisions because we all come into the world with a foolish heart. The definition of a fool is one who lives apart from God. If your decisions are not what He says in His Word then they will be foolish decisions and the result is much sorrow and anguish of soul.

John 3:3-7 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

If you are still making your own decisions then you must ask yourself if you have been born again into God’s kingdom. Christianity is not a religion but it is a relationship with Jesus Christ Himself and we come into that relationship when we are born again. He becomes our Lord and our Savior. He becomes our Lord, which means that He is now the Ruler of our life and all decisions belong to Him. He becomes our Savior, which means that He saves us from ourselves and the many foolish decisions that we have already made, which is called sins. Sin means missing the mark and we have all missed the mark. There are many religious people who have not been born again. They know about God but they do not know Him personally.

Romans 10:8-10 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

If you hear the Lord calling you then respond and believe in your heart. Confess to someone with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. You will be saved. Jesus Christ is alive today in the hearts of all who have believed in Him and trusted Him with their hearts and lives.

John 10:4 When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

When you belong to Him then He will lead you because He will go ahead of you and you will follow because you know His voice. He becomes not only your Lord and Savoir but your Good Shepherd.

John 19:7-15 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

Jesus Christ laid down His life for the sheep. Come to Him and choose Him. It is the only right choice that we can make. He calls us and when we respond to Him then He leads us. He will only lead you where He has gone and where it is good for you. You can trust Him completely. The life that He gives is good and abundant and will never end for just as He is eternal the life that He offers is eternal. Come to Him and live forever.

 

 

A Life with Light

No one would want to be blind. It is an awful feeling to not be able to see. We don’t even like it at night time when we can not see and many people will leave lights on in their homes at night just so that they will never be in the darkness. Darkness can be a frightening feeling for we can not see where we are going.

So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. John 12:35

There are two kinds of darkness. There is the physical darkness that we experience when our eyes can not see physically and there is the spiritual darkness that we live in until light comes into our spirits. We are born in spiritual darkness and will remain in darkness until we believe in Jesus Christ and He comes to live inside of us through His Spirit.

I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. John 12:46

As we learn to follow Jesus and walk in His ways then we will not walk in darkness but will walk in the light. We will have the Light of Life in us. Life will not be a guessing game with questions such as “should I do this or should I do that” or “should I go here or should I go there”?

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” John 8:12

However, how is this practically live out? We want to know what to do. We don’t want to make bad decisions for our lives or families. The Lord not only is Light and but He provides light and tells us how to be full of light.

“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! Matthew 6:22,23

What does it mean for the eye to be clear and what does it mean for the eye to be bad. This verse applies to everyone. What do we need to do to have clear eyes and be full of light so that we won’t walk in darkness and make bad decisions?

He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity,
He who rejects unjust gain
And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe;
He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed
And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil;
He will dwell on the heights,
His refuge will be the impregnable rock;
His bread will be given him,
His water will be sure.Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;
They will behold a far-distant land. Isaiah 33:15-17

This is the picture of the person who sees clearly. He has clean hands and a pure heart. He does what is right and he is genuine in what he says. He does not take any dishonest gain, in other words, he does not cheat on his taxes or in his business practices. This includes not only the seller selling his work or product at a fair value but also the buyer not depriving a man of a fair profit or the wages for his work.

“Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness And his upper rooms without justice, Who uses his neighbor’s services without pay And does not give him his wages, Jeremiah 22:13

The person who sees clearly also shuts his ears from hearing about bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil. He does not listen to the news of bloodshed or looks upon evil. The person who follows the Light of Life will truly experience life. He will dwell on the heights of the earth and he will have a refuge from the storms of life. His bread will be given him and his water will be sure. He will feel secure and be secure. He will be free of anxiety in contrast to the person who lives in darkness will be filled with anxiety and that anxiety will rob him of life.

Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:31-33

The greatest blessing of all for the person whose eye is good and that is he will see God. Not only will he see the Lord but he will see Him in His beauty and you see the far distant land to where all those who have received Jesus Christ and trusted in Him will one day go when He calls them home.

Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;
They will behold a far-distant land. Isaiah 33:17

If you are walking in darkness and have not seen the Lord then He invites you to come to Him. He is full of grace and truth and He loves you. His love is an unconditional love but you must come to Him to receive it. When you come to Jesus Christ then you will not only see Him but you will find rest for your soul.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:28,29