The Holy Bible in John 1:1 reads as follows, ” In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word refers to Jesus Christ. Obviously words were big in the Bible. God spoke the world into existence. Don’t ask me how He did it. But I believe it. Words are important. .. Very important and should always be taken seriously. However, words have lost much of their power. We need to reclaim the power of the spoken word. What we say is very important. When we say “I love YOU’ we can give another person new life and new hope. When we say, “I hate you” we can destroy another. Author Henri J.M.Nouwen puts it this way, “Lets join God in using words to create goodness, being quick to breathe words of love in the lives of those we know and meet”. AMEN

Genesis 1: 3-4 God said “Let there be light” and there was light. God saw that the light was good.

Do you wonder what Christians believe? The following lyrics from Phil Wickhams’s song, “Song of the Saints” answer this question. Following are some of the lyrics….. This we believe that we have a Father……creator who was and who is and will be ……..who sent us his son, and poured out his spirit with power to heal, resurrect and redeem……glory to God the Father……glory to Christ the risen one…All hail the King with heaven sing……This we believe that we have a savior…….Jesus the Christ for our sin crucified……We believe that on the third morning gone was the stone , for He rose back to life forever He reigns, let his praise fill the skies.

We believe in the saving Gospel

We believe in the living Word

We believe in the Holy spirit moving in His Holy Church

We believe in the King of Heaven

We believe that Jesus is coming again

We believe in the blood that washes

We believe in the cross that saves

We believe in the Resurrection

We believe that Jesus is coming again

We believe our King is returning

And He will wipe every tear from our eyes.

This is what Christians believe…..

AMEN

=========================

I think you get the picture.

I think that most people who hold the Holy Bible in low regard have not spent much time, if any, reading it. I know it can seem overwhelming, especially at first glance. It can be confusing and lots of folks say, “where do I start”. But if one would be patient and give it a chance it would open up a whole new life to them. I have always thought of the Bible as God’s instruction manual for how to live our lives to the fullest. He created us, so it makes sense. It will answer all of one’s questions if one stays the course and makes the Bible reading a part of there daily lives. It is a beautiful and fascinating look into the life of Jesus from the beginning of time through the present and beyond. The scriptures are the best medicine for everything that is ailing mankind. Give it a try. You will not regret it, for it is life saving..

John 10:10….I have come so that you may have life and have it to the fullest.

Proverbs 4:10….Listen, my son, accept what I say, and years of your life will be many. I will instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run you will not stumble. Hold on to instruction, do not let it go ; guard it well, for it is your life.

Romans 12:2…….Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…….

John 14:6……..Jesus answered, “I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life….

Author Dan Crenshaw, in his book “Fortitude” raises some good questions on who you want to be vs what you want to be. As a high school teacher for 40 years there is no doubt that schools put all their energy in preparing students for “what they want to be”. Very little time and instruction goes into educating students on “who they want to be”. What class did you take in school that taught good character traits like honesty, responsibility, tough-mindedness, decency, politeness, good manners, being humble, saying please and thank you, being disciplined, being even tempered, reliability, being productive, etc. Think of the benefits to the person and society if we took the time to teach these to our kids. Its not just the parents responsibility. Its all of our responsibility. Every adult in America should want their child to be exposed to these good teachings. Whether at school or at home or how about at both places, we need to help one another find out “who they want to be”. AMEN

1Peter 3:3-4…..Do not let your adorning be external —the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or clothing you wear— but let the adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

God Bless You and have a great week……

The mystery of God is unsettling to all of us. We want to have an answer to everything. We need to learn to live with the understanding that mystery is where God works because if He only does what we understand is he God? Throughout the Bible Jesus urges us to lean not on our own understanding. One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 3: 5-6 which reads, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and He will direct your paths”. We all should enter into the mystery of God. God Bless You.

We all have a story to tell. Our lives are our story. Unique and different from everyone elses. But there is a bigger story than ours….way bigger and Jesus is the main character in this story. We all need to take a serious look at this “biggest story of our time” and see what it is all about. Find out for ourselves. I really don’t care what someone else says. I want to learn what Jesus says about my life. I want to hear what he says about eternity, forgiveness, purpose, truth and wholeness. I want as much about the big picture as possible. We should not settle for anything less. We should go to the cross and kneel before Jesus ourselves and not rely on someone elses opinion on Jesus. GO AND SEEK GOD.

Jeremiah 29:13 – You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.

God Bless you and have a great week………….

Henri J.M. Nouwen writes, “to be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives…..the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections –that requires hard spiritual work.” My whole life has revolved around sports. I coached for 40 plus years. I will be honest, it bothers me still today when an athlete gives honor to Jesus in victory, but never in defeat. We all hear them praise Jesus for their victory, but seldom if ever in defeat. They go to Disneyland if they win the big one, they go no where if they lose. I am still waiting for that one ‘star’ player to give thanks to Jesus in defeat. Thank you Henri Nouwen, well said and a very important message.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 – give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

What I would like to share with you is something I’ve talked about many times before. Its something I struggle with as do most people who believe in God and even those that don’t. Its this idea of what do we believe we should do next once we have accepted the fact that Jesus is God. Writer James Bryan Smith has this to say about our dilemma. He says, “I was afraid God would look at my faults and withdraw his love. I was afraid my weaknesses would separate me from the love God has made visible in Jesus. I see now how foolish it was to think that my feeble attempts at righteousness had anything to do with how God feels about me. For too long I was impressed with my ‘commitment’ to Jesus; now I am impressed only with Jesus’s commitment to me.” So what do we do now that we believe. A good start would to be still and know that Jesus is God. Believe and trust that he will guide our lives in a direction that will give meaning and purpose and wisdom to us daily.

Romans 8:38-39…….I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God Bless You and have a great week………

Christian writer Max Lucado put the importance of Christmas in perspective when he wrote the following words……”when it comes to goodies and candy, rosy cheeks and red noses, go to the North Pole. But when it comes to eternity…Forgiveness…Purpose…And Truth…go to the manger, kneel with the shepherds and worship the God who dared to do what man dared not dream. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb…God became man…the Creator of Life was created. AMEN

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND GOD BLESS YOU ONE AND ALL.

In the Bible Jesus says, “Do not conform to this world, But be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect”. I believe that if we are paying attention to the world today that it is pretty obvious that it is not what we desire in life. I have never in my life seen the truth compromised as much as it is today. Our leaders and our media have destroyed the truth and their credibility especially over the last few years. It seems like there is no truth anymore. Just say whatever or do whatever you want and call it the truth. I don’t want to be a part of that world. I want to be in the Kingdom of God where God’s Truth is the way and the life. I believe that God’s word is the one and only Truth. Its not that bad really, try it and you will probably love it.

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

God Bless You and have a great week…..Stay Safe.