“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” – Psalm 105:4

Do people know that you’re a Christian without having to say it? Is your walk with Jesus obvious? People we meet for the first time might get to know what we do for a living, our favorite sports team, or maybe how many kids we have all within the first few minutes of meeting us. But do they know that you have been redeemed by the blood?

In your simple eating, working, walking around, every day life, it should be obvious that there is something different about you. You are a somebody living for Christ, not for the riches of this world. That’s where the word Christian started, it came from the Romans and Jews calling people “those Christ-ones.”

The Bible says to be ready with a reason for the hope that is within you. How is somebody going to know you have faith inside of you unless you live that faith out loud?

Your walk with Jesus should stand out. I’m not talking about some crazy holier-than-thou smacking people over the head with the Bible kind of standing out. I’m talking about walking upright. Holding your head higher, smiling more, not shaken by the events and the circumstances around you. That’s because you have your eyes firmly fixed on Jesus Christ rather than those worldly circumstances.

If you are a Christian, you should be the best worker, the most reliable spouse or parent, or the most trustworthy child. You should be the rock that people look to for the answers when the ground gets shaky. That’s because you have built your life upon the true rock that is Jesus Christ. Jesus said that upon this rock I will build my church. He was referring to himself as the rock of ages, but as a Christian, you are the church. The church is not so much a physical building as it is truly the temple of the Holy Spirit. When you gave your life to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit came and set up residence in your heart. That Spirit lives in you and through you, changing you daily to be more like Jesus. Anywhere you walk is holy ground. The only way to build a foundation upon the rock that is Christ is to spend time with Him. Spend time in meditation on His words, making sure to plant that seed deep within you so it takes root. That seed of faith should grow and be noticeable to everyone you meet.

Unfortunately, there are many of us that will demonstrate many things before we demonstrate that we are Christians. If somebody is arguing for something that goes against the Bible and good Christian values, do you say something or keep silent as not to offend anyone? If somebody in your group is cussing up a storm, telling dirty jokes, and constantly taking the Lord’s name in vain, do you let them know what they are doing is harmful and inappropriate? Hopefully you don’t engage in those actions as well, but don’t just turn a blind eye to them either. Granted, it is so much easier to turn around and walk away, but is that the right thing to do? as Christians, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. If you see a friend heading straight for a cliff, you would hopefully stop them before they fell off the edge. Don’t just walk away. This is more than just saving a life, it’s saving their eternal soul.

We may think that everybody has heard of Jesus, but that is not the case at all. There are people that we interact with daily that don’t know the gospel. You may be the only Christian that a person meets all day long and I promise they will remember you. They will remember your good deeds and your bad deeds, all of them, and they will think about those things next time they hear the word Christian. So if you as a Christian are not any different in a positive way because of staying close to Christ, there would be no reason for anybody who sees you to want to become a Christian like you. There would be no difference between Jesus and the secular world at all. Why should they change the course of their lives?

It’s good to practice social distancing during these times of Coronavirus sickness in the world, but realize that there is an even worse type of sickness in this world going on. That sickness is sin. The one and only cure is Jesus Christ and His blood upon the cross. Don’t distance yourself from Him at a time where this world needs Him the most.

God’s blessings to you.

DH

“And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed.” – Exodus 17:11

In Exodus 17, the people of Israel were fighting a desperate war against the Amalekites. Moses took the high ground to watch over Israel and pray for them. As long as Moses kept his hands up and prayed, the battle would go well. If his hands fell, the Israelites would start to lose. So to help the army of Israel, Arron and Hur helped lift up the hands of Moses to keep him praying. In the end, the Israelites won the war.

This story held a lot for me personally as a Christian in today’s world. Our first obligation is to keep in close contact with God to know more about His will and what He thinks is right rather than what this fallen world defines as good. We come close to God through prayer, which is a dialog between us and our Lord. It’s where we find out more about Him and thereby find out more about the life we were truly meant to have.

Unfortunately, we all get tired sometimes. We may even hit some dry spells in our prayer and our walk with Jesus Christ. That’s when the rest of us need to be lifting those weary people up in prayer, and in doing so, we can all continue to fight the battle.

When we feel led by the Spirit to pray and talk with God, we are blessing those we pray for. However, when we feel dry and walking through a kind of spiritual desert, our prayers mean even more. It is those times that we don’t quite feel like praying that we have the most power in our prayers. We aren’t being led to pray, we instead do it because it’s what we ought to do. Those times when we are free to pray or not are the times that we really strike back at the devil the most. True freedom is not just doing whatever we want; it is being able to do what we ought to do.

You can’t have it both ways. Either we are working for God or the devil. Know that when you say yes to someone, you are saying no to someone else. The devil wants us to use our freedom for the wrong things in order to tear down the kingdom of God. If we instead use our freedom to further the help and healing of the nations, we deal a serious blow against his wicked ways. With every prayer, we can help change the story for another lost soul. We don’t always pick the right way for ourselves from day-to-day, but other good and faithful Christians lifting us up in prayer can make all the difference. So go forth and do the same for others, no matter what your day has been like or whether you feel like doing it or not.

Some people are concerned about what to pray when talking to God. I say that if you can’t muster up what you think is a solid prayer, then pray about praying. God likes honesty and knows what’s in your heart. And if you are in a situation that knocks you to your knees and all you can get out is the name of Jesus, take heart. The precious name of Jesus is one of the most powerful prayers there could ever be. He is our stronghold in times of trouble. Run to Him, no matter the circumstances.

Also, just because you had a rough day and maybe made some sinful choices, don’t think that God isn’t listening to the pleas of His children. Although you fail sometimes, that doesn’t make you a failure. God will never see you as a failure, even if you yourself do. God knows His own and is ready to be a good father to us, even when we aren’t necessarily ready to be good children for Him. No matter how strong we are or how holy we think we have become, we can always backslide if we aren’t careful.

The devil is a tough opponent, but one we are promised we will defeat as long as we stick close to Jesus. So don’t give up and don’t give in to the devil. And just because you and I may be preachers, pastors, or good professing Christians, don’t you think that it can’t happen. We can all fall now and then. It takes the prayers of the faithful to keep the rest of us in the battle. So please, you pray for me and I’ll pray for you. Together we shall be victorious.

God’s blessings to you.

DH

Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, our lives in many parts of the world have been turned upside down. We are to limit exposure to other people and large gatherings, which pretty much forces us to stay in our own homes. However, this is not as much a curse as it is a blessing. Life goes too fast nowadays, so fast in fact that we rarely have time to spend with the ones we love and time to focus on what really matters.

Be not afraid. God is in control. He always has been and always will be. He is trying to clear our schedules and trying to get more of our attention than what we’ve routinely given Him. Just like the Bible says, God is not necessarily in the loud noises and ruckus. God is found in the still, quiet voice. We need things to be quiet for a little while so that we can hear Him and talk with Him.

This is a time of prayer. This is the time to come back to God. Relationships take attention, but in our world today, there isn’t a moment that goes by that we aren’t seemingly distracted by twenty things at once. It’s sad, but it sometimes takes something big for us to finally come back to God in prayer and repentance.

I remember back to September 11, 2001. Horrific events happened on that day, but it gave us pause. On Monday the 10th, they weren’t allowing prayer in schools. But on Tuesday the 11th, there wasn’t a school around that wasn’t praying. on Monday, people were leading their lives and not thinking about God or eternity. But on Tuesday the 11th, people were clamoring to get into a church. America was a country divided on Monday, but on Tuesday Americans were standing as one. Unfortunately things went with the worldly flow and eventually jerked back into the hectic workaday life that it has become recently. We now long for Facebook friends and “likes” rather than companionship and love. How quickly we forget.

Honestly, we needed another pause moment to get our minds back where it belongs. On God, on family, on love and what really matters in the long run for each of us. I’m truly sorry this happened and that it is affecting so many peoples lives in a terrible way, but don’t let this time go by and have nothing to show for it. I pray this ends quickly, but I also pray that we learn from this circumstance.

This coronavirus is wreaking havoc in the world and we need to stay vigilant, but don’t let fear and panic overtake your lives. Let this situation bring you focus. Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross for our sins. It was the most horrible of evils, but it brought about the greatest of goods through it. Our salvation is brought about from that cross. All of our own sins and evils were taken away and nailed to it. Now it is time for us to nail to the cross our former ways. Everything that took our minds and hearts away from our families and especially from Jesus needs to be nailed to that cross. And when we look back on this time in our history, we shall see it for what it is, a turning point where we decided that it is better to pursue the good and everlasting rather than the fleeting.

The Bible says that God will use all things for the good of those who love Him. All things means just that, ALL THINGS, even viruses. Turn to Jesus. Live for Him. Now’s the time!

God’s blessings to you.

DH

“If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” – Luke 19:31

We are all unique and each of us are a singular blessing to this world. There are not even two sets of fingerprints alike, even among identical twins. If we are so special, why do we let ourselves get caught up in daily drama and the so-called rat race? Aren’t we meant for more than a hum-drum life that doesn’t amount to anything?

The Bible says that you are God’s masterpiece and that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. The same creator of the universe created each of us. It wasn’t by some chance or some cosmic ‘oops’, but purposeful. You are here for a glorious reason. That reason, in a single word, is love.

Jesus loves you! All of your goods and bads, all of your wins and losses, all of you is loved completely. It’s so hard for us to forget that or to dismiss it, especially in the face of what goes on in this world. This world is full of hard knocks, full of hate and disgust. That’s all the more reason why you must keep the love of Jesus Christ in your heart, so that it may be poured out upon this sick and sinful world.

This dying world needs hope. It needs to know that the suffering is not for nothing. God ensures that nothing you go through is for nothing. God will use it all. If you have gone through such things as drug or alcohol abuse, then you are specially equipped to be able to witness to someone about the dangers and evils of drugs or alcohol abuse. If you know what it’s like to be homeless, then you are well-abled to lift up the spirits of the homeless and to truly help them because you know that their needs are not just physical, but emotional and mental as well.

Do not let this life take you away from your true calling. When you look at yourself in the mirror, remember that God has a plan and that it involves you. You are meaningful. You are special. Nobody is equipped to do the things that God has in store for you. So don’t let an angry boss or a bad day in traffic steal away Christ’s message from your heart. You are called to share the love of Jesus Christ. When this world ties your soul down, away from it’s true calling, just look at yourself in the mirror and say, “The Lord has need of it.” You are redeemed to share the love of Jesus Christ today and forever.

God’s blessings to you!

DH

“Behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We saw His star as it rose and we have come to worship him.” – Matthew 2:2

On the night Jesus Christ came into this world, there was a particular star that shined brightly above His birthplace. That star was many things to many people. To the wise, it was a symbol of hope and freedom. To the sinner, it was a stop sign. To the kings and Pharisees, it was an eviction notice. To the entire world, that star was a sign that nothing would ever be the same again.

Whether you believe in Him or not, Jesus Christ has changed the world forever. Our common calendar is based off of Christ’s birth. Phrases used every day, such as “Go the extra mile,” “blind leading the blind,” “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” or “straight and narrow” are all words straight from Christ’s mouth. This whole time of year especially is because of Jesus. You can say happy holidays all you want, but the truth of the matter is that Christ is the reason for the season. Even in places that are cynical of Christian values, I have heard Christmas music playing. Take the time to listen to those songs. Those are songs of praise and worship and they are being played all over the place and even all over the world this time of year.

To paraphrase the book of Acts, if this whole Jesus thing was just of men, it would turn to nothing. However, if this really is of God, there’s nothing in this world that can stop it. It’s been over two thousand years since the birth of Jesus and there is no silencing the believer, no matter what heretical laws are passed and no matter how politically correct this country becomes. Why? Because the person who has been forgiven of much shows the most love for the Lord. I have been forgiven of many wrongs in my life and, if by chance I am ever rendered mute, my actions and my very soul would still sing out in praise of the God Most High.

That’s why there was a bright and shining star. Even the universe shows praise to the Creator. So remember this time of year, Christmas time. Praise Jesus for what He has done and for the promises He’s given us. A believer’s future is sealed by complete and boundless love and it all started because a star was born, and His name is Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas and God’s blessings to you.

DH

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21

I have a relative way back, I think my mom’s uncle, who was a bona fide faith healer. Some of the stories of how he mended bones and manifested great miracles blows my mind. He wasn’t the only one in my lineage that was strong in the Lord, but he really stands out. The unfortunate part is that I don’t even know his name. I can’t even pass along a name to my kids when they ask about him. It’s sad that so much faith and power and circumstance that went into this man’s life, and we don’t even remember his name.

That being said, a man like that with that much faith wouldn’t be interested in us knowing his name as much as he’d want us to know Jesus’s name. Any person who walks with God daily truly knows that it is God’s power that makes all the difference. Much like the moon reflecting the sun’s light, the best we can do is simply reflect as much of Jesus to this world as we can.

The Apostle Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” How many of us can truly say that? Are you living for Jesus? Do you do everything not for the here and now, but for the joy that awaits you in Heaven? It hurts me to say that even I have days where I’m being selfish and do things that help nobody but me. Granted, you need to keep yourself healthy and safe, or else you can’t help others. But to who’s comfort do you seek, others’ or your own? A great person is not made through selfishness, but through sacrifice for others. You can amass wealth and fame and have it all, but it’s all for nothing if you lose your soul to get it.

The memory of my mom’s uncle and so many like him live on in our minds and hearts because of their close connection to Jesus. It’s about what they gave and not what they took from this world. And although this generation forgot much about them, we are stronger in the Lord because of people like him and that’s what really matters. Will the next generation say the same about you? If not, now is your season and time for change.

God’s blessings to you.

DH