“Study to show yourself approved unto God” – 2 Timothy 2:15

Back in high school and college, just like many people, I used to do just enough to get by. That is, until the day before the final exam.  I would then spend hours and hours cramming knowledge into my head that I should have gotten well before that time.  Then, I would come into the final exam feeling a little less than confident.  Thankfully, I would do well, but it was an extremely stressful time that I never quite knew if I’d make it or not.

Don’t let this be the way you live your life! So many people I meet every day, whether they are unbelievers or lifelong Christians, are a little less than confident in where they are going when this life is over.  People often fear the unknown, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  God placed before us all of the knowledge that we need in order to see the truth.  And the truth is not a something, it’s a somebody, and His name is Jesus Christ.

Don’t get me wrong, even solid believers have questions sometimes. That’s OK.  Questions are fine and God welcomes them, just as any good father does.  For those questions, God has given us the textbook to study from for the answers.  Our lives are an open book test.  If we don’t use the book, it’s nobody’s fault but our own.

That being said, the Bible is just a collection of words without the Holy Spirit placing that word in your heart. You can memorize the whole book and be able to spit it out word for word, but are you living that word?  Is the Spirit of God’s Eternal Word helping you your everyday life?  Make sure to read your Bible, but it is just as important to spend time with the Word Himself.

I had one class, humanities oddly enough, that the professor wrote the textbook. She knew when we hadn’t read the text and tried to “fudge” the answers.  It used to make her so mad.  Don’t let God feel the same way.  Make no mistake, you can’t “fudge” your way into Heaven.  You’re either saved or you’re not.  No amount of burning incense or standing on one foot three times a day will make you free.  Accept Christ and His finished work on the cross.  Through His death, burial, and resurrection, He paid the cost that we couldn’t pay.  Those that the Son have made free are free indeed. The least we can do is come nearer to God through His Word.  Read your Bible and spend time with Christ in prayer so that when the time comes, you are confident going into your last assessment.

Jesus is the answer to the final exam. Don’t get that one wrong.

DH

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” – Psalm 46:1

I feel like giving God some praise today!

I’ve been going through a bit of a rough patch recently. I’ve felt hurried, frustrated, and tired like the pressures of life have been dragging me down. My family has felt it, my co-workers, and especially myself. But there’s also one other person who has felt it, Jesus.

It’s hard to understand, but God “feels” for us during our trials. He knows us inside and out. He knows our pain and our frustrations, but take heart. God says that we are not alone in our trials. When we accept Christ, He lives in us and through us. His Holy Spirit is with us as our comforter and He is a comforter like no other.

In order to be a good comfort in the midst of a struggle, you must be familiar with those struggles. To help deal with a friend’s pain effectively, you must be familiar with the pain. Take comfort that our Savior is no stranger to pain. The bible says he was tempted in all ways and that He bore our sins on the cross. When His friend Lazarus died, Jesus wept even though He knew what would happen next. He went through all of the pain because of what waited on the other side of that pain. And in all things, He kept looking up and praising the Father.

Before breaking bread and handing it out to the multitudes, He looked up and thanked His Father in Heaven. Jesus blessed the bread through His praise. We need to truly understand that. Our struggles will bend us and sometimes break us, but the bible says in ALL things give thanks to God. If we foster a habit of constant praise, no matter the situation, we will be blessed far beyond what we could imagine. The bread was blessed and then became a blessing to many. The bread fulfilled its ultimate purpose because of it breaking, not in spite of it. Jesus will bless us through our trials so that when we come out of them, those trials will in turn make us into the blessing that many others need to help them through their own trials. God likes to use the ordinary to do the extraordinary.

So this day and every day, no matter the situation, we need to give praise to God our Father. We need to come to Him even when we don’t feel like it. Smile up at God because He’s smiling down on us. Take comfort that He is here with us and has something wonderful in store for us. It may be a rough road for us now and then, but Christ is there to offer His love and His comfort to us and through us.

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.” – Revelation 21:4

Give God the praise for it right now!

DH

In biblical times, the Jews had been waiting for their savior and expected him to be coming out of the clouds riding on a war horse. They expected thunder and shouting and all the pompous regalia that such a king would bring with him. But God had different plans for His story.

Had it been thunder and a festival of fury, everyone would have taken notice. Instead, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came on a truly silent night. His announcement was only to a select few who were deemed trustworthy enough to keep the secret.

Later, after Jesus came through the area on His earthly ministry, He came riding into the Jewish holy city of Jerusalem. Christ was not on a large white war horse, but instead He came humbly on the back of a donkey.

So why did the King of Kings enter our world like this instead of having trumpets blaring and thunder roaring?  Because our God gives favor to the meek and humble and not to the pompous.  A person who thinks of themselves as “high and mighty” would only bow to someone who showed themselves as bigger and more forceful than they are.   The Jews were expecting that everyone would be forced into doing God’s will and accepting the Savior.

That isn’t Gods way though.  Many times in the Bible it says that God is love and wants your love in return, but love that is forced isn’t love at all.  He isn’t going to force you to love or believe in Him, God will simply ask for it. The Jews expected a God to strike down all who opposed Him, but instead He sent an invitation for all to be saved, not just the Jewish people.  God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

Make no mistake, when Jesus arrives the second time it will be with the force and thunder of Heaven.  For now, Christ just simply asks for your love and acceptance.  He paid the cost for your sins so that you would have the opportunity to come freely to his throne.  Not out of fear, but of love.  Not as a subject of the king, but as a child of the King of Kings.

It’s a different story than what was expected. The story of Jesus is a story of peace, not war, and it is truly the greatest story ever told.
DH

Life is a tough road sometimes. Through everyday problems, we are all faced with times of trials. We feel like we can’t work hard enough to get through our issues, but as soon as we see light at the end of the tunnel, here come even more problems to work on. Quite often, it’s that way in business as well as personal lives.

After eating of the tree, God said to Adam that because of his sins, Adam as well as humanity would have to work for their sustenance…. Genesis 3:19 says, “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” I don’t know about you, but when I read this statement it sounds pretty miserable.

DH

“Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.” – 1 John 2:6

If you’ve ever seen a newborn horse or deer try to walk, it’s a funny but heartwarming sight. It’s almost like they are trying to find their legs for the first time. Little children are much the same in that when they learn to walk, it’s a bunch of trial and error at the beginning.  After a while, walking gets to be easier.  It’s all about practice and confidence.  They see someone else walk and think, “Well enough of this crawling around stuff, I want to walk too.”  It doesn’t matter how silly it looks at the beginning, it is worth the trials and errors just to be able to walk.

There’s a lot of comparison to a little child learning to walk and a person becoming a Christian. First off, the unbeliever sees a Christian and decides whether or not to walk with Jesus.  Just like in everything in life, the first step is the most critical.  If we as Christians claim to have faith but we only act like Christians on Sundays, then we will drive people away from Jesus through our own lack of walking in God’s Spirit.  We are members of Christ’s earthly ministry and need to walk as such.  People might hear what you say, but they will definitely remember how you lived.

Secondly, as a new believer comes up in the faith, they are immediately bombarded by people all around that see the difference in them. All the slings and arrows you could imagine come at them, and many of them from their own friends and family.  Remember to take this in stride, because it is hard for people to deal with such a change.  When you start your walk with Christ and get closer to Him, your life can’t help but be different than what it was.  The unsaved person that you used to be wouldn’t even recognize the new Christian you. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

Lastly, no matter how much confidence or practice you have in being a Christian, you will occasionally fall down. That’s OK as long as you don’t ever give up.  Jesus isn’t just for one time, He’s for all times.  Just like a good parent helping their children, God our Heavenly Father sees us occasionally struggle in our walk and He promises to always be there, no matter what we do, to pick us up and set us right again.  The slippery slopes in life are made into a stable footpath thanks to the blood of Jesus.

One thing that deserves a note, realize that new believers are just that, new believers. They have just spent most of their lives crawling through life, sometimes literally crawling out of bars and even crack houses.  They have come to realize that there is a better way to live and that is why they needed Jesus.  Their walk might not yet be as stable as yours or mine, so don’t laugh at them or tear them down with your words and actions just because they are still trying to find their “spiritual legs.”  Instead, use your words to build them up and confirm them in the things they get right.

The Bible says that the Gospel looks like foolishness to some people. Just because my walk seems a bit silly to you doesn’t mean it’s not the best one I’ve got at the moment.  I’m trying and getting better every day.  In the end, I won’t be crawling around wondering where I went wrong.  Thanks to Jesus Christ, I will be able to walk boldly through the gates of Heaven to hear my Father’s voice saying, “Well done.”

DH

In Luke chapter 2, we see Mary and Joseph going to Jerusalem for a feast per the Jewish custom. After the feast was over, they started home to Nazareth with their relatives. The only problem was that Jesus, who was 12 at the time, was not with them. Mary and Joseph got worried and turned their caravan around to look for Jesus, eventually finding Him in the temple speaking with the teachers and elders.

You may ask how these parents would forget their child, especially the Christ child. The wording the scripture lets you in on a big clue. It’s a problem that many people and especially many different denominations of Christians do commonly. Joseph and Mary focused on the customs and responsibilities of the church rather than keeping an eye on Jesus.

The Bible mentions about “when they had fulfilled the days” they returned home. Those words are small, but important views into the mindset of people who are trying to obey the laws without keeping their thoughts on Jesus Christ. Depending on your particular faction of Christianity, you may have numerous obligations to fulfill. While I’m not downgrading anyone’s religious beliefs or customs, I am saying that it is easy to get swept away by laws and customs and totally miss out on what God really wants you to get. Don’t just look to fulfill your days and obligations, look instead to Jesus and what He’s directing you towards.

Thanks to Moses, there were 613 laws overall, 10 of which being from God’s Ten Commandments. Jesus broke it down to just 2, which sums up all ten of the original commandments.

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37-40

It seems as though many people have gotten back to the addition of many supposed laws that Christ says just aren’t as important as one main law. Love.

Don’t put too much emphasis on how many times per day you pray. Instead, put your heart and soul into each prayer no matter how many times you do it. Also, don’t look forward for specific days to worship, but instead, worship God in all you do every day. Unlike other faiths where they must pray five times daily while kneeling toward the East, we as Christians have access to God our Father anytime and anywhere. The Bible teaches that God is always with us, His children, and hears our prayers. We don’t need to attain a higher level of consciousness or sacrifice enough things to get to Heaven, we only need to strive to love God, because He first loved us.

If we mess up, we are not instantly in fear of damnation and hellfire. God is God and He knows all we do. He knows for a fact that we will mess up. That is exactly why Jesus dies for our sins. In dying, He destroyed our death; in rising, He restored our life. Because of His saving grace, we don’t need to lose our minds fulfilling every single custom just to get a chance to go to Heaven. We simply need to come close to Jesus and enjoy the relationship He wants to have with us.

Christ said to His disciples that unless you become as little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. By that He didn’t mean young and ignorant. He meant loving your Father and trusting of what He says. A young child believes his parents without needing proof, they take it all on faith. The child doesn’t need to know how there will be food on the plate or clothes on their back, they simply believe that the parent will supply that need. The child knows that they mess up, but they never question whether or not their parent will still be there the next day because of that mess up. The child always comes running to the parent when the storm comes, they never try to weather it themselves because they know they can’t. They know the storm is bigger than they are and accept that.

Don’t be more focused on your works than you are the finished works of Jesus Christ. You can’t out-give God. You can’t out-work God. You can’t even be on the same level as God, so don’t kill yourself trying. Just be His child. That being said, if you feel like you connect more with God if you fulfill customs and obligations, then good for you and keep trying your best at what you believe is important. Just try not to lose your mind while doing it. Nevertheless, you can lose your mind but please never lose your heart, because Jesus is in there.

Just be His child.

JUST BE HIS CHILD!

DH

“My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.” – John 10:27-28

Many times in the scriptures we read about the Lord speaking to someone. The problem is that nowadays, we don’t much physically hear God speak to us. That’s concerning for some people. There are those people who say that until they physically hear God speaking to them, they won’t believe. Unfortunately, those type of people probably still wouldn’t believe even if God himself showed up in person and smacked them in the face. Then there are other people that wish they could physically hear their Lord’s voice, but don’t. They long for that tangible interaction with their Savior, but they may never find it until they meet Him in Heaven.

I personally have never physically heard my Lord out loud in this big, booming “Moses” burining bush voice. I do, however, talk with Him often and He answers me plainly.

Occasionally, I hear a still, quiet voice inside of myself and it leads me in a certain direction. Many times, I would not have entertained that particular direction in and of myself. That’s the beauty of the Lord. If you truly leave yourself open to Him and His ways, you could end up accomplishing things you’d never thought possible.

Still, other times there are answers to my prayers and petitions that come in the form of solutions to circumstances that were out of human control or comprehension. The perfect example of this is our own twin daughters having an inescapable pre-natal problem that was resolved miraculously. I did not truly know what fervent prayer was until those weeks of angush and suffering. Our hope rested in Jesus and Him alone, because we didn’t have anything else to go off of. I am overjoyed to say that Christ showed His stuff and we have beautiful children to stand as living embodiments of His grace and love. You may call it luck or coincidence, but I know when I heard my God plain as day.

The point I’m trying to make is that the more time you spend with our Lord, the closer you will be to Him. and the better you will distingush His answers to your questions. When you love someone, you try to know all you can about that person. You don’t just hear them, you listen to them. That’s a big measure of a Christian. You may not physically hear God’s voice, but you don’t have to. The more you spend time in His word and the more you pray, the easier it is to see and hear what He has to say. You will know when God is pulling you in a certain direction.

I hear people say, “How do I know that’s what God wants for my life?” You will know when God is answering your prayers or telling you to move in a certain direction with your life because of two things:

1. The direction will never go against God’s commandments.

2. The direction will be for the benefit of God’s people and not only yourself.

If you are confused about your life or not sure if God is speaking to you or not, spend time getting to know Him better. If you can’t find it in yourself to pray, then ask God to help you pray. It sounds simple, but it’s true. Next thing is to spend time connecting to God through His word. If you start your day with a “holy hour” with even 15-20 minutes set aside for Jesus with no distractions, you will be better equipped to answer His voice when He calls. And trust me, His plan for your life is better than anything you or I could come up with.

You can’t give a response to the Lord’s voice if you don’t know He’s talking to you.

DH

The Bible is the greatest book every written with every kind of good versus evil you can imagine. For instance, you read in the gospels of Judas Iscariot, who was one of Jesus’ disciples until Judas betrayed Him.  Judas was paid 30 pieces of silver by the Pharisees in order to hand Christ over to them to be crucified.  All of this was done after Judas walked with Christ and was able to learn and study with Him for 3 years.  That goes to show that just spending time with someone doesn’t mean you connect with them.  Judas placed no value on his relationship with the Savior, even though he saw Jesus perform miracles and speak with the authority that only God has.

Judas never truly united with Jesus. Instead, he was only there for his own self interests. Judas held the money box and stole regularly from it.  He liked the status of being one of the 12 apostles and took all of the benefits thereof, but in the end Judas only believed in Judas.  Three years of hearing about God and saving grace, but Judas never got past himself.  He only saw Jesus with his mind and not his heart and soul.

The fact of the matter is that the healing blood of Jesus on the cross is more than enough to wash away any sin, even the betrayal by Judas. Men’s forgiveness can only go so far, but with God all things are possible.  Had Judas truly known this, his story may have been different, even after the betrayal and murder of Jesus Christ. However, Judas, in one final thumb of his nose to God, committed suicide.  That choice took away any chance of God’s healing grace to be made manifest in Judas’ life.  Once a possible messenger of hope, now a soul lost to the devil’s whim.

Now, let me tell you of another man. This person watched and assisted in hunting down Christians. By his own testimony, he was an evil man.  That was until one day, while walking on the road to Damascus, he met Jesus.  That was the man we now know as the Apostle Paul.  Paul, by all rights, was a really bad guy.  He walked openly in hatred and disgust of Christ, but once Paul heard the voice of Jesus, he was never the same. So much so, in fact, that Paul by the power of the Holy Spirit went on to teach the Word of God in many foreign lands and even wrote 1/3^rd of the New Testament.

The difference was that Judas heard Christ, but Paul listened.

It’s often said that it’s not how you start, but how you finish. Paul finished well because he allowed Christ’s words to transform him into the good and faithful servant God wanted.  Paul flourished, Judas failed.  The path that Judas accepted led to death and destruction.  The path that Paul accepted blessed him with a crown of gold in God’s Kingdom.

We are all faced with that same choice. God loves us enough that He allows us the choice to love Him back.  Through our choice to sin, we betray Jesus once again.  Each one of our sins being another nail in His eternal cross.  The only unforgivable sin is final impenitence; going to your grave still shaking your fist at God.  Anything less than that can be forgiven if you accept the finished work of Jesus Christ.

So, no matter what you’ve done in your past, know that God isn’t done with you yet. While there’s a single breath in your body, you still have a chance to speak the sweet name of Jesus and be transformed into a child of the King.  Trade your pieces of silver in for a crown of gold.

DH