Right Thing vs Cost To Us!

I have faced this problem many times. The choice of doing the right thing in a situation where it will cost you something if you choose the right thing. Many times before I have failed in doing the right thing.

Recently though, I did do the right thing and it cost me. It cost me a whole lot. I won't go into what it cost me, but I will say that I am in emotional pain because of it. See, I don't see physical pain as real pain. The only real pain in life is the emotional pain one experiences from things such as loss, betrayal, and sin.

I can hold to one thing though, the fact that Jesus is right there beside me as I go through this. How did the Apostle Paul put it?

'I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.' Philippians 3:8-11!

Can it be said any more perfectly?

God bless you all this day!

Anger Is Weakness!

As some of you know, I have had my share of anger issues in my past. This is why I'm writing this segment. As such, I haven't done any research but hope to speak plainly from my heart about this subject.

I was a very angry young man in my early life and that anger came with me into adulthood and beyond. It got me nowhere good, and most of the time it got me somewhere worse off than I was before. Everybody struggles with anger at some time in their lives. Some more than others. I want you guys to know that anger is self defeating and the only good anger is a righteous anger that comes from the Lord!

I am dealing with something in my life right now that would normally make me very angry. However, I have been putting my anger into the Lord's hand and letting Him take it away from me. This is a very hard thing to do for those of us with anger problems. Why? Because those of us with anger problems are people who usually like to fix any problems we have by our own power. It is a very difficult thing to give up that control. Yet when I do give up that control and turn the issue over to Jesus, the anger in me simply fades into nothingness. I cannot explain it any other way. There is peace to be found in the Lord Jesus. All you have to do is let Him take over your life and He places His peace upon you!

God bless you all this day!

True Happiness!

Have you ever sought after being happy in your life? I know that I have. I have sought happiness through many mediums. I sought it by sleeping with as many women as I could. I sought it through alcohol. I sought it through methamphetamine addiction. I sought it through marriage. I sought it through education. I sought it through work. I sought it through not working. I sought it through pornography. I sought it through reading fiction novels. I sought it through playing games on the internet. I sought it through debate on the internet. Basically, I have sought happiness my whole life long and only found it in one place, Jesus Christ!

If you are seeking happiness and fulfillment in your life, there is only one place where you will actually find it. True happiness comes only from God. The only avenue to God is through Jesus Christ His Son!

Since I have committed my life to Jesus Christ, I have started to serve people and seek to help people overcome strife in their life. Now I don't always have the time, money, or ability to do something big for those who need it; but I do always seem to have something to give even if it is just a word of encouragement. Seek to serve others helping to bring Jesus to their lives as well as doing His will in your life and you will find joy, happiness, and fulfillment without measure.

Today I was having a troubled day. I received two phone calls from some friends of mine that totally turned my day around. To Lisa and Sam, thank you my friends for cheering me up today! God saw my need and fulfilled it in you!

God bless you all today!

Let's be honest about racism

What is the reason for racism?

rac·ism /ˈreɪsɪzəm/ Show Spelled[rey-siz-uhm] Show IPA

–noun

1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.

2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.

3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

It is my belief that the second definition is the most accurate one in today's American society. I do not believe that racism is about hatred anymore. It is simply about fostering the doctrines of someone who has an agenda to promote.

I have been known for my hatred of black people in my past. I apologize to black people everywhere who saw this in me.

In actuality, what I hated the most was reverse discrimination, the idea that a person points to themselves being black, white, yellow, or red as the reason why someone is saying/doing something against them.

Why can't it simply be about truth? Let our actions and deeds prove our words! The title to this is about racism, but again it falls to the integrity of reality that we are referring to.

I do not believe in forming a conclusion about someone in my life without getting to know them first. I don't care to look at the color of their skin, whether or not they have long hair, tattoos, or physical deformities in forming my opinion about them. I firmly believe in basing my conclusions about a person, notice I'm staying away from the word 'judging', on their character and actions! I do not believe that this is judging someone, but instead being discerning about them.

I believe that is what everyone, no matter the color of skin, wants in their efforts of letting people get to know them. If we can do this, I believe the world would be done with racism.

Do not let the color of someone's skin stop you in getting to know the real them!

God bless you all today!

Ruth!

I finished Ruth this morning. Here she was, not even of the nation of Israel, yet her loyalty to Naomi and God, even in the face of the death of her husband, made God look upon her fairly. Boaz came into her life and, following the Law, redeemed Ruth to himself and took her for his wife. She gave him a child named Obed. This Obed was the grandfather of King David. I believe this shows how much God loves even those who are not born of Israel.

All of us, who are not Jewish by birth, have been accepted by Jesus to be adopted into Abraham's inheritance. Also keep in mind that Jesus' Father, who is God, became our direct Father as Jesus took us to be His brothers and sisters, now can claim God the Father as our true Father through Jesus!

God bless you guys!

Head Cold

I'm sorry for not posting. It seems that I have developed a head cold and my brain feels fuzzy. I hope to have something more for you guys soon! =)

God bless you all!

We are under Grace and not the Law!

I originally wrote this to a friend of mine. I believe that it came out well and so I have modified it a little bit and turned it into a blog entry. I hope that you guys enjoy it! =)

Paul said that Nothing is forbidden to those under Grace, meaning those who have accepted His salvation. He goes on to say that just because it is not forbidden, does not mean that it is edifying for either the believer or those who look at the believer.

When Jesus died for our sins, he died for all of our sins. Not just the sins of the past and present, but also the sins of the future. His sacrifice spreads His cleansing blood over all of them. You see, God exists outside of time and can look at the whole of time at the same time. Therefore, when He gives His salvation to a believer, then He gives it to them knowing all of their sins including their future sins, and He upholds us in that salvation by His strength and not our own.

Are we then able to commit sins such as lying, murder, adultry, idol worship and the like? Yes we 'can' commit them and still be forgiven. Because God has already seen that we have committed them in our future when He accepted us into His salvation in our past! That does not mean that doing those things is good for us or for those who look at us. Paul goes on to say that our transformation into Christlikeness and our character should prove the Law! This means that He changes us over time, and we all change at different speeds, but we continually progress becoming more Christlike by His work. In this respect, our very character establishes the truth of the Law.

See the Law went from being a manditory thing for us to enter into God's presence to being more of a teacher and guide, the actual Greek term is translated more along the lines of a person hired by the family to follow children around and keep them out of trouble as they play or work at whatever the parents have given them to do. See, the Law has become, for us believers, a. a knowledge base for us to know that we have sinned against God and fall short giving us the knowledge that we need Salvation. Then after salvation, it becomes b. a guide to help us correct or steer us in our walk with Christ along the narrow path.

Under the Law, God required a blood sacrifice in order for man to enter into His presence. This blood sacrifice usually came in the form of a ram that had no visible fault in it. Now this blood did not remove the sins from the man but only covered them so that man would be able to enter into His presence. Then God became man, in the form of Jesus Christ, or Jeshua which is a much more accurate translation from the Greek. Yes, I can read and write in Greek and have an actual Greek version of the New Testament. When Jesus came, He lived the sinless life that was required of man in order to show the world that it was only Him that could bring about Man's redemption to God! For He became the Lamb of God which was without blemish and a fitting sacrifice to God for the washing away all of man's sins for those who believe in Him.

All of this goes back to the Abrahamic Covenant which existed before the Law that was given to Moses! In the 4th point of the Abrahamic Covenant, God told Abraham that 'through you all of the people of the world will be blessed', this was fulfilled in the form of Jesus! In those days, when two rulers or even two people made a covenant with each other, they would prepare the sacrificial animals just like it states in Geneses. The blood of those animals would flow down into the small valleylike area where the animals were prepared and there would be a gathering of blood there. It always started with the more powerful person in the covenant going through the blood first. As they walked through the blood of the animals, they would vow that 'If me and mine break this covenant with you and yours, then may you and yours do this to me and mine'! Then the lesser of the two entering into the covenant would do the same thing, saying the same vow. Now when this happened between God and Abraham, God passed through the blood and consumed the blood with His passing not allowing Abraham to walk through the blood but taking the full penalty on Himself! Meaning, God was saying to Abraham that if Me and Mine break this covenant, or if you and yours break this covenant, then may you and yours do this to Me and Mine!

God was preparing the way for Jesus to come. He knew that Abraham and man would fail in the covenant that God made with him. He also knew that it would have to be up to Himself to bring the punishment onto Himself in order to fulfill that covenant punishment of the breaking of the covenant. It was by God's hand that Jesus was crucified, through the hands of the men who crucified Him, in order to bring salvation to mankind. Don't get me wrong, those men who crucified Jesus are fully to blame for their sins in what they have done, yet it was God's orchestration that brought it about!

Now as to how I explain Matthew 24:20, that passage is referring to the time of the tribulation. I am a firm believer in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. Meaning that the Rapture of believers in Christ will happen before the Tribulation starts. So that when the Tribulation starts, all who remain on Earth will be non-believers. Yet these non-believers will have the bible, the writings of those who were raptured, and the evidence of creation to come to know the Lord and find His salvation. Those who accept salvation during the time of the Tribulation are referred to in Revelation 6:9-11. It talks about how they ask the Lord how long will He refrain from judging and avenging their blood on those who dwell on the Earth. These are those who stood for Jesus during the Tribulation, after the Rapture, and who lost their lives due to the persecution of believers on Earth. You also have to know that this text is also speaking to those who still practice the Law, meaning Jewish people who have not accepted Jesus as their savior yet. They are still under the Law until they accept Him as Savior.

Now I have to ask if you are Jewish in your heritage. If you are, then you are correct in assuming that you are under the Law until you accept Jesus as Savior. However, once you accept Him, you are then under Grace! Yet for the Gentile, which is defined as anyone who is not born a Jew through direct relation to Abraham, then the Law does not apply to them other than to show them that living a perfect life sinless before God is impossible! Therefore the Gentile was never under the Law but went from being lawless to under Grace when they accept Jesus as Savior! Either way, if you are a Gentile by heritage, then the Law never applied to you except for giving you the knowledge of sin and your need for Salvation! For the Law was given only to those related to Abraham and specifically only those of Abraham's children through which the blessing passed. Meaning that the Law was not applied to Ishmael, Abraham's first son by Hagar, or to Esau, Isaac's first son by Rachel.

Remember, we are under Grace and not the Law. Yet our very living a Christian life should establish the Law in other people's eyes!

My Past!

Hello Guys and Gals,

I would like to start off by telling you a little bit about my history and my walk with Christ.

My mother has always said that I was saved as a young age. I do not know exactly when. Yet I believe that Salvation cannot come to someone who does not understand what it means. So I discount this as my salvation date.

When I believe that I gained Salvation was when I was around 17 or 18 years old. I'm sorry to say that I do not remember the exact date. I find that too many people memorize this date and for me it's just not that important. What matters to me is that I have attained that salvation by the Grace of God through my faith in Jesus Christ!

At that time I had been dating a girl named Gayle. She told me that she could show me a world I'd never seen before, and she was right! She introduced me to people who took their Christianity seriously and not for granted. Now I was in love with this woman and it was partially because of her that I sought out my salvation with Jesus.

Please understand this, even though there was an ulterior motive to my motivations for asking Jesus into my heart, Jesus still saw that I was sincere in my heart asking Him to come into my life and save me. Salvation is immediate! Yet transformation begins at salvation and it is a process we go through that lasts the rest of our life until we attain perfection in Him when He gives us our new bodies. I thank God every day that Jesus saved me that day and that He has continued to work diligently to bring me back to Him as I openly fought against His will in my life.

Still, after my salvation, I was not acting as a Christian should act. I slept around with many women including married women. I got involved with heavy drug usage, specifically methamphetamines. And I certainly was not attending church or even praying or reading the bible on a regular basis. I certainly was not showing the world a good image of what a Christian should be.

Now there have been times in my life that I have returned to the church and told myself and many others that I gave up sinning. I now know that I will never stop sinning against Him until he gives me my perfected body. Yet I also know that His grace is sufficient for me and that I can come boldly to His throne of grace each and every time I sin against Him.

Again, I am a backslider and have done so many times in my past. I don't really want to go on too much about my past sins. Just know that if there is a sin you are dealing with, you, like me, can always talk to God about it and He will make things right as He transforms you into a Christlike image!

Now I am fully committed to His will and seek His strength in keeping my commitment to Him and not my own for I know that my strength is not sufficient for the task like His is.

I have a BA in History where I studied mainly ancient cultures and religions of the world with some study in Nazi Germany and Meiji Japan as well. I am not sure yet, but I hope to enroll in a master's degree program to earn a Masters in Christian Thought. From there, I do not know where the Lord will lead me.

I will stop for now and continue later with another post.

God bless you all!

My First Post!

Hello Everyone!

I will not post right now other than to say that I have just started this and will post soon. I hope to share my walk with Jesus Christ and many of the thoughts and experiences I have had throughout my life.

God bless you all!