A Christ Follower: The Journey

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash!   Jesus                                                                   Storms        Storms seem to come into ever...

If you believe in something, there is a good chance you will move toward creating, recreating or simply making it happen.  An ancient wisdom writer once said, "As a man thinks in his heart so is he."  I suppose, if the writer were more modern that one would say, " If its dominating your gut, you won't be in a rut, but you will live it out there for everyone to see?"   Now why am I telling y'all this?  I am telling y'all this because I want to tell y'all this; however, there is a bit more motivating my scribal articulation.  I am telling y'all this because I have been struggling, since serving in the U.S. Military, with some anxiety issues... they actually caused or contributed to yours truly having 3 heart attacks.  Needless to say, those years of service impacted my brain.  And not only did they do so, but ... in time... God taught me how to develop ways, founded on Biblical Spirituality, that calmed down that hurricane in my head and has ...

  Matthew 24:35-44   35  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. The Day  When He Returns  Unknown 36  “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37  As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38  For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39  and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40  Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41  Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.   42  “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43  But understand this: If the owner of the house ha...

The Steadfast love of the LORD NEVER ceases.  HIS mercies NEVER come to an end.  They are NEW every morning.  Great is YOUR FAITHFULNESS... O LORD .  Lamentations 3:23-24   I have read these verses "a million times" it could be said, but in reality taking time to really hear the truth of them takes some meditation and reflection. And we are talking about some serious stuff here.  Even so, I don't think mere words will do them justice.   STEADFAST LOVE: God's love for you is sturdy.  It stays in place... like an anchor for your soul...that will not let you go... that will heal you so that you will be eternally alive and whole.    NEVER Ceases: God's love was here before you were you. His love for you is here while you are here being you, and long after you have ended this journey on planet earth... well... let's just say God's love will still keep on keeping on.   NEVER END.  God's desire to NOT give you what y...

SAINTS        These past few days, two former Popes were declared as Saints.  They met the requirements of the beatification process of becoming Saints, and so they are officially declared "Saints" by the Vatican and the powers that be who reside there in; however, this world wide news got me to thinking about the Bible perspective of what constitutes a person being a Saint.        I do know that "While we were (notice past tense) yet sinners Christ died for us." (See Romans 5:8.)  I also know that Paul did not write his letters to the "sinners" in Ephesus or elsewhere.  He wrote to the "Saints."  I am sure a whole lot of them did not feel very saintly, but they were declared as such. Besides, we don't walk by feelings.  We walk by faith in what God says.  Saint is the name for all  Christ Followers,  meaning "holy ones" (which is the rendering in some modern versions—see NLT...

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death. -Apostle Paul Jesus' Story THE PASSION!   “ And being in an agony , He prayed more earnestly ”  (Luke 22:44 ESV) The Garden. A place where Jesus had come many times before to pray. But this time was different. This time He was in an agony. What’s interesting is that this is the only time this phrase is used in all of scripture. It was not just agony . It was an agony. A battle… a fight…a struggle in deep anguish. “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me…” Lying on His face, prostrate before His Father. Crying out in such deep distress that the capillaries under his skin burst and “ His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” ( vs. 44 ) . Typically this kind of agony can cause brain damage, or even death. But Jesus lived on… to die… THE PUNISHMENT ...

  Acts 24:16  I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience  both before God and before men         A good part of my life I have heard,  "Let your conscience be your guide."  REALLY?  Can we really trust this?  After all, if you think about it, this has serious limitations,  since our conscience is a function of our mind.  BC (Before Christ) we were continually guided by the values of  "the world." This being true, we were "programmed" with GIGO...Garbage In Garbage Out; therefore our consciences would always be true to "the worlds"  own standard....that is, again, until we come to Christ.        Needless to say,  many people are falsely guided by a guilty conscience--not a true guilt, but a psychological guilt usually developed in early childhood & adolescence. Satan works through this stronghold to accus...