A Christ Follower: The Journey

Our Father Who Is In Heaven.  Matthew 6:9b FIVE IMPORTANT WORDS The five words written above in our scripture speak about the ultimate Father.  Hopefully, you know Him. But maybe you don't.  He is the Father who looked out upon the planet He created, and though He was not surprised, He saw human beings walking away from the most important relationship of their lives. He saw way too many deciding to break His law and spurn His life giving truth. Or, at the very least, decide they do not have any need of Him; therefore, they became dead to Him. No, He didn't want them dead to Him, but by choice, they did so.  Breaking God's law is sin, and the "wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23a.)  This death equals the ultimate breaking of the absolute most important intimate relationship. This spiritual death is the worst possible death of all. I say this because God no longer becomes -- or is -- the Daddy, Papa or Spiritual Parent who resides in heaven ...

Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that God is, and that God is a  rewarder of those who  diligently seek Him Hebrews 11:6 Overcoming The Impossible Is it impossible to please God? Well ... yes and no. God gets great pleasure out of His children simply believing what He promises His children. But choosing not to believe God is absolutely the number one way to get on what humans might call "the bad side of God."  Say What?  Think of it this way, it brings God so much pleasure when each of us take seriously that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth him will not perish but will have eternal life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Those who believe in Him are not condemned, but those who do not believe are condemned already...." Why? Because they have not "believed in the name ...

I am The Vine. You Are The Branches Apart From Me You Can Do NO-Thing. Jesus. The Source The source of our lives, and the power for holy, godly and healthy living, comes from a day by day abiding, or resting, in the Lord Jesus. He is the ONE who has all authority in Heaven and on Earth. (Matthew 28:18.) And He is the Head over all rule and authority. (Colossians 2:10.) It is important to know this because the reality of spiritual warfare is more real than most know, and as we abide in Him, He makes us complete. (Colossians 2:10 KJV.) We have the power, through our relationship to Jesus,  to draw close to God, and He will demonstrate His intimacy with us, through Jesus. We also have the power to submit to God, as we abide in Christ, and resist the Devil.  Satan actually has to run away from us. (James 4:7-8) When we humble ourselves to Him, "He will lift us up." (James 4:10) Daily Be Intentional So, let us be intentional, start...

ANXIETY THE EPIDEMIC Please Read Philippians 4:6-7  Over the years, I have been amazed how many people, Christ Followers included -- myself included -- who are struggling with anxiety or have struggled with anxiety. Sometimes the anxiety morphs into full blown panic attacks, and people begin to struggle even more because they believe the lie that, "a good Christian should not feel this way;" yet, even Jesus himself exhibited a somatic response to intense overwhelming anxiety, in the Garden of Gethsemane, by sweating blood. Certainly Jesus is the epitome of human perfection, and He never sinned; therefore, experiencing being emotionally distraught cannot mean a person is lesser of a person for being like our Lord. This begs the question: What can be done? Well, the scope of this web log cannot begin to fully answer such a thing; however, I do think I can offer you a thumbnail sketch, or overview, of how to be able to begin to "fear not." Five Considerat...

ADVENT = COMING I don't know about all of you, but Advent has been really interesting? Do you know what I mean? Maybe you do. Maybe you don't.  For Vicki and me,  it has been interesting. I say this because we have faced some significant challenges that could very easily have gotten us to stop being focused on the ONE -- Jesus-- who came about 2000+ years ago, comes to us today, who wants to come into our hearts and lives to give us life to the full, and who  will come again. Yes, Advent does mean "Coming;" Yet, so much has happened to us, that it could have been difficult for us to even know we are coming or going... much less be focused on someone else's coming. For Example For example, I have been sick. I am not talking about a head cold. I am talking about a, "my candle wick of life is coming to a flicker" kind of sick.  I am talking about a sick where my medical teams have made it clear that I have outlived my life expectancy kind of s...

We Christ Followers are celebrating the coming of The Savior of The World! The Prophets foretold with 100% uncanny accuracy the details of His coming! His Advent! Jesus actually did demonstrate The Advent! He fulfilled every detail of those prophetic utterances of His birth! He came, and there is no more historically accurate details of anyone in history than those proving Jesus journey on the Earth. He lived and died and He rose from the dead as foretold. 500 witnesses, at least testified to this, and they were willing to lay down their lives giving their testimony! We now celebrate that coming, and I hope you experience your own personal Advent (Jesus Coming Into Your Own Heart and life.) I hope you turn from your own bondage to sin and death to the ONLY giver of eternal life. Believe in Him! Receive Him! Let Him come into your heart and life today! Why? Because when He comes again, or when you go to your Eternal reward, if you have this personal relationship -- tha...

HEARTFELT HONEST PRAYING 19. If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from you, you who are blood thirsty! 20. They speak of you with evil intent; Your Adversaries misuse your name. 21. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,  and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? 22. I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. 23. Search me, God, and know my heart;  test me and know my anxious thought. 24. See if there is any offensive way in me,  and lead me in the everlasting way. Shifting Gears As we listen to our psalmist reflecting on the beauty of experiencing intimacy with God, all of the sudden he dramatically shifts gears. All throughout this Psalm, he is reflecting on just how wonderfilled and special it is to be intimate with God.  He must have been feeling pretty good, and he must have felt especially close to his Creator.  All of the sudden, there is a dramatic tone in his mood and writing. Ha...