Do Back Sliding Christians Go to Heaven?

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then you may know what the term "back slider" is. It is one of those "Christianese" terms we refer to when we know we aren't doing what we are supposed to be doing as a Christian.

There have been instances when God's people have become back sliders. Many of the prophets of God have addressed God's people when they have turned away from God and have taken on the properties and personalities of those living among them. Idol worship, sexual sin, and have forgotten about God while living in the world. They were simply living for their own selfish desires and not following God. It didn't mean they weren't still God's people.

It means simply not moving forward in our spiritual states. We are not growing spiritually. We are still Christians, but there is a lack of growth in our lives. We can easily look back and see those times, when we are on fire for God, couldn't wait to go to church and now want more time for ourselves and less time living for Him. That is what it means to be back sliders.

As parents, you know those times, when you leave your child at school or babysitter to go to work, and the moment they see us, they are overjoyed to see us. They have missed us. They don't want to be anywhere but with us. We, are their favorite people to hang out with. Does that describe how you feel about God?

Philippians 3:20b (NIV) ~ "And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ."

We should want to be near God.

The backslider knows that God is returning but they are afraid. They live their lives in a state of fear when they think about Him coming back. They are living apart from God and they are generally the most miserable people to be around.

If you recall the story of Peter when he denied Jesus three times just as Jesus predicted Peter would despite his insistence he wouldn't. When we see what happened to Peter, was he miserable living apart from God at that moment?

For a back sliding Christian, we, Christians, can tell when you are back sliding? It's because your bulb has gone out. You still have a bulb, but you're missing your joy. Your light has simply gone out and needs to be turned back on.

Non-believers don't even have a bulb.

Realize this God doesn't grade on a curve. Sin is sin in His eyes. There is no greater sin. Lying versus sexual immorality in God's eyes are the same! So what happens if you are walking away from God, righting a few wrongs in your life, living according to your desires, and you die. Do you still get to go to heaven?

Yes, even while living in your back slidden state. It's not an excuse as a Christian to living according to your own selfish desires, but you are NOT off the hook. You'll still stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and have to explain to Him why you wasted your time, living for yourself instead of Him.

1 John 3:2-3 (NIV) ~ "Dear Friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not be made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. 

Luke 12: 35-37, 40 (NIV) ~ "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open to door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

That means we are to be living for Jesus to come at any time, spending time growing in our knowledge of the Bible, enabling the Holy Spirit to be active and working in our lives. We want to be ready!

If you don't, one of two things will happen, through the willful choices you are making in your own life, (1) the world will send difficulties, not God, He will simply use them to destroy the life you are living and bring you back to Him. He's trying to get your attention; or (2) God will shorten your life because you won't give up your sinful behaviors.

1 Corinthians 5:1-5 (NIV) ~ "It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this just as if I were present. When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord." 

Church judgment must happen so his sinful nature will be destroyed. Check out Romans 8/1 Corinthians 15/ John 3/ Revelation 2-3 for more information on scripture that secures the Christian at any moment of time. You are never too far for God to reach.

So what happens if a Christian were to die in a backslidden or carnal condition, tt results in spiritual discipline and loss of rewards in heaven, but you still go to heaven.

The Bible says we shouldn't condemn people, but we can judge their actions, think of it as spiritual fruit inspection.

Hopefully that will put some of you at ease regarding your salvation and you can begin to repent of your sins and get right with God again. Find that spiritual joy that one day you will see your Father in Heaven, His Son Jesus Christ and that should give us unspeakable joy that should be evident in our life and cause us to enjoy life and to want to share it with others who don't know Christ.

We need to be serious, vigilant and protective our faith and to also to be an example of what a true Christian looks like. We all need encouragement and Christ-centered fellowship with godly friends that encourage your spiritual growth. More importantly you need to be encouraging others in their faith as well!

Don't Worry About Israel, Pray for America!

Last night changed everything for me.

For so long, the fire within my Spirit has been dampened, the embers still alive but not knowing what to do to cause the spark that I had when I first became a believer.

You remember how it was, you were super excited to share your experience with others, to read your Bible, and you couldn't wait to get to church.

Well I got that back!!!

It came from a simple, powerful message that CAN NOT be ignored. The very future of America is sitting right on the precipice of death.

You've seen the signs right?

Or are you like I was, sitting on your couch, watching ISIS behead Christians and thinking to yourself, "You know that kind of thing should be stopped. Why isn't anyone doing anything to put an end to this?" Do you even know what ISLAM means?

Perhaps you recall a man named Hilter who attempted to wipe an entire race of people off the map! We vowed that if something like that should ever happen, we, as the United States, would not let that happen again!

But are we doing anything? Why are we letting a terrorist organization known as ISIS slowly creep ever closer and stand idly by and do nothing. Say nothing.

The one thing I will do is to please watch this moving video from Pastor Jack Hibb's of Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills who clearly spells out for ALL AMERICANS what WILL happen if we don't wake up to what is happening in the Middle East.

There is a reason why the United States isn't mentioned in the book of Revelation and I urge to to watch this. It was what our pastor opted to show up last night so we could wake up from our apathetic and complacent place and begin praying right now for a revival to come to America.

Will YOU watch it? Will you share this post or link with every single person and ask them to watch it for themselves and decide if it's worth doing anything about? It runs almost an hour, but trust me when I say it will be the best hour of your life ever spent!

We CAN NOT sit back and wait for our government to do something, WE all need to do our part to make sure our leaders move in the right direction. Look around, the enemy is running out of time, but he's moving swiftly for the harvest is ripe.

http://www.calvarycch.org/media_center.php?vimeo=1&p=JHX&s=382&fb_ref=Default 

Remember YOU have been warned! Only we can save this country!
Ezekiel 33: 1-6 NIV ~ The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, ³ and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, ⁴ then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. ⁵ Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. ⁶ But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’

Life Sucks!

Sometimes I think that being a Christian can be a whole lot more difficult than it is to simply be part of the world. When tragic things happen, people expect us to act and behave a certain way. They often look to us to see how we will weather the storms of life that truly seek not only to drown us but to overtake and kill us.

Just this week, while browsing my growing Facebook feed, trust me it takes awhile, I notice two very significant prayer requests. One was from a blogging friend I met a few years ago who is still struggling with the loss of her husband just a few months ago, and the other from a woman facing a cancer scare.

Both are Christians.

Both are dealing with something most of us pray never crosses our path.

Both are struggling and finding it beyond difficult some days to even catch a breath.

It feels like someone has let all the air out of their balloon or worse has popped it. 

And life sucks for them. It sucks because no other words seems to justify how they can feel during this time.

They don't always feel that way. It's just the way it is today!

But why as Christians, believers in Jesus Christ, who know that one day, none of these things will matter. Death will no longer be an issue. We will never have to attend a funeral or cry over anything in life again. Cancer will be defeated once and for all and we will be forever healthy.

Perfectly!

Forever!

Because we are still living in a sin-filled world, dealing with the effects of sin, grief, emotions, loneliness, pain, fear, insecurity, depression, while still believing in God.

Being a Christian doesn't mean we won't have to deal with these or even walk through them multiple times.

The things that bother me, is people often times want to band aid things. They tell us stuff like it will be okay, in time, things will get easier; that what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger; that God must have a purpose in all of this; God wanted to take this person home; or my favorite, they are another angel in heaven now.

Scripturally that last one doesn't even wash. Angels are beings created by God and when we die, we don't get wings and join the flock.

We, as believers in Jesus, will join all the other believers who have died and will step into God's presence in Heaven. No wings for us.

Yet, as believers, we know all the other statements, but at those low points, we don't want to hear them. We want people to understand we have need to grieve, to fear, to worry, and at times when no words will do, cry til there is literally nothing left inside of us. We may have those days quite a bit, and there might be days where everything is fine and then we relapse again.

We need to be able to vent what we are feeling and to be able to say, this sucks! It's not fair! Why me?!!!

We aren't looking for explanations, it's just a part of dealing with these things. We will get better at handling them at some point in the future, however long that may be. It will never be the same for everyone.

What I believe we need to understand is that we can pray for them. We can pray for comfort, for people to give up their time, and if they can let them know they are not alone. To run errands, send cards, help out around the house, bring things like their favorite dessert or coffee, just to let them know they are NOT alone in this life, even if they feel like the walls are closing in. Like they are out of strength to try to hold on any longer.

Prayer is the thing that we need to employ more than ever in this life. It is definitely more powerful than you think and the last thing the enemy wants us to do. So will you do me a favor today and add these two very admirable and strong women who are dealing with the worst life has to offer? Pray for encouragement, courage to get through this day, to find joy in the small things and for God to reveal to them in mighty ways, that they are NOT alone in this struggle. We all need friends and neighbors who can come alongside us and help us get through these dark days.

Let us help them find ways to put air back into their balloon or better yet buy them a bunch!

Proverbs 11:25, "He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."

Are You a Secret Agent Christian?

Most of us understand the passage of scripture that bears the message that we would know a person by the type of fruit they produce. Being a huge garden lover, when it comes to spring time and planting of seeds, I have to make sure that I place signs in the area to help me identify the plants that will begin to sprout for and grow. Just like the other week, my husband and I both came across some extra seed packages we had left over from our previous move.

Having a few extra pots laying around with nothing growing in them, we each set about planting seeds in various pots. I took the time to carefully label mine so I would know if I was growing an herb or merely a flowering plant. My hubby however, just diligently got to the task at hand. Pushing seeds into the soil, covering them up, and watering them thoroughly. When we finished, I had three pots in which I had planted marigolds, carnations and sunflowers and each was labeled so I knew which was which.

Hubby's pots on the other hand we void of all identification. When I walked over to one of the pots and asked what was in this one, he looked at me and said, I think cilantro.

"Cilantro? Are you sure?"

"I think so. Wait! Maybe I planted peppers in that one and cilantro in this one."

You can see where this story is headed right?

Needless to say, it will remain a mystery until the plants are large enough to either show us what they are based on what they look like or the type of produce each one will bear. At that time, we won't have need of labels.

But it does bring to mind, if you're a Christian, are you encountering any time of persecution in your life right now?

Hmm, might be difficult if the answer is No, because perhaps it's the company you're keeping. Are you hanging out with only Christians like yourself. Could be the reason you are persecution or problem free right now.

Other reason is that you're a Secret Agent Christian!

Well we all know there isn't such a thing right?

Wrong! The Bible says we would know one another by the types of fruit we bear. In the end, we will all be judged. Let's look at that context in Matthew 25: 31-46 (NIV)

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Perhaps if you are not going through any difficulty or trials right now, you might want to re-examine your life. The Bible speaks clearly in Matthew 7:15-17

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit."

Perhaps you might believe that simply being a good person and doing good things will be enough in this life. But trust me, when your life is over, you will be cast among the goats unless you have accepted Christ as your personal Savior. 

It is not through works that gain us a place in heaven but through believing that Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to get there. If you don't like that message, I guess you'll have to take it up with Jesus because He is the one, that claims that in John 14: 6 "Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." 

That is our ONLY guaranteed. Anything else is simply fooling ourselves that when we get to the end of this life, we will get to go to Heaven. 

So I would encourage you as a believer in Christ, we will ALL go through trials and tribulations, persecution, because of who we believe in. The only difference between our struggles and those of unbelievers is we have HOPE in ours. We know no matter how difficult things get we still have Jesus on our side. He will get us through it. If not on this side, then when we make it to our heavenly home. 

It might be a good time to ensure you aren't fulfilling your role as a Secret Agent Christian. Perhaps you don't want to "rock the boat" but trust me, time is running short. We need to stand firm, rooted in the truth of what God tells us, and if we are willing to do that, trust me, the world will let you know. 

Let's make sure we are bearing much fruit in our lives for God's glory. 

It is His goal that NONE shall perish and that ALL will come to know Him. Isn't time to make that choice today if you haven't and have come upon this message today. 

You didn't wind up here by chance. 

God had a purpose for you finding your way here. 

Don't leave today, without the eternal hope of knowing where you'll be spending your eternity. 

Trust me, there are two places where you will wind up. 

Either Heaven, my preference for everyone. 

Or Hell, and trust me, it's not going to be a party place for you and all your crazy friends. It will be a place of torment and punishment. There is no way out once you find yourself there. 

Ready to make a change? 

It's simple. 

God will hear you when you speak. It's simply a gift He's willing to extend to you. No matter what you've done in your life, God can erase it all and give you freedom from your sin. 

Ask Him into your life. Tell Him to make Himself known to You. 

Tell Him you're a sinner and need His forgiveness. 

Tell Him you believe His promises that He is the ONLY way to redemption and to show you the way. 

Tell Him you believe He is the Son of God who was sent here to die for your sins, to die on the cross for you as payment and was raised on the third day and now lives in Heaven at the right hand of God. 

Tell Him to keep you in His care and to show you a new life you can have to day. 

If you have done that and meant it with your heart, you are a NEW creation in Jesus Christ. 

I would encourage you to find a church and a friend who is a believer and let them know so they can help you on your way to learning more about where you'll be spending an eternity now. Welcome to the family!!

Feel free to share this message with anyone who needs it. 

Sand Castles

Sometimes the best places for some of my writing ideas happen in the weirdest places. In almost all the cases, I don't have anything to capture those incredible thoughts and have to try and commit them to memory and hope I can remember all the details when I do have time to capture them. Today's insight came to you compliments of my shower time. No place for a pen or paper here, but thankfully I was able to recall most of the thoughts and along the way of discussing it with my hubby, God intervened and made it much better.

I was wondering why so many "Christians" chose not to vote in this last election. I figured some didn't like one candidate over the other, or some were divided on the issues at hand, but when you go back and really look at the number of "Christians" registered to vote and how many chose simply not to vote at all, why didn't they?

I know some "Christians" who did took several issues to heart and simply voted for the one that most closely matched those beliefs that they respected and agreed with. Yet, you can't over look the fact that so many chose to simply not vote, even though it is one of the most precious rights, we as citizens have. The more I puzzled over this issue and began talking about it to my husband, we agreed that most people labeled the candidates who were running for office. The two major candidates, one republican and one democrat. One most belief is a Muslim, the other a Mormon. One believed in the liberal rights of everyone, and the other stuck to a more strict system of family and moral values. At least that is how I saw it. Remember this is my shower conversation.

Then I started to think back to what would I do, if I had to give an account to why I voted the way I did before God, what would my argument be? Just for the record I did vote, but I will keep that one for another day. It's not the point of today's blog post. Yet, when I thought long and hard about it, what would I say to God? Well, you see God, I voted for the one that most closely matched the family values I stood for, even though I don't believe in the same religious ideas that they do. ( I don't think God was impressed with my answer in my mind). So now I found myself with a conflicted conscience. Why did I vote for someone I didn't agree with that stood for the same religious beliefs I did. Not some, but the most important one of all. In my opinion looking back, neither candidate recognizes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Wow! That statement alone completely convicted me. How could I ever stand before God with my decision and say confidently I made the best decision possible knowing I had to vote. Did I really have to vote?  If I stood before two evil candidates who were going to decide for the most part how my city would be ran, (I'm not labeling either of them evil) and neither of them believed in Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, then how could I chose either? Wouldn't my best choice be NONE if that is all I had to select from?

Knowing that NO true Christian will ever make it to the office of president because of the sheer number of people in the world that simply want things their way, what can I do then? How can I possibly survive as I watch Christian principles continue to erode every single day. (NOW comes the God moment, ready?)

God reminded me that we, as Christians, are sand castle builders on a beach. The world we live in is the ocean. So taking on that analogy, I am sure you can remember what it was like as a child building a sand castle on the beach (see picture above). When we were little, our only concern was to gather sand in a bucket and dump it on the beach. We weren't thinking about the water that would eventually come and take back our castle. But as a child, we got upset when that happened. As baby Christians who are just beginning to live in the world, that is the beginnings of our walk of faith. We don't know much but we try to do our best. Unfortunately unless we stick to it, we get washed about by the first or second wave that comes along.

As we grow and mature as Christians, we learn better ways to try to beat the waves from washing away our sand castles. We get bigger buckets, shovels, friends, and even build our sand castles when the tide is low so we have more time. However, no matter how big we build it, the waves will come and slowly begin to erode our castle away. Wisdom is like that. It takes time to develop. It takes persistent and a willingness to learn from our mistakes. But no matter what happens, the ocean is a much bigger place than our sand castle. This is why, as Christians, we are continually being bombarded by things that go against the very nature of our faith. No matter how strong we stand, we succumb to judging others, (call it voicing our opinions), being angry, losing our patience, becoming bitter, holding grudges, I'm sure you get the picture. Each of those is a wave on our sand castle of faith, slowly eroding away til we fall apart grain by grain.

This is why, for us as Christians, the battle against the world will always be difficult. There are always things attempting to erode away our faith. No matter how much we know we need to show grace, love, patience, joy, forgiveness, self control, gentleness, we lose it some times. The waves come. But as great castle builders we are, we learn and we begin to try and build once again til the day comes where there are no more waves. Where the sand is perfect and where our choices will be easier to make.

However until that day, realize the labels we wear as Christians, may not be flattering to the world. They are the waves that are out to beat us back based on stereotypes of people who lose it from time to time. We are not perfect, but we are working towards someone who has been that perfect example and let us use the tools to help being worn away by reading the Bible and forming a perfect relationship with Jesus Christ. Let us not be conformed to the world, but stand shining lights in the darkness directing those to Him instead. Let us all pray more for our leaders, our country and those around us. The way I see it only 10% of the world believes in Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, that's 1 in every 10 people will make it to heaven. That's a percentage I can't live with.  Let's see if we can get those numbers a whole lot higher doing things God's way and showing them the love of Jesus Christ in how we live our lives and what we say and do!

If you read this all the way, the enemy is really upset with you and will work harder to make sure you are interrupted or simply forget you say it. Ask Jesus Christ into your heart today. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins. (We, ALL, our sinners, every single one of us, even Christians) and believe that it is only through a faith in Him that you can be saved by the simply act of GRACE, and have eternal life. If you have done that, I would encourage you to get a Bible and begin reading the book of John and start learning more about the life of Jesus Christ, we will be spending an eternity with Him after all!

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." ~ Romans 12:2

 

They Give Christians A Bad Name!

I sat here tonight talking to my oldest daughter who is a senior in high school. We have these talks from time to time and I think I treasure these moments more than any we have, except for the ones about relationships and boys.

Tonight's discussion was about God, whether we think the world we end in 2012 as most believe, what do I think heaven will be like, and what happens to Christians that change their minds after they say they were believers before.

WOW a lot to take in huh?

It's sad to see her see Christianity as a religion like most of her peers. I explained the history of Christianity from the days of Jesus' birth until modern time and that its now a way of life instead of a religion.

Too many of her friends have been turned off by Christians in general based on what I would call you're extremists. Bible Thumpers, People who view things in Black and White and live in a world of such hypocrisy. They judge everything on their own standards as they view them from the Bible. I'm not talking about all "Christians" just the ones that give the word "Christian" a bad name! They make talking to people they have hurt that much more difficult because they have been "burned" in the process. Now they don't want to know the God we know and love!

Try explaining to her friends why they don't want to be Christians based on actions of people before us. I simply explained that sometimes people can give others the wrong impression of what Christians should be, instead of the lives we should be living.

People should see Christ living within us through our actions, our words, and our thoughts. Yet because we live in a world of sin, we ALL fall short. The only perfect one who was able to master this, was our Master, Jesus Christ, perfect in every way.

How sad it is to think of how many people walk around believing the worst of us based on our actions and not Jesus'. How many lives could be changed simply by showing unconditional love to one another, helping those less fortunate, and truly putting others needs above our own. A true servant's attitude. How would people see us then, without our "label"?

I can only hope that the conversation that I had tonight with my daughter, will give her the courage to change her life and see things through the eyes of others, trying to live the example that Jesus set and leave the judging of people and their actions to God. Unless we are endowed with ultimate knowledge to see into their hearts, minds and thoughts, ours is simply to love them as Jesus did.

Let us all look at the light that we shine forth that only others can really see. Do they see Jesus reflected in us, or do they see someone that they can't draw near to for fear of being judged and labeled?

I, for one, want to be seen as a follower of Christ, not a labeled as your stereo typical "Christian" by the worlds standards. I want to be judged by Gods.

The Homecoming

It's been so long since we've seen him that it's so hard to remember what he looks like. Looking back it seems like ages but it hasn't really been that long at all.

Even though you talk to him every day, it's not the same thing as being there together. Nothing feels better than when your together.

You keep checking your watch wondering just how much longer it will be. There have been delays in the past when you were sure he was coming home, but you're hoping this will be it.

You've done all you can to get ready, you've made sure the home is all tidy just the way he loves it. You've made sure that you look just right. Seems no matter how hard you try to look your very best, he is just happy to see you and take you into his arms and tell you how very much he loves you.

Just thinking about how much you've missed him, makes the anxiety you're feeling even worse. Butterflies in your stomach? Ha! This feels more like tanks rolling into battle complete with air defense as a back up.

Just how much longer will it be?

How much longer before you see his amazing, beautiful face?

How safe will it feel when he wraps his arms around you and holds you tight?

How soothing will it be to hear his voice call your name and tell you that he loves you!

You begin to pace the floor, back and forth, expecting to see him at any moment.

Oh it could be the very next time you look up and see him watching you, to see just how long it will take before you look up and notice he's been watching you.

You smile and your eyes begin to mist. Oh it's been so long. So long for so many things. You have so much to share with one another. Time to tell each other what you've missed since you've been apart. Time to tell each other what you mean to one another. How much you love him if its possible to love him more.

At times it feels as if time has flown by and at other times, it seems to crawl or not move at all.

Suddenly, the time is here before you know it.

You look up and see his face.

He is smiling!!!

He has his arms open wide and he is walking towards you. Now he begins to run.

You run towards him trying to make any distance between you both disappear. Your smiling and crying at the same time as you both embrace. His arms feel so good around you and you never want to let go.

He tells you that you will never be apart again. That there will be no separation any longer for either of you. This time it's forever. This time he promises that nothing will take you away from him. He holds you tight and when you look up, he is crying as well.

You turn and walk side by side, looking at one another, never taking your eyes off each other for one minute. He calls your name and you just know your home. It's the ultimate homecoming.

What Difference Does Prayer Make?

The Power of Prayer

When atheists pray is it like talking to a disconnected phone? Sometimes even as Christians we can forget whom we are talking to when we pray.

Are you currently facing one of these situations in your life right now, foreclosure on your home, job loss, life threatening illness, fear of an uncertain future, loss of friends or family members? So what should you do? The Bible tells us to pray. “ Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”(Philippians 4:6-7)

I myself find this to be one of my greatest challenges. See when I worry about something, I often wonder if I am supposed to do something to make it better if I can. I wonder when I am supposed to wait upon the Lord? I find myself thinking, ‘aren’t I lazy if I don’t do something and then if I can’t fix it, should I then pray?”

Lately in the midst of this economic crisis our country has fallen into, not without some fore knowledge however, we are ourselves victims. For over a year now, I have placed my application with Apple One, a temporary service out here, to attempt to find a part time job. Do you know this is the first time in my lifetime I can remember, that no one has called me? Not even to answer the phone, do something from home, even file? For an entire year? Anyone else relate to this issue? So for almost the last year, we lived on my husband’s disability while he recovered from an injury from work until recently. We now find ourselves struggling to play the new game for this year called “Trying to catch up financially”. Forget what everyone tells you that by calling your mortgage companies and credit card companies that they will work with you even lower your interest rates and possibly allow you to skip some payments. NOT in this economy! These were the most heartless people I have ever had the privilege of speaking with. No one would do anything for us unless we were officially three months late. Nothing. No matter whom we asked to speak with that were of higher authority.

So what does someone do with no other options, you got it. We waited till we were late, and tried calling back. Can you guess what our options were then? Risk of foreclosure because now we are running near three months behind, our credit card companies are calling hourly wanting a payment and the letters begin flowing in filling our mailbox with legal notices and collection companies. So when do you call on God in prayer?

How do you get yourself out? I find myself with this struggle daily. Sometimes I begin to think I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel when we get extra money or a bigger than expected paycheck, and then, BOOM! The light at the end of the tunnel was a train! More unexpected expenses like our car repair, or job related expenses that must be expensed and get reimbursed for later. Can you relate at this point? How about out of town travel just to work in this economy. My husband has for the last 5 months been out of town working because in our lovely state, there is no work. So now we face, how does our family get along for 3-5 weeks without our leader in our home? How do I tell my daughter, that this is what it takes anymore to make ends meet? Yikes! Sometimes I feel that this is more of a perpetual uphill battle where I never make it to the top, I can see it, but can never reach it.

I have found peace however! I have come to realize that God has everything under control, even though to me, I really wish I could peer into the future and just know it will be all right. It’s God’s way of making sure that I continually seek His will daily and rely on Him at all times. He has come through in some amazing ways. Never again will I doubt God, and I know that whatever comes tomorrow good or bad, it’s a brand new day that God has created just for me. I can with His grace find something in it to be thankful for and until things change for the better, I will rest at His feet and wait! God’s peace will guard your heart and mind.

Sitting on the Fence!

Have you ever found yourself stuck in the middle of a difficult decision, not knowing quite what to do? How do you figure out what to do? How do you know that your decision will be the right path to take? Whom do you ask for help?

Hopefully your answer would be to pray first before tackling anything that you have doubts about. You never know the path that God would like for you to take. Even though you may think that the choice would be easy however, God may have something even better in store for you.

Too often we find ourselves sitting on the fence between the world of black and white. We call sitting on the fence, those areas of shades of grey. Nothing could be that simple, shouldn't we compromise? The question we should ask ourselves is do we know what is right from wrong?

In today's world, people are accepting things that they know are wrong, and calling it acceptable, and the things that should be good such as things based on Biblical teachings are now be tossed out as wrong. In Micah 3: 1-2 it states, "Should you know justice, you who hate good and love evil."It is wrong to eliminate God in government buildings, schools and churches. Sorry but it is what our country was founded on but has seemed to slide lately in favor of what the majority wants. Since when has the majority ever been right? Aren't we compromising things that we seriously shouldn't? We were once a nation that feared God, now this country wants God removed from everything except the church. Even that now is being called into question because people don't want to hear what is wrong in their lives. Are those that make the laws above the laws? But be careful, when you look in the mirror, look out for the double standard in your own life as well.

I will never apologize for my beliefs and if asked I will be prepared to share those with anyone who asks. Do you find yourself feeling less shocked when you see things on the news or in the movies because it is the new norm for you? Do you find yourself becoming more and more tolerant of that which is evil and less interested in that which is spiritual? Do you find that your words seem to have no effect on the nonbelievers you share them with?

If we don't pick a side and in this case it should be the white side of our fence, then when we try to correct someone in the error of his ways, we won't have any affect. There won't be any power in our witness because we lived a compromised life.

Our current government has done what is right in their own eyes. They need to do what is right in God's eyes instead of their own, otherwise we will continue to have problems in our country. It's like when 9/11 happened, we had people everywhere asking this country to pray, people were praying everywhere. In schools, government buildings, office buildings you name it, people that day and days that followed begged God for his help. Did you ever notice that God didn't really do anything to help this country following that tragic event? He could have exposed the terrorists responsible and had them eliminated but amazing enough, we still can't find them. It's because we never repented in our evil, greedy ways and yet still asked God for help. We were still sitting on the fence, not wanting to pick a side one way or another. We wanted our cake and eat it too! Micah 4:4, states "Then they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done."

Even today in the ministry, there are people that are in the ministry using it primarily to make money. They tell people what they want to hear, so that people will send in their money. But it doesn't last. Leaders and authority figures love money and they love themselves. They believe everything that they are doing is justified, but God will allow judgement to occur because of their continuing to sin. Nothing this president and his cabinet attempt to do on their own will work to restore our country. We need to change our ways.They need to change their ways and turn their hearts back to God. We can't accept things we know are wrong and accept them as right. We need to help people out and stop turning our backs when people are hurting. We need to genuinely care about people again.

You can't experience peace until you make peace with God. So as a person who claims to be a Christian shouldn't be afraid of anything. Our lives should be a reflection of what lies beneath. We shouldn't worry about offending anyone, otherwise we shouldn't be a Christian. We are the light and salt of this world and the world that is currently dwelling within the darkness it has brought upon itself, hates the light. It hates to be shown the error of it's ways because it would be forced to change, and it feels too good right now to change. Even in church there are people who will say, "I don't want to hear that!" I just want a pep talk. I want someone to to tell me what I want to hear.

Peace in our lives fails when we put our eyes on our circumstances instead of on God. Stop sitting on the fence. Stop trying to justify your actions! Stop living the lies you keep feeding yourself. Time to pick a side, there are no areas of grey in God's eyes! Time is running out for you to make that choice, do you really want to be left behind, thinking that you can always do it tomorrow?

Honest to God!

What does it mean to be a Christian? Too often people hold up huge expectations of what Christians are supposed to do and not do, as a matter of fact they seem to judge Christians more harsher than they would someone who isn't a Christian. Suddenly when you announce to people that you are a Christian, it seems like the world suddenly puts a huge target on you! Now you are fair game but before no one really cared what you did.

Now people are putting you under a microscope and looking into the smallest details of what you do, who you hang out with, and what you say. They are the ones that begin to point out all your imperfections and call you a Hypocrite! Wrong!!! Just because you believe in something and fall short because we are human doesn't make us a Hypocrite, it makes us Christians!

Christians are to seek to believe in everything the Bible tells us, and act in a God-like manner. The difference between a hypocrite is that they wear a mask, an actor if you will, being someone they aren't. They don't believe in God at all, but act as if they do.

The problem is that it's better to be a sinner and admit it, then lie and pretend to be something you're not. It's not any one's job to judge people because you can't see into their hearts and really know what's going on. Only God can do that! We can't lie to God.

None of us can live a perfect life, because we live in a sin-filled world and we are human. By that very nature we are inclined to sin. It takes a daily walk of faith and sometimes minute by minute walk to try and do the will of God in our daily lives. Reading the Bible doesn't make you a believer, nor does going to church make you a Christian.

The only way you can be saved is to believe that God sent His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins, and that He was raised on the third day and now sits at the right hand of the Father. It is only by the blood that Jesus shed for us, that we can be saved and it's that belief alone and not by anything we can do that we can go to heaven. You must also turn from your sins and try to do the will of God daily.

Sure we will fall, sure we will make mistakes, sometimes big ones, but we can ask forgiveness and only by the grace of God, can we know we are truly forgiven. I know of some that claim that faith, but refuse to make a changes in their lives. They haven't repented, which is what one must be willing to do. It's not a "name it and claim it" kind of faith. You have to want to do it and be willing to try and do it daily.

It's only by the fruit we produce that we can truly tell if we are walking in the path of God's will. What are the fruits? Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. These things are truly present in the life of a true believer! Are these things present in your life?

The acts of a non believer are: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness and orgies. Galatians 5:19-21 tells us of these things and that those who live like this, will not inherit the kingdom of God.

I hope that this helps both believers and non believers alike to not judge lest we be judged. NO ONE is perfect! Only Jesus Christ was! We need to try to be more like Him in everything we do!