Are You Risen?

Easter is now a memory. We celebrated Jesus rising from the dead. He died for us—our sins past, present, and future. Truly repent what you have done and your sins vanish. The operative word is “truly.” You can’t just slough your sins away. You need to anguish in repenting. Jesus is risen. The question now is if you have risen.

My idea of Easter on a personal level is rising up with Jesus. Leaving the “death” of sin aside and rising up to a new life. Sure, I will once again sin along the way. I’m an imperfect child of God and a pretty good sinner on occasion. But I strive for perfection and try to rise up with Jesus.

This isn’t some religious mumbo-jumbo. Rising up involves following Jesus by starting with the one commandment He left us—to LOVE. You can’t rise up with Jesus unless you rise up in LOVE. Not selective LOVE but LOVE of everyone. It starts with a smile, a helping hand, going out of your way, turning the other cheek, and simply treating others the way we want to be treated. LOVE. It’s a Real Secret to Life and it’s the one simple commandment that Jesus gave us.

Enjoy the week and walk in LOVE.

No Better Human Being

I don’t care what your views or “religion” are but you’ll be hard pressed to find a better human being than the late Pope Francis. He wasn’t perfect. None of us are. But for someone on the world stage he both preached and lived a very humble existence. He walked the talk, something very rare in this day and age.

He obviously had to go by the pomp and circumstance of the Vatican. I’m Catholic and I don’t like it. It’s not Jesus—what He preached and how He lived His life. But The Pope did his best to keep everything in his life as down to earth as possible. To emulate Jesus. He will be missed!

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all the world leaders attending the Pope’s funeral took a lesson from his life. The world would be a dramatically better place. Heaven on earth. Unfortunately, that won’t happen.

I hope Pope Francis stays in the hearts of the faithful to inspire us. This world needs inspiration—and a lot more light.

God bless the Pope, the new Pope, and all of us!

Good Friday Every Day

Good Friday is an enigma. We call it “good” but it is this solemn day of mourning Jesus dying on the cross. I mean, what is “good” about that? And why have I titled this post to imply ever day should be a Good Friday. Here goes.

I think that Good Friday should be a day of reflection, not mourning. We should reflect on Jesus in human form taking all of our sins—past, present, and future—and pinning them to the cross he hung and died on. No wonder the “human” side of Jesus sweated blood in the garden even thinking about the enormity of that task. I don’t think the sweating blood was over the pain, suffering, and death to come. It was the daunting task of taking all that sinfulness and wiping it out.

I don’t think that we should use one day to mourn what Jesus did. I think that every single day we should reflect on what He did and give thanks for it. Not one day. Every day. That’s why I intend to keep Good Friday every day.

Forget about sins of humanity past and to come. There is so much sinfulness in the world today that just wiping those present sins out is a mind-boggling, incomprehensible task. Thank you, Jesus!

Don’t ever forget that your sins—past, present, and future—are forgotten if you reflect on them, repent, and then ask for forgiveness. That’s the message of Good Friday and the message for every day.

Have a wonderful, blessed Easter Sunday. Jesus has risen! Rise up with Him!

Destroying Lives as Hell Awaits

The fires of Hell are burning brighter than ever. Satan has to loving that there is no kindling needed because the logs of lost souls keep coming and, by the looks of it, a lot more to come. The fires of Hell are burning brighter than ever! There is such animosity and pure hatred in the world that the devil is glowing. Jesus must be wondering why He died for us; as am I.

Take the story of this college freshman who’s life has literally been destroyed by an idiotic sports moron (forgive me God!) who fed an untrue story about her. I won’t even dignify repeating it here. That wasn’t bad enough but tons of other morons ganged on and have made this poor girl’s life a living Hell. They’ll all be surprised the day that their lives are a living Hell forever—as in eternity.

I am one of the most positive people you will meet but the reality of the world is that it is coming apart at the seams. The Godhead of Father, Son, Spirit obviously know what is happening but must be shaking their heads.

Now is the time those of us who see the darkness in this world must ignite and shine our soul lights brighter than ever. Smile, help, donate, turn the cheek, be the better person. I’m no saint—far, far from it—but our world needs help. And it starts one person at a time!

Enjoy the weekend and shine your light brighter than ever!!!

Rise of the Fake “christians”

This is a tough post to write. Clearly, Jesus sent a message to not judge. To look at the log in your own eye before focusing on the splinter in someone else’s eye. But I can’t help it if I am judging. Not that I’m putting myself up as perfection. Trust me, I’m the world’s best sinner. But I just have to write about all the self-professed “christians” (I won’t even dignify it with a capital “C”) out there. Wearing their “christianity” on their sleeves while acting anything like a true Christian.

Let me just be direct and to the point. Jesus made it very, very, very clear that as a follower of His—and that’s what a Christian is, a follower of Jesus—you need to LOVE. No excuses, no outs. You LOVE everyone, regardless of who they are and what they stand for. LOVE. It’s that simple.

I see and hear more people professing their “christianity” but don’t do anything close to loving. They are name callers, are vindictive, and are so far from loving that they are not even close. Jesus is shaking His head while the devil is licking his chops. Because the so called “christians” are not only anything but real Christians. They are devil followers, even if they don’t realize it.

There. I know I am judging and I’ll confess that sin. And I’m not hating the so called rising “christians” because I would be a hypocrite and not a true Christian. I’m doing my very best to LOVE them because that is what Jesus commanded.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

Can this be any clearer???

Have a great rest of the week walking in LOVE.

A World Tearing Apart at the Seams.

I am not a negative or fatalistic person. But clearly the world is coming apart. In the United States, demographer Neil Howe has written a book, The Fourth Turning is Here. Simply put, the message of this New York Times bestseller is that history repeats in 80-100 year cycles made up of four “turnings.” The fourth turning is the “crisis” turning. The last three “crisis” turnings ended in WWII, the Civil War, and the Revolutionary War. I’m not predicting WWIII or a Civil War, but neither did the vast majority of people living during those previous fourth turnings.

Obviously, look past the United States to Africa, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Asia and very clearly the world is tearing apart at the seams. Something has to give and it will. And as the world becomes more secular, turning our backs on God, things will get worse. Just ask the Israelites aimlessly wandering the desert and following false “gods” thousands of years ago. We may think we are a lot better now, and a lot smarter and sophisticated, but in many ways we are a lot worse.

Doom and gloom? No, just reality. I’m a very positive person by nature, always swimming upstream. But I don’t stick my head in the sand or ignore obvious signs.

The world is what it is, which makes me turn to God even more. There is one salvation for this world and it is God—Creator, Savior, and Advocate. That is my fall-back, my compass, and my salvation in this world tearing apart, which I believe it will. God is always, and always will be, regardless of what we do to this world.

If you haven’t already doubled down on God now is a good time to start. Only He can really help make sense of this crazy world! He is the constant and always will be. He is my sanity in this crazy world.

Enjoy the weekend and spend some time with God!

Hope Abounds!

I’ll work backwards in this post, leaving the doom and gloom for later.

Hope abounds! Don’t ever lose hope. Whatever your situation is in life or whatever your outlook is on this crazy world we live in, never, ever lose hope. It always abounds in one place, one person—God. Father Creator, Jesus Savior, and Spirit Advocate are where you can always find hope.

How do you find hope? Just turn to God, who is always less than a heartbeat away. There is no religion, no magic, and no mumbo jumbo. Just turn to God and ask Him to gas up your hope tank. Hope always abounds.

We live in a world that is getting darker by the day. It’s not doom and gloom but the reality of the world. It’s tough to see the light through the darkness. It’s tough to have hope that things will get better. But if you fix your gaze firmly on God you will see the light and have hope.

Don’t know how to find God in your life? Just tune out the world and tune in God. Find a quiet place. Be still. Focus. Call to God. Clear your mind of everything but God. I’ll repeat again that He is less than a heartbeat away.

Hope abounds! It’s always there and abounding.

Have a hope filled week ahead. Don’t ever lose hope!

Forgiveness Received After Forgiveness Given

Don’t expect forgiveness from God until you forgive. It’s that simple. And if you question me go read what Jesus said when He taught us to pray. Forgive as you are forgiven. There is no mystery to this.

It’s tough to forgive people sometimes. Tell me about it! But if you are unwilling to forgive then don’t expect forgiveness in return.

We live in an unforgiving world. We love pointing fingers, finding fault with others, and blasting others. Forgiveness is the last thing in the air.

Well, you have a choice to make. It’s pretty black and white. Forgive or don’t expect forgiveness in return. Another simple fact of life that we complicate so much.

Have a great week walking in forgiveness.

A Brighter Day Ahead

The world seems like it is getting progressively darker. It seems that wherever you look there is just bad stuff happening. It’s tough to look through the gloom of darkness and find the light. But there is always brightness ahead if you really look for it.

My brightness right now is my new granddaughter. Whenever the gloom surrounds me I pull out the latest picture of her on my phone and the brightness comes through. But there is always the brightness of God that breaks through any darkness. Jesus is there to save us and the Spirit to empower us through the darkness. They are always a constant in life breaking through the doom and gloom.

If you feel there is nothing that breaks through the gloom just reach for God. He—Father, Savior, and Spirit—are always a constant in your life. You just need to call out to God for a helping hand to lift you through the gloom. God is always there, less than a heartbeat away.

Enjoy the weekend breaking through the gloom!

Power of Negative Thinking

You have heard it said that there is power in positive thinking. Think positive thoughts and positive outcomes follow. Well, I’m here to tell you that there is power—and a LOT of it!—in negative thinking. Negative thinking is like a cancer that spreads until… well until you are in a figurative hole, at best.

The devil (or whatever you call evil in this world) loves to whisper negative thoughts into your ear. The negative thoughts build on each other until you are paralyzed in hatred, fear, or any other negative outcome. Again, negative thinking is a cancer that keeps growing until it crowds out any positive thoughts.

There is a very simple, easy way to stop the negative thoughts. Simply turn to God. He is less than a heartbeat away, always. You just have to turn to Him and ask for help. It’s that easy. Trust me. There is no complexity here. Just simplicity.

Don’t let the negative thinking and its power drag you down. FIGHT it. LISTEN for/to God because He is always there to help. Trust me. Try it. No, try Him.

Have a POSITIVE week ahead. And prayers for all those impacted by the wildfires! My heart goes out to all.