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.

Do You See Jesus?

I see Jesus, or at least try to see Him. No, I’m not some wacko. As part of my New Year’s resolution to look past the “outside” of people, I need to get past the “outside” somehow. My way to do that involves trying to see Jesus in each person, regardless of who they are. Easy? No way! But so necessary.

The hardest thing to comprehend is that God loves each one of us equally and unconditionally. There is no variation. God the Father sent his only Son to die for each one of us and for His Spirit to live in each one of us. So, Jesus has to be there if we just look. At each one of us, in each one of us.

I know this isn’t easy to do. But I know I can’t get past the “outside” of people until I see Jesus in them and look at their spirit.

This is my resolution, at least my top resolution. We’ll see how it works.

Here is to a blessed, healthy, and prosperous New Year ahead!

Resolutions

It’s that time again for New Year resolutions (that typically fall by the way side a week or two out!). All the usual things like dieting, eating healthy, etc., etc., etc. Yea, I’m already pretty good in the exercise category but in the healthy category I need to drink less soda (I don’t drink coffee; hi-test soda is my coffee) and more water. But my number one resolution is to stop looking at people from the outside—what they look like, what clothes they wear—and look at them from the inside.

“The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

This is my guiding light for my 2025 (and beyond) resolution. I want to look past the outward person and look at the inward person. It’s actually a pretty simple concept but sure is difficult to implement. I’m sure I will screw up time and time again but I will go back to this Bible verse about God telling Samuel to look past everything in selecting the unimposing David as His king.

I wish you the best in following your own resolutions.

Here’s to the very best for a blessed, healthy, and prosperous New Year!

Is Christmas Over?

No. Every day is Christmas if you wake each day celebrating the birth of Christ in you. A new day is a new birth. It’s that simple.

Regardless of what you did the day before, if you repent what you did wrong and ask God for forgiveness, you are forgiven. And the next day will be the birth of Jesus in your heart, if you just allow it.

Christmas is not over if you celebrate the birth of Jesus in your heart each day. And New Year resolutions are meaningless if you approach each day as the New Year, resolving to put sin behind you and Jesus in front of you.

Celebrate Christmas today, tomorrow, and every day in the New Year!

Follow Your North Star

The Wise Men, who were astrologers by trade, followed that they knew best—a star. They followed the North Star as it guided them to Jesus. Whether you know it or not, we all have a “North Star” in our lives that will lead us to Jesus. It’s in our hearts waiting to lead us to Jesus.

Jesus is always there in our lives, not just on Christmas day. He is less than a heartbeat away, just waiting for us to find Him. You just have to quiet your life, reach inside, LISTEN for/to Jesus, and you will find Him.

This isn’t rocket science or religious mumbo-jumbo. It’s just life. Jesus is always there. You just need to turn to Him and follow your own “North Star” to Jesus.

Wishing you a blessed, joyous, and peaceful Christmas!

Unload Your Burdens

What a great New Year’s resolution: Unload all your burdens in life. How and where to unload? The answer is on whom to unload them.

David said, “Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.” (Psalms 55:23)

Jesus underscored this to Himself by telling us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

I wrote the other day about surrendering to Jesus. Completely and totally. When you surrender to Him you off lift your burdens to Him. You give Jesus your burdens and He gives you peace and joy in return. The burdens are gone as long as you really and truly surrender.

If you are bogged down with burdens in life, make this your New Year’s resolution: Unload your burdens on Jesus. Surrender to Him. Your burdens will be gone and in their place will be peace and joy. Don’t believe it? Try it.

Don’t know how to surrender to Jesus? Simply open up to Him and tell Jesus that you surrender to Him. True surrender means you are walking in love. Just as Jesus commanded.

I’ll be back before Christmas but in the meantime start unloading those burdens.

Enjoy the week ahead!

Jesus: Surrender and Rebirth

There is never a better time than Christmas to surrender to Jesus and share in His birth—our rebirth. Just as Jesus surrendered on the cross, and then was “reborn” in his spirit body, now is the time for us to do the same. Surrender completely to Jesus and be “reborn” with Him this Christmas.

What is surrender? Jesus had one commandment for us—to LOVE everyone.

“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)

So, surrendering to Jesus is really simple—just LOVE one another. That means laying down any anger, hate, and any other emotion that is not LOVE. Complete surrender is complete LOVE. There are no exceptions. Do this and as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. And celebrate our “rebirth” in Jesus. It’s an amazing feeling.

I know that in this world of division, animosity, and hate it is easy to in the very least be angry with people and bear grudges. I get angry all the time at people. But anger gets in the way of surrendering—and rebirth. Surrendering is putting everything but LOVE aside. Not easy; but necessary.

I’ll be back before Christmas but wishing all the very best of this magical season.

Sin, Repent & Move On.

You sinned. We all sin. We’re human. Sinning is a part of life. We may try to be perfect but we are imperfect, even though a perfect God created us. So, when you sin, repent. Then, move on. I’m not making light of sin. But dwelling on your sins is like quicksand—you will never escape. Sin will suck you under. So, you have to repent and move forward.

When you repent, it has to be the real deal. It’s not just a “Hey God, I’m sorry.” It’s deep in your soul sorry. You truly repent and do everything to sin no more. But we do sin, and often commit the same sin over and over again. But you have to call for God to help you stop sinning. Repent. For real!

When we wallow in our guilt we just get stuck and can’t move forward. The devil loves to whisper in our ears that we are bad and need to feel guilt. He wants our hands tied, and feet as well, stuck in place. That’s why we need to truly repent and move forward.

When you repent, understand that Jesus has already died on the cross for your sins. They are gone. But you have to repent to close the deal. Jesus didn’t die for all sins—past present, and future—on a whim. He did it to remove sin from the world—when we repent. That’s the trick.

So, repent and move on. Repent and move on. You’re free.

Enjoy the week ahead as we approach the birth of our Christ!

Start Exercising Your Spirit!

If you don’t know already, you and I are made up of body, soul, and spirit. The body part is obvious. It grows and starts decaying during a lifetime. As the saying goes, “You can’t take it with you.” The soul is made up of your thoughts and emotions. Many (most?) people think it’s the soul that leaves your body when you die. But the soul is tied more to this earth and can be a “place” for dark thoughts. It’s the spirit that is the unvarnished “being” that you become wholly when you die. If you make it to heaven, the spirit is what you are and will be for eternity.

So, start exercising your spirit today. Have your spirit turn to God and block out the darkness in this world, the darkness that may be in your life. LISTEN for/to God because He is “speaking” to you. He’s less than a heartbeat away. You just have to put in the time and effort with God.

The road of life has many twists and turns, and lots of dead ends if you go down them. Tap into your spirit to navigate life and make the right turns. It’s not difficult if you let God into your life—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and keep Him in your life. The Father created your spirit, free of any earthly (bodily) physical and/or mental limitations. Your spirit was made to be perfect. Jesus died to forgive any of your sins—past-present, and future—if you just confess them. And the Holy Spirit is here to guide your spirit to heaven when the time is right.

Enjoy the week exercising and living in your spirit!