Tag: Bible

Humility Lost

We live in a world where humility is increasingly lost, especially among so-called “Christians.” Jesus was pretty clear when he said, “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). Let me tell you, there will be a LOT of people in this world who will be forced humbled because they exalt themselves.

It’s tiring to hear co-called “Christians,” especially politicians, exalt themselves. They are always right, and put themselves up as the paragons of righteousness and virtue. They exalt themselves over and over again. And they judge.

There isn’t a lot of rocket science to this. If you want to be exalted, and into eternity, humble yourself. If you want to humbled, and into eternity, exalt yourself. Simple.

Jesus tells us about the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple. Jesus was teaching that true righteousness comes from humble repentance and a plea for mercy, not from self-righteousness and comparing oneself to others. The Pharisee exalted himself whereas the tax collector humbled himself.

Are you the Pharisee or the tax collector?

Enjoy the rest of the week in humility!

Rise of the Anti-Christs

There are more so-called “christians” who profess their love of Jesus Christ but who spew hatred. These are the anti-Christs who are increasing in number and becoming more vocal. Sadly, what they don’t realize is that they are actually followers of the devil, Satan, Lucifer, whatever.

Jesus gave us one very clear commandment. “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

Jesus wasn’t talking about loving your family, loved ones, friends, and people close to you. He wasn’t talking about being selective in your LOVE. Jesus was talking not just about his apostles loving one another but He was talking to all of us to LOVE each other, regardless of who we or they are.

So, this is as clear as daylight. LOVE and you are a disciple of Jesus. You are a CHRIST-ian. Don’t LOVE and you are not a follower of Jesus. NOT a CHRIST-ian. This is all very simple.

Hate is spewed by the devil that tries to drive a wedge between you and Jesus. It spews hate. So, if you spew hate it’s pretty clear who you follow. At best you are anti the command of Jesus. You are an anti-christian. This is all pretty simple.

And let’s not forget that God the Father commanded us to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18) before He gave us HIs Son to demonstrate that LOVE by the sacrifice of His life.

Enjoy your day walking in the Father’s and Son’s command to LOVE!

Commit to the Lord

Here is one of my top 10 “life” Bible verses:

“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established” Proverbs 16:3

This is so very simple but so profound. Commit to the Lord—your work and, in fact, everything—and your purpose in life will be clear. As I have written many times over, we all have a special, unique purpose in life. In fact, I think that the purpose of life is finding that purpose, our reason for being. But you need to really commit to the Lord to find that purpose. Half commits won’t do it. You have to fully commit!

Spend time with the Lord. Quality time. Quiet time in contemplation. Then, commit. It’s really that simple. There is no mystery, rocket science, or complication to this. Commit to the Lord. It’s that simple.

Enjoy the weekend and, remember, commit!

Who Do You Work For?

God. Another simple answer to a simple question. Each one of us works for God, who we owe our very existence. God put us here with a very unique, special purpose to fulfill. One of the Secrets to Life is understanding that purpose and fulfilling it. Again, simplicity.

I know it’s not easy to know and understand your unique, special purpose in life. It takes time spending quality time with God on a regular basis. You have to LISTEN to Him. He is less than a heart beat away. You have to put in the time and effort. But like everything in life, working at it will pay rewards.

I know I write this all the time but life is meant to be so simple. We humans just so complicate it just like the Israelites who had an 11-day journey to the Promised Land that took them 40 years. We make the easy hard, the short long, and the possible impossible. God made life easy for us on an abundant planet. We are the ones who make it hard.

You work for God. It’s that simple. He gave you a job to do. So, do it! If each one of us did our job this planet of ours would be so different. We would reach for the stars and get to them.

Think about finding your unique, special purpose in life starting this weekend.

Enjoy!

Are You the Good Samaritan?

My guess is that most people know the basic story of the Good Samaritan in the Bible. Essentially, several people pass by a beaten, robbed, and wounded man before a Samaritan stops to help the person. What some (most?) don’t really get is that the hurt man was a Jew and the person who finally stopped was a Samaritan. This is pretty striking because Jews and Samaritans didn’t really get along. Jews looked down on Samaritans as religiously impure. And to an extent, Jews despised Samaritans.

So, the real striking point of the story is that a Jewish priest and a Levite (Jew; tribe of Levi) passed by the man paying him no heed. It was someone who basically was not only a stranger but also someone not typically seeing eye-to-eye with Jews who did stop and helped.

In this age of animosity, political differences, deportations, etc., etc. where are the Good Samaritans? Are you one? Would you stop if anyone was lying hurt in the middle of the road? Would you reach out to help any stranger, especially if they didn’t look like you, dress like you, etc., etc.?

This is something to contemplate. Jesus gave us one simple commandment. To love. Anyone. Not just who we really love. He wants us all to be Good Samaritans. It’s that simple. Are you?

Enjoy the week and look out for someone in need to help!

Turn Bad Into Good

I screw up all the time. Like the apostle Paul I know what I should do but sometimes I just don’t do it (“What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” Romans 7:15). Then, I beat myself up over and over again. However, I have learned that is not productive. That I can actually turn the bad I do into good. Huh?

Rather than beating myself up when I screw up, I try to reverse what I have done into good. I not only try to do something good but learn from my mistakes—what I have done wrong. Let’s face it—I’m human. That’s not an excuse to do wrong but it’s simply a fact of life. We are human. We are not perfect. We make mistakes and screw up. But we don’t have to be dragged down by those mistakes but can learn from them and turn them into good.

So, turn the bad into good. Think bad about someone? Reach out to them and do something good for them. Selfish, thinking only about yourself? Help someone in need. Donate money or your talents. Learn from your mistakes. Turn them into positive action. Do good when you do bad. This is all not difficult.

Have a great rest of the week doing something good!

It’s One Step Back Time, But Now Two Steps Ahead.

We all screw up. We’re humans and imperfect, no matter what you think. I recently took one step back but vow to move two steps ahead. That’s how we make progress in life. Make up for the one step back by taking two steps ahead. That’s a winning strategy to live by!

Life is full of twists, turns, and obstacles. Sometimes we not only take a step or two back but we may also veer off the path and go down a dead end. Stuff happens! That’s life. The trick is to stay on the path that God intends you to be on and constantly move forward, even if you take a step or two backwards.

God has a plan for you. A special, unique plan for you that is as unique as your fingerprints. You’re special. Most of us don’t realize that and wander through life as the Israelites wandered through the desert for 40 years. Take a lesson from that story about how it should have taken 11 days to get to the Promised Land but it took them 40 years of wandering. There’s a life lesson in that story for each one of us.

Don’t cry pity when you screw up and certainly don’t beat yourself up. Just regroup and move forward, taking at least two steps ahead.

And if you don’t know the path you should be on just ask God. He’s less than a heartbeat away and always listening. You just have to quiet your world around you and give God some time.

Enjoy the weekend and moving ahead on your path!

He Is Always!

I just took a God “vacation.” Didn’t go to church for two weeks—can’t remember the last time I did that and was not sick—and didn’t pray every day in the morning. I just kinda wasn’t there. I’m now looking back on the past few weeks and realized that although I wasn’t there, God was there. He is always there no matter when we aren’t.

God Creator, Son, and Spirit never go anywhere, no matter where we go. We may be the prodigal sons and daughters going off and squandering what we have been given but God is the Father always waiting for us to return. And rejoicing when we do return.

I’m not kicking myself as I usually do for how I squandered the past few weeks away from God. I’m actually looking it as a good thing for realizing how empty my life is without God. A true vacation from life is when I turn to God, not away from Him.

Have a FANTASTIC week ahead vacationing with God!

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!