Tag: inspiration

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!

Satan Laughing All the Way to Hell!

There is so much hatred in this world that surely Satan/Lucifer/devil/whatever (you call evil) is having a field day. If it’s one war or another, or the U.S. elections, hatred is being spewed all over the place. God must be shaking His head thinking it’s as bad as it gets. Satan is saying to all those fighting, mocking others, lying, etc., “Come on down!” And down they will be going.

I don’t even know what to say. God commanded us to love. Jesus’ last commandment was to love. We are doing the exact opposite. That’s why the number of true Christians in this world are a vanishing breed. It’s that simple.

Where this goes is not good. Trust me. You’ll see. There will be a lot of suffering with all this hatred. Nothing like this in history turns out OK.

I’d like to be more upbeat but this is what it is. You’ll see. We are going down. Way down.

I’m doing my best to stay positive. Any negative thought, situation, or person is out of my life. I’m doing my best to buck the trend.

I hope you too are bucking the trend!

On Christians, Fake Christians, and Anti-Christians

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12

That can’t be any clearer. If you call yourself a “Christian” that means you are a follower of Jesus Christ. And Jesus was very clear about his commandment to us. LOVE. Noting complicated. Simple as it gets. LOVE. LOVE and you are a Christian. Don’t LOVE and you are not a Christian. That means if you talk bad about others, don’t treat others with LOVE, spew hatred, judge others, etc.—you get the picture—you are not a Christian. You either LOVE or you don’t.

I listen to a lot of people who call themselves Christians—including a LOT of politicians—who simply are not. They are fake Christians. Now, I’m not judging anyone. I’m simply saying if you don’t talk and walk in LOVE you are not a follower and believer in Jesus Christ. You’re not a Christian.

And to anyone who thinks they are a Christian but are antisemitic, I have a news flash for you. You are anti-Christian. Why? Because it may be a startling revelation to you but Jesus wasn’t a Christian. He was as Jewish as it gets. Through and through.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17

Jesus the Jew came to fulfill the Jewish Law. What always gets lost in translation is that Jesus was a Jew. I’m not talking about the state of Israel and all the conflict in the Middle East. I’m just saying that Jesus was a practicing Jew. So, being anti-semitic is anti-Jesus the Christ. Anti-Christian

The world is an increasingly dark place these days. It needs more LOVE. It needs more true Christians, followers of Jesus the Christ.

Have a great weekend walking and spreading LOVE!

Nothing Like Being a First-Time Grandparent!

No religion and no life lessons. Just writing about this bundle of joy that entered our life this week. October 1st. Pretty interesting that my wife’s birthday is the next day (the 2nd) and mine is the 3rd. I guess we hit the trifecta!

Holding Brinne Margaret for the first time was amazing. It’s been a while since I held my infant daughter or any other infant. Maybe with age comes a greater appreciation for human life. How babies come out of the womb and are so dependent on us for survival is inspirational. And the whole process of life and death, and the cycle of lives and deaths, is mind-boggling when you think about it. We just take life for granted.

That’s it for now. Just wanted to share our news and muse a little.

Have a GREAT weekend!