And a third question asked in the blog was How might I have hope as I live daily? One of the best places to begin is the Book of Revelation. For many, The Book of Revelation may seem scary; however, Revelation 1:3 states; “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand (KJV)”. YOUR HOPE IS ROOTED AND GROUNDED IN JESUS CHRIST. As stated in the prior blog, ask God to come into your life, to be the “all in all”, keep your mind on Him and only Him. God is already there waiting for your heart to open to Him, and when you open your heart, Christ will come in and fill a void that you have been trying to fill with other things. Christ came to this earth so that we might have life and have it (life) more abundantly John 10:10. That joy that you seek is in Christ, that peace that you seek is in Christ. Revelation is encouragement and hope for believers. Christ reveals Himself to the believers through John’s eyewitness account of events and the command given to him to write down the things that he sees. Christ begins by rebuking all the churches except two (2) Smyrna and Philadelphia. Review the seven (7) churches in Revelation, where are you in your worship within the description of these seven churches? You may see several overlapping descriptors. What’s missing or superficial in your worship of the most High God? John goes on to reveal the things that will occur before the second coming of Jesus Christ and His just judgment of a sinful world. John brings a message of hope to all believers. While you are still alive you can come to Him and have eternal life. Just like Peter in Acts 2: 38, I implore you to repent of your sins, confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord and Savior and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. The book of Revelation 3: 3 reiterates that no one knows the day or the hour, but Jesus is coming back. And, with His return there will be righteous judgment of all, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord (Phillipians 2: 10-11). After death however, it is too late as you will be judged (Revelation 20: 11-15). America has many churches on every block; however, we do not bring Christ from behind those four walls. Why don’t you bring Him home? Why don’t we introduce Him to our children by reading the word, living the word and spending time in prayer with our children present? Teach them and show them the way to be ever-present with God (Provers 22: 6). You know that you will not always be there to pray for your children and grandchildren, and they will need to know that they can and must talk to Christ for themselves. This is your legacy to them, that they are introduced to Christ and that they know that He is head of their lives. Do not be afraid of the book of Revelation because in it are God’s plans for our eternal salvation and life with Him. Tell us what you think, leave a comment.

Another question that I asked earlier in the blog was How does Jesus fit into my life? The worst thing that we do in life is our failure to recognize Christ’s presence in our daily lives. Lamentations 3:23, emphasizes that there is a renewal of God's mercies and compassion each day. Despite my difficult circumstances, I have hope and the assurance that God's compassion is always available, reminding me that there is no expiration on His mercy. God extends His grace through His son Jesus Christ. Call on Him every day, all day and He will answer. Talk to Him just as you would a friend, but He is so much more. James 4:2-3 in the Bible, emphasizes that we may not receive blessings or provisions from God simply because we fail to ask for them. In Matthew 7: 7 it states, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you”.  Scripture emphasizes the importance of asking with the right intentions (ask yourself is this for self only, be intentional on blessing others with what you are asking), the verse also states that asking with wrong motives can hinder our receipt of God’s gift. God is not a magical Genie or if we rub the bible, we get what we want. Ask yourself, are you in line with the will of God? How would you know if you are in the will of God, read your bible, scriptures reveal the will of God. 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 tells us “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”. You cannot live for Christ and Satan too. Make up your mind NOW. Please leave a comment with your thoughts.

Did you know that salvation occurs while we live? We do not receive salvation after we are dead. Knowing this brings with it an urgency to trust and have faith in Christ NOW. Read Matthew chapter 24; Signs of the End of the Age, The Abomination of Desolation, The Coming of the Son of Man, The Lesson of the Fig Tree, No One Knows That Day and Hour. In 1 Timothy 2: 5; “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”, … This verse emphasizes that Christ serves as the sole mediator between humanity and God, highlighting the importance of His role in salvation and the relationship between God and people. Again, the choice to have faith in, belief in, and confession of Christ is solely up to you, but it must be done while we yet live. DO NOT WAIT TO CHOOSE! I asked a couple of questions earlier in the blog and one of the questions was-- Should we be concerned about immorality in society: schools, television or in other areas of our lives? The answer is YES! If you didn’t realize it, we as parents, overseers or guardians of children are responsible not only for their physical, emotional, and mental needs but, also for their spiritual needs. How are you preparing your children for a life filled with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit? The bible teaches us to train up a child in the way that he should go and he will never depart (Proverbs 22:6). Don’t expect the world to train your children. Are you displaying your belief in Christ in front of your children? Do you pray with your children? Do you display the characteristics of Christ in front of them (honor, humility, integrity, a passion for Christ, dependence on God, excellence and compassion for people)? The time is NOW. What does God say about the state of the world we live in? Biblically, God says in the end times:  2 Timothy 3:2; “For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy”. 2 Timothy 3: 6; “For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions”. And in 2 Timothy 4: 3; “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions”. Read 2 Timothy 3: 1-5 for more on the last days. Please leave a comment with your thoughts, thank you.

The bible addresses “the law” in several places. What is the importance of the law? Laws were given by God as a moral compass, a standard for how we conduct ourselves, and what things we should or should not do. God’s laws not man’s laws are above all. Many of the laws in society have as a root or foundation in God’s laws; but not all of man’s laws are God’s laws. God’s laws are meant to guide, shield and protect His people. For example, the Mosaic Laws are the ten commandments under God’s commandment to love Him and have no idols before Him. Priests of the Old Testament also put laws in place. The major problem is that many of the laws could not be fulfilled by man. Go back to the Garden of Eden, God gave specific laws against eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve were disobedient, selfish and did not listen to God, they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Sin then entered the world, and God forbade them from eating from the Tree of Life-which was meant for eternal life between God and man. With sin being so pervasive in this world, the laws were meant to protect God’s creation. If Adam and Eve could not follow God’s law (and they were given everything they needed), what makes us think that we will follow laws and be able to commune with a holy God? Look around at the state of the world, hunger, starvation, war, disobedience, hate, evil, divisiveness and murder. Believe me, we need a Savior and that savior is Jesus Christ (the Son of God and the Son of Man). When I stop to think about Christ as my savior all of God’s laws are seen in the character of Jesus Christ. My focus on Him has kept me from pain and heartache and given me the ability to get through some tough times. Knowing Christ means that my heart is focused on things that are of Him which includes the law. Having my focus on Christ means I am also guided by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. When God placed Christ in my heart, I became His. I want to be obedient, and I want to show my love for God by obeying His laws and becoming more like Him. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart, I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jeremiah 31:33, NASB). The laws are internalized and become a part of me. Leave a comment with your thoughts.

God calls us to tell others how they might have a relationship with Him (the ministry of reconciliation). To ‘Reconcile or reconciliation’ means to have a right connection or relationship with God. Due to sin we cannot come into a saving knowledge of God, it is only by the confession and belief in Christ that we have this gift. God does not and will not dwell in sin. Christ’s death takes that sin from you and me and places it onto Christ’s death on the cross. In Christ, God is reconciling people to Himself, not counting their sin against them. God gives us the mission of carrying the gospel, the message of this reconciliation with God, to as many people as possible. “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5: 18, NIV). How might you share the good news of reconciliation with others in your daily life?

So, what does God want us to do while on this earth? 1). To love Him above all, and 2).  To love our neighbor as we love ourselves (Matthew 22: 37-39). I always think about the word “love”, and I wonder if we truly know what the word means. 1 John 4: 8, states that “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is Love”. Read 1 John 4:7-11. Love is inherently in God’s nature. Love is not merely an emotion but an action word (an act of one’s ‘will’), love gives without expecting something in return, it is selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional. We as humans look at love as giving and then receiving something. Love with a condition is “I did for you, now you do for me”. I ask the question ‘If you do something for a loved one and they do not return the gesture; would you still love them’? Would you goad or guilt them with phrases such as “and to think, all of the many things that I have done for you”. We are so wonderfully blessed because that is not the type of love God has for us. God still loves us even when we don’t love Him (loving us when we are selfish, disobedient, and even when we ignore Him). He (God) does not make us feel guilty because He has given us a ‘free will’. We have a choice. We are given a choice, choose Christ or remain eternally separated from God. Following the commandments of God leads us to our ministry on earth (reconciliation). How has your view of Godly love changed the way you love others? Add a comment, we'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment.

Many people say, “I pray to God” or yes, “I believe in God”. But that is not enough for salvation. You see we live in a world of sin. That sin entered the Garden of Eden in the book of Genesis. When sin entered the world, Adam and Eve were cut off from a personal relationship with God. God could no longer personally walk with them in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day (Genesis 3: 8). Why? Because of sin. Sin separates us from God. That is why we needed a sacrificial savior. So, how were the Old Testament saints saved? If you read Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, God provided commandments and laws to live by, covenantal sacrifice, cleansing worship and service so that His people could repent and cleanse themselves before communing with Him. God’s providing this was His grace toward His people. His people were to have complete faith and trust in Him daily. This type of sacrificial worship was preparing the way for us to receive Jesus Christ’s atoning (Jesus paid for your sin and mine) death on the Cross as our sacrificial savior. In the Old Testament and New Testament have faith that God provides a way for us all, and in both the Old and New Testament it is by God’s grace and through faith in God that we are saved. So, how might I be saved today? There is one way and one way only: Romans 10:9-10, which states that if you confess that "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. This emphasizes that through faith we verbally declare Jesus as our Lord and internally believe: Confession: Declaring your faith verbally (you have stated your faith in Christ) is essential for salvation. Belief: A Genuine belief in your heart justifies (makes you right) you before God (you know without a doubt who Christ is, and you are saved). Have you confessed and truly believed in Christ? If not, fill in the blank with your name, I ____________________ confess with my mouth that "Jesus is Lord" and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead. Praise God you are saved! Feel free to leave a comment about your salvation, whether it was today or even if it was 50-years ago, we want to praise God for His mighty work and continue to build His Kingdom.

Christ is the son of God, the son of man, one person in the Godly Trinity, our Lord and Savior, the I AM that I AM. The Gospel of Christ (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) gives us a great account of who Christ is and His mission to save us from a life of eternal separation from God. If you read Genesis, Jesus Christ is first introduced when God formed the earth, read it for yourself. Most people do not want to be continually hit over the head with the bible; however, the bible is the forming foundation of your relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. By reading the bible, I became familiar with the love and protection of God. Some people say they do not understand the bible, but there are various versions of the bible, get one that is easy to read and interpret and get to know your God. If you are confused, or overwhelmed with what you read seek Godly counsel, utilize a biblical encyclopedia and dictionary. There are some mysteries that God has not revealed but believe me He has provided enough in His Word for His people to know and believe that He and He alone is creator and in control. Leave a comment about your relationship with Jesus Christ.

I wanted to begin a Christian blog about 7-years ago. I really didn't know where to begin, but I knew that I needed to reach out to a broader audience with the goodness of God. Having just completed a study in Revelation. This was my 2nd time studying God's Hope of Glory as introduced in the book of Revelation. Everyone needs to read this book! At first glance it may seem frightening, but believe me, there is so much that God is telling the believer and the unbeliever. One of the other books that demand reading is John the Gospel, both Revelation and John the Gospel are written by John and provide a deep understanding of Christ, salvation, eternal life and the Hope that we have. Thank you for getting started with me and this journey. Peace, blessings and a new hope for each reader.