Notes On Life

  The famous comedian Woody Allen once said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” Well, that’s one way for sure! But if you think about it, there are two kinds of laughter. The one we mostly know is the laughter of hearing a funny joke (like today’s cartoon) or having a good time with friends. In fact the Bible even says that this type of laughter is good for our body and soul (Proverbs 17:22) But even flipping this cartoon around a bit, there is the laughter AT someone or something for the failure of their ways, and this is what today’s scripture verse is saying to those that are contrary to God. God, to put it bluntly, doesn’t look down well on evil people, ways or attitudes towards Him. Many that are hyper-critical of the “god” of the Bible are fond of pointing out how cruel, angry and even sadistic God is as shown in many Old Testament accounts as proof that such a “god” cannot be worthy of any kind of respect - let alone worship. However to understand the back...

  After miserably failing at the violin in the 5th grade, I found my talent on the trumpet the following year. Since I was improving so rapidly, the band director advised my parents that I needed a better instrument than the battered horn that I was playing on provided by the school. A local music store delivered a brand new horn in a smartly trimmed leather case and inside - lined in deep purple velvet - was a rich golden lacquer colored trumpet with intricate engraving on the bell. It was far more substantial than my beat-up school horn and was so stunningly beautiful that I could not imagine wanting anything more than that trumpet in my entire life! My parents wisely asked our neighbor, who was a local pro trumpet player, to check it out and he took it to a gig that night so he and the guys could play it. While desperately trying to fall asleep I prayed  every possible prayer  I could think of, pleading with God to please,  Please ,  PLEASE  have them sa...

T here are two sins that God says are   'Unforgivable.' The first is  “Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit”  — that is, rejecting God’s offer of forgiveness of sins and salvation. For some people that’s a conscious choice, but this second sin is often  silently  ignored and it holds eternal consequences for all that foster unforgiveness towards others. Jesus made it clear in today’s scripture that forgiving others isn’t optional! For Christians, the forgiveness of sins is the cornerstone of our salvation, but that will be out-trumped and jeopardized by the hardness and unforgiving in our hearts towards others. This not only blocks our spiritual growth towards God and becoming Christ-like, but if left unchecked it is a spiritual roadblock with eternal consequences that disconnects us from God’s grace and can even lead us to hell. Yes, HELL my friend! Think about it! If God has forgiven you of ALL your transgressions against Him, how can you in clear conscious also ...

Famous Christian writer, scholar and theologian C.S. Lewis once aptly wrote: “No man knows how BAD he is till he has tried very hard to be GOOD.” As admirable and worthwhile a goal to do good and live well in this life, despite our best efforts at some (and perhaps many) points we will fall down in minor (and sometimes major) ways. In retrospect, Lewis’ insightful comment becomes an accurate MIRROR in which we all can accurately see ourselves. Perhaps one of the most prevalent misconceptions about salvation and gaining eternal life is precisely the OPPOSITE of today’s verse in Titus. Instead, ‘Good Deeds,’ Honest Character, High Morals and following the ‘Golden Rule’ are the way you can save yourself, but if that were so then Christ dying on the cross, shedding his blood and redeeming the world from sin and death would be unnecessary — and this is where God’s mercy and grace apply. You see, Mercy is NOT receiving PUNISHMENT that we DO deserve and Grace is receiving BLESSINGS tha...

 Towering over two thousand feet above Rio de Janeiro stands Corcovado and the famous statue of Christ that sits dramatically above this beautiful South American city. The only way to walk to the top requires traveling up a single steep, challenging, twisting road. I should know as I hiked both up and down it and it was the toughest hike of my life! If you were in Rio and you asked someone “How do you get to the top of Corcovado?” and they said “There are many roads!” it would be obvious they didn’t know, or actually believed they did know. Others have actually said the same regarding the road that leads to heaven. Oprah Winfrey once famously proclaimed on her TV show that there were many roads to God (be it Buddha, Confucius, Allah, Self-Realization, ‘Being Spiritual,’ or just being a good moral person.) Sadly, this is also what many people also think and believe, but just like Corcovado there is only one road to get there, and this is to and through the Cross of Christ. The nex...

  Just as grapes must be crushed to become wine, and Olives crushed to become oil, so it is when we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit. This crushing is the transformation of the gospel of Christ taking place within our hearts and minds and occurs inside of us gently as we allow the Spirit to move inside of us over time. The Apostle Paul reminds us of this when he wrote in Romans 12:2   “Do not conform any longer to the ways of this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Rarely does transformation happen to a person overnight, because it takes training, testing and time. It may even be a life-long process, but you will find the value of it to be priceless. The crushing process requires a burning desire to know and follow Jesus. Ask yourself; “How important is it for me to be like Jesus? What price am I willing to pay to be godly?” Over time a natural flow develops out of an intimate relationship with Jesus. The more you come to love Jesus, the more you are...

  Sadly and shockingly, three famous well-known people with highly respected reputations were actually found instead to have led secret, shady, and suspicious lives. One was a well-loved athlete (OJ Simpson), the second a respected stock market investor (Bernie Madoff), and the third a brilliant theologian and admired Christian apologist (Ravi Zacharias). Once their sorid activities were made known, their true character was found not   who they appeared to be , but became redefined by the evil deeds   They Had Done In SECRET . Likewise our true character is also not based on what others see, but  How We (also) Behave When No One Is Watching . Those that operate incognito (either on-line or in the world) justify their actions by thinking that what they’re doing is OK  ‘ IF  no one gets hurt,’  and  ‘ IF  I’m getting what I want’  and  ‘ IF  I don’t get caught.’  On the contrary the Bible tell us that NOTHING is ever hidden ...

  My first job out of the Navy was working for a fine men’s store in San Francisco, and while our suits were definitely of a very high quality and not inexpensive, they were not on the same level as the world-class couturier design houses of the ultra rich. One of my favorite suits was a grey three piece that one of our tailors custom-fitted to perfection for me, and although inexpensive compared to the best of Paris or Milan, it wasn’t inexpensive nor in the same league of Seville Row, London — yet still looked terrific. After college, I was a software engineer at AT&T and one of the great benefits of that job was traveling to take engineering classes. One of them happened to be in New York City, and being a 'clothes guy' I had always wanted to go into the famous men’s store at BARNEYS NYC. On my lunch hour I walked in wearing my fabulous three-piece suit, shoes polished to the nines and even a stick pin in my lapel  (hey…this was the 80’s!)  and while browsing throu...

It is no coincidence that the word 'hole' becomes complete in the word 'Whole!' When something is brought to fill that void, what was once Incomplete can then become Complete. If you are not whole, then you are not at PEACE. Again (not so coincidentally) the Hebrew word 'shalom' (שָׁלוֹם) is not just a simple salutation, but by definition means “Completeness or WHOLENESS,” so when we speak of bringing or having peace it actually means to take that which was incomplete, broken or missing and bring it back to WHOLENESS. Just as Jesus did for the lame man at the well in today’s verse, if there is something missing in your life, He can fill that HOLE and make you WHOLE. And also like the woman with the issue of blood pressing through the crowd towards Jesus it was by her faith that she believed if she could just simply touch the hem of his garment that she could also be made whole. Friend, is there a HOLE in your life that needs to be filled and made WHOLE? Like tha...

Driving down the Interstate one day I saw this sign and was struck by the simplicity of it that is a straightforward statement that  Requires A Response . Vote: TRUE FALSE That’s it. ‘Present’ isn’t an option. This requires you to accept or reject this declaration - and your answer says a lot about who and where you are. If it is TRUE , that means the Bible is what it says, there is a God, Jesus did die for your sins, and your eternal state depends on following what Christ said about salvation. If it is FALSE  then this doesn’t matter and you can continue to live your life anyway you please. So while this may not be an election year,  every day  is an  ELECTION DAY  regarding believing that  Jesus Is Alive. How are you voting today? God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You NotesOnLife.org Share this story to others: https://tinyurl.com/JesusResurrectionTrueOrFalse Subscribe via email — NotesOnLife.org/subscribe @GetnotesOnLife #JesusResurrection #Resurrectio...

What does it mean to ‘Have accepted Christ as Your Saviour?’ and to ‘Be A Christian?’ It could mean going to and joining a church, then at some point walking forward at an altar call and saying the ‘sinners prayer’ and getting “SAVED.” While these are good things, there can be another reason — as today’s verse shows — that one’s actions towards God and the blessing He promises are instead based on a wrong motive. Like Simon in this account from the book of Acts, the upside of this ‘Getting Saved’ thing for some people is more of an agreement to obtain a supernatural type of FIRE INSURANCE to avoid a possible, terrible eternal fate. For those that do, their relationship to God then is just a Heartless Contract of Convenience rather than a Heartfelt Commitment To Christ. ‘Getting Saved’ is not about avoiding hell, but being made whole, restored, and returned into His loving perfect image that He intended all of us to be with the added blessings of fellowship, love and peace for all ...

  Whether you realize it or not, we are all running TO something or AWAY from something. As these two verses from Proverbs say, some are running towards God, while others are on a different path. Jesus said  “I AM the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE.”  (John 14:6) The question is which WAY is that, and the original Greek word for 'way' is 'hodos' (ὁδὸς) which means the road, journey or PATH. By implication it means  'a way to progress as the means to the final destination.' Indeed, there are  Many Paths  we can choose to take in this life; be they philosophies, practices, rituals or religions that say that that 'path' will lead to some sort of desired end. However as Jesus so clearly said, there are not  Many Paths , but ONE PATH. Friend, which road are you running on? Are you sure it is the right road? What are you running to... and what will you HAVE when you get there? God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You NotesOnLife.org Subscribe via email — NotesOnLife...

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself, “Who really  was  Jesus? If there really is a Jesus, does he actually know everything about me? If so, is there a way I can know him as he knows me?” These are questions many have asked, and it can be bewildering because Jesus is not in a physical body so and we can’t see or touch Him, but He makes wonderful ways for us to know for certain how real He is and how we can become closer to Him than anyone in the world. The question is 'How can we do that?' and you can with five simple steps. First  it starts by being fresh and clean before the Lord. 2 Corinthians 7:1 says,  “Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”  God is Holy and that means we need to start are relationship before him not holding onto sins that make us not holy before Him. Second  is reading God’s Word and looking into it as a mirror to reflect and see who you truly are d...

The Famous “El Arroyo” restaurant in Austin Texas is well known for their excellent Tex-Mex food, but also for their witty and wise signs like this one in today’s picture. Likewise like the title of this message we are also warned that when we chose to go our own way outside of the safe guidelines that God is giving us in living life that there will   ALWAYS BE CONSEQUENCES . All of us have a conscious (which is simply God speaking to our spirit) as well as access to the most published book in human history of a  “Life’s Owners Manual”  that everyone in the world has access to (but many never read) called the  B. asic  I. nstructions  B. efore  L. eaving  E. arth. When we follow the instructions in this book carefully, it doesn’t mean everything in your life will be smooth sailing, but it does promise us that no matter what the trial we will always have a means to eventually have victory over it. On the other hand as the verse in Ezekiel says, whe...

An uncommon, unconsciously, uncomfortable truth is that one day your life will END. To put it bluntly, it means to be   DEAD , and the often debated question over the ages has been   “What Happens After Death?”   and in this the Bible is very specific. As today’s verse clearly says, there will be a resurrection to another life after this life is over, and it will be based on  Two Types Of People . One type are the  JUST  and the other the  UNJUST , but who are these people? And more importantly (if the Bible is in fact true) what group will you be in and why? In answering these questions, the attitude and attention of these persons towards life, death and living are very different. The Bible says that the  JUST  are made so by placing faith in Christ. They do not depend that their salvation is based on doing good works or by being 'a good person' but by receiving God’s offer of grace to them to forgive them for their sin. The just believe God...