Notes On Life

 Watching the weather and heeding reports about possible coming storms is essential and wise to being properly prepared for ‘What Comes Next’ . Likewise, in today’s passage from the Gospel of Matthew Jesus makes a deliberate distinction between discerning what may be important from what truly IS important. Just as meteorological events do of necessity require deliberate preparation, preparing for Christ’s return — be it at the end of life or of His so-called ‘second coming’ — for many read like these fictious newspaper headlines declaring there is no need for alarm because previous reports of this are widely believed to be untrue. However the Bible forecasted headline of what is to come is very clear saying: “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, WILL APPEAR A SECOND TIME , not to deal with sin but to save those who are EAGERLY WAITING (and prepared) FOR HIM” Hebrews 9:27–28 Friend, there a...

 When I was five years old there was a very steep rocky cliff near my house. One day peering over the edge of this precipice I was curious how far I could scoot off the edge, and for the first few inches, all was fine. Sliding down a bit further still seemed easy to back up if I wanted to. So far so good… BUT… Slidding down a LITTLE MORE the rocks started to get a little slippery. When I tried to scoot back up, I realized I’d gone too far and started a slow — Then QUICK — slide down the cliff faster than the slide at the playground! Crashing to the bottom and crying hysterically I wondered HOW I could possibly get back up? Fortunately I landed in the backyard of a kindly old man, and between my tears he managed to pry my name out of me, looked up my home phone number in the white pages (remember those?!?) and called my dad to come rescue me out of my folly. Big mistakes in life start JUST like that slippery slope. First is curiosity — like flirting with a co-worker behind your sp...

Years ago when listening on old radios it required carefully 'TUNING' precisely onto the right frequency. When you did the signal would come in strong or you’d hear a lot of static. Then as you drove further away from the broadcast tower, the signal would become so weak that eventually you couldn’t hear it at all. It wasn’t the station’s fault! You just moved away from the signal. Moving AWAY from what God is saying to you works exactly the same way. You see, God has been broadcasting His message to you all your life, but with all the other distractions of static in our modern world His voice is easy to miss. So the question is can you hear what He is saying, or are you moving away from Him so far that you cannot hear what He is saying to you? Many people think that tuning into ANY broadcast about spirituality, truth, philosophy, or religion will do, but there is only ONE frequency that has ALL the answers that you need to hear, and that is the GOD FREQUENCY Friend, in reading ...

 When people hear the word Repent they often wince, cringe, and roll their eyes. To many folks this word is offensive in that it implies an unnecessary need to grovel about how bad they are and make some emotional demonstration publicly about their faults and failures. Instead most people it’s natural to think that overall by nature they are a ‘Good Person’ and there is therefore No Need To Repent About Anything . On the contrary, the word ‘REPENT’ when translated from Greek is defined to literally mean TO CHANGE ONE’S MIND . But change your mind about WHAT? It means to change your mind about going the way that seems natural to you — the way which you have always gone —  which is going away from God and continuing to REPEAT doing the same things you’ve always done over and over again. You see, the reverse of repentance is going in the direction by nature that you think you want to be. It may seem like you are going the right way, but it is to a place that LEADS to SELF, but AW...

 If we all had that proverbial crystal ball, it might be great to know what things are coming our way. If your town or city is like most, you may see a sign for a psychic reader and be tempted to drop in on and take advantage of that faded ‘$10 special ‘ sign hanging in the window. However, the Bible clearly warns us to stay away from these things for two important reasons. First, people that practice those kinds of activities are engaging in WITCHCRAFT, and the information that comes through them is not coming from Holy God but from the Kingdom of Darkness. While what they say might indeed come to pass that does NOT mean it is from God, but from the source that is “…the father of lies (the devil.)” Deuteronomy 18:10–12 says that we are not to use divination and that if or when you do, these are abominations to God. Second, as today’s verse says our time here on earth is to be conducted walking in FAITH not by sight. That is, instead of having a ‘chart’ or ‘reading’ that may even ...

 At the wedding feast in Cana in Galilee, Jesus performed his first miracle by turning water into wine. What is easily overlooked here is focusing on the miracle and missing a key point which is not only at the heart of Christ’s ministry, but is a fundamental principle and message of the entire Bible. From the time Jesus was born, Mary was keenly aware of who her son was and how and why he had come into the world (as) “…(she) pondered all these things in her heart” (Luke 2:19) from his birth until this special moment. Knowing this, she instructed the servants at a critical moment to LISTEN to whatever Jesus said to them and to DO IT …and we would be wise to also do the same. Why? Because whatever Jesus says is always True, Tried, and Trustworthy, and when we follow the servant’s example it will likewise always yield a fruitful result. Friend, God Is Right 100% of the Time! Listen for His Voice, follow His commandments, because when you do, good things will ALWAYS FOLLOW . God ...

 Giving blood Saves The Lives of hundreds of thousands of people each year who have suffered life threatening injuries from certain death. If you have not given, please consider being a blood donor. It not only helps others, but will help your health by regenerating new life-giving blood into your body. Although you may not have been in a horrific accident requiring a blood transfusion to save you from Mortal Death , without a very special Supernatural Blood Transfusion you cannot be saved from Eternal Death without the Blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse and heal you of all sin.. To receive this supernatural transfusion, all you need to do is ASK. If you have not asked Christ to cover your sins with His Supernatural Blood , you can do so right now by sincerely praying this simple prayer from your heart: Heavenly Father, I have done many detestable things in my life and sinned against you and wronged others. I have no excuse for my actions and ask that you forgive me, wipe the slat...

 Walking around Rio de Janeiro as a young man in the Navy was exciting! The beaches, city and weather were absolutely beautiful and it was easy to get distracted by so much to see. Glancing across a wide boulevard jutting above the yacht harbor was “Sugarloaf” mountain and when the light turned green, I hurriedly stepped off the curb to cross the street to get a closer look. No sooner than I did, a little Fiat going about 60 miles an hour ran the stop light, but the strong hand of my weightlifting Navy buddy snatched me by the collar and violently yanked me back off my feet as the car clipped the curb - my flailing shoe lightly brushing the car’ side view mirror as the car raced by. My friend 'Rack' scolded me saying, “They don’t obey traffic lights down here son! When no one’s coming they just GO!” I certainly would have been killed if my shipmate had not literally had my back. I didn’t see the danger coming, and likewise in our lives God often delivers us from dangers we als...

 We love our little dog Missy, however she’s never really been house trained and as many times that we let her out to water the yard, she seems to decide at random times to baptize the carpet or couch with a touch of yellow to our aggravation and frustration. Nevertheless after a little ‘time out,’ her mommy and daddy forgive her and she is once again back in our good graces . Likewise when we disobey God, he too gets frustrated with us — but here’s the thing, His FORGIVENESS is always available to us because the Bible promises us that… “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to Cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ” 1 John 1:9 Just as our little dog occasionally makes mistakes — so do we — but it still is no excuse to keep on doing wrong. So just as we forgive and love our little dog over and over again, even more so God will likewise always forgive us over and over again too…and He is even More Forgiving than us! Despite our mistakes a...

If there is one phrase that many people mis-understand, or mock or think is silly or stupid, it’s “Jesus Died For You.” Objectively, I can see their point. How could someone — who died two thousand years ago — have anything to do with my life here and now? But actually, this is very easy to understand — and here’s why. In war, there have been many stories of a hand grenade being tossed into a foxhole. Death was certain for all the men there, yet one selfless soul voluntarily sacrificed his life by throwing his body on that grenade and spilling out his blood to save his friends from death. The Bible says exactly the same thing about what Jesus did on the cross: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13 “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us.” — 1 John 3:16 “You were not redeemed (i.e. saved by) with corruptible things like silver and gold…but with the precious blood of Christ.” — 1 Peter 1:18,19 “This is my blood…w...

Staying in the middle lane going down the road of life is easy as long as you don’t have to make a decision about ‘religion,’ ‘faith,’ or ‘god.’ As long as there’s road ahead of you and you’re still moving along, there’s no reason to change lanes…that is, until that neutral middle-of-the-road lane ends. Then the question is —  “Will I be taking the left exit or the right exit?” Is this you? Are you driving down the road of your life in that uncommitted center lane, never having made up your mind or even seriously thinking at one point that comfortable “I don’t have to choose” lane is still available? Here is a Real-World Warning that you Cannot Afford To Ignore! That seeming endless road of life WILL end, and it is up to you to decide when it ends which exit you will take. No one sends you to one exit or another, you will either Consciously or Un-Consciously make that choice. Friend, please make that choice before it is too late, or You Will Be LEFT BEHIND . God Bless Your Day Jesu...

  Imagine that you could walk into the Oval Office at any time unannounced to have an audience with the President, or to the King at Buckingham Palace, or speak at the podium to the UN!?! Wouldn’t that be ridiculous? In this world it would,   But In The Court Of Heaven - NO! ...and today’s scripture verse tells us why. Our Heavenly Father has an  'Open Door'  policy! Just like your children can come up to your lap anytime and say “Daddy!” we also can come to the throne of God any time we want. You don’t have to make an appointment, be at a certain 'level of spirituality or holiness', rank, level, or title before God because He is always welcome to you at any day, time, or moment. All you need do is approach. Too many believers think that they have to act like Dorothy in the Wizard of OZ pounding at the gates to the kingdom in order to have an audience with the Most High, but if you think about it, this is ridiculous for the following reason. The Bible says that the h...

 Most people go by two scales. For many of us our familiar foe is the dreaded “bathroom scale” which answers the daily question of whether or not we are winning or losing the battle of the bulge. Some days it looks promising and others…not so much. The other scale is what could be called the “good person scale” where we examine our life and generally hope that we are doing a pretty good job of being a decent human being. Then at the end of our life, we hope that God will look favorably on how our good works have outweighed our bad works and we will go to heaven. In today’s scripture Belshazzar, an evil king in ancient Babylon threw a huge party and was drinking out of the sacred gold chalices that had been captured after conquering the Jews and raiding the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. At the highlight of their revelry, a hand supernaturally appeared and wrote on the wall the famous phrase above (this where we get the phrase to “See the handwriting on the wall.”) That night his king...

 When times get tough, what do you depend on? It might be money, position, reputation, friends, or family, and for many situations one or more of these may take you through some storms, but when life completely falls apart, all of these only take us so far until we are on our own. As today̱s scripture promises, in this life on ‘This Side Of The Veil’ we have a surety of solidity, that no matter what may happen, there is a promissory note from heaven for our soul, and that is only found in God. Famous inspirational Chrisian writer Corrie Ten Boom, who was arrested for hiding Jews from the Nazis in her home and sent to a concentration camp, miraculously survived the gas chamber to go on traveling the world and speaking and being a living miracle worker. Having been through eighty years of extreme trials of faith, she once famously wrote: “In order to realize the Worth Of The Anchor We need to feel the Stress Of The storm .” The only strong, steadfast, safe, anchor that we can really ...