1 John 3:22 (NLT) ” And we will receive from Him whatever we ask because we obey Him and do the things that please Him.” There are several things in this one verse that I could concentrate on, but this is something God has been laying on me for a while now: Will God give us whatever we ask for, whatever we want? NO. Now before you quit reading or leave this page let me explain and hopefully by the end of this post, you’ll understand what I’m getting at. Even if you don’t agree it will give you something to think about, to research, and to pray about for wisdom and understanding. I have written before about how we sometimes take scripture out of context and how it helps to read what is said before and after the verse. It’s also helpful to look at the Bible as a whole because it will help us gain insight as to how the writer may have intended the verse. Let’s look at the prayers of Jesus and others. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane His prayer was heartfelt, and you can feel the emotion in His words. It makes me think of the heartfelt prayers that we offer up for a loved one who is desperately ill. We will cry out to the Lord to heal this person whom we love so dearly, but unfortunately, they aren’t always healed. Jesus knew what was about to happen, He knew His death would be painful and He would suffer. Yet in Luke 22:42-44 He prayed “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done not mine. Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened Him. He prayed more fervently, and He was in such agony of spirit that His sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.” Who of us when we see someone we love, especially our own children, going through something painful, wish we were able to take on their pain and suffering and bring them peace and comfort? But the Father didn’t take “this cup” away from Jesus, why? Two key phrases which basically mean the same thing: “if you are willing” and “your will be done”. This is about the Fathers will being done, Jesus said “your will to be done, not mine”. It was not a selfish request, if Jesus had lived longer, he could have reached more people, he could have healed more, helped more and inspired more. But the Father had a plan, and it had to be carried out, it was His will. Jesus understood this. When Jesus healed the man with leprosy (Luke 5:12-13), the man said to Jesus “if you are willing”, in other words if it is your will. In those days it was understood that God was in charge, He was the creator of all, it was about what He wanted not what man wanted. In Matthew 6:9-13 Jesus was teaching the disciples to pray, He said to pray “may your will be done”. It is about God’s will, not ours, and sometimes we read a verse like 1 John without acknowledging or possibly without understanding that He will give us what we ask for providing it is according to His will. You see, God owes us nothing, but we owe Him everything. He does not have to respond to our request in the way we want. We cannot demand that He fulfills our every prayer in the manner we want, and to think that He should indicates that we think we are on the same level as God! We are in no way, shape or form equal to Him. This is actually a dangerous way of thinking and is often referred to as the prosperity gospel, and those who preach it say if you speak it or pray for it you will receive it. What they leave out is the fact that it will happen if it is according to God’s will. Some believe this stems from the idea that positive thinking and speaking is all we need to get what we want, and that simply is not true. Don’t get me wrong, positive thinking and speaking can brighten your outlook. If you’ve ever been around someone who is constantly speaking negatively then you know this can be destructive. Living, thinking and speaking in a positive manner is good for us when we are living our lives in alignment with God’s word, and we acknowledge that it is about His will not ours. Prayer is powerful and when we REQUEST something in a humble manner and give him the honor and glory acknowledging it must be His will not ours, then we are submitting ourselves to Him instead of trying to become His equal. God wants to hear our heartfelt prayers, and yes, we should pray for healings and miracles but always keeping in mind that it has to be His will. His ways, His thoughts and His plans are not known to us, they are far above our own understanding, and we won’t always understand why some things happen. Remember, just as the angel appeared to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and strengthened Him, He will also strengthen us. Sometimes the answer to our prayers comes in the form of peace, comfort and strength. Continue pouring out your heart in prayer, continue making request to the Lord and continue to live your life in agreement with His word. Know that His love for us is so great that He paid the debt of our sins with His life. Until next time may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

“Ministry is a calling, not a career choice. We must be in it for the outcome, not the income. It’s God’s Kingdom, not ours.” A friend recently shared this post on Facebook from The End Times Beacon, and it went along with something that I had been thinking about lately. Sometimes we do things or say things that appear to have a good motive but actually the motive turns out to be selfish. Whether it is related to our work, our family or even to the church, it is often a good thing to step back and think about why we are doing or saying something. Is it really to promote the interest of others or is it to promote ourselves? Let me give you an example: I’ve heard pastors of mega churches say things like “Look what I’ve built” or “Look what we’ve built” when speaking about having a large building or thousands of members. But honestly, isn’t it really what God has built? I admit I’ve always preferred small churches like the one I attend, they seem more personal, more like a family. Whereas the mega churches seem impersonal; people, names, faces get lost in the crowd, it becomes about numbers more than God’s message. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are mega churches where emphasis is placed on God’s word and not just on the number of people who attend or are members, and where the needs of the congregation are looked at and being met. It’s important not to lose sight of the fact that all should be done to the glory of God, not an individual’s glory, as stated above – it is God’s Kingdom, not ours. This is something I’ve given much thought to lately; you see a while back there was something I wanted for our church but when I sat down and truly thought about why – I saw my motives were a little more selfish than what I originally thought. It was something that would not have brought me any recognition and I would not have been able to say, “Look what I did”. But when I began examining why I wanted this and if it was something that would glorify God, the answer was clear. It was not something that would get The Word out to others, it was not something that would contribute to spiritual growth, it was not something that would make others stop and think about the love, the power or the greatness of God. So, while there wasn’t anything wrong with what I wanted, I couldn’t say that it would encourage growth in His Kingdom or even lead to personal growth among His people. And as I said, there wasn’t anything wrong with what I wanted but I realized it did not coincide with the message He’s been giving me over the past several months. God will use all of us if we let Him, but He uses us in different ways. So, I had to step back and say “God it’s in your hands. I want to go in the direction you’ve been leading me, first and foremost it needs to be about You and what you want.” With or without me God will accomplish what He has set out to do. He doesn’t need me in order to do that, but He does want me just as He wants you. God has never forced anyone to accept Him or to worship Him, He gives us freedom of choice and this is a freedom we should use wisely. If we leave things in His hands, He will use us in ways we never expected, in ways that bring honor and glory to His name. Until next time may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

Ecclesiastes 12:11 (NLT) “The words of the wise are like cattle prods – painful but helpful. Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep.” Cattle prods are often used when driving animals from one place to another, and while they aren’t deadly, they are painful. Words of a wise person, or God’s words can be like that for us – painful but in our best interest especially when we are traveling the wrong path. We are sinful by nature and have a tendency to try and hide our sin from others and from God. But God knows everything, He sees deep into our very souls, and we are unable to hide anything from Him. That’s why sometimes when we read His word it may feel as if it is cutting deep into our hearts. We may know that we’ve done wrong but we’re trying to avoid detection, trying to hide, to remain out of sight. God’s word should motivate us into doing what is right, not what is right in our eyes or man’s eyes, but what is right in God’s eyes. There is not only wisdom in His words but great power, power we can use to fight when facing the enemy. His word will help us to stand firm, to stay alert and to find courage in difficult times. But it can only do these things if we are willing to invest time and energy in consuming His word. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote “Because I am a Christian therefore, every day in which I do not penetrate more deeply into the knowledge of God’s Word in Holy Scripture is a lost day for me. I can only move forward with certainty upon firm ground of the Word of God. And, as a Christian, I learn to know the Holy Scriptures in no other way than by hearing the Word preached and by prayerful meditation.” Bonhoeffer knew the importance of daily spiritual growth, so much so that a day without God’s word would be considered a day lost. We know how difficult it is when we lose a day of work and have bills to pay, but losing a day of God’s word is like losing a day of life! Think about that, if your life depended on you not just reading or hearing God’s word every day but on “penetrating more deeply into the knowledge of God’s Word” would you do it? Would you do it to add extra days to your life? Of course you would. While it may not add days to our life here on earth, it will give us a better, more peaceful and joyful life. There is great power in God’s word and when we learn to apply His words to our life it gives us the power to overcome that which would otherwise overtake us. Fighting spiritual battles is impossible without the word of God, His words are our weapons, our shield, our firm foundation that provides stable footing as we stand and fight. Jeremiah 23:29 “Does not my word burn like fire? says the Lord. Is it not a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces?”

James 1:6 (NLT) “…a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.” It has been my experience that as we get older, we begin to think more about our mortality. Even those who don’t consider themselves Christians begin to contemplate if there is a possibility of eternal life, is this all there is or does life go on. And even those who believed that Jesus is the son of God but didn’t want to make that commitment will suddenly find themselves eager to accept and develop a deeper understanding of the Bible. But ask yourself this: why do we wait, why do we put off devoting our lives to God, is our loyalty divided? None of us knows the hour or day we will die, so why do we act as if we have all the time in the world? Are we afraid of what family or friends will think, do we use the excuse of being too busy to do it “right”, are we afraid we are going to miss out on something the world has to offer? Maybe we need to think about the fact that we might miss out on what God has to offer. Sadly, I’ve known people who died at a young age from drug overdose, car accidents and even terminal illness, many had never accepted Christ. It breaks my heart to think I will not see them again, but like most of us they were too busy enjoying life. Now I’m not saying we shouldn’t have fun and enjoy life; I don’t think God would have created so many things that are pleasing to our senses if He didn’t want us to enjoy life. But there needs to be balance and we need to get our priorities right. Even as Christians we may have divided loyalties if we are trying to be like the world and yet profess to be devoted to Christ. Sometimes those who grew up in the church (and even those who came to Christ later in life) feel like they have missed out on “having fun” and try to have what they think is the best of both worlds. Like the quoted verse says, they are like an unsettled wave of the sea that is tossed by the wind. Often times it is their faith that suffers as they begin to fall deeper into the trappings of the world, they never truly matured in their faith. Those around them may see the signs and even attempt to help them back on the straight and narrow path, unfortunately they may have been blinded by the bright lights of the world. God knows when we are trying to be part of both worlds, we can lie to ourselves and others but not to God, He knows everything, including when our loyalty is divided. Sometimes it is important to stop and take a good long look at our lives, are we living as if we are part of the world or are we simply living in the world and truly belong to God? There is a difference, we are on this earth and cannot separate ourselves from the world, we can’t go to another planet to live, but just because we are part of the world, we do not have to be a part of the world. Our actions, our behavior, our words can set us apart from the world and indicate if our loyalty truly lies with God. If we are less self-centered and more God centered, we understand that life is short and living for His glory is more fulfilling than anything this world has to offer. Maybe that is why we tend to look more closely at the question of eternal life when we get older, we know that our time is short and preparing for the future becomes more urgent. But young or old, we do not know the hour or day of our death, so it is important to put things into perspective, set our priorities so they in agreement with God’s kingdom. Things of the world are only temporary, but our faith endures and remains with us even in the life to come. In Philippians 1:21 Paul said to die is gain, Christ meant everything to Paul just as He should mean everything to us. Until next time may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

John 3:16-17 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.” John 3:16 is the most widely known, famous, popular (whichever way you wish to say it) verse in the Bible. We know it by heart and even those who don’t read the Bible are familiar with it. But do you make that verse personal? Have you ever stopped to think about those words, I mean really think about them and how they affect you? Sometimes we read something without stopping to think about what we’ve read and how it applies to us on a personal level. I admit I’m guilt of doing that. So, let’s try this a little differently, let’s change the wording a little to help us really consider what this means for us. Instead of reading it as written above, try looking at it in the following context: “For God loved me so much that He gave His one and only Son so that I could have eternal life because I believe in Him. He came not to judge me but to save me. He died for me!” Tell yourself that over and over again – He died for me. Now let’s take this to another level. Close your eyes, well don’t close them yet, wait until you’ve read the next few sentences. Close your eyes and picture Jesus on the cross, you’re standing in front of Him, looking up at Him. Jesus makes eye contact with you, looking straight at you He says “I love you; you are My child. Because I love you so much, I’m willing to die for you. I’m willing to take on everything wrong that you have ever done, every bad and mean thought you have ever had, every angry or hateful word you have ever spoken, I have taken on every sin that you have committed – past, present and future. I’m paying your debt, so you won’t have to endure death upon the cross.” Now close your eyes and picture that. Feel the love in His voice, understand what He has done for you, place that image deep into the recesses of your mind and your heart. And every time you think about doing something you know you shouldn’t, every time you think about saying something you shouldn’t, every time a thought comes into your head that shouldn’t be there – remember that picture and hear His words “I love you”. Remember the power and strength that comes from knowing Him. If there ever comes a time in your life when you feel you have lost everything, when you are feeling overwhelmed and devastated by life’s events, when you are just not sure how you will get through something and move forward – just think of Him on that cross, looking at you and saying “I love you; you are My child.” He will give you the strength you need to get through anything and to move forward, just listen to His voice and feel the comfort of His arms surrounding you with His love. Let’s start looking at God’s word in a personal way, applying it in our lives. Read His word and remember He is speaking to you. Until next time may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

Hebrews 12:18-19 “You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking.” Another translation says His voice and message was so harsh that the people begged Him not to speak. God has always treated His people with honesty, and there have been times when His honesty and discipline may have seemed harsh to the Israelites. But just as we must discipline our children, He also saw the need to discipline His people. We live in a time when lies and dishonesty run wild, and at times (I hate to say it) even in the Christian household. But that is not the way of Christ whose name we bear. Jesus was honest with people, but He knew how to speak with love. For instance, in Mark 10: 17-22 it tells of a rich young man who asked Jesus how he can obtain eternal life. Jesus of course tells him to obey all the commandments which the young man says he has been doing all his life. But Jesus knew what held this young man back, it was the importance he placed on his possessions and money, so Jesus said to give it all to the poor. This was probably the last thing the young man wanted to hear, so he walked away. And what about the story in John where Jesus exposes the sinful life of the Samaritan woman? Or in Matthew when Jesus tells Peter he will deny Him three times? Peter’s fear of man made him feel it was necessary to do this. When Jesus was resurrected, He asked Peter three times “Do you love me?” This forces Peter to confront his weakness and see his need for change. In each of these cases, Jesus knew their weakness and knew without change their journey would end without eternal life. It was out of love that Jesus spoke the truth of their weakness. When we speak truth to others it should be tempered with love not cruelty, that being said there will be times when truth is not taken the way it was intended, and this is unfortunate. I’ve always believed that the way we say things is as important as what we say, Jesus knew the importance of honesty spoken with love. Jesus spoke truth in order to save others, this is a love that is so deep, so enduring that words cannot even begin to describe it. How much more love can a person have then to be willing to take on the sin of another and suffer death, let alone to take on the sin of all men and suffer death on the cross? So, do we not owe it to Him to speak honestly with tenderness and love when we see someone heading down the wrong path? And if we are the one traveling down the wrong path, do we not owe it to Him to take this honesty with the love it was given in? No matter which side of this conversation you are on, it is difficult because we are imperfect. Our feeling get hurt, we get defensive, we try to justify our actions or words, we say things that come across harsh and maybe even a little vengeful. Both sides of such a conversation need time, time to choose their words carefully and time to consider the correction that is being given. Give with love and receive with love – keeping in mind that we all have weakness and are imperfect, and there will be times when each of us needs someone to guide us back to that straight and narrow path. Proverbs 27:6 tells us “Faithful are the words of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.” Remember God’s words to the Israelites, don’t cover your ears and beg Him to stop, don’t ignore the things you don’t want to hear, we all have things we need to work on. It doesn’t matter if you were raised in the church or if this is the first day you are opening your Bible, none of us are perfect. Often times it is easier for others to see our imperfections, our weakness, our mistakes – then it is for us to see them. That’s why honesty is so important, it is one way of expressing deep love and affection for others provided that the honesty is seasoned with love. Until next time may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

2 Peter 3:18 “…you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…” In this letter from Peter, he talked about false teachers, the last days and Christ return. At the end of his letter, he warns us to be on guard so we would not be fooled by those who would attempt to mislead us. So how do we do this? How do we protect ourselves against those who would attempt to mislead us? We do this by growing in grace and knowledge. Peter says we MUST grow in grace and knowledge, think of this as not a simple suggestion but as a command. There are some professions where you are required to take continuing education courses in order to keep your job. So why are we willing to continue to learn for work, but we are a little less enthusiastic when it comes to our faith? Is your life more important than your paycheck? Yes, I know we cannot live in this world without money, but without God we cannot live at all, with Him we find eternal life. With knowledge comes understanding and growth which leads to change. Unfortunately change has gotten a bad rap over the past couple decades, many see no reason why they should change. But just as with growth comes change so change comes with growth. If you are in a relationship and one of you is growing and changing but the other remains the same, this will eventually cause division. How many times have you heard someone say their divorce was because they simply “grew apart”? In other words, one person was growing while the other was satisfied with standing still. Are you the same person that you were at 5 years old? How about at 11 or 16, 20 or even 30? Hopefully your answer is no because otherwise you have learned nothing in life. Just as our life is filled with growth, so should our Christian walk be filled with growth. Not all of us will grow at the same rate, some of us will have to work hard for that growth and understanding while others will find it less difficult. The important thing is we don’t give up; we don’t stop learning; we don’t stop growing. Peter saw the importance of spiritual growth, he knew it was an ongoing process that would help us to develop a deeper appreciation of God’s word and a closer relationship with Him. Don’t be the person who is standing still, don’t be the one who “grew apart” from God because you were unwilling to grow and to change. Others wrote about growth: 1 Timothy 4:15 tells us “Practice these things; immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.” In Jeremiah 12:2 we read “You have planted them and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit.” We need to be intentional with our spiritual growth, we often hear about the transformation that takes place when we accept Christ – but it cannot not stop there. As we grow and mature in faith, we will begin to take on the qualities of Christ; His love, compassion, forgiveness and empathy will begin to manifest in our personalities. We will begin to apply all He has taught us, to understand and use the difficult times as tools to learn and grow, to find true peace and joy through His word. Finding a church, a group or even just a friend that encourages our spiritual growth is important because have no doubt, once you start moving forward, once you make that commitment to learn and to grow, the enemy will do his best to discourage you. Rob him of that joy, if he knocks you down, get back up; remember when God is with you no one will ever be able to keep you down. He is our strength. OK, so my last few posts have been on growth, but next week we are moving forward and hopefully growing as we do. Until then may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

My last post was about the importance of personal spiritual growth for us all. This time I would like to talk about steps we can take to encourage or enhance our spiritual growth. First of all, the fact that we recognized the need and are willing to take steps towards spiritual growth is a major step in the right direction. We all need the guidance and direction that God’s word provides but sometimes it’s difficult to know how and where to start. Going to church on Sunday is a good starting point, but there is more to it than that. If we endeavor to put Him first, He will provide a way for us to grow.

Often times when I’m writing up this post, God will lead me in more than one direction. Sometimes I see the connection right away, other times, as is the case with this post, I find myself searching for the connection. So here goes: A new year often signals a new beginning, a time of renewal, commitment, promises and contemplation for the future. God has laid on me the need and the importance of personal spiritual growth for myself and for each and every Christian. Whether you call yourself Baptist, Pentacostal, Non-denominational or if you are Messianic Jew, it does not matter, what matters is we are following in the footsteps of Christ and remain true to His word. This year, 2025, we need to ask ourselves how strong we are in God’s word and if we think we are strong then it is time to stop, back up and realize we are at our weakest when we THINK we are at our strongest. Because that is when we start to read God’s word less, when we begin to think that certain things don’t apply to us, that His word is outdated, and we can pick and choose what we want to follow, and we start to lean on our own understanding. This is when we begin to pray with less conviction and prayer becomes a ritual instead of a conversation. And this is when we begin to have fewer conversations with others about God’s word. This is when we need to pray for wisdom and understanding, to pray for a humble heart that will allow us to see just how little we know. This is a time to go deeper into His word and look at the things we may struggle with. This year could be a year of great change for us all, whether that change is for the better is up to us. If we resolve to grow stronger in His word, to deepen our relationship with Him and to help others grow in His truth then chances are the changes will be good. Whether you are someone who was raised in the church or are just beginning your journey there is always a great deal you can learn. If we are stagnant, if we believe there is little left for us to learn, then the consequences could be devastating. In 2 Timothy 3:1 it tells us that in the last days there will be difficult times, what if this is the beginning of your difficult year? Will you have the strength and courage to go on? Do you rely enough on God? Do you put Him first in your life? Right now, I imagine many of you jumping up and down yelling “I do! I put God first!” And that very well may be true, but consider this: do you have the strength and courage to endure what Jesus described in Matthew 24? You may read verses 6 and 7 about wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes and say, “Oh yes! I could handle that.” But read on. And as you read think about this: could you endure the hatred and persecution that Jesus endured? If you were place upon that cross and told that all you had to do to save your life was to deny Christ – would you be strong enough to endure? Would you be strong enough to watch someone you love go through that? Or would you cave in and deny Him in order to save your life or the life of a loved one? It has happened in other countries and continues to happen; we just aren’t likely to hear about it. Just because we have not personally seen it or experienced it does not mean you will never experience it. My intention is not to frighten anyone, but instead it is to follow God’s direction and to encourage. To encourage you to commit to spiritual growth, to encourage you to develop not only a deeper relationship with God but to develop a deeper dependence on Him. To encourage you to depend on Him for wisdom and knowledge, for strength and courage and for the ability to maintain your integrity even if the world around you falls apart. Jesus never sugar coated His message, and it may be time for us to understand that we should not sugar coat it either. There are many who believe Christians will not see much of what was spoken about in Matthew 24, and they may be right – but what if they are not? Personally, I think we will see much of Jesus prophetic words take place, and while there are things in life we can change – we cannot change prophecy. If He says it will happen, then we can count on it happening. In Matthew 24:22-23 and in verse 31 Jesus mentions the “elect”, and while there is some debate on exactly who the elect consist of, there is agreement on the fact that these are God’s people. Some of you may be thinking this post is a little on the discouraging side, but it is not, because when Christ is involved, there is hope. Look at the example of Paul, all he suffered through, yet he found strength through his knowledge and his love for Christ. Whether your future is filled with sunshine and roses, or with turmoil, the key to having peace is in Christ. Let us make 2025 the year we begin a new journey. A journey that will allow us to maintain our integrity towards Christ, to find peace no matter what we are faced with. A journey that will help us to grow in our relationship with God. A journey that will strengthen us and those around us. Resolve to look at every part of our life through the eyes of Christ, to improve, to grow, to help others grow and to use Him to turn our weakness into strength. Let this year be a new beginning.