I hear a lot about God's grace and how we can abuse it by knowingly sinning, and then just getting forgiven seems unfair and contrived. It is important to realize where God's righteousness takes us when we receive Jesus, and we grow deeper in our faith walk. First of all, God's grace is just that...God's grace, not ours. Our grace has stipulations on it because of our lack of understanding of God's righteousness. God spoke the following through the prophet Isaiah in Isaia

My oldest son, Ty, replaced his decking on the back of his home a couple of years ago, and when I noticed it was a "strange" looking wood, he told me it wasn't wood at all, but engineered flooring. I asked him. Is it better than wood? To which he replied, "It doesn't rot like wood, and it is guaranteed to last a lot longer than even treated wood! "Makes sense to me", I replied. This flooring, which has additives to make it look like wood, yet is not wood at all, appears

When Saul was met by Jesus on the road to Damascus, his life direction changed immediately, and Jesus had a purpose for Saul's life after He was born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. Ananias was given specific instructions by the same Jesus who met Saul on that road to Damascus, and Jesus gave Ananias a hint of what was going to happen through Saul's life. Acts 9: 15  But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gent

I have seen and heard some say that when we are born again, there is not much change, but I don't agree with that conclusion. Mainly because of the conversion of Saul and the new direction of Paul. Acts 9: 3  Now as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; 4  and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5  And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” An

A few years ago, LED lights were born, and it is amazing to me how a light can be so strong and clear and not create any heat when on. The following information is taken from an explanation of the action that takes place to make an LED light work. It is very interesting. An LED (Light-Emitting Diode) works by passing an electric current through a semiconductor chip, exciting electrons that then release energy as photons (light particles) when they recombine with "holes," a

How are you approaching this next year? Do you anticipate some changes in lifestyle and purpose, and are you committed to follow through to completion? Life as a born-again believer compels us to follow a Clarion Call that only God can clearly make known to each of us. A clarion call is a call that compels us to give our lives to Jesus daily and seek Him in His Word and through a deep time of prayer, and God will reveal that clarion call that gives our lives true meaning a

His Sacred Thread Connections are important, and the most sacred connection for a lost and dying world is the thread that God weaved throughout His plan to redeem mankind through the birth, death, and resurrection of His son, Jesus the Christ. In thinking about how sacred this thread of time is, we realize God's plan was perfect in every way as He announced through His prophets what was going to happen, and He put every piece of the puzzle together perfectly. God defied hu

We bought gifts, wrapped them (least Andra did), and then they were presented to the giftee, and oh what a joy. A gift given from someone in love, and many times given beyond what we feel like we deserve. That is the thing with a gift. It is not about manipulating for position to be the best "gift giver", but just a gift from the heart. I love buying gifts when I have money for them, and I love receiving gifts that are unexpected. It warms my heart. God gave us the gif

We find many different things happening around the birth of Jesus that teach good life lessons and possibly expose our hearts. One is the visitation of the Magi to find Jesus. Here is the story. Matthew 2: 1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2  “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” 3  When Herod the ki

Would you be ready to respond to God moving in your midst? Would you be spiritually aware and ready to join in, or would you doubt and fight it? When the shepherds were visited by a great company of heavenly hosts, they could not miss that God Almighty was up to something. The shepherds got the heavenly announcement, and they decided to follow the instructions given to them by the angels. No hesitation, just a total attitude to follow the instructions and go into Bethlehe

Luke 2: 8  In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night. 9  And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. 10  And so the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11  for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Chri

God has been moving and shaking things in our world and in our personal lives forever. God puts things together over time, and when it all falls into place, all the anxiety about something and worry all fade away. God is ever present in our lives, and in our faith walk, He is moving and doing great things we just don't understand. God's time is perfect. Here is one major example of God's timing. The Birth of Jesus! Yes, the birth of Jesus was all part of God's timing, n

The opportunity to change direction is supplied by a crossroad. It can mean going in the right direction or the wrong direction. When I am traveling down a highway, and I come upon a crossroad, I always think, "Where does that lead?" The Word of God speaks to a narrow road that is chosen by very few, but those who choose it see that there is a wide open life available should you give your life to Jesus. I believe in the abundant life Jesus spoke of in John 10, and satan do

I remember seeing a car that was almost on its side because it ran off the road, and the ditch was so deep that the angle almost turned the car over. There was a wrecker doing its best to get the car back upright and then on the road again. Ditches are tough, And if you don't keep your eyes on the road, a ditch is waiting for you, and they can be very hard to get out of when you drive into one. In our faith walk, we realize quickly there are ditches everywhere, and satan

In James, we see the words "draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." James 4: 8  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. When we were born again, we cannot get any closer to God than receiving the Holy Spirit, who is also God, and receiving our undeserved grace. The words in James 4 begin by telling us what things we need to avoid, and then he challenges us to turn toward God for man

When raising children, we always need an excellent example to follow, and God is the perfect example, so why look further? Hebrews 12: 4  In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5  And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6  because the Lord disciplin

There is a spirit of apathy and indifference in our world, and it has leaked into the Christian faith as well. Satisfied is the new "buzz word" for being happy and contented, and the only problem with that is it takes away the vision of the on-fire believer. Jesus was not satisfied to just come into the world and walk around teaching and healing; in fact, Jesus did some of His best work "immediately" and without procrastination. What a witness!! Immediately (def) - at once

Consecration (def) - the act of dedicating something or someone to a sacred purpose, which can involve a formal religious ceremony to make it holy or set apart. To be or not to be, in this case, is not for a Shakespearean play, but for a sacred commitment to serve Jesus as He calls us to a higher calling. To be called is one part of the whole thing, and that is important and cannot be taken lightly because of the requirements of such a calling. A person will direct their l

Contrition (def) - the state of feeling remorseful and penitent . Matthew 6: 5  “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6  But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7  And when you pray,

When God completes something that completion is perfect and DONE or finished. When Jesus died on the cross there was a point where He said It Is Finished, and that statement proclaimed the completion of the eternal sacrifice that paid the debt for the sins of man forever and it was over. OVER. John 19: 30  When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” or tetelestai , Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. All that was needed to pay the penalty for the sin d