If someone asks me why I believe in God(Jesus) my simple reply is because “He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life…..Jn 14:6. Jesus has shown me that I am broken….a sinner and thats not a negative thing all the time. It can be a positive. The more I learn about who I am and who Jesus is the more liberating it is. Jesus sets me free from the bondage of sin. I’m not perfect, sinless and never will be. But I now have a God that has a plan for me far, far, better than anything I could have done on my own. I Believe! Jesus is taking me somewhere that is beyond my understanding and He asks only that I trust and abide in him. Everyday can be something new. Although I still have my ups and downs, hit a lot of bumps, think and do some stupid things along the way , I now have a God that loves me in spite of myself. His grace and unconditional love is beyond my understanding and thats alright with me. I don’t have to know or have answers for everything. I just need to abide in Jesus and trust him that everything will work for my good. I guess I am saying just hang on and enjoy the ride….And BTW, the greatest book that has every been written with answers to all that troubles mankind is the Holy Bible. Might be good to take a look at it for answers. Jesus and his Word, an unbeatable combination.

Be Still And Know That I Am God……..Psalms 46:10

Have a Blessed week!

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound……We need Grace, lots and lots of Grace and unconditional love. All day long we get bombarded with bad news. People need good news. The best news is that there is a God, his name is Jesus and he loves us always and unconditionally. We need to look at the glass as half full again. We need to be good honest role models for our children and full of unconditional love. We need to introduce them to Jesus and let them run with it. Give them hope everyday. If we fail, get up and try again. Don’t be a spectator. But get into the game and play. Wake up each day with renewed hope that we can find peace and happiness in this world on this day thru our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Just remember, “He who has health has hope; He who has hope has everything.

Have a great week and remember that Jesus is not the enemy. God Bless!

Have you every wondered who Jesus really is. Author Brennan Manning writes, “Jesus’s name has given rise to vast theological systems, worldwide churches, crusades, reforms, and renewals. Church councils have rendered their opinions, as have historians, theologians, emperors, film directors, and all manner of believers and doubters.” Think of the songs written and art created in the name of Jesus. So obviously he is somebody. Each one of us must answer the question of “Who is Jesus?” for themselves. Other people cannot answer on your behalf. Jesus asks each one of us “but what about you…Who do you say I am?” Mark 8:29

God Bless you and have a great week.

Do you ever feel that your not enough? Of course you do. We all do. In her song “You Say” Lauren Diagle sings, “I keep fighting voices that say I’m not enough. Every single lie that tells me I will never measure up. Am I more than just the sum of every high and every low. Remind me once again just who I am because I need to know.” Jesus reminds us that we are enough just as we are. We don’t have to earn anything. Just abide in him and he will show us the way.

It seems like we are running to a finish line that doesn’t exist and only through Jesus can we find the peace that “we are enough”.

Have a great week……You are enough. Believe it!

Isaiah 40:31….But those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

In his book, “One Way Love” Tullian Tchividjian describes God’s grace as follows.” What is Grace? The definition comes from Paul Zahl. He explains that Grace is love that seeks you out when you have nothing to give in return. Its love coming at you that has nothing to do with you. Its being loved when you are unlovable. Its unconditional love. Its one-way love It defies logic.”

I admit that I have issues with Grace. I grew up in a performance demanding society. I taught school for 40 years handing out grades for performance. I gave failing grades to kids. How do you think a teenager feels when someone tells him he’s a failure. I coached sports where winning is valued and losing is….unacceptable. So it was hard for me to accept God’s Grace and unconditional love. I was taught like all of us that we had to earn God’s love. Then Grace came along in my life and changed everything. I had a God in Jesus that loved me unconditionally. He loves me through the good, the bad, and the ugly. I still have problems with it. But I have come to learn as Tchividjian says, “It is true. Its the truest truth in the entire universe. God loves us independently of what we may or may not bring to the table. There are no strings attached”.

Have a great week and may you receive God’s gift of Grace everyday….Believe It!

1Corinthians 13:12….For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; Then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

We are imperfect, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. We are broken so that’s the playing field. Instead of complaining about it or denying it we need to “play ball”. Mankind and the world is broken and that’s the truth. We need to be honest about this. I’m sure that some people are more broken than others, but we are all in need. What we need is a Savior and we have one in Jesus. The one that fully understands us, loves us unconditionally and extends a grace that is beyond our understanding. This not a new concept, just often forgotten or ignored. This has been the way for 2000 years and beyond. Do you think Jesus died on the cross for nothing? He died for something all right. He died for our brokeness and he has set things right for us. All we have to do is have faith, believe and abide in him……period. He redeemed us on the cross.

You’re right, pretty unbelievable.

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

God Bless you and have a great week!

Jesus says to “enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few will find it”…..Matt 7:13-14. Jesus is telling us not to go the way of the world. “Do not be conformed to this world…” says Jesus. If we look around its easy to see that most people conform to the ways of the world. The examples of this are endless. People follow the glitz and glamour, the money trail, to their own destruction. I think this is obvious. If one truely believes that Jesus is the way then he will not go the way of the world and rather seek the ways of Jesus which is the narrow way.

We really don’t fully understand Jesus and his ways but the more we accept him and pay attention to him the more we begin to see the world and its ways for what they are. It takes effort on our part, work on our part. A purposeful decision to see Jesus as “the Way, the Truth and the Life”.

Romans 12:2 – Do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Have a good week and God Bless you.

The following are the words of writer Robert Capon. Good to think about as we go through this week. Capon writes, “What role have I left for religion? None. And I have none because the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ leaves none. Christianity is not a religion; it is the announcement of the end of religion. Religion consists of all the things (believing, behaving, worshiping, sacrificing) the human race has ever thought it had to do to get right with God….Everything religion tried (and failed) to do has been perfectly done, once and for all, by Jesus in his death and resurrection. For Christians, therefore, the entire religion shop has been closed, boarded up and forgotten. The church is not in the religion business, it never has been and it never will be, in spite of all the ecclesiastical turkeys through two thousand years who have acted as if religion was their stock in trade. The church, instead, is in the Gospel proclaiming business. It is not here to bring the world the bad news that God will think kindly about us only after we have gone through certain creedal, liturgical and ethical wickets; it is here to bring the the Good News that “while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly” It is here, in short, for no religious purpose at all, only to announce the Gospel of Grace”….AMEN…. Thank you Robert Capon. It cannot be said any better than that.

John 3:16– God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that who ever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

I was listening to a country singer named Eric Church sing a song entitled “Like Jesus Does”. In the song Eric describes how she (I assume his wife) loves him like Jesus does. He describes himself as a “back road sinner at a tent revival. A good old boy drinking whiskey and rye”. She carries him when his sins are heavy and she knows the man he isn’t. And above she forgives him when he can’t forgive himself. Eric always thought she would give up on him one day. But she instead loves him like Jesus does, with undeserved grace and unconditional love. As Eric’s last line says, “I thank God every night and twice on Sunday”.

Jesus, our Lord and Savior died for our sins and will never leave us. He loves us with an unconditional love that is nearly impossible to understand. He asks nothing in return. He wants us to simply believe in him and have faith. To Trust Him.

Remember………Jesus plus nothing equals everything.

Have a good week and see you next Monday.

I am not qualified to have God put His creation under my feet but that exactly what God does according to Psalms 8. Words like awesome and epic and greatness do not even come close to describing who God is.. These words and others do not come remotely close to describing His creation. Yet, God is mindful of us and loves us and wants to care for us. God crowned us with glory and honor. God made us ruler over His works. Yet, we manage to mess things up everyday. In our sin we have become irresponsible stewards of His creation. Yet again, God steps in and forgives us of our sins and continues to love us unconditionally and extending His amazing grace to us. That’s unbelievable when you think about it. He gives us way, way, way more then we deserve…..He is incredible. I believe in you Jesus and want to continue to pursue you into the mystery of your creation.

Psalms 8:1 – How majestic is Your name in all the earth. You have set your Glory in the Heavens.