Born Again, No Doubt About It

The above logo design is based on the following portion of scripture.

Romans 8:16

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,

I personally like The King James Version

The Spirit itself beareth witness with out spirit that we are the children of God.

I am so thankful that we have an assurance that we are right with God. Salvation must be experienced before a person is able to testify that he or she has been born again.  In progress

Love Your Enemies

Luke 6:27-36 New English Translation (NET Bible)

27 “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 To the person who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other as well, and from the person who takes away your coat, do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your possessions back from the person who takes them away. 31 Treat others in the same way that you would want them to treat you.

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to be repaid, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, so that they may be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to ungrateful and evil people. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

There are portions of this teaching by Jesus, that for me, are difficult to put into practice. I would like to believe that I love everybody, however; there are many of those people that I do not like. Is there a difference between loving someone in Christ and liking that same person?

The other part of Jesus’s sermon is lending to persons and expecting nothing in return.   

A work in progress

I’m Happy

I’m Happy

I’m Happy, Because I’m Happy

I’m Happy, Because I’m Free,

I’m Happy, Because I’m Happy,

I’m Happy, Because I’m me

I was driving on a dirt road a few days ago and started to sing this little ditty. It may be original.

I just shared it om my facebook page to check the response..

Secure In Christ

We are all searching for security, either in our personal lives, for our possessions or for our future. Scams are part of our everyday living and our very identity can be taken from us.  The cost for security protection for President Trump and family is projected to be $120 million dollars in 2019. Our secure living conditions have changed radically in the past number of years. 

As a Christian, am I secure in Christ? 

A post in spiritual progress

Did Jesus Marry Mary Magdalene

The question, did Jesus marry Mary Magdalene, has surfaced many times and has been a subject of much debate. In my opinion, the answer is no.  To even consider this question, it has to be acknowledged that both Jesus and Mary Magdalene were real people. A real person is one who actually existed.

Who Was Mary Magdalene

Here are the scripture references.

Matthew 27:55-61: And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him. 56: Among which was Mary Magdalene….verse 61: And there was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre,

Mark: 15:40; There was also women looking on afar off, among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses and Salome.

Mark 16:1; And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome, had bought spices that they might come and anoint him….

Mark 16:9; And when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devil. 10; And she (Mary Magdalene) went and told them, that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.

Luke 8:2; And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils..As you read please note that there were other women ministering unto him

Please visit this site for a detailed explanation of Luke 8:1-3.

note: both Mark and Luke mention seven devils being cast out of Mary Magdalene. There is no doubt,  that she loved Jesus, for who he was and what he had done for her.

Luke 24:10; It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary, the mother of James and other women that were with them which told those things unto the apostles.

John 19:25; Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, his mother’s sister Mary the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene.

John 20:1-18; This is the story of Mary Magdalene being the first to see Jesus, after His resurrection. I would recommend that you get your bible and read the story.. Verse 18: Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord….

The question: Was Jesus married to Mary Magdalene?

The answer for me is simple… If Jesus were married, to Mary magdalene, I believe it would be in the bible.There is nothing in the bible that points to Him being married. He would have asked Mary Magdalene to look after His mother if she were his wife. He would have asked  someone to look after Mary Magdalene if He were married to her. He didn’t!

If He were not married and had had a relationship with Mary Magdalene, He would have committed sin and scripture says there was no sin found in him. 1 Peter 2:22.. There are many other scriptures that speak of Jesus being sinless..

That’s my simple explanation.

Also…If they were married or in a relationship and had a child as some propose, don’t you think that the authorities, those who crucified Jesus, would have been watching her and would have killed the child.

My e mail address can be found on The About Us page

He knows Me

Often my wife will ask the question, “what are you thinking about” or “what’s on your mind.” Then she will say “I know you and I know that you are thinking about something and if it’s serious you raise your eyebrows.”

Yes my wife knows a lot about me but although she says ” I can read your mind” really she can’t, hewever; He knows me.

Psalm 139:1-19

Lord, you have examined me
    and know all about me.
You know when I sit down and when I get up.
    You know my thoughts before I think them.
You know where I go and where I lie down.
    You know everything I do.
Lord, even before I say a word,
    you already know it.
You are all around me—in front and in back—
    and have put your hand on me.
Your knowledge is amazing to me;
    it is more than I can understand.

Where can I go to get away from your Spirit?
    Where can I run from you?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there.
    If I lie down in the grave, you are there.
If I rise with the sun in the east
    and settle in the west beyond the sea,
10 even there you would guide me.
    With your right hand you would hold me.

11 I could say, “The darkness will hide me.
    Let the light around me turn into night.”
12 But even the darkness is not dark to you.
    The night is as light as the day;
    darkness and light are the same to you.

13 You made my whole being;
    you formed me in my mother’s body.
14 I praise you because you made me in

an amazing and wonderful way.
    What you have done is wonderful.
    I know this very well.
15 You saw my bones being formed
    as I took shape in my mother’s body.
When I was put together there,
16 you saw my body as it was formed.
All the days planned for me
    were written in your book
    before I was one day old.

17 God, your thoughts are precious to me.
    They are so many!
18 If I could count them,
    they would be more than all the grains of sand.
When I wake up,
    I am still with you.

Yes, I have that assurance within, that He knows me. My wife can say, “I know you are thinking about something but Jesus can say, “I know what you are thinking.”

Christian Thoughts To Ponder

I have been a Christian, for over forty-five years and I still deal with sinful thoughts that rear their evil messages in my mind. Jesus said in Mark 7-15: “Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them, rather it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

The purpose of this post, christian thoughts to ponder, is to remind myself and you who are reading this post that we are all the same. Those of us who practice the christian faith, through our acceptance of Jesus as savior and lord, deal with evil thoughts. For many of us, especially us men, we are too proud and maybe too afraid to expose our feelings to others.

One of those unseen evil thoughts that I deal with is lust. My friends are unaware of it, my wife is unaware of it because over my life time I, through the indwelling holy spirit, have been able to surrender it to God. Whenever a lustful thought comes to my mind I simply say, Lord, this is an unclean thought and I surrender it to you. One of my favorite portions of scripture in understanding this concept is:  2 Corinthians 10:4-5..  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

How do we take thoughts captive? This is what I do and yes, I sometimes forget. I pray to God and ask that he take the thought and purify my thinking. I tell him and he already knows. that this is an evil thought and it can lead to sin and I surrender it to him.

Jesus went on to say in Mark 7: 20 “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

What evil thought or thoughts are you dealing with in your life? Please leave a comment.

 

 

All About Glory

I was reading a devotional written by Paul David Tripp and he makes the statement that life is all about glory. I have been thinking about that statement as it applies to my life as a Christian. Below are a few verses concerning glory.

1 Cor: 10-31….So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Cor 10:23-33

All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— 29 I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

So my question is am I living for God’s glory or my glory?

in progress

Textedead

I recognize that there is no such word as textedead, however; it’s a word that I coined from texted and dead. The word came to me as I was walking pass a truck, that was on a parking lot and both the driver and passenger were texting. Thankfully they made a wise decision to pull over and text.

Sadly, there are too many people who text, while their vehicle is moving and are leaving themselves open to a tragedy. I would not call it an accident as they are being negligent.

I have heard stories of passengers shouting at a driver, before an accident, to stop texting. Personally, I would take the phone from the driver and maybe toss it out the window.

This video is from youtube and was taken by a state trooper. The caption says that the person driving was texting.


The Anatomy Of A Car Crash While Texting

This is my commitment

When driving, I promise not to pick up my phone for a ring or a ping unless there is another person, in the vehicle, who can answer it for me. I will pull over, when convenient, to answer the call or the text. I know, it’s against the law to be on the phone or to text, however; like many, I have broken this law. Sadly, many people have been killed or injured, some seriously because they were distracted by calling or texting.

In Progress

 

 

Unhappy and Happy

I had never thought that a person could be unhappy and happy at the same time. Today I was speaking to a very good friend of ours who is going through a very traumatic experience in his marriage. It was about ten years ago that his wife begin to show signs of alzheimers.  Two years ago he had to place her in a nursing home.

They were both in their early fifties when she began to show the first signs of this dreaded disease. He was very supportive and had to quit his job to give her support. This caused financial strain and it became more difficult when he placed her in a nursing home. She has not shown any recognition of him for the past number of months.

He decided to move, a few thousand miles away, in order to get a job and be near their children. Every four to six weeks he takes a flight home to spend a few days visiting his wife. He is what I would call a broken man. Broken, mentally, spiritually and physically.

Today I took him to the airport and I made the statement..”you are unhappy and happy.” He said, “you could say it that way.”

Since moving away he has moved in with another woman. I can’t judge his decision as I know he needs someone to love him.

As a Christian, I believe in the marriage vows but I also recognize the evil that sin can have in a person’s life. If a person loses sight of God’s love and grace, that is available in Jesus, he leaves himself open to the ravages of sin. This has happened to my friend. It started with the blame game. Blaming God for what happened to his wife, his friends, relatives and pastors for not being there for them. He became blind to those who wanted to help. Yes, we didn’t know how to deal with this sickness. It would have been much easier to give support if it were a cancer or some other life threatening illness.

He didn’t ask for help and we as his family and friends felt that he was shutting us out. I admit my failure! He turned his back on the one friend who promised to be with us under every circumstance of living… Jesus.

I have prayed with him and for him and today I prayed again that God would restore him. Also, I believe that God can restore his wife to health. There is nothing impossible for God.

You will notice that,I have quoted no scripture, in this post. I recognize that many reading, this post, will have references from scripture flooding your mind.

Would you pray for my friend that God would somehow minister to him, in his brokenness, and bring peace joy and happiness to his life. Pray for his wife as you feel led by God’s spirit.

Thank you for reading this post. It is appreciated. May you be blessed in your Christian walk.