A sinner with no hope on my own
As a sinner I always strive to be better. On a daily basis I find myself wrestling with what it means to be a Christian, a believer in Christ, and to live a life pleasing to God.
No matter how hard I try I can never seem to be the person I want to be, the person God wants me to be. If I counted my regrets and put them in a bag, the bag would be so large it would overwhelm me.
Therefore, I have no choice but to give it all to God. My desires, my failures, my successes and my sins. I turn them all over to Him. Without the grace of God and the blood that Jesus shed for me I would be without hope.
On Judgement Day when I stand before the throne of God going over my life I can only pray that He will find me worthy to be known as His child. That Jesus will not say that He does not know me.
With all of the good things I do in life and all of the sins that surround me, my only hope is to trust in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. To put my faith in the fact that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. Not that I lived a perfect life worthy of salvation, because I did not.
Otherwise, I have no hope of getting into heaven on my own.
So I put all of my trust in You Jesus Christ.
Where is the food for the hungry
If you have never been hungry before, truly hungry, you can not understand. Hunger. The hunger that gnaws at your belly and fills your life. It pains your thoughts and your every action. Drives you to frantic desperate acts to feed your family.
Our world is full of hunger and it is only going to get worse. People are hungry for food and for The Word of the Holy Spirit. Just remember that no one will hear what you have to say when the pains of hunger fills their ears.
As more food resources are spent on “alternative fuels” such as ethanol, less actual food will go to people who need it. The cost of food has already doubled in many poor countries throughout the world where they can least afford it.
Hunger is a strong force that overshadows anything else going on in life. It is time for “developed” countries to step in and help. If America spent on world hunger or alternative fuels what it spends on the Iraq war every year, how many years do you think it would take to develop a solution? Maybe one. $100 Billion would go a long ways I bet.
In life we have very little control. The only certainty is that The Lord Jesus Is Coming again. What did we do to help before He came?
Do I want Enough or just More
These are difficult times we are in. Maybe not more difficult than many other times in history, but we are living here and now. From what I see around me, people are struggling. Not just in America, but all over the world.
With fuel prices constantly going higher and necessities such as food getting more expensive, it is more and more difficult to get by. Add to this job insecurity, healthcare costs, various debts and the problem list goes on. It might seem that if I just had more I would be OK. Secure. Safe.
Since the very beginning, when Adam and Eve were sent out of the Garden of Eden for committing the sin that condemned humanity, people have had to work hard to survive. Genesis 3:23 “therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. “
In our modern world many people no longer need to grow their own food or raise their own livestock. They simply go to the store and buy the food ready to eat. Much of this work has been taken away from us and we have gotten used to this ability to just buy what we need and want.
However, it is easy to fall into the trap of wanting more. More money, more things, more whatever it might be. There is always something more you could want and usually money can get it. 1 Timothy 6:10 says “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
So, obviously, wanting more money can be a dangerous practice. It is difficult for those who put their trust in money to fully put their trust in God. Mark 10:24-25 “And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus answered again, and said unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”
That is a serious statement.
Now there is a big difference between wanting enough and wanting more.
What about wanting more food to feed your family? Hunger is a terrible part of many people’s lives. Going to bed hungry knowing that tomorrow will be more of the same. Not having enough food to give to your precious children. The pain in your stomach that you grow used to as your energies and hopes dwindle. When you do not have enough of a necessity, you will want more. It is not the more of excess.
There are so many who don’t even have enough.
So as you struggle through life make sure you keep clear the difference between wanting enough and wanting more. If you find that you have more than enough maybe you can give to someone who does not.
Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”"
And that is worth more than all the money in the world.
What is the best gift you have ever received?
Think back over your life to all of the gifts you have ever gotten. Some were probably not exactly what you wanted while others might have blown you away. Wether it was the thoughtfulness, cost, or work that went into the gift some mean more to you than others.
Now of all of these gifts, which one was the best. Think hard and try to remember how you felt when it was given to you. Remember the joy in your heart and what went through your mind.
After you received this gift, what did you do? Did you offer to pay for it? Did you suggest that you could work it off? Did you refuse it? Or did you say “Thank You” with great excitement. This is a gift that has meant more to you than any other. The greatest gift you have ever received!
Afterwards, were you silent about the gift or did you tell everyone about it? When you spoke of this gift was it with great excitement or did you quietly admit to receiving this gift?
The gift God has given us through His son Jesus Christ is undoubtedly the greatest gift we will ever receive. Jesus came to Earth and lived a sinless life. He then died on the cross for our sins and was raised again three days later. This was so we too could defeat death and have everlasting life with Him.
This gift is Salvation.
Salvation is a gift from God, the greatest gift. We do not need to earn it and can not work our way to eternal life.
Now that we have this gift we should be grateful and excited! Responding to this gift with gratitude, joy, and above all praise. We can never give such a great gift back to God, but we can offer him our praise and show our appreciation by being a representative in service to others.
When you have received the greatest gift of all, be happy and say “Thank You” with all your heart.
Ephesians 2 : 8-10
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
not as a result of works, so that none may boast.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
The Lord Is Coming
Of all the things I believe, perhaps the most basic are that:
The Bible is the Word of God.
Jesus Christ is God’s son who died on the cross for our sins.
There is no other way to The Father than through The Son.
Jesus is coming back to Earth again.
The point of maranatha.com is to profess this truth that Jesus is coming again and to help us keep our focus on God.
1 Corinthians 16:22 “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema Maranatha. “