I Am Back After Some Time

I have neglected this site for some time now. I have been working on my book, The Simplicity of God’s Plan. I am doing a correction of it, and then I plan to put it back on Amazon for $.99. Look for it soon. I will then put it on B&N and other sites. I welcome all comments and feedback.

Why Dont People Seek God?

WHY WON’T PEOPLE SEEK THE LORD?
Proverbs 1: 7—The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1: 28—Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord.
It makes me sad to know so many people who are indifferent to the Word and to the Lord. They live as if they don’t need Him, or as if they already know all they want to know of Him. I see people in my own family who are like this, and it hurts my heart.
I know many people who just don’t want the name of the Lord mentioned around them. Why? Only God really knows this. But I wonder at their love for the Lord if they never want any words about Him or our Father, God spoken in their presence.
I don’t preach to people, especially those in my family. But something as simple as saying that the Lord brought a thing, or just “Praise the Lord” is enough to some to say not to say that. Any mention of God or Jesus is like a burning brand to their skin.
How can these people say they have accepted Jesus as their Savior? How can they believe, or say they believe, when they don’t even want to talk about Him? Our Lord is so precious, so wonderful, that those who really know Him can’t help but talk about Him.
There is so much talk by people every day, but little talk about our Lord or our God. And it is these two persons who make our life possible; who lead us in our paths. People cannot love anything or anyone they refuse to talk about. This is my opinion.
Proverbs says that these people are “fools” and despise wisdom. Yet, when they get into trouble, they do as is said in verses 28 – 29, they call on God for help, and He refuses to hear them. How can people ignore God in their daily lives and then expect help when they want it? How can they live in eternity with the Lord Jesus and our Father, God if they can’t stand to be with them while in this life? This escapes my ability to understand.
But this is why those whose names are not written in God’s Book of Life will spend eternity in the darkness and fire of hell. It is not God’s choice to send them there. They made that choice while in their earthly bodies.
Sandy

How Are You Looking At The New Year?

HOW ARE YOU LOOKING AT THE NEW YEAR?

We are not promised another day, much less another year. But all of us at this time of the old year think about the New Year ahead. And this is right. Some people make resolutions that will probably be broken in the first week. This is just what some do. But there are some things we need to think about before planning for the New Year.

I am using some thoughts I heard in a sermon today, but I am putting it into my own words. Look at the book of James in the Bible: James 4: 13-17 –
In these verses we read that we “ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”
But most people do not take God into consideration when making their plans. They figure what they want to do, how to do it, and other particulars that will cause them to succeed. But, I heard Adrian Rogers say today that failure is succeeding at the wrong thing.

There are millions of people in the world today that seem to be successes at what they do. Others look at them and see success. But if they did not consider what God has called them to do, God sees them as failures.

When people plan without seeking the guidance of God in Heaven, they are doing so in their own knowledge and will. This leaves God out. Some may ask God to bless their plans. But God will not bless what He does not authorize.

Most people live divided lives. They have one department that says Worship, and they have another larger department that says Business or Personal. They put their worship of God into the time on Sundays and maybe on Wednesday night. Then they do everything else by their own thinking.
This self-confidence is sin.

Sin began when Adam chose to do it his way instead of God’s way. And when a person decided to do anything without seeking God’s will, it is sin. Self-centered work is not of God. And Satan will delight in giving success to a person who makes his own plans. This gives Satan the power over that person. He may stay in the background and not cause the person trouble, but this is because he knows that as long as that person is not doing God’s will, he has them.

The plans made without God are called presumptuous sins. Each morning as I talk to my Heavenly Father, I ask Him to keep me from these sins. I know my past inclination to run ahead of God and do what I think He wants me to do. I have failed too many times to want to do that again.

In Proverbs 27: 1, we read, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Do not presume to know what God wants of you if you do not seek His will.

Another thing we need to avoid in our lives is self-complacence. This is procrastination. In James 4: 15-18, we read about where true wisdom comes from. Wisdom that does not come from God is “earthly, sensual, devilish. It causes envying and strife, confusion and every evil work.” But the wisdom that is from God produces is “pure, peaceable, full of mercy, and easy to be intreated, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”

James 3:18 says that if a man knows what to do and does not do it, that is sin. This is a very deceptive sin; it is the reason people are lost. They just put off accepting Jesus because they think they have plenty of time to think about that. What they don’t realize is that this one moment in time may be their last.

God made our minds so that we cannot think two thoughts at the same time. If we are thinking thoughts that are of God and His will, we cannot be thinking of evil. Conversely, if we think thought is self-will, we are not thinking thoughts from God.

Each person has a choice. He may make the plans for the New Year seeking God’s will for him. Or he may go on as he wants to and make his plans without God. It may be that only in the time of Judgment to come will we know who was of God and who was of self.
From Sandy

How Do You Celebrate Jesus’ Birthday?

At this time of year, many people get sad, frustrated, and worried. This is not the way to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. When you feel these things come upon you, put on some Christian Christmas music. If you can, sing along. Alas, my voice is gone, but I sit at the piano and play songs to the Lord.

Music is worship. And what better way to get rid of the blues than to worship our Lord. Play these songs on your stereo if you can. Play them loud enough to hear all through the house. If someone in your house objects to this, put on headphones and play them on a Walkman or cd player.

It is vital to praise Jesus during this time of year. The world has woes enough. We don’t want to have them. Worship banished sadness and frustrations. Hurrying through the stores looking for gifts wears us out. I don’t do it. I order online.

The greatest gift we can ever have had been given to us by our Father, God. He came to earth as a baby to show us how much He loves us. He taught us about God, and He taught us that our worship must be from our hearts. He went to the cross willingly to die in our place. He paid for our sin nature so our spirits are made alive. He is in Heaven interceding for us. What more can He give?

Nothing we buy can bring us peace. Most of it is tossed aside in a week or two. But the gift God gave us is eternal. I know it is hard in some families, including mine, to tell about the gift God gave us at Christmas. But I do it anyway.

Christmas cards and banners usually have the word Peace on them. But there is no peace apart from Jesus. This world will never have peace. But we can have it when we accept Jesus as our Savior. Only by this can a person know real peace.

Peace is not the absence of troubles. In this world we will have troubles. But with Jesus we have peace and joy in the midst of troubles. Daniel had this peace in the lion’s den. The three Hebrew children had this peace in the fiery furnace. Peace is ours no matter what the situation. But it is our choice to have peace. If we belong to Jesus and still fret and worry over buying presents and things at Christmas, what kind of Happy Birthday Jesus are we giving Him?

WE ARE CALLED TO ACCOUNTABILITY

We are accountable for what we know. The knowledge God has given us is a Truth that can change a person’s life and determine his destiny. If we have the opportunity to tell someone the Truth, and we don’t, we will have to give answer to Jesus for this.

Romans 14: 12
Matthew 25: 14-30

These Scriptures give us verses about our accountability. Accountability is a system of checks and balances to keep us from doing harm to ourselves and others. We must be trustworthy is anyone is to listen to us. And we must be known to be honest. We cannot be in denial about what is in our life (soul) that needs to come out and be cleansed from us. Let the Holy Spirit convict you of everything that hinders your relationship with God. Then you will be prepared to share the Truth as God gives you the opportunity.

All people are accountable to God. Some may not think so now, but one day each person will appear at the Great White Throne Judgment Seat of God. There God will judge that person by his decisions in this life. God will look for that person’s name in His Book of Life. If it is not found there, the person will be sent away from God forever and to the place prepared for Satan and his demons – to hell that is a lake of fire.

We cannot avoid accountability. It is good to have someone in your life to be accountable to. A good friend can often point out things that we need to change or be cleansed of in our personalities and habits. We must not be in denial. We must want to be free of everything that hinders our relationship with our Father and Lord Jesus. Then, we can tell the Truth to all we meet.

Sandy