The quest for peace!

The quest for peace?
　
Joh 14:26

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Joh 14:27


Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
What are you searching for in this life? Sometimes I think I am searching for that THING, whatever it is, that will put me at a satisfied state of mind. The good thing is, as a Christian, I have the ability to have that satisfied state of mind just by understanding or focusing on what was done for me by Jesus. I love the jist of verse 27.............Jesus can give us a peace that the world cannot.!

There will always be things in our lives that can hinder the feeling of peace that we have, if we let them, but we have to rememeber that Jesus overcame the world. Since He overcame the world, then we have to assume that the peace He gives is sufficient to get us through the stress of this world.

I know I write alot about stress, but I see people around me and including me that are bombarded with the worries of this life. The truth is that we need to not just read the verses in the bible, we have to know that they can and will help us. Personally alot of my stress comes from always trying to control my life in the hopes that the control factor will somehow reduce the stress on me and my family. I know that sounds crazy, but really I think that trying to control life somehow gives us a false sense of security. The truth is, Gos knows what has happened, and what will happen. He made the world and universe, so we have to understand that there is nothing we will be able to do to cause something to happen that God isn't in control of.

He leaves us Peace! We just need to learn to relax and accept the fact that He is in control of EVERYTHING, not us. I can see the stress relief that would ensue if we would just start being fishers of men, and stop focusing all of our attention on the here and now. We need to start enjoying our time on this earth as best we are able too, BUT our main focus should be telling others about Jesus.

Let's stop worrying about what may happen, and just relax.......just know God is in control not us. None of this will mean anything to you if you don't know Jesus and what He did for you on the cross. If you don't know Jesus, I beg of you to beg God for forgiveness for your sinful life. Understand that Jesus died on the cross in order to pay your sin debt, so you could be given Grace by God. Turn your life over to Him and His will, not yours.

Let's make this new year one full of telling others about Jesus!

Do I Bring Stress on Myself?

Do I Bring Stress On Myself?

1 Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.

Prov 17:1 (KJV)

20 Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. 21 As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.

Prov 26:20-21 (KJV)

25 He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat.

Prov 28:25 (KJV)

 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Romans 13:13-14 (KJV)

Bunch of verses this morning.  This turned out to be one of those bible studies where you feel like God is standing in front of you showing you the verses you need to read.  Today what I want to discuss:  what I feel led to discuss are some terms that all kind of fit together.  Strife—Contention—Pride

As I look at my own life, which by the way is really the only thing I am able to really give precise info on, spiritually speaking.  First let’s look at these terms.....Strife—basically it is conflict and the bible talks a lot about strife.  In Prov 17:1  is the main verse I want to talk about right now though.  Please read all of the verses even if I don’t get to them in this message.  I think there is a very wise point that is made in this verse.  He is saying that better is it to have barely enough to eat than to have wealth and riches with STRIFE.  Why would that be an issue?  As I look at my own life and what all my family has been through, I see that most of our problems stem from always pushing for more “stuff”.  I spoke on this thought once before, but can you imagine if we could just learn to be happy with what we already have?  How nice would it be to go to sleep at night knowing that we didn’t have some payment looming the next day or week.

I know many wealthy people.  I have known some in my own family, and the one thing I see, is that besides all of the “new stuff” they are just like me.  They struggle just like me, but sometimes on a more intense level because they have more to pay for.  The point is, if we are not content with what we already have, then that discontentment can and will lead to strife.  It can and will lead to stress. 

Proverbs 28:25 kind of hit me this morning.  As I read my bible, it is always obvious why it is also called a sword.  The truths in the bible will cut right to the heart of the matter.  I tend to me a proud person.  I do try and accomplish things for God’s Kingdom, but a lot of times the human sin of pride comes in, and when it does so does stress.  The verse here is telling me that when I build my own self up I will endure the stresses that follow, but if I put all of my faith in the fact that I am doing God’s work, then the Pride will not be an issue, which also means the Strife won’t be an issue, which finally means that this kind of stress won’t be an issue. 

Romans 13:13-14  These verses are yet another way for us to do away with some of the stresses in our lives.  I also challenge you to read the ESV version of the verses.  It says,” let us walk properly as in the daytime”.  I think this means to deal with people at night the same way you do during the day.  Be the same way during night hours as you are during the day.  How many of us act one way during the day and in front of one group of people, and then completely act different when in the company of another group of people.  Basically, we should act in our nights as if we were in the company of other Christians.

The point to this long blog is this..............There are definite things in our lives that we do that CAN and DO cause us UNDUE STRESS.  As Christians we will always have stress, but it doesn’t have to be compounded with stress we bring on ourselves.  I feel God telling me to chill out more and be more forgiving.  I think I bring on most of my stress by how I live.  Some of you may know what I’m talking about.  If any of you are OCD like me then you know that you a lot of times feel like you have to do everyone’s job.  You get involved in things that are out of your control.  This will cause undue stress.  Anyone out there who knows what I’m talking about, knows that we cause 50% of our own stress. 

The awesome thing is, in today’s verses, we see God showing us ways to release this stress.  Trust in God.  Let Him fix some things in your life.  As we learn to release things to Him, we will also learn that He is in control anyway.  I’m going to pray that God will help me take the following approach:  I am only going to focus my energy on doing the best I can.  Everything else I’m going to turn over to the Big Man Upstairs. 

Sorry for the long blog today, but this helps me to get stuff off my chest and hopefully helps some of you who may go through what I do. 

By the way........If any of you ever want to shoot me an email on anything, please send to sedwardn92@yahoo.com.  In the subject line please put Blog.

The “30 Days of Conviction” ebook seems to be selling more than the paperback, so please, if you want one they are only 3.99 on Amazon.  Give one as a Christmas gift. 

God Bless!

Is repentance important?

Mark 1:4 And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Luke 3:3
He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Luke 5:31-32
Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
Luke 17:3
So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.

It's been a while since I have actually sat down and written a new blog, so bare with me if I don't get my point across very well. 
I've been doing alot of thinking about what it means to be truly sorry for something.  I know that before I was saved I would always say the sinners prayer and tell God I was sorry for all of the things I had done.  Was I really sorry?  NO!  Since I wasn't really sorry it should be easy to see why I was never really getting saved by reciting the sinner's prayer.  It is of the utmost importance that when we ask for forgiveness, that we realize and are truly sorry about our sinful lives.

Today's verses show us how important true repentance is.  In Mark 1:4  John is preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.   Same message in Luke 3:3.  It's very important when we look at Luke 5:31-32 that we see who Jesus came  to call.  Not the righteous but the sinners who REPENT.  Luke 17:3 In steve terms this says if someone sins explain it to them, but if they repent then forgive them.  We forgive them because they are repentant. Why?  Because He forgives us if we are truly repentant.

The bottom line to all of this is simply for you to think about your life.  Think about when you said the sinners prayer or came forward in front of the church to get saved.  Were you really sorry for your sinful life?  Did or do you really believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for YOU?  If not, please just pray that God will show you His grace through Jesus.

My book is going good.  Please keep telling people you know who may want to hear the no frills truth about biblical salvation.  Go to Amazon or Barnes and Noble and  look for "30 Days of Conviction"

God Bless!

Too scared to fight?

What if David had been too scared to fight. REPOST

1 Samuel 17:48-50
When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.  And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead.  The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

I'm sure all of you have heard the story in the verses above.  David was merely a child and went and battled a physical giant.  He never let fear control any of his actions.  It says David ran quickly toward the battle line, which tells me he was ready to roll.  I'm sure half of the people didn't expect David to even go to the battle, and the other half thought he would die for sure.  Can you imagine what they thought when David ran to the fight and systematically pulled out a stone and flung it at the head of the philistine, laying him out.

I want to talk about these verses today, because I think christians today have become scared to fight for God.  When we here that our local school is going to start teaching on alternative lifestyles that are contrary to what the word of God says, we try and pretend that it's not happening.  We don't want to get involved because we would hate for everyone to think we were a radical.  Isn't it ashame that we live in a day and age where just doing the right thing, or just standing for what is right is considered radical.  What does it say about our culture when good and right are radical.  I'll tell you what it says, it says that Satan is in control of this country. 

But guess what, we know how this story ends.  We know that Satan will lose.  Knowing that, why don't we stand up for what's right?  Not only should we as christians start voicing our opinions more , but we should do it with the zeal that David did when running to fight the Philistine.  If you are a saved by the blood of Jesus christian, perk up, speak up, run to the fights!  I personally believe we will be raptured soon, but if we are not then we have to fight for our kids future.  The point to all of this is, God never said for us to be push overs.  He did tell us to turn the other cheek, if we were hit, but not when it comes to telling others about what he did on the cross.  Let them persecute us, but don't let them force us into silence.  I personally believe that there are more conservative God fearing people out there than we know of, but we (they) don't speak up. 

Challenge:  During the upcoming Presidential Election, I challenge you to run to the polls and vote as if you were David running to fight the Philistine.  God never wants us to give up, we have no reason to.  Picture this, we are in the 4th quarter and are getting beat by Satan and his team by 50 points.  They are taunting you, saying you stink, spitting on you and your family.  Meanwhile you are smiling at them and they can't figure out why.  It makes them very angry then nervous.  Why are we smiling?  Because we just heard from our head coach (God) that our star QB (Jesus) has just entered the game unexpectedly.  The cheers are so loud that you can't hear Satan and his team taunting anymore.  We score TD after TD, and as the buzzer sounds Satan and his team are defeated for good. 

You see, no matter how you say it, it gives you chills.  We, as christians are on the winning team.  Our war has already been won,we are just waiting on the buzzer.  Praise the Lord!

I felt the need to write this tonight, so I did.  I've learned to do what God leads me to.  If there is anyone reading this who is really confused about getting saved, please just pray and ask God to convict you of your sins.  Read the ten commandments.  Understand that by God's law, if you broke any of them, you will have to be judged by God and will go to hell!  But in order for that not to happen, Jesus came and physically took your punishment from God so you wouldn't have to spend an eternity in hell.  Ask God to forgive you of your sinful life, then leave it behind.  Turn from it (Repent).  Read your bible and pray that God will reveal His will to you for your life.

Sleep a little!

Matthew 8:23-27  ESV

And when He got into the boat, the desciples followed Him.  And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but He was asleep.  And they went and woke him, saying, “save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And He said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”  Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey Him?’

There are numerous things in these verses that I would like to talk about, but for the sake of time I have narrowed down a few points. 

There are many things that could compare us to this boat being rocked by wind and waves.  Think about life.  Your marriage problems, your work problems, problems with addictions, and worry over tomorrow.  What I have learned to do better, is to just relax sometimes when things get nerve racking.  Look at Jesus.  The boat appeared to be sinking and possibly having a chance to be torn to pieces.  What was Jesus doing?  Sleeping!  What faith and peace you have to have to sleep through your stressful times.  I think what He is telling us here is that He is in control.  Just keep your faith in Him and let Him handle the problems that arise.

Our faith in God and His Son is what should be our anti-anxiety medicine.  Think about this...Remember when you were young and you cut yourself, or fell and hurt yourself?  Who did you go to to tell you all is ok?  Your mom, dad, grandmother, ect...  When you heard them tell you everything was going to be alright, didn’t it immediately give you some peace about the situation?  Same thing should be with us in our lives now.  When you are hurt or stressed or sad or whatever, just ask God to help you through.  After you ask Him, then leave it with Him because He is in control anyway and the more you try and fix things out of your control, is the more you are showing that you don’t trust God to take care of you. 

I long for the day when my faith is soo strong that when trouble arises, I just take a nap and let God do what He does best......Take care of me.  Remember though, if you are continually under the same type of stress and turmoil, it may be that you have something in your life that God isn’t proud of.  He wants all of us, not just the part of us that shows up at church on Sundays and Wednesdays.

Please turn your life over to God and His will for you.  He can’t use you unless you are willing to be used.  Pray for Him to use you!

Comeback

Comeback!

12 Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

Joel 2:12-13 (KJV)

You know, alot of people think that they have either done something too bad for God to forgive, or that they just aren’t worthy to be a Christian.  I’ve heard people saying these types of things numerous times and it just upsets me.  To “Steve Phrase” the above verses.....It is simply saying that it is NEVER too late to return to God and ask for forgiveness.  The only time it is too late, is after you die.  

Salvation is soo easy to obtain because of what Jesus did on the cross for you and me.  As a matter of fact, you have to try harder to go to hell than you do to go to Heaven.  We all go through things that kind of pull our attention away from God.  I’m going through some stuff myself, and have noticed that they are consuming more and more of my time that I should be spending with God.  You know, it could be work, children, marriage, or money that draw us away from God, but just think about what the verses say.  No matter what is going on, we are to always come back to God and he will have mercy on us.  That is very comforting to me.

The great thing about being truly saved is that the Holy Spirit will always let us know when we are getting off track.  What is sad are those people who are not saved, and turn away from God instead of abiding in His arms.  Those people are the reason for this blog and my book.  We need to pray for the lost everytime they are placed on our mind.  I have had to learn  to just turn things over to God, because I can’t save anyone.  What I can do though is just explain about Jesus and what He did for us, then just let the Holy Spirit take over.  It’s like being on a boat and seeing someone drowning, you keep throwing them a life preserver but they keep telling you they don’t need it.  It’s like they just want to do things their way and are willing to suffer for it.  Those are the people that we just have to pray for.  God is in control and He knows how to reach the lost.  I know this because He reached me!

I kind of got off subject as usual, but that’s just how I am I guess.  Anyway, let me sum up today’s message with some points to remember.....

- As Christians we are never to far from God, that He won’t take us back

- God’s plan is for us to always come to Him and repent

- Try not to stress about those people you witness to and it seems to fall on deaf ears

-  God is still in control!

If you feel the Holy Spirit convicting you of your sins, please ask Him to forgive you right now.  Thank God for sending His Son Jesus to die on that cross for YOU.  Turn away from your old life and turn to His will for your life instead.  People will think you are strange, but compared to those who are perishing, you are strange.  Tell others about your experience with God.  If you are saved, but feel like you have been doing things for yourself instead of for God, just ask for God to forgive you.  Draw closer to Him, and He will draw closer to you.

Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com are selling my book now.  Just search their site for 30 Days of Conviction.  There is an ebook also.  The price for the book is around 10 so buy 2, one for yourself and one to give away.  Thanks for everyone’s support

A Simple Truth-(Redone)

A Simple Truth

 James 1:22

English Standard Version (ESV)

²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Just to let everyone know, I received the first copy of my book in the mail yesterday.  I will post a link on this blog site and my facebook page as soon as I figure out how to do it. LOL!!!

This has got to be the one of the most meaningful verses in the New Testament.  Don’t let it’s short length fool you, we must understand what it is talking about.  You know for years before I was truly saved, if I had seen this verse and focused some prayer on it, I would have known I was hell bound.  It is simply telling us that if we hear the word, but never tell anyone about it, then we are deceiving ourselves.  To break it down even more:  If we go to church, go to Sunday school, and even go on Wednesday nights to prayer meeting, but never tell anyone about the gospel...........then we are probably not saved.  I think when he says we are “deceiving ourselves”, he is saying what I knew to be true along time ago.  I would do everything in my power to feel confident in my eternity, but never did. Why?  I wasn’t saved.  How could I have known?  I never told anyone about Jesus and what He did on the cross for them.  I was a hearer only.

I used to do the church thing, heck , some Sunday mornings I might even sing, but come Monday morning no one around me could tell that I was any different than them.  Why?  Because at that time, I wasn’t any different than them.  You know, there is a major difference in a truly saved person, and someone who just puts on a show.  I know because for years I put on a show.  If the Holy Spirit isn’t guiding you then there is no way you can walk the straight and narrow.

 (¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.) Mat 7:13

This verse sums up what I am trying to say.  Strive to be different.  Tell others about Jesus.  If you are on a road with a million people and they are all going the same direction, and you start going the opposite direction: Wouldn’t you be easy to recognize?  Just think about what it means to be truly saved.  Are you going against the grain?  Be different.  Be proud of your salvation.  If you don’t think you are saved, then please ask God to forgive you for your sinful life.  Tell Him you are sorry.  Now turn your life over to doing His will not yours.  Don’t put it off any longer.  Remember and ponder on this thought......There are no unbelievers in hell.  Once you breath your last, you will be in Heaven or hell.  It is your choice.

God Bless! Please buy a book when it comes out.  There is nothing I would love to do more, than writing about Jesus and what He did for me and you.

Darkness Never Shines! Re-Post

I pulled this from my library.  I originally posted it last Feb.  Since I have so many new readers via facebook, I kind of thought this would be a good one to show the new readers what some of the original posts were like.

Matthew  5:14-16

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set aside on a hill can’t be hidden. 15 Niether do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candle stick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.
John 1:5
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

I’m really feeling the presence of God today as I write this.  I started thinking about something the other day.  You know Darkness can never shine.  Now lets get philosophical for a moment.  Can darkness ever shine on anything?  Do you ever go to the store and ask for a dark bulb?  Why would you?  Light is always evident in darkness.  Light also always defeats the darkness.

I say all of this to discuss today’s verses.  The first verses are very simple to understand.  Truly saved people are to be the light of the world.  We are to be noticed as light.  In today’s day and age, if you are really saved, people should be able to tell.  Why?  Because this world has become so dark that any light is able to be seen by multitudes.  When you walk into a very dark room what is evident when you switch on the light?  Darkness is no more.  If you had turned on a blown light or dark bulb would it have the same affect as a bright light bulb?  Of course not.  Same thing with our lives, we should make a difference in the darkness of this world.  If you go out with your friends, and let’s say they are doing things they shouldn’t; do you shine on them, or do you blend into the darkness?  Think about your salvation!  Can a true light ever be dimmed by darkness?

The next verse I’m going to run with a little so bear with me.  We’ve talked about true light (true salvation) and how it should be very evident in the darkness of today’s world, but let’s also talk about today’s dark world.  Have you ever tried to talk to someone about Jesus and they say something like, “well I got saved when I was 7, but I really don’t feel God moving me to turn my whole life over to Him right now”?  I’ve heard people say things also like this “I’m just trying to be happy while I’m here”.  The truth is, if you understand the gospel but don’t repent and turn your life over to Jesus, you are probably not saved.  When you are truly saved, you understand the consequences of your actions.  You understand that you are to be different than the rest of the world, and not just blend in.  The verse ended with “the darkness comprehended not”.  People that are not truly saved will always try to make themselves happy no matter the consequences. 

Does your light shine in the darkness?  Do you understand what it means to live for God and not for yourself?  If your answer was no, I beg of you to ask God to forgive you for your sinful life.  Thank Him for sending Jesus to die on that cross for YOU!  Repent!  Turn your life over to learning God’s will for your life instead of worrying about what you want out of life.  Read your bible because it is a living word.  Pray for God to guide you to be in His will.

Seek Ye First

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

            “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

(Matthew 6:33-34 ESV)

I  was thinking this morning about how awesome it is when I get to spend time with God.  I mean there are times when it seems like God isn’t close bye anymore, but realistically it is usually when I have been focusing my time on something else instead of Him. The verse today sums how every Christian in the world should live.  We are to seek Him first,  that means over our family, our jobs, our friends, our money, anything that gets in front of God.  The great thing  is,  if we do what He has asked us to do, then  He will handle everything else.

It’s like if I told you that in order for you to live to be 150, all you have to do is eat a particular thing, or take a particular pill.  Therefore if you died at 50 it would obviously be because you didn’t follow the directions you were given.  Same thing with Christians, God had given us a specific set of directions that will allow us to have a fulfilling and peaceful life.  “Seeking Him” not “seeking self”, is the one thing that a Christian can do that will basically put everything else in our lives in order.  You see the next verse is basically telling us that we shouldn’t worry about all of these small life and large life stresses that we do.  In my opinion, anti-depressants are being prescribed at an all time high because Christians are not seeking God’s will.  They are seeking their own will.

If we worry about things too much, isn’t it almost like we are saying,” God I love you and believe in you, but I really don’t think you can handle my problems”.  And God is sitting there telling you, if you would just focus your life on Me and My will for your life, then you would understand that nothing can happen that I didn’t know was going to happen.  You can’t surprise God.

My kids are running around like wild animals, so I’m sorry if today’s message was not as organized as it usually is.

  People, focus your Whole life on God and ask Him to show you what He wants you to do.  With everything I’ve been going through it would be really easy to start living for Steve again, but I promise, the supernatural peace that God has given me lately definitely “surpasses all understanding”.

Please pray and ask God to reveal His will for your life.  He will never have you do something you are not prepared to do.  He will equip you.  How can you know this?  You are reading His will for my life, and as you can see, I’m not a great writer.  I never could write, but now I write a weekly blog that has been published into a book, which will be out in less than 2 weeks.  How awesome is God!

4 AM Rambling

¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.JOHN 3:16  KJV



They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. EPH 4:18 ESV


No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. MATTHEW 6:24 ESV




It’s 4 AM and I can’t sleep.  That usually means God is wanting me to write something.   You know......all the verses in the bible, all of the praying, all of the going to church, all of the giving to needy, all of the love you may give people...............None of this is worth anything to your eternity unless you believe.  Believe what Steve?  Believe that God is real...Believe that He allowed His Son to come to this earth and be beaten and tortured in order to save the same people that were beating and torturing Him.....Believe that Jesus died on that cross for YOU.....Believe that God speaks to us through prayer and His Word among other things.....Yes you have to believe to have everlasting life. 


I’ve heard many folks here recently telling me things like, “ I go to church”  “I’m a good person”, and those things are great but they won’t get you into heaven, because they can’t be able to get you into heaven.  Why?  Because if they could get you to heaven, then why in the world would Jesus have had to come and die for your sins.  The truth is, when people lay out a set of THINGS that they think will help get them to heaven, what they are really saying is I believe but Jesus dying wasn’t good enough.  I have to do things my way not His way.  People God is alot smarter than we are.  If it were as easy as doing good works, then I assure Jesus wouldn’t have had to die for us.  God’s plan of salvation is laid out perfectly in John 3:16.  Read it again and think about what it is saying.

In the second verse, the “darkening of heart” is what the “lost” epidemic is.  People don’t fear God anymore, because people don’t believe in Him anymore.  It’s soooo hard to witness to someone who doesn’t believe in God, because if there hearts have been hardened then the Holy Spirit may not be convicting them anymore, and that should scare the hee bee jeebies out of them.  Most of the time, when people who may have been saved start saying things like God doesn’t exist, I think it’s because they have started living for themselves and it’s easier to do that if you convince yourself that this life is all there is.  The sad thing is that once you take your last breath your chances for salvation are over.  Either you will be in Hell with Satan where it is described as a place of “gnawing and gnashing of teeth”, or you will be in the presence of God in heaven for an eternity of peace and utter joy.

About the last verse I just want to say this.  Here money is the other master, but the core of the verse holds true with anything that is in front of God in your life.  Your spouse, your kids, your job, your self......Any of these things can be you master.  Just remember, if you really believe in God, then you have to believe He is in control.....Quit stressing about small things.......Tell others about Jesus......Ask God to use you in any way.......Live for His will not yours......If money has become an idol to you, then remember this........Cash will catch on fire in hell and Satan doesn’t accept credit cards....


POINT to all of my 4AM rambling?


.................If we could read your thoughts and catagorize where most of the energy in your life is spent...Would it be on God?  Or is it on something else? 
God Bless!!!!

Im Sure!

Im Sure

After all I’ve been through in the past year I was thinking about the fact that if I had chosen not to write the blog or the book, would I still have my family together?  That being said I also asked myself, “Steve, are you sure your calling is real?”

If I had chosen not to write the blog or book, I do believe I wouldn’t be going through the things that I am now.  If I had chosen not to write this stuff, I believe my earthly life would be much easier.  You know, for someone who isn’t saved, this life is the only chance for any kind of happiness.  That’s why lost people make some of the decisions that they do.  They think that they have to cram all of the happiness they can in while they are alive.  And if you think about it, if they don’t come to know Jesus, then they are right in their thinking.  What’s sad though, are the people who choose to turn their back on God and live for themselves for happiness now, instead of living for God and investing in ETERNAL happiness.

Also, I had to ask myself if Im sure that I am being called by God.  I’m sure because of the guidance by the Holy Spirit.  I’m sure because I believe.  I’m sure because of the fact that you are reading this blog or book right now.  I’m sure because I’m at peace when I’m telling others about Jesus.  I’m sure because I’ve gotten more done for God than I ever did for myself.  I’m sure because I’m not a writer.  I’m sure because people who have no reason to, will ask me for spiritual advice.  I’m sure, because of the young man at church camp years ago who wanted me to tell him about Jesus.  I’m sure because of answered and unanswered prayers.  I’m sure I’m being called to some kind of ministry.  And I’m sure that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for my sins, and then rose again.  The question is..............Are you sure that He also did all that for you?  I can tell you all day long that He did, but unless you know it for yourself it means nothing.

God has a plan for all of us.  After we are truly saved, our eternity is just beginning.  We have to look to God and ask for guidance.  I promise you Jesus didn’t die on the cross just so you can say a prayer and convince yourself that you are saved.  You have to understand that you are a sinner and God’s grace through Jesus is the only way to eternal peace.

Use this blog as your way to witness to Christians and especially non Christians.  Try to send this link to 5 people.

God Bless!

Divided House

Luke 11:17 KJV

But He knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house-falleth.

So, Ive been writing these blogs now since Dec and I tell you that Satan has made it his goal to try and destroy my life.  As some of you know, my wife and I were having some problems a few months back.  Evidentally what I thought was an answered prayer to our problems though, wasn't.  I know God has a plan for all of us, but I must admit that right now I'm not sure what mine is.

I love my wife as you all know, but this go around I'm not going to get on here and cry and do the whole "woe is Steve" thing.  I don't believe in divorce, but I also don't believe you can make someone love you who doesn't.  I've been honest with all of you from the beginning, but out of respect for my wife and our marriage, that's all I'm going to discuss about it.  I do beg for your prayers though.  Pray that God will use me sooo much that I won't have time to be depressed.

Now back to the message.  In today's verse Jesus is talking to some people who had just seen Him cast out a demon.  I know He didn't really mean it like I am discussing today, but the great thing about being a Christian is that God will use anything to teach us.  I woke up this morning and prayed that God would just shed some light on what was wrong with my marriage, and I promise I just opened up my bible and today's verse was staring back at me.

 I probably made plenty of bad decisions through the years, but I know that this blog wasn't one of them.  My house had been divided spiritually for along time, and I had made my marriage almost like an idol.  I understand I was trying to do my will not His.  I wish I had been a stronger Christian in the past and maybe I could have had a better relationship with God which would have maybe helped my marriage.  Either way though, my house is divided now and just like it says it will and did fall.

You know, life stinks sometimes, but I have to keep telling myself that God never promised us our life on earth would be easy.  As I've said before, if you aren't being attacked spiritually then you may not be much of a threat to Satan.  I love being a threat to satan's kingdom.  I'm going to tell as many people as I can about God's saving grace through His Son dying on the cross.  We might lose some major battles to Satan on this earth, but remember the war has already been won.  It was won the second Jesus died on the cross for us.  All we have to do is just put our faith in Him and what He did on the cross.  Focus on His will for our lives and not ourselves.  Even when I am stressed to the max, I do have the peace of knowing where I will spend eternity.   Do You?  Please just pray and ask God to save you.  Tell Him you know you are a sinner and you know Jesus died on the cross for you.  TURN away from your old ways and focus on HIM and HIS will. 

My book will be out in about 3 weeks.  Keep me and it in your prayers.  Just pray for me to stay in God's will.

God Bless!  

The Mount blocking Hell

The mountain in front of Hell

John 3:16 KJV  For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

I might preach a little today, so y’all bare with me.  I was listening to one of my favorite pastors on the radio the other day, and heard an awesome message on God’s love.  Some of my ideas came from his message just to let you all know.

OK.  I hear people talking about how “ if there was a God, why would all of these bad things happen”?  I get angry too sometimes, but we have to realize that God doesn’t make everything bad happen.  Most things happen simply because we live in a sin filled world.  All that being said, let me get to today’s message.

God gave us the easiest way possible to salvation, but we have to make the first step and ask for God to save us.  He can save us because of the wonderful sacrifice of His Son Jesus.  No one has to go to Hell.  God doesn’t want anyone to go to Hell.  If he didn’t care about us, do you really think He would have sent Jesus to die.  This was His one and only Son.  If He didn’t love us, would He really have sent His son to be tortured, spit on, and cursed at.  I can’t imagine having to watch my son be tortured by the very folks he was here to save. 

I get frustrated sometimes dealing with lost people.  I mean it’s like they are drowning, and I’ve got a rope throwing it to them, and all they have to do is grab on.  If they would just give up the worldly things in there hands and use them to grab on to the rope (Jesus) , they would be saved.  I worry that these same people one day are going to look up and be in eternal torment.  The sad thing is that God has done soo much to keep us out of Hell, if you end up there it’s only because you climbed over Mount Calvary to get there.  In other words, lost people have to try harder to get to Hell, than they would to get to Heaven.  Grace is a free gift of God.  He can offer it to us because His Son, was a sacrifice to God for all of our sins.  As soon as the first drop of blood fell from Jesus on the cross, Satan was defeated.  Praise God!!!  Just got chills!!!!  One drop of Jesus’ blood kicked Satan’s butt.  That’s how powerful a God we serve.  Satan hates to deal with Jesus’ blood becuase it was at that point he got defeated.

Ok, so we know Satan has been defeated, we know that if you end up in Hell it will be because you climbed and treaded all over Mt Calvary, so why is it soo hard for people to see the truth?  “ The World blocks the view of Jesus”  “ Religion also blocks the view of Jesus”  Don’t get soo caught up in what denomination you are in, focus more on whether you are saved or not and I promise God will send you to where you need to be.

Sorry I was all over the place today, but sometimes I have soo many things going on in my head, that I just have to get them all out before I forget.  Remember this, Jesus is the one who saves, not us.  All we can do is tell people the truth about what Jesus did on the cross for us.  If they refuse to listen they will have to deal with the consequences.  Just don’t be scared to tell them the truth about Grace and Hell.   

True Love/True Relationship

True Love/True Relationship

John 15:13
"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

As you all know I am always wanting to discuss true salvation, and this morning is no different.  I was thinking yesterday about our relationship with others. Parents, brothers, sisters, girlfriends, boyfriends, ect...  Those are tangible relationships that we can’t ignore.  Okay, do you remember when you fell in love for the first time?  You couldn’t be around the other person enough, I mean they are all you could think about.  You tried to spend as much time with them as possible, right?

I say this because if you can remember this love towards them, then you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you loved them.  Now think about when you got saved, did you have this same drive to know God, did you try and spend as much time with Him as possible?  I only say this to let you know that our relationship with God is b y design similar to our relationships with others, I mean He made us in His image.  That being said, it is plausible for us to want to learn to know Him and want to spend time with Him once we are saved.

I’ve always said that just saying a prayer will not get anyone into heaven.  When you got saved, did you try and get to know the Person that saved you, or did you just say a prayer and then make no changes to your life.  You know, when you really love someone, you like to make them happy and do things that they will admire.  Same thing with God, as Christians, we should want to make Him happy.  If you have never had the desire to know God or have never really tried to make Him proud of you by your actions in life, then I want you to really think about when you got saved.  Was it that you said a prayer out of guilt or just because you didn’t want to go to hell.  Unless you really felt sorry for your sinful life and turned away from the things that may keep your relationship with Him weak, it is possible you never really got saved.  There should be proof of a change in your life, and going from Dark to Light should be noticeable.  

As it says in the verse today, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.  Jesus laid down His life for you, all you have to do is to choose to believe it.  By the title today you may not see where i was going with today’s blog, but I want you to understand that if you are saved, then you will love Him for what He did, and it WILL cause you to want to have a real relationship with Him, I promise.  Could you have a real relationship with someone and never spend time with them?  Would you really be in love with someone, but never want to make them happy?

Count Your Blessings

Count Your Blessings
Johnson Oatman Jr. wrote this in 1897.  Look at the words and see if you don’t have the urge to smile.

1. When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
   When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
   Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
   And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
• Refrain:
  Count your blessings, name them one by one,
  Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
  Count your blessings, name them one by one,
  *Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.
  [*And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.]

1Chronicles 16:34 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Psalm 119:62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You, Because of Your righteous judgments.

1Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

2Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

Ephesians 5:20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

I’ve discussed alot of things on this blog, but got convicted tonight about not giving thanks enough.  It amazes me that on what I thought was a really bad and stressful day, a few words from my 2 year old could made me realize just how blessed I am.  All too often we put our happiness in the hands of money, but remember God says you can’t serve money and Him.  With that in mind I realized that among all the stress in my life, I am soo blessed to be a father of three children.  Sometimes we get so caught up in our “important” pursuits that we forget about a very important job that some have been given---Being Parents.

Besides the fact that we should thank God every minute of every day for His Son Jesus, and what He did on the cross for us;  just think about all of the laughter that our children bring us.  I know we are blessed as parents because sometimes these kids can turn a bad day into a hilarious one.  My point today is simple.......Thank God for all of your blessings!  Your salvation, children, job, house, joy, and any other thing you can think of that you should be thankful for.  I promise if you focus more on your blessings than you do on your stresses, you will be a much happier person, which will in turn make your stresses less important.  Makes sense doesn’t it? 

Father, thank you for convicting me on this tonight.  Thank you for Ashton, Ella, and Chap.  Thank you most of all for the salvation that I received by turning my life over to your will through Your Son Jesus. Everytime I get down or stressed about a trial I am going through please allow me to focus more attention on the blessings in my life.  Amen
Book Update...........
My book is in the final stages now and should be released by the middle of Aug.  Please tell people about the blog and pass the link on to anyone who you think may want to read it.  Please pray that the book would be able to reach people for God.  There are expenses associated with the book release and blog upkeep so I am placing a support my blog button on the site that should be up and going this week.  I appreciate any support you feel led to give.

The cost of excess baggage

Excess Baggage

Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22 ESV

 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 ESV

Ever wonder why we don’t turn things over to God like we are supposed to?  I was thinking about this today, then after praying tonight I just had the urge to get out of bed and come write.  So I guess someone must need to hear what I’m about to discuss.

I was thinking about the burdens we all carry around with us and came up with a thought that may put it in perspective.  OK, so let’s say you are climbing a mountain and you have a backpack on.  Now imagine every stress or worry in your life accounts for 1 brick.  So if you have an addiction you are trying to deal with, or maybe a personal conflict, whatever it is it weighs your climb down by 1 brick each.  How hard is it going to be to climb with an extra 10 bricks or so?  Why would you set out to climb with this added weight?  What if you were just getting ready to climb and someone told you, “ here, just give me these bricks “worries” and I’ll take care of them for you”.  Your climb would become much easier wouldn’t it?

Now I’m sure you all see where I’m going with this.  Why do we carry around all of these burdens when like our two verses tell us, all we have to do is just hand them over to God.  We have a journey to make as Christians.  We all have a spiritual mountain to climb, so with christian life being tough enough already, we don’t need anything to weigh us down.  There are no telling how many wonderful things we miss out on everyday just because we are weighed down with unnecessary worry.  If we are constantly dealing with some stress in our lives instead of just letting God handle it, then we are not going to be able to focus the time and energy needed to do His will.  And if we don’t do His will, then we are no good for God or ourselves.  

As most of you know, I’ve had probably the toughest year of my life.  I have learned many things through it all, but the most important thing I have learned is that if we allow God to work in our lives, we will be in awe of what He can do through us.  Every time I sit and write down my thoughts, I just have to sit back and realize that this is all from Him.  I never in a million years would have thought God would use me in this way, but I am sooo glad He is.

Point for today is simply to pray to God and just ask Him to take your burdens from you so you can be a more faithful christian.  Tell God you just want His will done in your life, and for Him to remove anything that may hinder it.

Pray for this ministry, and please pass my web address along to others.

Happiness or Peace?

Happiness or Peace?

33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

John 16:33 (KJV)

I have often wondered why people get saved then when things start going bad they seem to lose faith in God.  I have done it in my past too, but really there is no reason to.  I mean you can look at the verse today and see that 1.  we are promised tribulation in life and 2. we can have peace because Jesus has overcome this world and our Peace is with Him.

I think that we as Christians have gotten the wrong idea about salvation and Christianity.  Remember, we are only going to spend a fraction of eternity in this life and our focus shouldn’t be all on our happiness.  Our focus should be on telling others about Jesus and what He did on the cross for us.  You see, we are not promised happiness.  I know that sounds bad, but the fact is, happiness in this life just isn’t guaranteed.  Why? God grants us peace about our eternity with Him, and that peace can definitely bleed over and cause us to be happy, but only if our life is in line with God’s will.  You see we have all of eternity to be happy, but because of our sin nature we will probably have a life filled with stresses and turmoil.  It’s like if you were an alcoholic and you kept drinking all of the time even after you got saved. Now, you can have the peace about your eternity, but God can’t give you peace about drinking if you keep drinking.  So all of the stresses that come with being an alcoholic will definitely trouble you, but that stress is of your own making.    

People, we have to get our relationships back right with God.  There is coming a time when true christians will be persecuted because satan knows he loses in the end and he’s going to make as many Christians as miserable as possible.  That’s why you shouldn’t go around searching for happiness in this life because if that is where your faith is, satan might just allow you to be just happy enough to miss out on the call of God.  This isn’t designed to be gloomy, I mean we have all eternity to feel the Joy and Love of God and Jesus in person in heaven, so this little blimp on the timeline of eternity shouldn’t be our main focus.  And if you are focused on telling others about Jesus and focusing on your eternal joy, then stresses in this life will be put more in perspective.

Remember, we are going to have troubles, but Jesus also told us to be of Good Cheer because He has already conquered this life and He did it attached to a cross unable to move.  If that same Saviour promises us peace to go along with our tribulations, then I promise that the peace He speaks of is sufficient to take us through our lives and into eternity with Him.

I have a challenge for you this week.  First, ask God to show you His plan for your life, and second, tell 1 person about what Jesus did on that cross for you.  

Don't be scared to look up!

 Don't be scared to look up!

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thess 4:17-18 (KJV)

I was doing a little research on this and wanted to discuss.  There are alot of Christians who don’t believe in the rapture, and I myself had doubts at one time.  It does seem farfetched that we could all be just called away to be with God, but it is true.  One thing I have learned to do is to look up terms in the original Greek meaning.  The term “caught up” in greek is called Harpazo which literally means to be abducted or carried off.  The latin equal is Rapturo which obviously is where we get the term Rapture.
Now, I tell you all of that to let you know, that the idea of Rapture was not man made, we may have given it a name, but it clearly states in todays verses that if we are alive in that time we believers will skip death and go to be with God in the blink of an eye.
Don’t let people convince you that the rapture idea is a fairy tale because the idea was to give us hope in our times of stress and persecution.  To put it in “Steve” terms, its like if you were treading water in the ocean because your ship sank and  you knew that there was a rescue ship heading your direction, couldn’t you tread water longer with the hope of rescue?  Of course you could.  It’s those who don’t believe who are just treading water waiting on destruction with no hope, and actually they have hope they just choose not to accept HIM!
So, my question today is simple, are you looking to the sky for Jesus or are you just trying to get by in this world in the hopes that this life is it?  Jesus is real.  I can tell you that everytime I write a blog, I know that He exists.  According to a 2010 study, around 150000 people die every day.  If they didn’t know Jesus they are now in Hell.  I say that to let you know that if you don’t know Jesus and have never been convicted of your sins; all you have to do is tell God you are sorry, tell Him you know Jesus was His Son and He died on the cross and then rose again.  See yourself turn from your old life.  Read your bible and pray that God will reveal His will for your life.
If you know a lost person, please tell them about Jesus.  If you have the opportunity to speak to them about Jesus and don’t, you are possible taking a chance from them to ask for salvation.  Let your life be a living testimony of what a changed life looks like.  This is the best means of reaching the lost.