Please Note: I edited here and removed certain parts of this 'part' because some things would give away the story! But please enjoy a part that is toward the end of Book Three of my Trilogy, Eternal Soul Series, Soul Savior. I thought you might enjoy my rendition of Jesus coming to defeat the enemy! Be aware also; although this seems like the very end of the book, it is not.
(Photo credit Wikipedia)
Oh how I desired to belong
I looked high and low
I sought my place in all places
I needed to fit n
Nowhere was found
Not a place did I fit
A soul wandering lost and alone
A heart crying out
A mind imprisoned
Traversing a world of sorrows
Wandering in an intricate web
Trapped in the maze, no way out
Searching out relief
Never finding a respite
Grief and sorrow dominated every turn
Surely I can overcome
Certainly I will find the door
The way out is here…somewhere
The map seems to be missing
Life is not a clear path
My steps faltered for lack of light
Who is this at my door?
I want no company today!
Will He not stop?
Insistently He knocks, now louder
Fervently He makes His presence known
Who is this that pursues my very soul?
I opened the door at long last
There stood the Lord of Glory
In my doorway, there for me
Come in, come in
Be welcome in me
A gift was I given
A new identity
Life anew, refreshed at last
At last, the door was open
The maze was threaded
The power that was
Is no more
My soul is cleansed
My evil expunged
Forgiveness is mine
Peace I have
Direction has been found
The One has come
Joy has returned
The darkness has departed
The One calls, do you hear Him?
The One calls, do you obey Him?
The One calls, with an offer to good to refuse…do you accept
Pouring rain
Like endless tears falling from God’s face
Tonight it is pouring outside
I wonder…do the tears pour from our Lords face?
Over the sins committed by us His people
Do we ever realize, that our sins hurt Him?
Do we understand how much pain we cause Him?
Our tears are caught in a bottle
Who catches God’s tears?
Jesus wept; do you suppose the Father did as well?
The pouring rain, falling steadily without letup
How long will it rain, the sadness of One
Someday down the road
There will be no more tears in heaven
The Photos seen here are courtesy of Casey Ludwig, owner of Lakewood Zoo in Mountain, Wisconsin.
Lakewood Zoo is home to many formerly abused and unwanted animals. Casey gets them, and provides a loving home for them while nursing them back to health if need be. Some of these animal were in very small cages, can you imagine a tiger in a cage about the a little bigger than a large plastic indoor dog kennel?
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
How can I know Jesus? Too many people complicate this subject in the same way that the Pharisees (Matthew 23) of Jesus day complicated the Jewish religion. Contrary to what some would tell you, knowing Jesus is not all that difficult. Keep in mind here that I am referring to knowing Him as in becoming saved, receiving eternal life…not as in being a pastor or theologian.
So how does one get to know Jesus? How do I receive Jesus into my life as Lord and Savior? Lets look into these questions and get some answers.
The best way to get to know Jesus is through someone who already knows Him. A disciple of Jesus is the one best equipped to help you learn about Christ. A disciple of Christ may be a Pastor, or lay leader, or anyone who knows the Lord. As Believers in Jesus, we can explain to those seeking Him what they need to know, and we can answer questions a person may have.
If the option of talking to a follower of Christ does not exist for you, or you would prefer to learn a little on your own first, then there are two other ways to learn about Jesus.
In option one, I would recommend starting out by reading the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John is relatively easy to read, and contains a wonderful collection of information about Jesus. This Gospel also contains reassurance to you the reader that you can know if you have eternal life.
In option two, I would recommend reading the Gospel of John as well. Find a reputable online source to read bible such as
http://www.biblestudytools.com/
, or
http://www.biblegateway.com/
. The whole bible is online, and these sites offer the bible in many different versions as well.
The easiest to understand version may be the (NLT) New Living Translation. I would also recommend other versions as well. The (NIV) New International Version, and the (NKJV) New King James Version, as well as the (ESV) English Standard Version are more literal translations than the (NLT) is.
Basically in a few words, Jesus came to earth to save sinners, and all of us are sinners. Have you ever done something wrong? That was a sin. The penalty for sinning is death, Jesus came here and willingly died on the cross to pay our penalty (death) for us.
To receive forgiveness of sin and receive the free gift of eternal life, you need to pray to the Father in heaven through Jesus Christ. This prayer can be in your own words, God looks at your heart…He knows if you mean it or not.
Pray this prayer, or something like it to receive Jesus into your life as Savior and Lord.
Father I admit that I am a sinner, and confess my sins to You now and ask for your forgiveness of my sins. I believe that Jesus Christ through His shed blood and death upon the cross, paid for my sins. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead, and even now is with You in heaven. Jesus I invite you to live in my heart and be my Lord and Savior, I now commit my life to You.
In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
If you prayed this prayer and truly meant it, welcome to the family of God!
If you are a new Believer, I highly recommend that you find a church so that you may fellowship with other Believers and grow as a follower of Christ.
Please keep in mind here how I worded this prayer…I commit my life to You Lord; this means commitment to God. Truly being saved means a change in your heart and mind. You cannot pray a prayer and then go back to living like the world, that is meaningless. If Jesus is really your Lord…then you serve Him and obey Him.
Yes you will have to stop doing some things most likely…but serving God is not a jail sentence. It is the beginning of your new life. I was an alcoholic…God took that away from me. I was never able to quit smoking…He took that as well. The benefits of being a follower of Christ far out weigh the supposed drawbacks.
We that are Believers are just like everyone else; except we belong to God for all eternity! Hallelujah!!
I know to many it seems silly. Why do these crazy religious people insist on telling the whole world about their faith? Can't they just keep it to themselves?
Well...yes, I can keep it to myself. I can go to church, sing the songs, pray, read my bible, and never disturb another living soul.
My problem is that, each day, I learn to see you through the eyes of Jesus.
The oldest known icon of Christ Pantocrator – Saint Catherine’s Monastery. The two different facial expressions on either side emphasize Christ’s dual nature as both divine and human.
If you have ever heard a sermon preached on eternal life, then you probably heard it taught that only those who trust in Jesus have eternal life. Have you ever thought, based on the scriptures that this teaching is only partially right?
The bible talks about eternal life in many places. Matthew 19:16, Matthew 19:29, John 3:16, John 5:24, Acts 13:48, Romans 5:21, Jude 1:21, and many more.
We place our trust in Jesus, and stop trusting in ourselves in order that we may receive eternal life. Only the finished work of Christ on the cross allows us to live with God in eternity. Did you notice the wording; Christ’s work allows us to live with God in eternity? That is a very important distinction that I will come back to shortly. We allow Jesus to be Lord of our lives…we grant Him control and we follow His direction. We acknowledge our sins, and through the redemptive work of Jesus we can be forgiven. Then we must repent of those sins, meaning that we do not commit them anymore, and we are truly sorry for what we have done wrong.
We of ourselves can do absolutely nothing to obtain eternal life…or can we? Is there anything we can do to obtain any form of eternal life? What do you think about this?
If we who trust in the Lord have eternal life with Him, (and we do) what happens to those who do not trust in the Lord? Do these people just pass out of existence? Knowing the answer to these questions is pretty important.
Lets say that you do not believe in God. You as an unbeliever will also have eternal life. Yes you read that right; unbelievers will have eternal life as well as Believers. Maybe eternal life is the wrong term, how about eternal existence? Remember that before I stated that those who are safely hidden in Christ would have life everlasting with God. Those who do not believe will also have life everlasting, it just will not be very pleasant. It will be an eternal existence without God. Can I support these views? Yes I can…
John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”
Notice the text says those who reject the Son will not see life, but it also says God’s wrath will remain on them. It does not say that God’s wrath will remain for a while, it says remains…meaning without ending.
Matthew 25:46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”The context here is the time of judgment before the throne of Christ. He will separate the sheep from the goats; trust me on this…you want to be one of the sheep.
Mathew 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Eternal fire, I think that is pretty clear, don’t you?
Matthew 18:8 If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.
Revelation 20:10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. The devil is of course Satan, and it is worth noting that the false prophet is human…and they will be tormented forever.
Revelation 20:14-15 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the same thing as the lake of burning sulfur. Note that even death and Hades are thrown in the lake of fire. Then all unbelievers are also thrown in the lake of fire.
Jude 1:13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. Another aspect of hell…
We have eternal life, those of us who trust in Christ and have made Him Lord of our lives and serve Him. Those who do not serve Him have a pretty grim future. Do we not as Believers have an obligation to teach this truth? People may not want to hear it, but that does not make it any less true. People need to know the consequences of their decisions.
If you choose not to follow Christ, you are choosing to place yourself into a very unpleasant eternal existence.
Some will say that they will just die, yes you will die, and then be resurrected to an eternity of punishment. Some will also say that they will at least have company, no actually you will not. The lake of fire is not going to be a social club; it is going to be a very unpleasant place of punishment…forever. You will be alone in the dark…suffering. These are not my words, but the bibles.
Accept Christ; receive peace now, and eternal life with God. The sheep have a Shepherd…the goats do not.
But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need,
and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him,
how dwelleth the love of God in him?
~ 1 John 3:17 ~
The jokes fly . . .
The ridicule rampant.
Two sick young men from Lewistown, Pennsylvania, both with a perverted sense of humor, post his severely damaged, unrecognizable face on a facebook profile page they proudly created for the sole purpose of poking fun at him.
Below is a recent devotional from Greg Laurie.
http://www.harvest.org/
I have written a commentary after.
“I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols.”
What kind of person does God seek to use? What qualifications is He looking for in someone? Is it a towering intellect? Is it natural leadership ability? Could God ever use someone who is a bit shy by nature? Does this person have to be very talented or handsome or beautiful?
The answer to all of these questions is clearly no. It seems as though God goes out of His way sometimes to choose the most unexpected people to use.
If I had to choose one passage of Scripture that I think best summarizes my life as a Christian, it would be 1 Corinthians 1:26–29, where the apostle Paul wrote,
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
There is not a person who had less promise to achieve anything with his life than me. I was literally the last person picked for the team for whatever sport it was. I never was academically strong. I always underwhelmed in most areas of my life. So when the Lord chose me to serve Him, it was very clear that it was His doing—not mine. This is because God will not give His glory to another. As I have said before, God is not looking for ability as much as availability. Are you available to Him?
Moses pleading with the Children of Israel, lithography from a Bible card published in 1907
I can really identify with this, I was that kid that no one wanted; you know, the one that was always last in line, the one that no one wanted on their team, the one that everyone picked on. That was tough, very tough.
I grew up being told I was good for nothing, that I would never amount to anything. I heard things such as “can’t you ever do anything right?” Why can’t you ever do anything right the first time?”. I was made to feel worthless and stupid, certainly not worth the bother of anyone investing their time in me. I would point out here that the person doing this was my Dad, not Mom…she tried and was a good Mom.
It naturally follows that a person, (in this case me) would begin to believe what they are told. Words have tremendous power, negative words tend to have the most power. Why is that do you think?
I went on to live a not so good life; trouble with the law, drinking, some drug use, failed marriages etc.
Then Jesus got a hold of me. Why on earth would the Lord of all choose a worthless loser like me to become one of His? Maybe I was not so worthless after all. Maybe God in His infinite wisdom sees worth not visible to me (us)?
Never assume that you cannot be used of God because of who and what you are, or were. Don’t ever make the mistake of assuming that someone else is not ever going to be able to serve the Lord either. Many strong Believers of today have some pretty checkered pasts, I am one of them…and so is Greg Laurie. That is not to say that I have it all together as a Believer, I don’t.
God has chosen me as one of His despite who I was. God chose others like me as well; in that they were not the cream of the crop. You would know them as the Apostles, or Moses, or Jonah…or a bunch of others as well.
God uses the foolish things, and the not so good things. The first will be last, and the last first. If God is speaking to your heart, answer Him today…say yes!
Need help in getting to know Jesus? Click this link for help that could change your life;
http://peacewithgod.jesus.net/
