Month: July 2023

“For God so loved the world” (John 3:16) includes everyone under the sun. Regardless of what side of the political line you stand on, God loves you dearly. No matter how judgemental the world is towards you, God will never be disappointed in you. The Father sacrificed His own Son so we can be free from His judgement and take in all His love. To not except this, is to say Jesus’ sacrifice wasn’t enough to gain God’s love. It is plenty for me. The world has a way of playing mind games with us and makes us put the focus on ourselves when it comes to knowing how much God loves us. “God is love” (1 John 4:8) is a powerful statement. We just need to go to the Good Book to understand what God’s definition of love and God is broken out clearly in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. We will never be perfect in our own eyes. It’s okay because God is patient. We will have bad days. That’s fine too. God is kind. There are times where we will suffer and go through a whirlwind of emotions and ask God why. Why is this happening to me? We have to weather the storm and trust God’s love for us. There are times where our relationships with loved ones will sour. Our jobs will become a burden. Our business and finances will lack. We will have to take that dreaded trip to the hospital. It’s during these storms that we have to ask the right question to God. We have to ask God “how” not “why”. We have to put our trust in God and ask Him how is He going to get us through this situation. He is our shepherd (Ezek 34:31). He will guide us through our storms when we are weak and confused.

Romans 5:1-5 has a whole lot packed in these few verses. The Good Book says when we suffer we must persevere because perseverance will produce character and character, hope. It’s through this perseverance that God will be pleased with us and His love will be poured into our hearts. So let’s fight the good fight of faith (1 Tim 6:12). Let’s be strong and know He will not forsake us during our tribulations (Deut 31:6). God is love.

Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

1 Timothy 6:12 NIV Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Ezekiel 34:31 NIV You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord

Romans 5:1-5 NIV Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we^[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we^[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

John 3:16 NIV For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

1 John 4:8 NIV Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

The deceiver is getting pretty bold these days by not being shy on the different ways that he is trying to distract everyone from hearing God. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word influence as “the power or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways : sway“. We now live in an era where we have influencers getting paid top dollar to distract people from life and essentially distract people from what God has planned for us. We have people breaking bones doing Milk Crate Challenge and even experiencing death by doing challenges like the Tide Pod Challenge. Being an influencer doesn’t make you a bad person since it’s ultimately up to the individual to decide what they do with their free time. Life is full of distraction and this is coming from a guy who has every streaming service available. Having every streaming service doesn’t make you a bad person but it makes distractions more available. We should just take entertainment in small doses and try to maintain our focus on hearing what God is trying to tell us everyday in life. I know we are all guilty of not focusing on God when life is good and we have no worries. However, when we are most distracted and distant from God, that is the perfect time for the enemy to roam around to see who he can devour (1 Peter 5:8). Please note that the Good Book say the devil “prowls around like a roaring lion” and not that the enemy is a lion. It is during these distracted times we are caught off guard and this false roar can send us trembling and life can knock us down on our backside. This is when we need to remember to be fearless and remember God will strengthen us (Isaiah 41:10). There will always be trying times on God’s green earth. Jesus Himself said we will have tribulation (John 16:33). This is meant to be a cautionary warning to all of us and to remind us He has overcome the world. There are things we just can’t control and the easiest example is seeing our loved ones pass away. We aren’t meant to outlive our parents and grandparents and we aren’t meant to outlive our pets. That is how God designed this thing we call life. Losing loved ones is one of the hardest things most of us will go through. It’s during these hardships that we need the least amount of distractions in our lives and we need our focus on God to remain sharp. We can find perfect peace when we keep our minds focused on God (Isaiah 26:3).

So who is your influencer? Are you going to wait until life knocks you down to find God’s peace or will you allow God to prepare you and sharpen you for the unavoidable tribulations life will present? Let’s not get caught off guard by letting the world influence us but let God be your beacon in life so you may have true peace during our time here on earth. God is good.

1 Peter 5:8 NIV Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Isaiah 26:3 NIV You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

Isaiah 41:10 NKJV Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

John 16:33 NKJV These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

This is the question presented by God that finally pushed me to start this journey into discipleship. It’s a question that we should all be asking ourselves at some point in our walk here on God’s amazing earth. Looking back at the past 10 years, it’s as though God has been preparing me for this time. Every season brought it’s highs and lows, it’s ups and downs (Eccl 3:1-8), and every time I would seek out God to help sharpen my faith in Him. It took reading my Bible, listening to podcasts, creating and constantly updating my “Church” playlist so I could turn off the world so I could just focus on God in order to get the revelation He had for me. I didn’t always hear the revelation with all the distractions around me but kept on keeping on and eventually received God’s revelation.

Why not me? Why not you? We are not alone. Jesus left us a great gift when He asked the Father to leave the Holy Spirit as an advocate for us (John 14:15-20). The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines advocate as “one who defends or maintains a cause or proposal”. The Holy Spirit defends and guides us we only need to keep our focus on Him so that we can be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16) so we can then help and guide others that are in need of the God’s help. These are people in our everyday life and people like you and I might be the only person that is within their daily life that can tell them about the Good News (Luke 4:43). Reaching out to people and having a “Jesus Talk” is a tough thing to do with the state of the world we live in. Today’s society is training Christians to tiptoe around talking about Jesus openly so many Christians are choosing to stay silent. We also can’t deny the fact that anyone can get fired or canceled these days if they offend someone who hears them talking about God. The enemy is getting bolder everyday so we have to pray for guidance. We all know people who absolutely need to hear about Jesus so we can’t just stay silent. We have to just make ourselves available to those people by just giving hints that we are a true Believer. It’s as simple as saying “Thank God” out loud or when someone ask your plans for the weekend mention your plans on attending church on Sunday. We need to leave the door open and if someone is seeking God’s help, God will guide them to us so we can have that Jesus talk. If not you, then who.

Hello Brothers and Sisters. I finally took the step to follow God’s plan and I am starting my journey into discipleship (Matthew 28:18-20). My background as a Christian is pretty simple. I grew up going to my family’s Christian church since I could walk. I’ve read about three fifths of the Bible. I’ve read all the New Testament and I’m currently trying my best to read both the Old Testament and New Testament daily. I absolutely believe the Bible is the Word of God (John 6:63). By no means am I saying I’ve lived the perfect Christian life for we fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). I’ve just learned throughout my trials and tribulations that God always comes through during these trying times in my life. God’s revelations have blessed me so much that I feel the responsibility of sharing these struggles and triumphs with others that could use words of encouragement. The path of discipleship won’t be easy but I will lean on the great ” I AM” (Exodus 3:13–14) to help me navigate this path that God has put me on. God is Good.