In John 5:24, Jesus says, 24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe [trust] in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned, they have already passed from death into life.” This is the most basic expression of the Gospel.
I’m always talking about how God will take care of you if you’ll just trust Him. But will He really? Will He still take care of you even if you do something really bad; something you knew was wrong before you did it, and you did it anyway? I mean like when you were doing it, you looked God in the eye and said, “I don’t care what you think; I’m going to do this anyway” Will God take care of you, even then, even after that? Continue reading
Hebrews 11: 6, says: “Without faith (trust) it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe (trust) that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him.” This is about the attitude of trust in God. You just don’t have a chance with God unless you trust Him. Since you can’t see Him, you must trust that He exists. (Funniest thing though, when you start trusting Him, you start seeing the things He does, and feeling His Presence all around. He reveals Himself to you.) And you must trust that He’ll reward you if you earnestly seek Him. Like it says in James 4:8, “Draw near to God, and He’ll draw near to you.” ‘Drawing near’ could be translated, ‘earnestly seek Him’. Continue reading
Philippians 4: 6-7: Tex’s paraphrase: “Don’t worry about anything, but with an attitude of gratitude, tell God what you need, and leave it in His hands. Then His peace, the peace that gives you comfort and rest, the peace that passes all understanding, will guard and protect your hearts and your thoughts through Christ Jesus.”
“Don’t worry about anything.” In Matthew 6:34, KJV Jesus says, “Take no thought for the morrow.” Liberally translated that’d be “Don’t worry”, but Tex’s paraphrase would be “Don’t even think about tomorrow AT ALL.” That’s what Phil 4:6-7, starts out saying as well, “Don’t worry about anything, don’t even think about it.” God wants us to turn all our problems over to Him, not even think about them anymore, just let Him take care of them. Continue reading
In Matthew 21: 28-32, Jesus tells the story of the man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, “Go to the vineyard.” And the son said, “I will not.” But afterward, he regretted it and went. Then the father went to the second son and said the same. That son said, “I’ll go.” But he didn’t. Then Jesus said, “Which one of the sons did the will of his father?” [the Pharisees] said, “The first.”
Then Jesus tells the Pharisees that the sinners will get into heaven before them because the sinners BELIEVED what John the Baptist preached and were changed; while the Pharisees didn’t believe even after they saw it. Jesus compared them to the second son, who said the right thing, but didn’t do it. Continue reading
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: NKJV
The kind of prayer I’m talking about; the kind of prayer I think this passage is talking about is substantially different from regular praying, where you ask for things and intercede for others. It’s not an activity where you’re focusing your conscious mind on God, and talking to Him about specific issues, or events, or material things in your life. It’s more like an attitude, an awareness of God’s presence; Continue reading
You know, every day with Jesus really IS sweeter than the day before; but sometimes the cares of this world just get you down. There is too much to do and not enough time to do it all in. The bills are more than the income and lots of people standing in line waiting for their part. You’re tired, exhausted, and you get depressed from all the toxins in your system caused by the fatigue. There’s nothing you’d like better than to have one whole day just to sleep, and maybe another day to get organized, but all this stuff is still there demanding attention. What do we do? Continue reading
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