Window Sticker!

I saw something tonight that just made me stop dead in my tracks. I volunteer with our local food bank handing out food to people who are in need. They order online and then on the designated date they come and pick it up at a specified location. They just drive up and we load it up for them, and off they go. Well tonight I saw something that I could not believe. I stood there and stared in disbelief at what I was seeing. A car pulled up with a couple of young ladies in it. As it pulled into position to get loaded, and I pushed the cart towards their trunk, I noticed a sticker in the back window. It wasn't large or obnoxious, but what it said was disturbing, at least to me. It said that "Satan Loves Me." I could not believe it. My first instinct was to go over there and tear it off, but that would be kind of frowned upon. I thought to myself, "my dear girl." "If you only knew the truth." Satan doesn't really love you. He is a liar. In fact he is the father of lies.

John 8:44 New Living Translation (NLT)
⁴⁴ For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Satan's job is to steal, kill and destroy. Not to love. The only thing that he loves is to get us further away from Jesus.

John 10:10 New Living Translation (NLT)
¹⁰ The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.

I prayed a quick prayer for her. If she only knew how much God loved her, that she might know the truth. He wants her to live and have an abundant life.

John 10:10 New Living Translation (NLT)
¹⁰ My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

He loves us so much, that He sent His only Son to die for us. So that we might have eternal life.

John 3:16 New International Version (NIV)
¹⁶ 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.

He loves us so much that He is patient with us. Waiting for us to believe in Him and His truth. He wants to spend eternity with us.

2 Peter 3:9 The Message (MSG)
^8-9 Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.

I pray that one day, in a moment of  time, God will soften this young women's heart and she will seek Jesus' love. Not Satan's. I pray that the next time that I see her vehicle, that sticker would be gone.
 

Getting Into Heaven!

I had a conversation the other day with a friend of mine about getting into heaven. He was telling me about a friend of his who was in my friends opinion a "saint". There is no way that his friend was not getting into heaven because of the kind of person he was. My friend was telling me about how hard his friend worked. Provided for his family. Helped out at church and was very generous in their giving, of both money and time. As he was talking, I stood there shaking my head a little at what I was hearing. He finally asked my why I was shaking my head. I told him "dude, it doesn't work that way." "You can't work or give your way into heaven." I told him that you can do everything right according to our human way, but this is what God's word says.

Romans 3:23 New Living Translation (NLT)
²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

That's right. We are all still sinners. Until we get to heaven to spend eternity with our Lord and Savior, we will still sin and fall short of God's standard for us.

Romans 6:23 New Living Translation (NLT)
²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Aren't you glad that God doesn't give us what we deserve, but He gives us grace, which is enough!

Ephesians 2:8-9 New Living Translation (NLT)
⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

We can't earn our salvation. It is a free gift from God. All we have to do is accept it. People will try to talk a good game to get on the good side of The Lord but,

Matthew 7:21 Living Bible (TLB)
²¹ “Not all who sound religious are really godly people. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but still won’t get to heaven. For the decisive question is whether they obey my Father in heaven.

Jesus wants us to repent and turn from our sins. Accept Him as our personal savior.

Mark 1:15 New Living Translation (NLT)
¹⁵ “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”

So I explained all of this to my friend. Telling him there is only one way to get to heaven and none of it involves what he does on his own.

Focused Relationship.

A group that I volunteer with, recently held a focus study for the people that we serve. They were asked what they liked/didn't like about the service being provided. They said that the one thing that they really liked was that it is always the same people working when they came to the pick up site. With the same people working nearly every week, they/we can build a relationship with each other. We get to know them by name and vice versa. The same goes for the volunteers. The more that we work together, the more that we get to know how each of us works. Our mannerisms. The way that we do things, and start feeding off of each other. If I grab something and I  am working with a certain volunteer, than I know that he/she will grab the next thing, and so on. We have really great volunteers and we work really well together as a team.

Well, if you know anything about me, you know that this got me to thinking about Jesus, and His relationship with me. I love having my own personal relationship with Jesus. He knows everything about me.

Psalm 139:13-16 New Living Translation (NLT)

¹³ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
¹⁶ You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.

 

If this is not knowing somebody, then I don't know what is. He created me, and knows everything about me.

 

Matthew 10:30-31 The Voice (VOICE)

^30-31 You, beloved, are worth so much more than a whole flock of sparrows. God knows everything about you, even the number of hairs on your head. So do not fear.

 

So as much as I want to serve my volunteer opportunity with excellence, and serve our community with compassion and love. How much more do I want to serve my Living God. Jesus came to serve, not to be served. I want to follow His example of servant hood. I want to continue to be used by The Lord. Everyway possible.

 

Hebrews 6:10 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

 

That is what I keep telling people who ask me about this. We are here to help each other out. To lift each other up and encourage. If we are not doing this, then why are we here.

 

1 Corinthians 16:14 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁴ Let all that you do be done in love.

 

That's what I want to happen for myself. To love others, just as Jesus loves me.

 

BLOOD!

Blood. That one simple word can cause such drastic and different responses from people. Some can simply donate or have some drawn and have no issues. Others on the other hand can simply see blood, either their own or someone else's and pass out or faint. I have seen this on many occasions, unfortunately. I have no problem with it. I can see my blood being drawn. I can see a cut or an abrasion and it does nothing to me.

I donated some blood last week, and it got me thinking about the blood of Jesus. If the same blood that I am donating is compatible with another persons blood, and we are two different people, and can save their life, what more can the blood of Jesus do? His blood covered all of our sins!

Romans 5:9 The Voice (VOICE)
⁹ As a result, the blood of Jesus has made us right with God now, and certainly we will be rescued by Him from God’s wrath in the future.

Leviticus 17:11 The Voice (VOICE)

¹¹ You see, the life of the body is in the blood, and I have directed that you are to take blood and offer it on the altar to atone for your lives and cover your sins. It is the life flowing in the blood that atones for you and covers you.

 

So by donating blood the other day, I was picturing what Jesus had done for me/us. He laid down His life for us. He shed His blood for us. So that we may live.

 

Mark 12:31 The Voice (VOICE)

³¹ The second great commandment is this: “Love others in the same way you love yourself.”^[a] There are no commandments more important than these.

 

What better way to show love to our brothers and sisters than donate blood. It literally can save someone's life.

 

John 15:13 The Voice (VOICE)

¹³ There is no greater way to love than to give your life for your friends.

 

I want to imitate Jesus. Be His hands and feet, when ever I can. Amen!

Why Do You??

It is a question I am asked quite a bit. What is it you may ask? "Why do you volunteer so much?"  "What do you mean?" I reply. People want to know why I volunteer so many hours for the Feed My Starving Children mobile pack event. That answer is an easy one. First, God called us to do it. It says so in His word.

Isaiah 58:10(NLT)

¹⁰ Feed the hungry,
    and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
    and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.

 

Then people want to know why I volunteer handing out food to people in our community with Northern Illinois Food Bank. Once again, God tells us in His word.

 

Matthew 25:35-40(NLT)³⁵ For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. ³⁶ I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
³⁷ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? ³⁹ When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
⁴⁰ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

Now I'm not calling the people coming to pick up food 'the least of these'. They could be down on their luck, or just having a rough season of life right now. If handing them a bag of food shows them the Love of Jesus and that He cares about them by using me, then use me. Here I am Lord! I am Yours. Do what You want. Have Your way!

Why do you do all these walks? Because I believe in what we are walking for, the cause. I believe that a cure can be found for C/F. Breast cancer. Cancer in general. Raising money for all of these causes, will help doctors and scientist discover a cure that God will provide.

Jeremiah 30:17(NLT)

¹⁷ I will give you back your health    and heal your wounds,” says the Lord.

 

So that's why I 'do' all this volunteering. I not posting this to say or look how good Keven is, cause I'm not. I'm just trying to be the dude that God wants me to be. If He says it in His word, then I want to be a doer, not a watcher.

 

James 1:22 (NLT)²² But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

Thank You Lord!

 

 

 

 

Have You Ever Felt....................(adjective)?

Have you ever felt _________ fill in the blank. Down, disappointed, frustrated. Depressed, upset, anxious. Hurt, lonely, forgotten, unwanted? If we are honest, we've all been here before. Maybe even more than one at a time. I know I've sure been there before. Even as an adult. It still happens to this day. People say unpleasant things to us, or do mean things. Try to take away our joy, our happiness. Sometimes we really give people this kind of power over us. We try to please everyone, and we just can't do it. There will always be somebody who is upset or mad with you, because you didn't do something exactly they way that they wanted. That is when I really dig into God's word. Look to Him for comfort in these situations.

Galatians 1:10(NLT)
¹⁰ Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.

When I'm at my job, obviously I want my boss to be happy with my work. I want my co-workers to know that I am giving my best and will be there for them. Although, what  I am really doing is seeking God's approval above all else. He is the one that I am trying to please. I want my work, my attitude, my speech and actions to be a pleasing aroma to my God!

Colossians 3:23-25(MSG)
^22-25 Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work.

Aren't you glad that you aren't defined by people. People will let us down, time after time. Our identity comes from Jesus Christ. He alone is whom I want to be identified with.

1 Peter 2:9-10(MSG)
^9-10 But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.

So if the enemy comes calling and starts whispering in your ear that you're not good enough, smart enough, whatever enough. Tell him that you are a child of The Most High God. He alone tells me what I am, in Him.

Take Back.

It's time we as Christians take back. Take back our Christianity. Take back our faith. Our boldness for The Lord. We have become sugar coaters of His Word. Telling people what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear. When did we become so sissified in our faith. So afraid to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm tired of being told I can't say something about Jesus, you might stir the pot. Well if talking about Jesus and proclaiming His Gospel is stirring the pot, than I am going to stir away!

Romans 1:16 (NIV)
¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

Matthew 10:33 (MSG)
³² “Stand up for me against world opinion and I’ll stand up for you before my Father in heaven."

Jesus is calling us to stand up for Him no matter what the world brings against us. Christianity is being attacked on all fronts. Seems like the whole world is against us.

John 15:19 (MSG)¹⁹ “If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you.

We need to stand together, stronger than ever before. Keep speaking the truth. Stop worrying about if we are going to offend anyone. I don't think that Jesus cared if he offended anyone. He told it like it was. He loved all and cared for all, but He let them know that there is only one way to Heaven.
Not many or several, just one. Through Him.

John 14:6 (NLT)
⁶ Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

We need to repent of our sinful nature. Jesus will be coming back soon. We need to get right with Him.

Matthew 3:2(NLT)

² “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.

 

We need to keep telling others about the reality of hell. The Devil is real and isn't playing around. He wants your soul. This isn't a game with a reset button on it, or a do over. It's a matter of life or death.

 

Ezekiel 3:19 (NLT)
¹⁹ If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me.

 

Heaven is real and Jesus is wanting us to spend eternity with Him. We need to start living for Him, obeying Him.

 

2 Peter 3:9 (MSG)

⁹ God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.

 

I pray that we as Christians stand up and take back everything that has been taken from us. Continue to be bold for Christ. He died for us, so that we may live for Him. Let us not water down or diminish the work that He has done for us.