What’s Life All About Really?

Give me more attention!

Life is simple for Buddy. Take walkies. Snooze. Eat treats. Beg for food. Occasionally pay attention to your human.

Actually, human life is similarly simple. All of life boils down to one simple answer.

Want to know what it is?

What life really is all about?

Enough suspense yet? Here’s the answer:

Our life here on earth is all about choosing which god you’re going to spend eternity with.

That’s it in a nutshell.

The secret to this chaotic, rollercoaster, sometimes thrilling, sometimes awful life.

“I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”—Jesus, John 12:46

Every day a person can choose to remain in Satan’s “domain of darkness” and “perish in their sin” (Colossians 1:13, 2 Thessalonians 2:10,) or choose to spend eternity with Jesus.

“For He (God) rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”—Colossians 1:13-14

The choice is yours.

Jesus hung on the Cross between two thieves. One continued to hurl insults at Jesus, demanding that He come down from the Cross and rescue them from crucifixion.

The other humbled himself, admitted he was a sinner, and asked that his soul be saved. And Jesus answered him, saying:

“‘Truly, I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.’”—Luke 23:43

Eternity with Jesus or Satan.

Everyone makes that choice.

It’s truly what life is really all about.

Thank you for reading!

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

PS. So next time someone asks you, “What’s life all about?”—you have an answer.

***

Maybe you’re unhappy because you’re trying to be your own god instead of submitting your life to the Lord and trusting in His guidance.

Jesus is omniscient and omnipresent. He sees the future. What seems the right course of action to a person may actually be leading toward disaster. Only God knows where a chosen path will lead.

Jesus died to pay for your sins. He lived a perfect life as a human being so that He could pay for the sins of others, having no sin of His own to be punished for. After His crucifixion, He rose from the dead to prove that He is also God, that He has the power over death.

You don’t have to continue living a life of regret and defeat. But becoming a Christian doesn’t guarantee health and wealth, as false preachers claim, but does set you onto a new path leading away from self-destructive behavior.

A new Christian is like a baby: You’ll crawl, then totter on wobbly legs till you learn to walk steady. I’m encouraging you to give your life to Jesus, because it’s wonderful to be in relationship with God. But I also want you not to get discouraged after doing so. It takes time to learn about God’s love for you and how He works.

Are you ready to make Jesus your Savior from sin and your Lord, the God Who rules your life? If so, please repeat the below prayer, out loud if possible:

Dear Heavenly Father, I’m sorry for my sin and ask for Your forgiveness. I call on Jesus to be both my Savior and Lord, my moral authority. I give my life to You. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit. And teach me how much You love me. I want to learn to trust You. Thank You for hearing my prayer. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, the Lord, amen.

If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you’re born again. You should begin to experience new attitudes and a desire to obey Jesus as you’ve been given a new heart by the power of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. You’re starting to walk a new path in life, so please be patient with yourself as you learn and grow in the knowledge of the Lord.

Please start reading the Bible daily. And join a Bible believing church or Bible study. And get baptized. If that’s not possible right now, I recommend these two ministries, which also have apps, if that’s your preference: http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way) and http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message). There are other godly ministries, but it’s easy to be misled by legalism or false teaching until you know what the Bible teaches fairly well.

God bless you. May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.

Does God Want Christians To Look Miserable? Buddy Brief

I feel happy when my beloved Buddy smiles. It shows that he enjoys living with me. After three years of being abused by his former owner, he’s loved sharing thirteen-and-a-half years with me now, someone who loves and dotes on him.

God is called “Our Heavenly Father (Matthew 6:26, 32),” yet sometimes Christians are presented with a solemn, joyless image of Jesus in movies and pictures as if being miserable or unhappy is the preferable Christian personality.

Does your earthly father want you to be miserable? (If mentally healthy, he doesn’t.)

Or, too often, pastors tell us that joy is independent of circumstance, meaning that you’re not supposed to feel or be happy, as if a smiling countenance means you’re not thoughtful or taking your faith seriously. That you can be cognitively happy, but to actually be happy is an unrealistic expectation.

Please ask yourself: Does a happy, energetic joyful person attract you more or less than a solemn, frowning person?

Jesus told His disciples:

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”—John 15:11

I believe Jesus wants us to be authentic people. To be honest with Him when we talk with Him. To cry when we’re suffering, to smile when we’re happy, to laugh when we think something’s funny.

Jesus said:

“I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”—John 10:10

After all, who invented laughter?

As the Bible says, and modern scientific research continually confirms:

“A cheerful heart is good medicine.”—Proverbs 17:22

Go ahead and enjoy life.

Giving thanks to our loving Father Who has created a beautiful world full of wonders.

After all, who should be the happiest people on earth than Christians who know that all these worldly sufferings are temporary and in no way comparable to the eternal joys of heaven (Romans 8:28) prepares for us by a loving God?

God bless you.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

PS. I realize pastors are trying to deal with human suffering, but is that how God wants our lives to be? Nothing but suffering without overcoming? To focus only on unhappiness? Even cops use gallows humor to defuse stressful situations.

The Lord Is My Shepherd? Psalm 23:1

Bud is admittedly spoiled. Which greatly concerns me as he’s willful and doesn’t like to listen to me. A family member let him slip out the front door this afternoon, so I panicked, knowing that Buddy wouldn’t listen to me call for him to return to the house. However, he was more interested in following me back through the doorway to safety than running away.

If Bud ran off, he’s too quick for me to catch him.

Some people won’t like this post. But if I’m only repeating what’s already posted out there on the internet ad nauseam, then why bother? I could just post links directing people to other material.

Many Christians have memorized Psalm 23; some have even read the excellent book, “A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23” by W. Phillip Keller; and many follow the Shepherd of our souls; but how many “sheep of His pasture (Psalm 100:3)” actually trust Him?

“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want… He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His namesake.”—King David, Psalm 23:1, 3

Jesus made it clear several times what His attitude toward His flock is.

1. If they wander off, He goes in search of them:

“What do you think? If a man had a 100 sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the 99 and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he souls find it, assuredly, I say to you , he rejoices more over that sheep than over the 99 that did not go astray?”—Matthew 18:12-13

Jesus doesn’t just wave goodbye when one of His children stray away from the faith. He takes action and goes in search of that Christian to return them to the fold.

2. The Good Shepherd leads His sheep in the paths of righteousness for “HIS namesake” (Psalm 23:3).

Jesus takes action to correct His wandering sheep because His reputation is at stake when someone claims to be born again but is willfully, or deceived by Satan, disobeying.

3. Jesus promises that we’re united with Him through the Holy Spirit once we’re born again. As a result, He will never abandon us to evil nor can anyone or anything separate us from Himself.

“And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, Who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”—John 10:27-28, 30

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word (the Apostles); that they may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me…I in them, and You in Me…”—John 17:20-21, 23

So, if you believe you can lose your salvation, you may not either understand what being born again means and your salvation—or you are trusting in your own works and efforts to maintain your relationship with Him. You are not trusting Him to seek his wandering sheep and return those sheep back into the safety of His flock.

You don’t have temporary life until you die. You are promised eternal life if you are in Christ Jesus (John 3:16, John 10:27).

Apostle Paul strongly admonished the Galatians about this teaching in his letter, Galatians 3:1-3:

“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your eyes Jesus was clearly portrayed as crucified? I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?”

Christ’s crucifixion put to death all human self effort. You’re either one with Christ or not, trusting in Him or yourself.

So you have a choice, dear brother and sister in Christ: standing on sifting sand or on the rock of Jesus Christ; trusting in Him to keep you—or in your own shifting, unstable efforts and moods (Matthew 7:24-26).

Your salvation is not at stake.

But, rather, your ability to rejoice in your salvation and truly feel grateful for being delivered out of slavery in the kingdom of darkness to becoming a sheep in the kingdom of light. (Colossians 1:13).

You can exhaust yourself with fear on the hamster wheel of insecurity or…

Dance with joy, little sheep, trusting in His work on the Cross, not your works.

He promises to “never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)”.

So who is your shepherd?

You?

Or Jesus?

***

Please trust in Jesus for your eternal life. Only He can send the Holy Spirit to indwell you and resurrect your dead spirit into eternal life. Other religions can teach you how to behave better, or experts can guide you in self-improvement programs, but only Jesus can give you life (John 5:40).

I spend the time to write these blogs because I waited till I was twenty-eight-years-old to give my life to Jesus. I only regret not doing it sooner. Becoming born again is the most wonderful experience—to know that God is real and loves you—and I want this for you too.

Please, heed my plea and give your heart to Jesus now.

Tomorrow is never guaranteed to any of us.

Repeat the following prayer out loud, if possible:

Dear Heavenly Father, I’m sorry for my sin and for being my own worst enemy. I call on Jesus Christ to be both my Lord and Savior. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I give my life to You. Please change my heart and teach me how much You love me. Thanks for hearing my prayer. I ask in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.

If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you’re born again. Please start reading the Bible daily as it’s both your soul food and God’s letter to you. Just as your body needs daily nourishment to be healthy, so does your soul.

And join a Bible believing church or Bible study, and get baptized. If that’s not possible right now, I suggest these two ministries, which also have apps, if that’s your preference: http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way) and http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message).

There are other godly ministries out there, but it’s easy to be misled by legalism or false teaching till you know the Bible fairly well.

God bless you. May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

Where Hope Comes From, Quickie Read

Christmas Season 2023

We all say, “I hope this happens, and I hope that happens,” because it’s usually a circumstance beyond our control. We cannot say, “I will make this happen” in those circumstances.

Buddy is saying above, “I hope my human gets this suit off of me soonest as I’m being tortured.”

I’m saying and praying, “I hope God will give me at least two more years with Buddy,” as he’s sixteen and Silky terriers can live to at least twenty-one.

I also hope that Jesus will return and rapture Buddy and I, so that I don’t have to suffer the sorrow of being separated from him or experience the rise of the Antichrist.

But those are ardent hopes beyond my control. I can give Buddy special enzymes to assist his kidneys, but ultimately his lifespan is decided by Jesus, not me.

But there is one hope that born again Christians can count on: eternal life.

“For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”—Romans 8:25-25

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life;”—Jesus, John 3:36

God bless you.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

“Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”—1 Corinthians 13:13

Yes, You Could Lose Everything, Except… Romans 8:38-39

Got any chickie?

The thought of losing Buddy one day makes me want to cry. But he won’t ever truly be lost, just separated from me until I join him in heaven one day. He’s been my fur pal for over thirteen years now.

Yet, I’m still hoping to be raptured together. Although he’s 16 years old, he’s still pretty spry,so I am hoping for a few more earthly years with him.

The following is a bit harsh, but want to challenge you to consider something, if you haven’t already.

Don’t deceive yourself. If you don’t have the courage to speak up now for what is right and to defend your liberty, then you definitely will NOT do so when the AntiChrist arises. You will take the Mark of the Beast.

This sounds awful, but it’s the truth: If you’re a coward now when the stakes are lower, you’ll be a coward then.

Yes, if you stand for Jesus and godly values, it’s possible that evil people will attack you. They’ll slander you, maybe try to financially bankrupt you or take away your liberty.

Or even take your life.

For me, the hardest thing would be to witness my loved ones suffering, particularly if the abuse is aimed at them because of me.

But there is something the devil and his servants can never take from you: your soul.

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”—Apostle Paul, Romans 8:48-39

Now I’m not sure if I will have the courage then that I have now. Indeed, the stakes are lower now.

So I occasionally pray that the Lord will give me the strength to stand strong On That Day, if the “abomination of desolation (Mark 13:14)” arises and desecrates the temple of Jerusalem (Daniel 11:31) during my lifetime.

Because when it comes to Jesus and spiritual matters, it’s only by the power of the Holy Spirit that I can walk in triumph.

For it is only through Christ “I can do all things through Him Who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).”

For “thanks be to God Who always leads us in triumph in Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14).”

If you’re feeling afraid, please remember Christ will strengthen you, if you will ask Him.

God bless you.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy.

***

There’s something way more scarier and awful than being a coward: It’s dwelling in the kingdom of Satan, rather than walking in the kingdom of light in Jesus Christ.

Because being called bad names may hurt our egos, but the devil is damaging souls under his power.

You see, there IS NO neutral territory: You’re either living in the kingdom of Satan or in the kingdom of Christ.

Do you feel like something’s missing in your life? Like there is an empty space on your soul that can never go away, despite how hard you try to fill it with things or relationships you think should make you feel happy—but don’t.

Your soul was created to be united with God’s Spirit. If you feel empty, it’s because the Holy Spirit isn’t filling that space in your heart where He is supposed to dwell.

If you haven’t yet, please consider asking Jesus to be your Lord and Savior. He died for your sins, so that you don’t have to, and was resurrected bodily on the Third Day to prove that He is God and can give you supernatural, eternal life.

Please repeat the below prayer, out loud, if possible:

Dear Heavenly Father, I’m sorry for my sin. Please forgive me. I call on Jesus to be both my Lord and my Savior. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I give my life to You. And please teach me how much You love me. In the mighty name of your Son Jesus Christ, amen.

If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you’re born again. Please start reading the Bible daily. Just as your body needs daily nourishment to be healthy, so does your soul. The Bible is your soul food.

And attend a Bible-believing church or Bible study, and get baptized. If that’s not possible right now, I recommend the following two ministries, which also have apps, if that’s your preference: http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way) or http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message). There are other godly ministries, but it’s easy to be deceived by bad teaching or legalism until you know the Bible fairly well.

God bless you. May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.

Living In A Haunted House, Psalm 73

Living In A Haunted House, Psalm 73

Spooky Thinking, Psalm 37:8

Buddy playing in shredded paper.

When Buddy and I visit my parents, they have to hide the bag of paper slices produced by their paper shredder. When Buddy got upset, he’d head into their den and tear open the bag of shredding, then spread it all over the room. It was cute, watching him “go to town” in the pile of shredded paper—yet quite inconvenient to clean up. Fortunately, there was no permanent damage to anything but the black garbage bags.

We are living in scary times. I’m often realizing that I’m thinking SPOOKY thoughts; I’m imagining conversations that are not real, like transparent ghosts, because I’m fretting over foolish, ungodly, or ignorant attitudes of people I know.

And I imagine discussing with them why these attitudes are wrong.

But what does the Bible say?

“Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.”—King David, Psalm 37:8

What I’m engaging in are imaginary thoughts with imaginary people. Just like Buddy playing in the pile of shredded paper, I’m prancing around in shredded thinking. My imaginings are NOT changing anybody’s minds or attitudes, because my conversations are not real. I’m engaged in wishful thinking of what I might have the courage to say and speculating about what the other person might say.

I’m fretting.

And the Bible proclaims that it “only leads to evildoing.”

Firstly, I’m disrupting my thinking which could be focused, instead, on praying or whatever task is at hand. I’m wasting valuable mental energy that could be better engaged elsewhere.

I’m also damaging my body, causing stress reactions in my brain and, particularly, my shoulders and back which begin to clench up, creating soreness.

Secondly, I’m not only sinning against myself, but others.

I’m unintentionally thinking haughtily toward others. I know they’re deceived by the media and our culture. They’re not bad people. But I can treat them arrogantly if I don’t guard my attitudes.

Also, the wrong thinking can create the “simmering teapot” effect, where I can become impatient with others, and perhaps even explode in anger, because my internal pressure is already near the boiling point. Just one or two more degrees of aggravation and off blows the whistle.

So, if you’re struggling like me with spooky thinking, please read Psalm 37. Because David reassures us that evil does not last forever, nor evildoers. At least, not in their earthly existence.

I have to remind myself about Palm 37:8 and that, no matter what happens in this world, God’s got this. Nothing that’s occurring has caught Him by surprise.

“The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all.”—King David, Psalm 103:19

God bless you.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

***

Do you want to have confidence that God is with you?

Yes, we cannot see God. The Father is spirit and His Son Jesus, Who came in the flesh (Matthew 1:23) over 2,000 years ago is at the Father’s right hand (Mark 16:19) till it’s time for His return.

But we can see the effect of His presence. Like the wind, we cannot see the Holy Spirit of God Himself, but we witness His impact on our lives and this world.

Jesus changed my life for the better, and I want that same blessing for you.

If you’ve read this far, I believe that the Lord is calling to you. Please accept His invitation to enter His kingdom and into a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ.

You don’t have to “clean up your act” firstly. God knows you cannot meet His perfect standards. Jesus came to earth to take the punishment all our sins deserve. As the only perfect God in human form (John 10:30), He didn’t have to be punished for sin as He had known. So He was qualified to take it for us.

“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”—Apostle Paul, Romans 8:1

Are you ready to accept Jesus as Lord, Who has the authority to define right and wrong, and as your savior from punishment for your sin?

If so, please pray the following, out loud if possible:

Dear Heavenly Father, Please forgive my sin. Jesus died for me so that I can be forgiven forever and have eternal life. I call on Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. And fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Because Jesus was resurrected bodily from the dead, I am able to receive Your resurrection life. I give my life to You. Please help me understand how much You love me. In the marvelous name of Jesus, Your Son, amen.

If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you’re born again. Please start reading the Bible daily. Just as your body needs daily nourishment to be healthy, so does your soul; the Bible is your soul food. I suggest starting with the Book of Matthew, as it’s easy to understand, and reading forward.

Also, please join a Bible believing church or Bible study. And get baptized. If that’s not possible right now, I suggest these two ministries, which also have apps, if that’s your preference: http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way) and http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message). There are other godly ministries, but it’s easy to be misled by bad teaching or legalism till you know the Bible fairly well. Sadly, I’m speaking from experience.

God bless you as you begin your journey in life with Jesus as your companion.

May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.

Never A Sheep, Matthew 7:21, 23

Buddy doesn’t want to get up.

If you’ve been reading my blog for some time, you know that Buddy ran off one fireworks streaked, July evening. I exhausted myself looking for him—to no avail. I took a nap for a few hours then drove around as the morning dawn spread into the early morning sunshine. I had no idea how many bunny rabbits hopped around my neighborhood till that morning. Fortunately, my cousin, whom I had just met at an 80th birthday party for her great uncle and aunt (same birthday) put me in contact with a neighborhood rescue that knew where Buddy was.

I honestly believe that Jesus introduced me to my cousin because He knew she’d be instrumental in helping me find my beloved Buddy one day.

Plus, I’m certain God protected Buddy that night he ran off. When I was running around on foot searching for Bud, I saw a van slam to a stop a block away. The driver of the truck behind the van angrily honked his horn because of the sudden stop. I’m certain the woman driving the van was avoiding hitting Buddy as that was the neighborhood where someone had taken Buddy in.

(Wish his rescuers had heard me calling for Buddy at the top of my strained voice, but at least Bud was safe, due to this kind couple.)

I wore myself out searching for Buddy because he is my pal, my furever friend.

Other neighbors helped search initially, but since Buddy wasn’t their family member, they didn’t persevere as long as I did.

Christians who claim that you can lose your salvation tend to camp on about three verses, while ignoring dozens of others that teach or indicate that the opposite is true.

For example, Jesus is recorded as saying, by His disciple Matthew, the former tax collector:

“‘Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father Who is in heaven will enter…I will declare to them, “I NEVER knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”’”—Matthew 7:21, 23

The emphasis on “NEVER” is mine to clarify the point I’m making: Jesus claimed He NEVER knew the person protesting that they should be permitted entrance into heaven.

He didn’t say, “You used to be one of my sheep, but you chose to leave the fold.”

No, Jesus said that the person was NEVER one of His flock.

What did Jesus teach about the shepherd who had a sheep who went astray? The shepherd had 100 sheep but one wandered away from the safety of the flock and the shepherd’s watchful care. The shepherd left the other 99 sheep and went in search of the one that strayed away until he found it (Matthew 18:12-13).

So, too, Jesus doesn’t turn His back on the lamb of His flock who foolishly wanders away because of listening to the world, the flesh or the enemy (Mathew 26:41, 1 John 2:16).

The Apostle Paul chastised the Galatians for going astray from the purity of the Gospel and rebuked the Corinthians for their sinful behavior, but he still considered them God’s people.

Because “Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12:2)” initiates our faith and brings it to completion. He knows that the world, our flesh, and the devil are always working to discourage, defeat, and lead astray His people. It’s the power of the Holy Spirit Who convicts us when we go astray and leads us back into the security of His flock and obedience.

As the Apostle Paul confidently declared in Philippians 1:6:

“I am confident of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

WILL perfect the faith He initiates in the lambs of His flock.

Hope this reassures you.

Jesus always has His children enclosed in His arms, leading them safely home (Psalm 139:5, Psalm 23:3).

God bless you.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

***

Would you like to be a member of Jesus’ flock? You don’t have to “clean up your act” first. He only wants you to ask Him to be your God and Great Shepherd, then He’ll take responsibility for guiding you into attitudes and behaviors that are healthier and life sustaining.

You just gotta be humble enough to admit you’re a sinner requiring His moral guidance and authority in your life—the opposite of what Adam and Eve did.

If you’re ready, please repeat the below, out loud if possible:

Dear Heavenly Father, I’m sorry for my sin and want to change my life’s direction. Please forgive my sin. I ask Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I give my life to You. And reveal to me how much You love me. Thank you for hearing my prayer. In the Mighty name of Your Son Jesus, amen.

If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you’re born again. Please start reading the Bible daily as it’s your soul food. Just as your body needs daily nourishment to be healthy, so does your soul. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your understanding as it’s a supernatural book.

And please join a Bible believing church or Bible study, as sheep belong in a flock for protection. And get baptized. If that’s not possible right now, I recommend the following two ministries, which also have apps, if that’s your preference: http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way) or http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message). There are other godly ministries, but it’s easy to get misled by legalism or false teaching until you know the Bible fairly well.

God bless you as you start walking a new path in your life. May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.

What’s Life All About—Really? Acts 26:18

After our first Silky terrier, Buster, died, my life was devoid of a pet dog for 1.5 years. He passed away while lying next to me on my bed. I wept till I could cry no more, although his incipient death from kidney failure was not unexpected.

But my life felt empty without a furry welcome of rejoicing when I entered my house. As many say, “A house without a dog is not a home.”

Buddy isn’t my whole life—Jesus is.

But Buddy makes my life whole.

Just as the Holy Spirit of God awakens my dead spirit and fills that emptiness in my soul, Buddy fills an empty place in my life.

When I didn’t believe that Jesus is God Who was manifested in the flesh (Matthew 1:23), Christians tried to explain the gospel to me, but they made it too complex. As a result, after being saved, I’ve often considered how to make the truth easier for nonbelievers to grasp.

Here is one summary of “What Life Is All About”:

Choosing the god you will spend eternity with after you take your last breath.

There is enough heaven on earth to reveal that a powerful and creative God exists Who loves beauty and variety.

And enough hell to reveal that there is an evil force in the universe who delights in death, destruction, horror and trouble.

The Apostle Paul explained his mission given to him by the resurrected Jesus when he stood before King Agrippa as a prisoner making a defense for his freedom:

To open the blind eyes of nonbelievers by declaring the truth about who Jesus is, “so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.”—Acts 26:18

Every day every single person makes a choice: Choose Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and spend eternity with Him.

Or choose to reject Jesus as your God and remain spiritually dead, in bondage to Satan’s will—and spend eternity in Hell with the enemy of your soul.

Psalm 139:16 declares that we have an appointed day to die when God creates us. Of course, we don’t know the exact timing, even when seriously ill. Only God knows.

I’m hoping, dear reader, you’ve made the right choice and will go to Heaven, spending eternity with the Lord Who loves you and loved ones who are awaiting your arrival…

Including your fur pals.

God bless you.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

***

I’m hoping that my blog posts are helpful, either helping Christians clarify the gospel in their own minds, or will help someone give their life to the Lord. If just one person comes to the Lord because a reader has been able to lead someone to Christ because of my blog, or a reader gives their life to Jesus, then these years of posting have not been fruitless.

Or if it’s encouraged my fellow saints to hang in there.

Love you all.

Dawn

***

So, dear reader, have you chosen Heaven as your eternal destination? If you haven’t given your life to Christ yet, don’t believe Satan’s lies that you’ll lose your freedom if you do. The devil wants you to remain enslaved to his will and purposes for this world.

But with Jesus:

“If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”—John 8:36

You may not feel like you’re in bondage, but when you are alone and quiet, you likely sense an emptiness in your soul. It’s because you’re incomplete until the Spirit of Christ resurrects your spirit and frees you from slavery to the world, the flesh, and the devil (James 3:15).

Are you willing to choose to spend eternity with Jesus as your Lord and God? You don’t need to clean up your act first, as it’s impossible to meet His standard of perfect behavior. You need to humble yourself by admitting your need for His life and guidance, a willingness to admit that you’re a sinner. If you’re willing, please pray the following, out loud if possible:

Dear Heavenly Father, I want to go to heaven. Please forgive my sin. I ask Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit and grant me resurrection life. I want to live for You. Please teach me how much You love me. And please replace the lies I’m believing with the truth. In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.

If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you’re born again. Please start reading the Bible daily. Just as your body needs daily nourishment to be healthy, so does your soul. The biblical scriptures are soul food.

Also, please join a Bible believing church or Bible study. And get baptized. Please ask Jesus to lead you to the right place.

If that’s not possible right now, I recommend these two Christian ministries, which also have apps, if that’s your preference: http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way) and http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message). There are other godly ministries, but it’s easy to get misled or fall into legalism if you don’t know the Bible fairly well.

God bless you.

May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.

Do You Have God’s Entrance Ticket Into Heaven? Matthew 7:21-23

Alert but not wanting to get up.

I’ve never tested this out, but I’d guess that if I called out “Buddy!” to a crowd of dogs, only my Buddy would respond, even though the name is common. (I didn’t get to name him as he was adopted as a three-year-old.) The other Buddys would be listening for the unique voice of their own master.

I was hoping that my dad’s neighbor would lead him to Christ one day, as they get along so well that you’d swear it was the same guy talking but duplicated. They have a great, budding friendship.

But when speaking to this neighbor a week ago, I was distressed that he claimed to be a Christian, yet likely is not.

Jesus spoke about people who believed they would enter heaven but would be surprised to be denied entrance, as His disciple Matthew recorded in Matthew 7:21:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.’”

Sadly, there are going to be many people who will have an unpleasant surprise on Judgment Day.

Now, it’s between a person and Jesus to know what’s in their heart.

And what is the Father’s will in order to be saved? Jesus explained this, also, as recorded by the Apostle John in John 6:28-29:

“Therefore, they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’”

The people denied entrance into heaven, as described by Jesus in Matthew, protested that they had done good deeds and performed many wonderful works in His name (Matthew 7:22). They deserved to enter heaven!

How did Jesus respond to their protestations and justifications of good works?

“I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”—Matthew 7:23

God is so holy, there is not one person who can meet His standard to enter His presence in Heaven, which is perfection (Matthew 5:48).

God doesn’t grade on a curve. The cutoff point is perfection to enter heaven or not perfect to go to Hell.

Pretty harsh, right?

But think how unfair it’d be if He did grade on a curve? For instance, say a person lies 99 times and is admitted into Heaven, but another lies 100 times but is sent to everlasting Hell. Is that fair? Out by one lie?

My dad’s friend alarmed me because he believes there are other ways to heaven than through Jesus; you just have to be a good person.

But that’s not what Jesus taught.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.”—John 14:6

If you could earn your way into Heaven by being good, then how good do you need to be? How do you know where the cutoff point is? How can you ever have the peace Jesus promises to give His followers (John 14:27) that eliminates fear?

You couldn’t.

And if you could earn your way into Heaven, then why would Jesus need to die for our sins? He could’ve avoided the excruciatingly painful death on the Cross and just let us try to be good, with His guiding principles.

Jesus declared Himself to be “the life,” because it’s only through Jesus that your dead, sinful spirit can be resurrected to supernatural life through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit alone is your ticket into Heaven.

And He gives His supernatural resurrection life to those who ask.

Because it’s impossible to be good enough to meet the Father’s standard of perfection.

“For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;”—the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 64:6

One ticket to enter Heaven.

And freely available to everyone who is humble enough to ask, whether a toddler or a man dying and gasping out his last breaths.

As the thief on his own cross, crucified next to Jesus, who acknowledged his sin and declared his faith in Jesus as he was dying. And Jesus promised he would be in Paradise that day with Him (Luke 23:43).

If you’re running on the hamster wheel of good works, trying to earn God’s love: relax. You already have it if you’ve confessed your sins and acknowledged Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Rest and rejoice in His love as one of His children.

If you think you can earn your way into heaven—you’re deceived. You can never be good enough. Which is good news, because you don’t have to clean up your act first to get saved. Just pray the prayer below the ***.

Don’t cross that great divide thinking you’re good enough. Not even Job met the standard, and God declared him to be the most righteous man on the earth (Job 1:8). When Job tried to justify himself before God, claiming that he didn’t deserve such punishment, the Almighty rebuked him.

In summary: There is only one ticket to heaven.

Not good deeds.

But the Holy Spirit, given freely to those who ask.

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”—Jesus, Luke 11:13

God bless.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

***

To receive resurrection life you must:

Admit you are a sinner.

God is the boss, not you.

Jesus is your Lord, God in the flesh, who died for your sins and was resurrected bodily from the grave on the third day to give you life.

If you’re ready to start a new path in life, please pray the following, out loud if possible:

Dear Heavenly Father, Please forgive my sin. Thank you for sending Jesus to take the punishment that my sin deserves. I call on Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Please fill me with the Holy Spirit. I give my life to you. Show me how much You love me. Thank you for hearing my prayer. In the name of Jesus, amen.

If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you’re born again. Please start reading the Bible daily; it’s your soul food. Just as your body needs daily nourishment to be healthy, so does your soul.

Also, please join a Bible-believing church or Bible study. And get baptized. If that’s not possible right now, I recommend these two ministries, which also have apps, if that’s your preference: http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way) and http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message). There are other godly ministries, but it’s easy to get misled by bad teaching or legalism if you don’t know what the Bible teaches fairly well.

God bless you.

May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.