God Wants To Hear From You, Psalm 55:17

I want your dinner! Are you listening to me?

When I was a teenager, I’d walk my poodle, Penny, and talk to God for at least an hour. Sometimes poor Penny sat on the bed with me as I poured out my teen angst and concerns to the Lord. Although I wasn’t born again nor understood who Jesus was yet, I believed there was a God Who heard me.

That poor dog!

Over a decade later I became born again. And although I accepted Christ was the Lord God in the flesh (Matthew 1:23), I then started talking to God like a holy person was supposed to: interceding for people and making other mighty requests that an Almighty, caring God could answer.

And expressing thanks, of course, trying to focus on the silver lining of life and its events.

But over the years I’ve had one problem after another. My pastor talks about the valley every Christian will have to go through eventually. But I’d like to get out of the valley once in a while! Some of us just seem to stay there in the desert without understanding why and if we get out of the valley, we’re right back in another with little rest!

Even when not engaging in any willful disobedience.

So this past holiday season I asked God: “What’s up with that? Why can’t I get a break from things going awry?”

Psalm 55:17 provides an answer:

“Evening and mourning and at noon, I will complain and murmur, and He will hear my voice.”

What, Dawn? Have you lost it?

I sensed that God was trying to pull me back into a true friendship with Him. To not see Him just as The Big Guy Who answers prayers, but also as my friend Who wants to hear from me. Who wants to be the Heavenly Father Who listens to his child talk about her day, her feelings, her concerns, and her worries.

To engage with Him and not just talk to Him.

So I think God trying to coax me into opening up my heart to Him once again as I used to as a teen. After all, when everything’s going great, I don’t have much to complain or murmur about.

God wants a true relationship with us, to be a friend and not just a Guy Who Answers Prayers.

Now it’s OK to make requests. In the verse before, 16, David cries out:

“As for me, I shall call upon God, and the Lord will save me.”

But I have to remember that He’s also my best friend Who knows me more intimately and completely than anyone else ever could, Who understands me better than anyone else ever could, and is always there to call out to when no one else can always be there for me.

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”—Hebrews 13:5, Deuteronomy 31:6

Please say “hello” to your best friend every day.

God bless you.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

***

Even though I spoke for hours upon hours to the Lord as a teenager, pouring out my heart to Him, it was a one-way conversation as I was not yet born again, filled by God’s Spirit.

Only His sheep hear His voice (John 10:27).

If you’re unsaved, generally the Lord will have only one message for you to hear: Follow Me. Become born again by My Spirit. Come to Me for life (Matthew 16:24, John 3:3, 5:40).

God wants to be your Heavenly Father and best friend. Will you please accept His invitation to enter into relationship with Him?

“Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”—Apostle Paul, Romans 10:13)

The Lord’s name is Jesus, the God Who came in human flesh (Mathew 1:23) to die for your sins so that you don’t have to, and rose bodily from the dead to give you resurrection life through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Do you believe this?

If not, will you ask Him for the faith to believe?

If you’re ready to enter into a love relationship with God, please repeat the below prayer, out loud if possible:

Dear Heavenly Father, I call on Jesus to be my Savior and God Who died for my sins. I’m sorry for my disobedience and humbly ask for Your forgiveness. Please be my friend and Father and constant companion, my Good Shepherd Who will lead me and guide me now and forever. Please give me Your Holy Spirit. I give my life to You. 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 as it’s your soul food. Just as your body needs daily nourishment to be healthy, so does your soul. I suggest starting with the book of Matthew as it’s easy to understand, and reading forward.

Also, 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).

God bless you as you start your new life in Christ.

May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.

Too Lovey Dovey? Buddy Brief

If you read my blog regularly, you know Buddy was rescued out of an abusive situation. Because he was so terrified of me, I didn’t enroll him in an obedience class.

Now he sometimes acts like a spoiled little brat. For instance, demanding I give him my chicken lunch through continual whining and fussing, even after gobbling down his own portion in his dish.

I was thinking about this verse recently, something Jesus said, recorded in Matthew 10:16:

“‘Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.’”

There seems to be an expectation in the Christian community that every leader, even politicians, should always be sweet and loving.

Lovey dovey.

But the Bible has multiple examples of leaders who were quite outspoken, bold, loud, even obnoxious at times.

The Old Testament prophets Elijah and his successor Elisha, and John the Baptist in the Gospels, were fiery, aggressive orators; definitely not men you’d call sweet and kind.

Elijah mocked and taunted the false prophets of Baal and even ordered to have them slaughtered (1 Kings 18:40).

Elisha cursed the “youths” mocking him and calling him names, so he “pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the youth (2 Kings 2:24)”. Because you don’t show disrespect to God’s appointed prophets!

And John the Baptist “saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’ (Matthew 3:7)”

Even Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers in the Temple in Jerusalem, and took a whip of cords and chased the money changers and their animals out of the building.

There seems to be a theme here:

Sometimes you gotta act “not nice” when confronting evil.

In summary, God uses all sorts of personalities to accomplish His will.

Please don’t discount someone as a servant of God because their manner is more brash or forceful than yours.

Acting like a dove means avoiding sin but, also, sometimes knowing when to show grace to a sinful person.

But, in my opinion, sometimes being shrewd means knowing when to stand up and confront evil with strong words and actions.

Because some hearts are too hard; evil’s strong grip on a soul may require a good yank.

God bless you.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

PS. Please check out this great sermon by pastor Dr Charles Stanley. It’ll bless you.

https://www.intouch.org/listen/radio/when-we-feel-burned-out-part-1

Acceptable In The Beloved, Ephesians 1:6

Buddy

As you all know by now, Buddy is a bit of a spoiled brat because I was reluctant to discipline him after his adoption as he had spent three years in an abusive situation. But no matter how big of a stinker he is at times, I still adore my furpal and would never give him up.

Pastor Andrew Farley has been speaking quite a bit this year about how the modern church is treating the gospel as a “self-improvement program,” focusing Christians’ attention on themselves, rather than on their Savior.

So that got me thinking.

Concurrently, I started reading a book from the library on the perfectionism epidemic in modern Western culture called, The Perfection Trap, by Thomas Curran.

Mr Curran discusses the research of the past few decades into the exploding, and rapidly rising, trend in perfectionism. It’s particularly difficult for the generations growing up under the influence of social media.

Culture, and families, are pushing unrealistic expectations onto people to be more, do more, accomplish more, excel more. It’s creating depression, stress, and anxiety.

There’s pressure to look better, be more fit, be more healthy, be more relaxed, be more confident, be more educated, be more organized, be more cosmopolitan—just always striving to be more!

You cannot just relax and be yourself.

Enough is never good enough!

You must always be improving!

People are manifesting this pressure in several different ways: overwork, or trying to be like someone else, or not trying, or procrastinating out of fear of failure.

Parents want their kids to be all stars and get into the best colleges, even if it means bribing people. Kids want to be influencers and make lots of money on social media.

And, it seems to me that the modern Church is mirroring our culture by putting the same expectations on people, turning the Good News into Bad News.

Many new Christians hear the message: The Law of Moses showed you that you were incapable of meeting God’s righteous standards, so, congratulations, you’ve realized your need for Christ. Now that you’re born again, the Holy Spirit will help you keep the Moral Law.

Now you can, dear Christian: be more, do more, excel more.

But what did the Apostle Paul write to the Church in Ephesus:

“…He chose us in Him (Jesus) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His Grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.”—Ephesians 1:4-6

The Apostle Paul was highly educated and can sometimes create massive sentences, but did you catch his conclusion?

That Christians are “accepted in the Beloved.”

After I prayed to give my life to Christ, the Holy Spirit told me three things, and I surely wish I’d meditated these past 33 on the third much more: “Although I know every sin you’ve ever committed, I still love you very much.”

I was so thrilled that God was real and loved me that I was smiling with excitement nearly 24/7. At that time I worked with the public, and nonbelievers would ask me, “Why are you so happy?” And I’d respond, “Because Jesus loves me!”

Knowing me for some time, they wouldn’t criticize, but mumble, “OK,” and walk away.

Then I heard two legalistic sermons the same day that stole my joy. Since Jesus declared that “the truth sets you free (John 8:32),” I should’ve figured something was wrong with the teaching. But I was a new Christian, so who was I to question these two preachers with massive audiences and worldwide influence?

What was that false teaching that stole my joy and placed the chains of legalism around my heart for decades?

That some Christians were more acceptable to God than others. Christians who worked hard enough and met a certain standard (whatever that is) got to sit at the banquet table with Christ.

And those who didn’t meet that standard—lesser Christians—got to heaven but weren’t seated at the table with those superior Christians.

So I fell out of the joy of knowing Jesus loved me…

…and hopped onto the hamster wheel of trying to be acceptable to God through works.

In other words, the gospel of: do more, be more, achieve more.

And then, we’re saturated with examples of the super Christian, the one who makes us feel we’re failing because we aren’t as good, or kind, or humble, or doing enough amazing works like this phantom superstar.

So, some give up, walking away from Christ and the Church because they can’t meet THE STANDARD.

When they were already humble enough to admit they couldn’t meet God’s STANDARD of righteousness and gave their lives to Him.

You see, Pastor Farley is correct: the Church has Christians focused on themselves and their performance,…

…instead of…

…on Jesus and His performance,…

…His finished work on the Cross.

Dear Readers, Jesus said, “It is finished (John 19:30).”

King David, of the ancient kingdom of Israel and Judah, understood this truth. He was forgiven the sins of murder and adultery because he understood the grace of God.

“Oh my soul, you have said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You.’”—NKJV Psalm 16:2)

Relax. Focus on Jesus and His righteousness…

…on God and His unbelievable love and kindness.

He loves you so much that “even the very hairs of your head are all numbered (Jesus, Luke 12:7).”

And, please, pray for the grace to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

And don’t stress about your focus!

You are totally “accepted in the Beloved.”

And the joy of the Lord will begin to bubble out of your soul.

“Praise the Lord!”—Psalm 147:1 (and others!)

“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.”—Psalm 136:1

God bless you.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

***

The gospel about Jesus really is Good News.

God loves you and sent His Son to die for your sins, so that you don’t have to meet His standard of perfection to enter heaven (Matthew 5:48).

No one can meet God’s standards, not even the kindest and most sacrificial of Christian teachers.

What God wants is for you to humble yourself enough to admit that you’re a sinner and need a heart change, to submit to His moral authority.

If you realize you want to experience God’s marvelous love and acceptance by becoming one of His children, please pray the following, out loud if possible:

Dear Heavenly Father, please forgive my sins. I ask Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. I believe He died for my sins and was resurrected bodily to give me new life. Please give me Your Holy Spirit. I give my life to You. Please reveal to me how much You love me. In the wonderful name of 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 food to be nourished, 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).

God bless you as you learn how much He loves you.

May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.

Changing Your Focus, Psalm 107

As many of you now know, Buddy is a rescue who was abused for three years before I adopted him—furever! At first he was terrified of me, but gradually his focus moved from his awful past to his present life full of love with his new family.

I bought a pocket-sized NASB version of only the Book of Psalms, so that I could focus reading a few chapters every morning without pulling out a heavy book.

Most people focus on Psalm 23. It’s a wonderful Psalm by the ancient king of Israel, David. But there are many other marvelous Psalms that are also worthy of our meditation and focus.

Please join me in culling some of the wonderful gems in the 43 verses of chapter 107 in the Book of Psalms.

Primarily, the Psalm describes the various ways that people get themselves into trouble by acting without God in their lives. But when they acknowledge their need for the Lord’s help, He responds to their cries.

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is forever.”—Verse one

It’s basically a Psalm about how kind God is, rescuing us from our own self-imposed troubles. Unlike Satan, He doesn’t kick us when we’re down, but responds to sincere cries for help.

1. Verse two discusses how God redeems us “from the hand of the adversary.” The Lord Jesus came in the flesh, which is celebrated on Christmas Day, to live a perfect life and redeem us—buy us back—out of Satan’s realm of darkness and transfer us into the kingdom of His beloved Son (Colossians 1:13) by dying for our sins.

We cannot earn this salvation; it is freely given to us when we call upon the name of the Lord to save us (Romans 10:13).

And throughout the Psalm, people call on God for help, which He freely gives to them.

2. Verses 4-9 describes people who are wandering “in a desert region” and in great physical distress. They were lost, unable to find an inhabited city to get help. Unable to get human aid, they turned to God, acknowledging they needed God’s rescue—and “He led them also by a straight way, to go to an inhabited city”.

Which reminds me of everyone’s favorite Psalm:

“He leads us in the paths of righteousness for His namesake.”—Psalm 23:3

When we follow God’s path, we discover that the Good Shepherd’s ways lead out of the confusion in the desert of sin and into green pastures of peace and safety.

3. Verses 11-16 describe people who are enslaved by sin and unable to free themselves. They’re miserable because “they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High. Therefore, He humbled their heart with labor…”

Consequences for sinful behavior are an act of love from God. It causes us to realize our need for Him, to change our destructive behavior, so He allows us to suffer the result of our sin, so that we’ll come to our senses and acknowledge our need to follow Him and not our own desires. When the people in Psalm 107 finally realized, once again, that human effort couldn’t rescue them, they called out to God, who shattered their chains of sin.

4. Verses 17-22 describe people who became seriously ill: “Fools, because of their rebellious way, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted.” But when they acknowledged their sin and repented, how did God help?

“He sent His word and healed them.”—verse 20

Deceased Pastor Norman Peale had many different persons approach him, as detailed in his various books, with serious ailments of various sorts that caused them great suffering and interfered with their careers. What the Pastor often discovered is that these men engaged in serious sin, such as adultery. Their guilt and wickedness was the root cause of their illness and setbacks. Once they confessed their sin, acknowledging their need to follow God’s moral rules and stop rebelling, they became healthy—mentally, physically, and spiritually.

God’s word, the Bible, sometimes is the cure for what afflicts us. He gives us instruction, insight, and hope through the promises in the Scriptures.

5. Verses 23-32 describe men engaged in commerce, who “do business on great waters.” But they encountered a great storm which caused them great fear and distress. But when they called on the Lord to save them, “He caused the storm to be still.”

Sometimes we get busy conducting business, searching for wealth or fame, and forget to include God in our lives. Then we encounter obstacles which are totally beyond our control, which reminds us to seek God.

And, God graciously rescues us.

6. Verses 33-38 describes how God can curse the efforts of wicked people, but bless the labor of good people. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the way is death (Proverbs 14:12).” Sometimes our efforts are not succeeding because we’re compromising our moral integrity. If you’re a child of God, He may delay blessing you till you repent and commit to acting with moral integrity.

7. Lastly, verses 39-42 describe how sometimes we suffer because of the wickedness of other people who oppress us in some way, particularly those in high positions of power. But God graciously delivers us.

Why?

“Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things, and consider the lovingkindness of the Lord.”—verse 43

May we always seek God in time of need, Who has the power to deliver us from circumstances and people too mighty for us to combat alone.

And from our own sin.

Please consider pointing unbelievers to this wonderful Psalm, which describes the many ways God will deliver people from the consequences of sin, if they’re willing to acknowledge their need for a Savior.

And recognize that He’s good.

God bless you.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

***

“Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”—Apostle Paul, Romans 10:13

It doesn’t matter what kind of trouble you’re in, God is good and loves you. He’s willing to forgive your sin and rescue you from bondage to the Kingdom of Darkness.

He doesn’t discriminate. No matter how far you’ve wandered in the desert, He’s willing to respond to your cries for rescue if you’re willing to repent and call on Jesus to be your Lord and Savior.

Lord: your moral authority and King of your life and

Savior: The one Who died for your sins, taking the punishment you deserve.

No need to get your act together first. Just humble acknowledgment of your need for Him. He knows about it all anyway, so why not confess your need to be delivered from self-destructive behavior?

He loves you and is eager to hear you call out to Him.

After I gave my life to the Lord, the Holy Spirit told me that, “He knew every sin I’ve ever committed, but still loves me very much.”

God already knows you cannot be good. Your sin doesn’t shock Him, regardless of how bad you think it is. He wants to rescue you—if you’ll only call out to Him.

Why not invite Him into your life right now? Don’t delay. Tomorrow is never promised to us.

Please pray the following, out loud if possible:

Dear Heavenly Father, I’m sorry for my sin and ask for Your forgiveness. I call on Jesus to be my Lord and Savior, and confess that He died for my sins so that I don’t have to be punished for them. I call on Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. I give my life to You. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit. And teach me how much You love me. I need Your help in my life. Thank you for hearing my prayer. 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 as it’s your soul food. Just as your body needs food daily to be nourished, so does your soul.

And start attending a Bible-based 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 or follow bad teaching till you know the Bible fairly well.

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

Loved Just As You Are, Psalm 69:5, 16-17

Fall trim: Fruity

Buddy’s so adorable when he’s a big fur ball, but about three times a year he gets professionally groomed. When he’s trimmed, as above, I nickname him “Fruity,” because his trimmed face resembles a fruit bat.

Fruit bat image from Doi.gov

(I tried to find a tan bat but couldn’t locate the best one to illustrate my point.)

Although Buddy looks very different trimmed, we still love him and consider him adorable. Even when he acts like a little stinker (or smells like one on occasion), he’s still a beloved member of our family.

King David trusted that, even though God knew he was a sinner, his Heavenly Father could still be counted on to deliver him from his enemies in a time of need:

“O God, it is You who knows my folly, and my wrongs are not hidden from You….Answer me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; according to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me, and do not hide Your face from Your servant, for I am in distress; answer me quickly.”—Psalm 69:5, 16-17

Because we’re born again, indwelt by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16), we greatly desire to obey and please Jesus. But although our spirits and hearts have been renewed, we still have minds programmed and influenced by the world, the flesh, Satan, and our past history. It’s why the Apostle Paul exhorts Christians to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).”

Because we’re aware of our sin, we sometimes balk at bringing our prayer requests before the Lord, because we feel unworthy. We want to clean up our act firstly before coming to Him.

But here’s the BIG TRUTH many Christians forget or legalism prevents us from considering:

WE’RE NEVER WORTHY.

It’s why Christ had to die to atone for the sins of humanity (John 3:16), because only a spotless lamb was an acceptable sacrifice for sin (Exodus 12:5, 1 Peter and 1:19). We are never seen as spotless, free of sin, before we confess our sins and come into relationship with Jesus. Then, clothed with the blood sacrifice of Christ, we become beloved children of God (Galatians 3:26).

The Apostle Paul admonished the Corinthian church for their sinful behavior: drunkenness at communion, tolerating incest, dividing into camps based upon which apostle they followed rather than Christ, etc. They were immature in their behavior and not doing a good job of submitting to God in the sanctification process.

Yet, the Apostle Paul begins his two letters to the Corinthian church greeting them as saints: 1 Corinthians 1:2, 2 Corinthians 2:2 and brethren (1 Corinthians 2:1, 3:1, 2 Corinthians 1:8) and, also:

“You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; you are manifestly an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.”—2 Corinthians 3:2-3

He gently rebukes them for their sin, calling for repentance, reminding them that they are God’s children who are to love others and shine the light of Christ into this dark world.

But he continues to love them and call them fellow believers—because they are born again by the Holy Spirit of God.

My dear brother or sister in Christ, always call upon Jesus in your time of need. He knows that it’s impossible for you to meet the perfect standard of righteousness that the Law requires (Matthew 5:48).

Call on Him with humility and sincerity as He loves you.

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”—Apostle John, 1 John 4:10

God bless you.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

***

Everyone is made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27), but only those who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior and become born again are His children:

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”—Apostle John, John 1:12-13

You may not have heard this before as our culture teaches that every person is a child of God—but it isn’t true. Only those in relationship with the Father through the Son are children of God.

Every human is made in His image, which gives precious value to everyone. So treasured are humans that He sent His Son to live a perfect life, taking on human flesh, then die on a cross to take the punishment for our sins instead of us. He rose bodily from the grave on the Third Day, proving that He is God and can give eternal life to those who repent and ask Him to be their God.

If you believe this but haven’t joined God’s family yet, will you please pray the following 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 my Lord and Savior. Please change my heart and life by granting that Your Holy Spirit lives within me. I give my life to You. Please teach me how much You love me. Thank You for hearing my prayer. 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 as it’s your spiritual soul food. Just as your body needs food every day to stay healthy, so does your soul.

And 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 be misled by bad teaching or legalism till you know the Bible fairly well.

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

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.

Jesus Wasn’t Always “Nice,” Matthew 23:33

Buddy looking for me.

I took this photo this afternoon. While I was doing my back exercises, Buddy lay in his bed while keeping a watchful eye on me. When I had to leave the room to make lunch for my mother recovering from surgery, he got up to investigate where I’d gone. He likes to keep a watchful eye on me.

When I adopted Buddy, he became my furever friend. I’d never abandon my pal—willingly. If death suddenly claims me would be the only cause.

Which is why his prior owner placed Buddy for adoption: She was dying of cancer and was unable to prevent her husband from mistreating Buddy.

Can you imagine a man so callous?

I cannot imagine mistreating my pal, although I’ll admit to rate moments of not speaking nice when I’m frustrated, for which my pal always forgives me. (I’ve had a few things to forgive Buddy for, also. After all, he is a terrier.)

I guess there’s an advantage to not being raised Christian, as I haven’t been exposed to Christian memes my entire life. (I was saved from Satan’s kingdom at age 28, for which I’ll always be thankful.) One widely repeated phrase is that if you’re nice, you can get a person’s attention so that you eventually win the right to preach the gospel to them.

“Preach the Gospel at all times, and, if necessary, use words.”—St Francis of Assisi

Which is sort of a work’s righteousness attitude, that one’s good works can win someone to Christ, rather than the Gospel. Or, as Apostle Paul said,

“How then will they call on Him in Whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him Whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”—Romans 10:14-15

I actually discovered this website that claims St Francis of Assisi never said that. And agrees with my assessment of the attitude: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/factchecker-misquoting-francis-of-assisi/

Okay, please follow me here. You can note above a Christian meme repeated often, yet is not true.

It’s the Gospel that shatters the stubborn, flinty heart of pride (Jeremiah 23:29).

So back to being nice—or not.

Jesus called the religious, legal and political rulers of the Jewish people: “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?”—Matthew 23:33

Jesus wasn’t exactly being “nice,” was He?

In fact, in the section of Scripture described as the “Eight Woes” in the NASB translation, Jesus calls them (Matthew 23:13-36):

“Hypocrites”—verses 13, 14, 15, 23, 25, 27, and 29. (Seems like Jesus is trying to make a point here.)

Are hell bound—verse 13, sons of hell—verse 15.

Blind guides, fools—verses 16 and 17.

Prevent others from entering heaven—verse 13.

Take advantage of widows, pray long prayers for show, and are condemned—verse 14.

Reject justice, mercy and faithfulness—verse 23.

Full of robbery and self-indulgence—verse 25.

Murderers—verses 34-35

But, the gentle Jesus spoke kindly to the common person: tax collectors, prostitutes, fishermen, adulterers, the sick and lepers, children, etc. He seemed to have enormous patience, also, with his disciples.

Jesus spoke harshly to those who were misleading the children of Israel and hindering the saving work of God’s kingdom, denying that Jesus was their awaited Messiah, the Christ.

In fact, the only time it’s recorded that Jesus spoke harshly to the disciples is when Peter tried to convince Jesus not to give His life as a sin sacrifice on the Cross, temping Jesus not to fulfill His mission:

“Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You!’ But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me;’”—Matthew 16:22-23 (Interesting that Peter still acknowledged Jesus was the Lord, yet was telling Him what to do. Don’t all of us Christians do the same at times? I do.)

So, my point is: There are times when it’s appropriate to rebuke people, yet do so without hypocrisy (2 Timothy 4:2). When someone is in a leadership position, they can influence many ordinary, or powerless, people in the wrong way. They may be misguided (Nicodemus repented) or wickedly misleading people into ungodly behaviors.

Evil sometimes needs to be called out for the benefit of others.

It takes courage to “speak truth to power.”

If you lack courage, wisdom or opportunity to do so, then please pray that the Lord guide you how to respond properly toward evil leaders.

Or support those willing to do so, just as the army of Israel initially was afraid but followed David into battle after David killed Goliath (1 Samuel 17).

Please remember: Evil persists till it’s challenged.

Even God challenges evil: It’s called “consequences”. So that people repent.

Hope this prompts some contemplation.

God bless you.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

PS. Jesus did pay a consequence for challenging the Jewish leaders. They convinced the Romans to crucify Jesus, a man Pontius Pilate knew was innocent (Luke 23:4). Be certain that you’re prepared to suffer the consequences of standing against evil leadership.

***

Yes, it’s scary to stand up against people who have power over you. But there is a Creator Who loves you Who has already defeated evil in this world by dying on the Cross for your sins and then was resurrected from the dead on the third day to give you His resurrection life (Romans 5:8, 6:4).

It doesn’t matter what sins you’re guilty of. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).” Every person is born spiritually dead in their sins and needs God to forgive them. Not one single person is good enough to earn their way into heaven by their good deeds (Matthew 5:48).

“Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Joel 2:32, Romans 10:13).”

Are you willing to accept God as Your Lord, your moral authority? To recognize that He sent His Son Jesus, “God in the flesh (Matthew 1:23),” to die for your sins so that you don’t have to?

If so, please say the following prayer, out loud if possible:

Dear Heavenly Father, I’m sorry for my sin. I ask You to please forgive my sin and I call on Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. I ask the Holy Spirit to fill me and seal me for eternity as Your child. I give my life to You. Please teach me how much You love me, so that I can love others like You do. Thank you for hearing my prayer. In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.

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

And please join a Bible believing church or Bible study group. And get baptized. If that’s not possible right now, I suggest 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 false or legalistic teaching until you know the Bible fairly well. Pastors Max Lucado, Chuck Smith and Chuck Swindoll also wrote excellent books.

God bless you as you start your new life.

May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.

Believing The Lie That You’re Not Enough, Genesis 3:5

When Buddy wants attention, he’ll sometimes head for the bag of paper shredding in my parents’ den and live it up by kicking shredded paper everywhere. I don’t want him to inhale any paper shavings, so I’ll interrupt his fun. But no matter how he misbehaves, he’s still the perfect dog for me. We have a great partnership.

I had planned a different topic tonight but felt the need to write something encouraging again. Yes, I’m going to squeeze more “juice” out of the Adam and Eve story. (Some claim it’s apple juice, but that claim cannot be confirmed.)

Adam and Eve were declared “very good (vs 1:31),” not only because humans were designed in “God’s image (vs 1:27),” but because they were perfect. Flawless. The very best of God’s creation. They were complete.

And God had created a beautiful world for them to live in, full of delicious foods and animal companions that they could speak to.

But they bought the devil’s lie that they were incomplete, that they didn’t measure up. That they could be more.

“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”—Genesis 3:5

Adam and Eve didn’t accept themselves as created. There was something more and better that they could be, Satan said. They were inadequate as they were. They didn’t measure up. They needed to be wiser and more knowledgeable like God. They were blind to their true potential.

As you know, they disobeyed God by eating fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and fell from their glorious perfection. They became dead spiritually, when they were once alive and in perfect union with God in their spirits. They also began to age, when their bodies were created beautiful and magnificent.

By buying Satan’s lie, they became seriously flawed.

Modern Western culture, and sadly the church, is swallowing the bitter apple Satan offers: That they are not good enough.

Christians are declared, once accepting the blood sacrifice of Jesus to atone for their sins, “holy and blameless and beyond reproach (Colossians 1:22), and can “stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy (Jude 1:24).”

Even the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, described our future cleansing from our sins by the one time sacrifice of Jesus in Isaiah 1:18: “Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.”

And King David of ancient Israel, who also prophesied about the coming Messiah, said in Psalm 103:12: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgression from us.”

Yet many Christians confuse their spiritual condition (blameless and forgiven) with their lifelong process of sanctification. They feel dirty and undeserving before a holy God, rather than rejoicing they are a beloved child. They believe they need to earn the Father’s love by trying to be as perfect as possible, rather than resting in the finished work of Christ—Who already fulfilled the Law—that God already loves them perfectly, that His love doesn’t need to be earned by being “good enough.”

God knows we’re flawed beings, which is why Jesus had to come to save us from our own self destructive behavior.

And unbelievers cannot accept themselves either, as they were created. They wish they were another sex, another race, had a different metabolism or body shape, were smarter or had different skills or talents, etc.

They often accept the devil’s lies through another person or our culture that they are not lovable or acceptable unless they look a certain way, achieve certain goals or status, or health, or have certain talents and interests.

Instead of viewing their current sex, or race, or body type or intelligence or talent or physical appearance as a gift from a loving God who designed them to follow a particular path in life, they reject themselves for who they are.

If you discover as a child that you have one amazing skill—can play football, build things or dance—it’s pretty easy to find your life path.

But if you’re multi-talented, it can be a bit more difficult to figure out which path is the best one, or how to fit all the different pieces together.

Or it’s not so obvious, and a person needs to work a little harder to discover what they’re naturally gifted at.

Most often, I believe, it’s not that the person doesn’t know what they’re good at or naturally interested in, but they don’t believe that talent or skill is important or special enough.

I also believe that some of our interests are God-given. And Science is proving that we’re born introverts or extroverts, that our basic personality can only be modified so much (note the book, “Quiet, by Susan Cain). As David declares in Psalm 139:13-16, He lovingly creates us, even forming “our inward parts,” ie. our personality.

God made you in His image.

You are NOT an accident of the universe.

You were deliberately designed to be loved…

By an amazingly patient and loving God.

God bless you.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

***

I viewed a short clip online by a young woman, tricked out in piercings and tattoos and risqué clothing, who commented that God wasn’t real because He wasn’t zapping her for being blasphemous.

I responded, “He isn’t punishing you because He loves you and wants you to repent and come into relationship with Him. He doesn’t want you to go to Hell.”

Jesus said in John 3:17:

“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

We’re made in God’s image, but fall short of His glory spiritually because we’re born dead in our sins (Romans 3:23, Ephesians 2:1). He wants to give everyone the spiritual life we were designed to have, but don’t, because Adam and Eve decided to believe Satan’s words rather than His word.

If you realize you feel incomplete and acknowledge only Jesus can give new birth to your spirit, please pray the following:

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for loving me so much that You want to be in relationship with me. I realize that I need You in my life. I’m tired of feeling inadequate and not enough, because of other people’s criticism or my own self condemnation. I ask Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Please forgive my sins and wash me white as snow. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I give my life to You. Help me to stop believing the lies of my culture and other people by revealing to me how much You love me. May the Holy Spirit guide me into all truth. In the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, amen.

If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you’re born again. Please start reading the Bible as it’s your soul food. Just as your body needs daily nourishment to be healthy, so your soul needs God’s holy word to be healthy. I suggest starting with the Book of Matthew as it’s easy to understand. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you as you read.

Also, please join a Bible believing church or Bible study. And get baptized. If that’s not possible right now, I suggest these godly ministries, in order of my personal preference: http://www.AndrewFarley.org and http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way). They also have apps, if that’s your preference. There are other godly ministries, but they can sometimes be legalistic and you need a firm foundation in the truth to recognize when law and grace are being mixed together.

May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.

The Consequence of Being Offensive, Proverbs 17:27-28

Buddy wanted my attention so he strolled over to my HVAC and knocked over the bucket collecting water from the wounded unit. I marveled as his intelligence to figure out what would most get my attention while also realizing he was acting like a little monster. But because I love him so much, I didn’t get angry but, instead, tried to figure out what he wanted.

(He ran away from the harness so, apparently, he didn’t have to go outside. He seemed content with the dog biscuit I gave him; at least, he stopped whining at me.)

Of course, I didn’t permit Buddy to knock it over again.

The Biblical book of Proverbs is packed with good advice, which I wish I could live up to 100%. If I could, I’d avoid more unnecessary problems.

“He who restrains his words has knowledge…even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is considered prudent.”—Proverbs 17:27-28

The first king of ancient Israel was a man named Saul of the tribe of Benjamin. Although the prophet Samuel had anointed David, the son of Jesse of the tribe of Judah, to be Saul’s successor, David did not immediately rule over all of Israel after Saul’s death.

At the city of Hebron, the tribe of Judah anointed David as their king. But Abner, the commander of King Saul’s army, named Saul’s son Ish-bosheth over all the other tribes of Israel (2 Samuel 2:8-20), against the will of God.

David ruled 7.5 years exclusively over the tribe of Judah as king from Hebron (vs 5:5). However, an insulting exchange changed David’s status and the nation of Israel’s history.

Now Ish-bosheth owed his position as king due to the good will of one powerful man, and not God’s will. It never ends well when you don’t submit to the Lord’s plans and, instead, follow the desire of people who are fickle and can change their minds on a whim.

2 Samuel 3:6-12 relates how the King of Israel foolishly insulted his greatest supporter and eventually lost his kingship:

“It came about that while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David that Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul.

“Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah; and Ish-bosheth said to Abner, ‘Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?’

“Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, ‘Am I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to the house of Saul and your father, to his brothers and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hands of David; and yet today you charge me with guilt concerning the woman. May God do so to Abner, and more also, if as the Lord has sworn to David, I do not accomplish this for him, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba.’

“And he could no longer answer Abner a word, because he was afraid of him.”

I’m betting that the king of Israel had wished he’d kept his mouth shut!

Subsequently, Abner went to David and made a covenant pact with him to help Israel declare David as their king over all the tribes. However, Abner was killed on his return to his home by a man avenging his brother Abner had killed. (Abner didn’t want to kill Asahel but the man wouldn’t stop pursuing him, despite his warnings.)

With his most powerful supporter, Abner, dead, Ish-bosheth was assassinated by two of his commanders. Then the elders of Israel came to Hebron and swore allegiance to David, making him king over all of the tribes of Israel, the descendants of Abraham through Isaac.

Now, when I get agitated or stupid and say things I later regret, I am not in danger of losing a kingdom. But I can lose a person’s good opinion, a friendship, an opportunity or a useful connection, or even put myself into physical danger.

God also sees and hears every thoughtless comment I make:

“But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.”—Jesus, Matthew 12:36

But, also, “there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.”—Apostle Paul, Romans 8:1

God disciplines His children in this life to keep us on “the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3) and for our benefit (Hebrews 12:5-11). But unbelievers suffer discipline after this life before the Father and Son on Judgment Day.

Although born again believers won’t be judged for out thoughtless words in the afterlife, we still reap what we sow, unless God graciously decides to intervene:

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”—Apostle Paul, Galatians 6:7

So, keeping in mind the sorry lesson Ish-bosheth learned, I’m going to try harder—with the help of the Holy Spirit—to be more careful what I say, or write!

God bless you.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

PS. All Bible quotes are from the NASB, unless otherwise noted. To help with memorization, I work with one translation.

***

I don’t think there’s a person alive who doesn’t wish they could take back something they’ve said. While most of what we say is forgotten by people, unless they’re particularly vengeful, God never forgets and hears it all. Jesus said, “For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart (Matthew 12:34).”

We say foolish things because we think foolish things. We are all born sinful, devoid of God’s Holy Spirit to lead us, so we say and think sinful things.

But those who give their lives to Jesus and submit to His authority as Lord, become “a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17)”. The Holy Spirit circumcises the heart and begins the process of renewing the mind through the Word of God, the Bible, and His guidance in our daily affairs.

If you’d like to have your sins forgiven so that you escape judgment for all of your foolish words and actions—and reroute the course of your life—please pray the below:

Dear Heavenly Father, I’ve sinned against You in word and deed my entire life. But I’m ready to submit to Your rule and authority as my Creator and God. Through Jesus Christ all things were created as He is God Your Son Who died for my sins, taking the punishment on the Cross that I deserve. So I ask Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Please forgive my sin. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I want to live for you. Make me a new creation. Thank you for answering my prayer. In the name of Jesus my Lord, amen.

If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you are born again. Please start reading the Bible as it’s your soul food. And join a Bible-based church or Bible study and be baptized. You need to fellowship with other believers to grow stronger in your faith.

If that’s not possible right now, these are my three favorite ministries, which also have apps: http://www.LTW.org, http://www.InTouch.org and http://www.AndrewFarley.org. There are other godly ministries, but it’s easy to be misled till you know the Bible fairly well.

May Buddy and I see you in heaven.

God bless.

Harry Potter and Misfits, 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

Buddy is my furever friend. He has a distinct personality from my prior dogs. In fact, we’re a perfect match as we’re both a bit strange. He knocks things over to get my attention, instead of barking, and licks his bowl to tell me that he’s hungry. He’s terrified of loudly chirping birds but will bark at large dogs that could crush him who he feels threatened by.

I believe one reason that the Harry Potter book series is so popular, besides being amazingly creative, is that Harry chose society’s misfits as his companions. Most people felt rejected by the cool kids when attending school, unwelcome in the popular clique. The fact that the “Chosen One” chooses the outsiders immensely increases Harry’s likability factor.

Harry rejects the offer to join the popular kids from arrogant, handsome, wealthy, pure blood wizard Draco Malfoy as he doesn’t want to discriminate against others. He knows the hurt of rejection, from suffering by living with the Dursleys. Instead, he surrounds himself with “misfits”: Hermione, the smart girl from a Muggle (nonmagical) family; Ron, the red-headed, freckled chess player from a large, not too wealthy family; Luna, the dreamy-eyed space cadet who sees and believes in creatures no one else sees; Seamus, the halfblood Irishman; Neville Longbottom, the clumsy dork; and Hagrid, the half-human, half-giant who loves dangerous creatures.

And guess what? God chooses misfits to join His team, also.

The Apostle Paul describes God’s choice of converts in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 as follows:

“For consider your calling, brethren, that there we’re not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen,…so that no man may boast before God.”

In other words, God doesn’t choose people because they’re popular, or good or beautiful or rich, but, rather, He chooses misfits who are humble enough to realize their need for a Savior.

Jesus chose, as His top 12, men who weren’t considered high class in Roman and Jewish society: fishermen, a political zealot and a tax collector, Matthew, a member of the most despised group in Jewish society.

Jesus also spoke to a Samaritan woman, a disliked racial group of Hebrews who had intermarried with Gentile pagans; rescued an adulteress from being stoned to death; allowed a woman considered impure from uterine bleeding, to touch his garment; permitted a repentant prostitute to wash his feet with her tears and hair; touched lepers, the most outcast group of society; approached demoniacs; and had lunch with a short tax collector.

God doesn’t discriminate. He doesn’t go looking for perfect, wonderfully holy people to join His family and spend eternity with Him.

“We love because He first loved us.”—Apostle John, 1 John 4:19

God chooses ordinary, faulty people like me and you who are willing to come to Him.

God bless you.

Much love from Dawn and Buddy

PS. God loves everyone. He chooses intelligent, lovely, charming and talented people as His children, also. After all, He created and gifts everyone in different ways.

***

As you can see, God loves you just as you are and welcomes you into His family. You don’t have to “clean up your act” first before becoming a child of His. Just welcome Him as your Lord, submitting to His authority, and He’ll partner with you to improve your personality. He does not reject anyone willing to open their heart to Him.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”—Jesus, Revelation 3:20

If you’d like to follow Jesus, the Great Shepherd, please pray the following:

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you that you love me and accept anyone into Your family who is willing to come. I call on Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Please forgive my sins. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I give my life to You. In Jesus’ holy name, amen.

If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you are born again. Just as your body needs daily meals, so your spirit needs soul food: the Bible. Please start reading it, daily if possible. I suggest starting with the Book of Matthew as it’s easy to understand.

Also, please join a Bible believing church or Bible study. If that’s not possible right now, please check out these three ministries, which also have apps, if that’s your preference: http://www.InTouch.org, http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way) or http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message). There are other godly ministries, but as a new believer, you can be misled by bad teaching till you become familiar with the Bible.

And if you can, get baptized.

God bless you. May Buddy and I see you in heaven.