Buddy likes to keep me within sight, even though he may not desire interaction.
I’m currently reading a nonfiction book that I highly recommend: Stolen Focus, Why You Can’t Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again, by Johann Hari. You can probably find it in your library system, as I did.
This statement really stood out for me, quoted by the author interviewing the magician called Tristan:
“How does a magician do their work? It works because they don’t have to know your strengths—they just have to know your weaknesses. How well do you know your weaknesses?”—page 108
Do you think Satan attacks your strengths?
Of course not. Like any enemy, he’s searching your life for any unintentional opening to breach your protective wall.
“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”—1 Peter 5:8
Now most of us aren’t important enough to attract Satan’s attention, but a third of the angelic host fell into disobedience and works for the devil.
So, please consider in prayer, asking Jesus to open your eyes to anything in your life that is giving the enemy of your soul an opening to take a bite out of you.
Take heed of CS Lewis’ oft quoted warning:
“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”
What are your weaknesses?
God bless you.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
***
To be fair, I’ll admit one weakness I am working on. I hate being treated as if I’m stupid or a liar. I’m neither and can quickly become defensive if I feel someone has attacked my intelligence or honesty. I have to learn to listen before responding without allowing my “hackles” to rise up and overwhelm my reason. Proverbs 18:13
Buddy was unhappy about being confined to the loft, so he pouted by staring into the mirror. He is losing his depth perception and must wait for me to pick him up and carry him down the staircase to the main living area. He would rather roam freely in our condo, doing what he wants when he wants.
The ancient Jewish religious leaders–the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes–rejected Jesus because they believed that their own works made them righteous in God’s sight. Although they diligently searched the scriptures about the coming Messiah, they missed recognizing Him when He stood in front of them, although He’d performed many miracles and fulfilled over 300 Old Testament prophecies. They were awaiting a Messiah Who would rescue them from oppression by the Roman Empire; they weren’t looking for a Savior Who would rescue them from their sins.
Their pride prevented from realizing they weren’t righteous enough to earn their way to heaven. God’s standard for holiness is perfection (Matthew 5:48). They believed that because they kept the Laws of Moses, they had God’s favor.
But they didn’t.
Their self-righteousness caused them to reject the very Messiah they eagerly awaited.
“For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.”–Apostle Paul, Romans 10:3
Today it’s still pride that keeps people from recognizing their own need for a Savior. They think they can earn their way into heaven by being good enough, whatever “good enough” is. They create their own moral code, neglecting to realize that they aren’t little gods who get to write the laws of the universe.
Satan also believed that he could replace god and write his own rules of behavior. Because he wanted to be worshipped and make the rules, he rebelled against God, falsely believing that He could knock the Almighty off of His throne (Isaiah 14:12-17).
It surprises me that people believe they can reject God’s rules, create their own moral code, and live however they want, then believe God must accept them into heaven to live with Him for eternity when they’ve rebelled against Him their entire lives. They don’t realize that the rules they hate still apply in Heaven, and the people they despise who follow the Lord and attempt to obey His rules will be in Heaven.
In other words, Heaven would be Hell for people who think they’re good and can create their own moral code. And don’t need to listen to some Almighty God telling them what to do.
Satan must’ve been a great speaker as he persuaded a third of the angels to rebel against their Maker.
Similarly, our postmodern Western culture has persuaded many to believe that there is no Almighty Creator and that they can make up their own rules of what good behavior is, what’s right and wrong.
We’re seeing right now how poorly that’s working out as our culture continues to disintegrate and technology increasingly threatens our liberty and freedom to move freely, to think and speak freely, and to protest against corruption and tyranny.
Just as the ancient religious leaders rejected Jesus as a Savior from their sins, sadly, many also do the same today.
But this lesson also applies to Christians in this way:
You can never be good enough through your own works righteousness. You need to remind yourself frequently that Jesus has clothed you with His robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). It’s never about how good you are, but how good He is. Jesus loved us so much that He died for our sins–all of them–because we can never be good enough to please Him. We want to please Him because our spirit is united with Christ through the Holy Spirit, and we now have an undying love for Him (Ephesians 6:24). But thinking we have to be perfect keeps us running on the hamster wheel of works righteousness till we exhaust ourselves emotionally; therefore, physical and spiritual exhaustion follows. He wants us to rejoice in how sweet, kind, and gentle He is.
“For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”–Jesus, Matthew 11:30
Rejoice today in how much Jesus loves you.
It’s not about being perfect, but how much He loves you by wanting to live with you forever. And to hear your prayers. He’s the only friend Who always has time to listen.
God bless you.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
***
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.
When Buddy ran off last year, he was too quick to capture. I couldn’t run fast enough. Fortunately, he stopped to sniff a bush and I was able to convince him to jump into the car for a ride.
The Lord Jesus told His disciple, Peter, during the Last Supper before His arrest that:
“Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.
“But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail;…”—Luke 22:31-32
If Jesus prayed that Peter would not lose his faith after falling away for a brief time, do you think He isn’t willing to do the same for you?
Indeed, there are two clear promises regarding the faith of God’s children.
For Jesus is:
“the author and finisher of our faith.”—Hebrews 12:2
And:
“He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 1:6
Rest assured that the Good Shepherd doesn’t bring sheep into His pasture and then allow them to wander away.
He’s going to continue His sanctifying work within His children till the Return of Christ, His Second Coming.
I know my furpal. If another dog walked into my home who wasn’t Buddy, I’d immediately wonder why and who its owner was.
Because that dog does not belong in my home.
But we don’t use that same discernment in the church. We just assume that everyone who sits in the pews is a born again believer or is interested in knowing more about Christ, or that anyone who preaches has the Spirit of the Lord.
But there is an event in the Bible that warns this is not necessarily true.
“Then He (Jesus) went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths….Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!’ But Jesus rebuked him,…”—Luke 4:31, 33-35
Not only was there an opponent and enemy of God hanging around in the congregation of sincere followers of God, but who also wanted nothing to do with Jesus.
The demonically possessed man was also perfectly capable of speaking openly and emphatically within a group of believers gathered together.
This is a warning not to assume everyone knows, loves, and obeys the Lord who attends or teaches in a church. Always use discernment and evaluate their teaching. If they disobey, or reject Jesus’ clear teachings, do not follow them. And do not allow them to influence you to disregard what God teaches in the Bible.
Please be respectful, as everyone is made in God’s image and He loves them.
But there might be a time to reprove or bring false teaching to the attention of leadership.
And if it’s the leaders who disobey God’s Word, leave the church.
Not everyone who walks through the doors of a church building is owned by Jesus.
For a few years Buddy started knocking things over to get my immediate attention. I’ll never forget when he knocked the top off of my shredder onto the tile of my dining room; my friend must’ve jumped two feet in the air off her chair. Buddy likely loved the loud slamming sound.
Buddy stopped knocking things over for about a year. Then, above, he pulled my fleece jacket off the back of a high chair to the floor. No loud slam, but it elicited a laugh—and my attention.
I’ve recently returned to school to improve my design skills. However, there’s a lot of intense homework this semester; I’ve been stressing out and my severe insomnia has returned. I’ve realized that my focus has been on the time crunch and worrying about not doing well—my focus has been negative, rather than positive.
So I’m trying to focus on the fact that the school allows older adults into their certificate programs, I’m already learning useful and valuable information helpful for my artistic goals, I only need to pass and not get perfect scores, etc.
OK. My mind goes in different directions sometimes. But this experience has prompted me to consider how Satan works: he wants our attention focused on the negative, rather than the positive, to discourage and depress us.
The devil lives “to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10)”, Jesus declared. He can only tear down and create chaos; he doesn’t want us focused on the beauty, creativity, and kindness of God—enjoying the Lord’s world. Satan wants us focused on his world of darkness, evil, and depravity.
As always, Satan wants to be the center of attention, rather than submitting to our Lord and Creator.
Satan’s self-centered desire to replace God in worship and attention never changes.
“You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly….I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”—Isaiah 14:13-14
So, please, just like I need to, keep your focus on the blessings of the Lord.
I was excited about Buddy’s new feathered tiara. I pictured him smiling joyfully toward the New Year with hope.
Nope. Instead, he looked just as miserable as portrayed in last year’s photo with his Happy New Year’s hat.
Often I have great hopes that don’t become reality. Or others that I’m still hoping will come true, but I’m waiting on God’s timing and blessing. As the Apostle Peter stated, our incredible Creator lives outside of time:
“With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”—2 Peter 3:8
What seems like a long wait to me may not even be a blink of the eye to Jesus.
I’ve been rereading a marvelous book by Pastor John Ortberg: “If You Want To Walk On Water You’ve Got To Get Out Of The Boat.” In Chapter Nine, “Learning To Wait,” he states that waiting on God to answer our prayers demonstrates both our Christian maturity and humility, because trusting in God’s timing is “the opposite of arrogance and boasting, a humble recognition of my limits (page 183).”—ie. I am not God: omnipotent and omniscient.
And, also, “When we wait for something, we recognize that we are not in control… Lower-status people always wait on higher status people (page 183).”
After pondering this material, I immediately thought about the many videos popping up on my YouTube recommended list advising how to manifest reality: your dreams, material goals, etc. Some are posted by supposed Christians and many by unbelievers.
These people are promoting an unbiblical worldview of achieving your goals.
1. Only God “calls things into being things that do not exist (Romans 4:17).” God spoke creation into existence (Psalm 33:9).
To believe that you can manifest reality into existence is similar to the practice of witchcraft, believing that you can cast spells or curses through the power of words or by manipulating the forces of nature or the universe.
2. This practice also demonstrates a lack of humility, trust, and submission to the Lord.
GOD WILL NOT BE RULED OR MANIPULATED BY ANYONE.
If we “pray according to His will,…we know that we have what we asked of Him (1 John 5:14-15).”
If we trust that God “causes all things to work together for our good (Romans 8:28),” then we can bring our requests before God and know that He’ll answer for our benefit; sometimes that answer is to wait till He works things out or “No” because it’s not good for us or He has a better plan in mind.
Satan fell because he wanted to be in control and worshipped. He wants to be his own god and not submit to the will of his Creator.
3. Our prayers are requests, NOT demands.
God is the Lord, not us:
“Know that the Lord Himself is God; it is He Who made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture (Psalm 100:3).”
In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus told a parable about three servants who were “entrusted” with talents “according to their ability,” then he left town. The servant he rebuked after his return was the servant who didn’t trust in his master’s good character but feared him, arrogantly stating that he failed to multiply the money he was given because he viewed his master as “a hard man,” who benefited from the work of others.
When we fail to trust God’s goodness, we’re basically slandering Jesus, thinking that He gives us gifts out of improper motives.
Psalm 90 is a marvelous expression of trust in God’s good character, a humble acknowledgement of how transient human life is and that we’re dependent upon Him for reversing unfavorable circumstances:
“Satisfy us in the morning with Your graciousness, that we may sing with joy and rejoice all our days. Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, and the years we have seen evil…May the kindness of the Lord our God be upon us; and confirm for us the work of our hands; yes, confirm the work of our hands (Psalm 90:14-15,17).”
Please, don’t follow the teachings of those who preach and teach that you can manifest your dreams into reality. Instead, humbly wait upon and trust in the Lord’s good character to answer your prayers.
You want the Lord Jesus to bless and guide your life.
Not the enemy of your soul. For Satan told Jesus that he could give the kingdoms of this world to those who worship him (Matthew 4:8-9).
Trust that Jesus loves you.
“He has shown you, mortal one, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”—Micah 6:8
God bless.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
***
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.
Buddy always looks like he’s being tortured when I dress him in his Christmas outfit. But that’s OK, as long as he cooperates long enough to take a few photos. He remained amazingly still this year–till he ran out of patience.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, as recorded in 1 Corinthians 13:13:
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Last Wednesday I discussed the topic of hope. Today I’d like to discuss faith.
What is faith, really?
Faith cannot be mere knowledge of who God is or a fact. Because the Apostle Paul also tells us:
“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder.”–James 2:19, James the brother of Jesus, (NIV)
The demons also acknowledged that Jesus Christ is God and had the authority to cast them into Hell and torment them (Matthew 8:28-29). So faith must be more than just knowledge that there is a Creator God and that Jesus is His Son, the incarnate God (Matthew 1:23).
2. Faith must be more than just obedience to rules of good behavior.
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,… For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one can boast.”–Apostle Paul, Ephesians 2:4-5, 8
Good behavior doesn’t save us, the Apostle Paul states, but faith.
This mysterious faith.
Jesus made it clear to the religious leaders of that day, the Pharisees, that although they obeyed the Laws of Moses, they didn’t make the mark to get into heaven:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead man’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”–Jesus, Matthew 23:27-28
Jesus also emphasized this point that acting good and looking good to others didn’t mean that your heart was right with God. You can do all sorts of good deeds, but still not be right in God’s sight.
The Sixth (or Seventh)* Commandment given to the Jewish people through the prophet Moses is:
“Thou shalt not commit adultery.”–Exodus 20:14
Yet, Jesus said that committing adultery was not just an outward action, as the Pharisees believed, but was also an attitude of the heart and mind:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”–Matthew 5:27-28
3. So is faith an attitude? Because apparently actions don’t save or make you right with God?
Yet the Apostle Paul says that faith is what saves, and is a gift from God.
The Book of James both clarifies, and sometimes confuses, this point:
James echoes both Jesus and the Apostle Paul that actions alone do not save.
Jesus taught, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”–Matthew 5:48
Which must’ve made His hearers despair as no one can be perfect.
And James echoes this in James 2:10:
“For whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.”
The Apostle Pau also strongly declared to the Galatian Church, who were trying to keep their salvation through good works:
“The Law is not of faith.”–Galatians 3:12
4. So what is saving faith?
I think the argument can be summarized as:
Receiving Jesus as both Lord and Savior.
Satan demonstrated that he knows the Bible (Luke 4:9-11) when He tried to trick Jesus into proving He was Lord by twisting the Scriptures. Demons also attend religious services, as Jesus cast out a demon:
“Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, ‘What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who You are–the Holy One of God!”–Mark 1:23-24
So knowing what the Bible teaches or attending church isn’t enough to prove that you’re a Christian who has saving faith. The devil and his demons know that Jesus is Lord; apparently that’s not enough for saving faith.
Acknowledging Jesus as Lord, God in the flesh, is one half.
The other is submitting to His authority as Savior.
The devil and his demons don’t submit to God’s authority. They clearly cannot repent. Satan wants to be worshipped as God and the demons follow Satan as their leader and obey him.
When a person repents of their sin, they are admitting that they are unable to live life by their own rules and must submit to the authority of God to define right and wrong. There are a lot of people in our modern Western Culture who claim to be Christians, yet do not submit to God’s moral authority. These are not their exact words, usually, but they say that the Bible’s moral rules are old-fashioned and we need to change with the times. They follow what the culture says is right or wrong, or what the individual perceives to be truth or defines truth to be, not what the Word of God says is the truth and what is morally right or wrong.
Disciples of James confused the Galatian church. They believed that they were saved by faith, as the Apostle Paul taught, but had to keep their salvation through works. The Apostle Paul rebuked these disciples who confused this church and his teaching that we are saved and maintained by faith, not works (Galatians 3).
So the teaching of James can confuse.
Desiring to obey God demonstrates that you have a changed heart. You’ve put your trust in Jesus to save you and submit to His authority.
If you claim to be a Christian, but have zero desire to obey God, there’s something seriously wrong. You cannot be born again and still desire to sin and disobey Him. A sincere believer may stumble and fall and disobey, but he/she doesn’t want to sin. Sin no longer is their master (Romans 6:14). A true believer is a “new creation. The Old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”–Apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 5:17
To summarize James: If you’ve truly put your trust in Jesus as your Lord, you will act differently. Your behavior will demonstrate what you truly believe. Because Abraham learned to trust God, he was willing to obey what God told him to do, even if it meant sacrificing his own son, because “Abraham believed God (James 2:23).” He was concerned about people forgetting who they were in Christ and not setting an example to the world by their behavior (James 1:22-24).
The centurion demonstrated that he had “great faith (Luke 7:9)” because he asked Jesus to heal his servant, but felt unworthy for Jesus to enter his home. He believed that Jesus could heal from afar and didn’t need to be physically present to perform the miracle. He knew Jesus was the Lord and had the authority to declare his servant healed. The centurion’s behavior backed up what he truly believed in his heart.
A modern example is an experience I often had with my beloved grandmother. She’d often say that “she trusted me,” yet would often doublecheck. Her actions demonstrated that she didn’t really trust me.
A saved person has a new heart, is one with Christ (John 17:22), and desires to obey God. They have cast off their filthy rags of works righteousness (Isaiah 64:6) and been clothed with the clean, white garments of the “righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:22).”
James was concerned that someone who claimed to be saved backed up their words with actions, as he clearly taught in the first chapter that it was impossible to be made right with God through the Law. So something else was needed.
So this is why I emphasize in my call to faith at the end of my weekly posts that a person asks Jesus to be both their Lord and Savior.
A person proves that they have a new heart–saving faith–by becoming a different person.
NOT a perfect person.
But they’ve entered the “paths of righteousness for His namesake (Psalm 23:3)” and have a heart to obey the Lord, rather than serve the world, the flesh, and our culture.
They have started their journey of sanctification.
I hope this helps clarify.
And then again–maybe not.
But that’s how I understand it. And why someone who claims to be a Christian may only be deluding themselves. I don’t anyone who reads my blogs to be one of the people that Christ casts away from His presence on Judgment Day because they thought they were right with God–but aren’t.
God bless you this Christmas Season (or whatever time of year you read this blog post).
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
*Different denominations parse the Commandments differently.
***
Most religions try to teach you how to be good.
But cannot give you the power to BE good.
Only a change of heart through the power of God’s Holy Spirit can change your behavior–and thus your life.
We’re all born spiritually dead, because our first ancestors rejected God’s authority in their lives. They believed Satan and his lies, rather than trusting that God is good and obeying Him because He had their best interests in mind.
And, therefore, every person is born without the Holy Spirit since Adam and Eve. (This Creation story is extremely important to understanding our need for God.)
Humans were created in God’s image; just as He is triune in nature–Father, Son, and Holy Spirt–we are supposed to be triune beings, also: body, soul, and spirit. But every person is born into this world without the Holy Spirit indwelling them. Everyone is born with just a body and soul, without union with God. That’s why you need to be born again.
“Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”–Jesus, John 3:3
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 don’t have the Holy Spirit,you do not having saving faith.
If you haven’t yet, please consider asking Jesus to be both 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.
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.
Buddy and I moved to Arizona four years ago, yet we still support Seattle’s baseball team, the Mariners.
This season Arizona’s team, The Diamondbacks, is currently pkaying in the World Series. My beloved Mariners are the only professional baseball team that’s never made it to the World Series.
But I plan to remain faithful to the team my family attended the first ever game for.
(I do ask myself: Will I live long enough to see them play in baseball’s premiere event? Sorry Mariners!)
Life is tough. But please don’t run away from the Lord. The predator always hunts down the animal that strays from the pack, as it’s the most vulnerable.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”—Jesus, John 10:10
Please stay with Jesus, Who gives abundant life through the power of the Holy Spirit working within you.
Christians’ opinions vary about celebrating Halloween. Some see it as a time for diverting attention to church harvest festivals to encourage church attendance, while others view it as a celebration of evil to be avoided at all costs.
As you can see from my blog titles this month, I view it as an opportunity to draw attention to the Word of God.
Of course, many people see it as just a time to party, eat candy, and wear fun costumes. They don’t attach any particular meaning to it.
Or to dress up their long suffering dogs and cats in costumes.
(Buddy doesn’t suffer long as he doesn’t like to cooperate, unlike his predecessor, Buster, who would do anything to please me.)
Unfortunately, there are many people who dress up in costumes every day and not just during one or two holidays a year. They pretend to be Christians, but their hearts are far from God (Matthew 15:8). They wear the “Christian” mask but are not born again of the Spirit of Christ Jesus.
So, how do we as believers gain discernment as to who is truly born again or not?
Because we can be influenced by bad teaching and influence, or unaware of someone’s need to be witnessed to, assuming they’re believers when they aren’t.
Now, we cannot know someone’s heart. Only God knows a person’s heart (Romans 8:27).
But neither are we to fellowship with false believers (Matthew 7:15). Jesus warns that we need to be wary of accepting people at face value.
You’re likely an honest person like me, so you’d like to believe others are too. But life experience demonstrates that not everyone is who they claim to be. So these are some pointers to help you differentiate true from false believers.
Now, we are saved by faith, not works (Ephesians 2:8-9). Not everyone starts at the same point in the race toward the finish line. But the following are pretty reliable indications of false believers.
1. They claim to love Jesus but hate, or are continually critical of fellow, born again believers.
“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
“And this commandment we have from Him; that he who loves God must love his brother also.”—Apostle John, 1 John 4:20-21
Someone who is always contemptuous of fellow believers, particularly someone who follows the authority of Scripture, does not have the love of Jesus in their heart.
Someone who shows no interest in the welfare of suffering believers or who claims they’re “bitter clingers, clinging to their guns and Bibles,” is not born again.
2. They reject the deity of Jesus Christ.
“By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus has come in the flesh is not of God.”—1 John 4:2-3
Anyone who denies that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, God in the flesh (Matthew 1:23), is not born again. Jesus made this abundantly clear, according to the Apostle John in John 8:24:
“If you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
3. They reject the authority of the Word of God.
Anyone who rejects the moral authority of the Bible is rejecting God’s authority.
They might have a dispute with a particular denomination’s interpretation of a Scripture passage or a pastor, but they accept the Scriptures teachings.
It’s natural for a new Christian to thirst for God’s Word, having lived in a spiritual desert all their lives. Someone who claims to have had a conversion experience but has no interest in growing in their faith likely is self-deceived or lying.
The devil and the demons know that Jesus was manifested in the flesh, lived amongst humanity, then died on the Cross. They also know that He rose bodily from the dead. They know that He is God, party of the Trinity. But they do not willingly submit themselves to God’s moral authority (James 2:19).
I’m not referring to temporary backsliders or those who rebel temporarily due to suffering or being deceived by bad teaching.
But if someone claims to love God, yet doesn’t feel the Holy Spirit convicting them, making them miserable for their rebellious spirit, then it’s unlikely the Spirit of God indwells them.
Because God hates sin and “leads us in the paths of righteousness for HIS name’s sake (Psalm 23:3, emphasis mine)”.
4. They deny they’ve sinned.
There’s no true repentance without an acknowledgment that Christ needed to die for our sins so that we can have fellowship with the Father through the Son.
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”—1 John 1:8
Because Who is the embodiment of truth?
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”—Jesus, John 14:6
I have listened to preachers who believe in Christ as Lord and Savior, and in His sin sacrifice for humankind and our need for repentance. Yet deny that we are born sinners. This is a dangerous position to take, as any teaching not founded on the Rock of Christ is slippery sand and can cause our lives to crumble when the inevitable hurricanes of suffering hit our life (Matthew 7:24-27).
5. They encourage you to sin or disobey God.
In other words, they don’t submit themselves to God’s authority, as per point #4 above:
“For certain men have crept in unnoticed,…ungodly men, who turn the grace of God into licentiousness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.”—Jude 4
(I strongly urge reading the entire Book of Jude which is only one chapter.)
6. They claim there are many paths to God. You don’t have to believe that Jesus is the only path to Heaven.
But Jesus claims this is false.
“No one comes to the Father except through Me.”—Jesus, John 14:6
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the ONLY true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”— Jesus, John 17:3 (emphasis mine)
7. Most of all, pray. Because we can all be deceived, particularly Christians, because we usually want to believe the best of people. And pride keeps us from heeding God’s warning signals.
I try to pray this every day. I suggest you do so, also, in your own way:
Lord, please sift everything coming through my mind, ear, eye and heart gates through the Holy Spirit. Help me test it against your Word. Help me discern truth from error, fact from fiction. Help me not to jump to conclusions or slander anyone. Help me know if someone is deceiving or misleading me intentionally or intentionally. And help me not to deceive others. Thank you in Jesus’ name.
God promises to answer that prayer.
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”—1 John 5:14-15
Please, every day beware of false prophets and fake sheep (Matthew 7:15). And remember:
“Bad company corrupts good character.”—1 Corinthians 15:33
There are many other Biblical verses to support the points above. The more you familiarize yourself with the truth, the easier it’ll get you spot lies.
God bless you.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
***
It’s OK to admit you’ve been deceived. It’s humbling, but we’re human. We make mistakes. We sin.
But the worst sin or big mistake is to assume that tomorrow will come and that we can wait to ask Jesus into our hearts.
I hope that the unexpected, recent pandemic brought a new awareness that life brings surprises, including ugly ones.
Why continue putting off a decision that, in my opinion, is the best one you’ll ever make? I have zero regrets giving my heart to Jesus.
Beware of false prophets who claim coming to Christ guarantees prosperity. We come to God because He’s God and we’re not. And to reverse the curse of the Fall, we have to admit that Jesus is the Lord—we’re not—and need to repent of our willful disobedience.
Cone on! If you’ve read this far, then you know Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart, waiting for you to invite Him into your life (Revelation 3:20). Don’t delay!
Please pray the following, out loud if possible:
Dear Heavenly Father, I‘m sorry for my sin. Please forgive me. I invite Jesus into my life and heart. Please grant me Your Holy Spirit. I give my life to You. And teach me how much You love me. 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 your soul food. Just as your body needs daily nourishment to be healthy, so does your soul.
And join a Bible believing church or Bible study. (You’ve got some tips above how to determine a good church or study.) 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 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.
Meditations About God and Buddy 