Clear your record

     "What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record.
      "There was a time when I wouldn't admit what a sinner I was.  But my dishonesty made me miserable and filled my days with frustration.  All day and all night your hand was heavy on me.  My strength evaporated like water on a sunny day until I finally admitted all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them.  I said to myself, 'I will confess them to The Lord.'  And you forgave me!  All my guilt is gone.
      " Now I say that each believer  should confess his sins to God when he is aware of them, while there is time to be forgiven.  Judgement will not touch him if he does."  Ps. 32:1-6 TLB

       Seriously, I could have written this.  There WAS a time when I couldn't admit to my sins.
But 37 years ago the Holy Spirit cracked open that thick shell of sin and self, and I accepted Jesus as my savior.  However, once that was done, I didn't immediately become perfect, just saved.  I still sin, and I still hate to admit it!
        Some years back, though, I made a New Year's resolution to read through the entire Bible.  I sort of raced through it that first time, so I could say I had done it.  I had to admit that I was surprised by a lot of what I read, even though I had been a Christian for quite a few years by that time.  So now I try to make reading the Bible a regular part of my life.
     One of the things I have learned is that God speaks to me through his Word!  What a concept!  He comforts me, he encourages, he teaches me, he reveals himself to me, and he convicts me of my sin
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   "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee."  Ps. 119:11   We need to hide his word in our hearts so that we aware of our sin.
     Recently I reconnected with an old friend, who had once been a nun.  I asked her a few questions about that experience.  She told me about the routine of life in the convent, which included something I haven't thought about since my Catholic school days:   Examination of Conscience. That caught my attention.  The 12 steps of AA has a step similar to that:  it says to make a fearless moral inventory.
They basically tell us to search our hearts for any sin that needs confession, and confess it.  Get rid of it!
     Ask The Lord to reveal any hidden sin in your life or in your heart, and confess it.  He is more than ready to forgive you and clear your record!
"Search me, O God, and know my heart;  try me and know my thoughts."  Ps. 139: 23 KJV

Have you been deceived? II

  When I left off yesterday, it wasn't a pretty picture.  The reference compares us to a leper: both unclean, and  it compares our righteousness to the rags used by a woman during menstruation.
  I want to go back to Adam and Eve. When they disobeyed God they suddenly realized they were naked.  Their  answer to their problem was covering themselves with fig leaves.  When God came to the garden and asked them, "where are you?"  They replied, "We are over here behind this bush, because we are naked."  The Lord said "Who told you that you are naked?"  They had no answer for Him.  He then asked: "Did you eat of the tree of good, and evil?" Their reply was "Yes."  So God  killed a animal, and made them a covering.  From that time forward all have sinned, and fallen short of the Glory of God,  no exceptions!  I believe that was the time that sacrifices were started, something had to shed blood to cover sin.  How important is blood?
  I want to move ahead in time to Cain and Abel.  They were brothers sons, of Adam and Eve.  They knew the sacrificial requirements.  Abel took the best lamb of his flock, and cut its throat, placed it upon a altar.  Cain took the best of his grains and fruits, and placed them on his altar.  God sent fire from heaven, and consumed Abel's sacrifice, but no fire for Cain's.  Cain became so angry, that he killed his brother!  The first murder was committed because of righteousness, or works.
    The works that we do of ourselves, not dependent upon God,  are not pleasing to God.  Our works should be the result of us believing that what Christ did for us on His Cross (not the beam, but His sacrifice of blood), and we becoming a new creation in Him: works of His love flowing through us.  This is that born again experience that Jesus was telling Nicodemus about in John chapter 3.
  This was the command that The Lord gave to Adam: "But the tree of the knowledge of Good and    Evil, you shall not eat of it for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die." Genesis 2:17 (KJV).  I want to go back to Cain, and Abel.  They both were preparing to worship God, one the right way, the other the wrong way, they were both doing a good thing.  Is it possible to do a good thing, and sin?

(to be continued)

Have You been deceived?

  I want to ask a serious question: have you been deceived?  As this thought came to my mind The Lord spoke a message to my heart, that has to be shared with you. Have you been deceived?
  Last night I was driving my cab, and a situation came up that I hadn't dealt with.  I had three people in my cab, two young women, one of whom was married and the other, who was engaged to the young man in the cab.   We came to the best friend's address, and the two friends had a disagreement.  They had been friends since grade school, and now one was married, and the other engaged.  The husband of the one was still uptown, and the fiance went into the home of the friend, and left his fiance with me.  After this happened it was evident that she was hurt by his decision.   She felt deceived.
     Not many of us want to talk about sin, but it needs to be addressed at times.  Sin is deceptive, and it is the work of the head deceiver, Satan.  Sin is a pleasant, even exciting, experience to begin with, but after Satan has lured the individual in he makes every episode a little worse.  There will come a time that we will not be able to live in the condition that sin caused. Sin is designed to rob, kill, cheat, and destroy us.  In the incident that I shared, some were putting themselves into a situation that may feel good to begin with, but the young woman left in the cab already felt the pain that sin caused.  Sin is terrible, and there are some who can't live with it, and decide to end it all, and take their own lives.
  Let's take a look at what we have to offer of ourselves to The Lord to correct this dilemma. " But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Isaiah 10:6 (KJV).  It doesn't look good for us.  Is there a solution?

(to be continued)    

Life it's Eternal.

  As I write this blog, I can say that Pat will agree to everything that is written.  I want to make two points:  that the Bible is the whole truth, and nothing but the truth inspired by God and secondly, that there is only one way to The Father (God),  and that is His Son Jesus.

  As some of you know I drive a taxi cab for a living.  The nights that I drive are Friday, Saturday, and Monday.  I always drive at night, so many of the people that I drive are either drunk, or under the influence in some way or another.  It would be so easy to say I am better than they are, because of their condition, but we are all in a condition, and that is lost.  All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God Romans 3:23.  Not some but all.  If we believe the good of the Bible, we also have to believe the bad.  

  If all have sinned and fallen short of The Glory of God, we are all in the same boat.  I believe that Jesus died on The Cross for my sins, and for anyone who believes the same thing.  People all battle with something as long as they are alive.  The Scriptures are full of how to live for God, so we should never feel that we have arrived. But there are only about one percent written to tell us how to become saved.

  Why would the Holy Spirit give so many to tell us how to live, and so few showing God's plan  for us to be saved?  I believe when The Lord planned before the foundations of the earth, that the only way that man could be saved, and the only way man could be sanctified, was for him to die on The Cross,  He knew that most would have little problems accepting Him as Savior, but many problems when it came to believing that He also died for how we live. 

  I have tried many different ways to overcome some things in my life, and just like my cab friends,  have not been able to have victory.  Since I have learned that the same Cross that saved me can enable me to have victory living for God it is easier, am I perfect?   No.  The Bible does not teach sinless perfection.  But it helps me realize that I am not better then the people that ride my cab, and that we are all eternal souls finding our way to glory through Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.   

  Will all accept Jesus as savior?   No, but Pat and I both  want to tell those that will listen how to be saved.

It's the only thing that will help others not to spend eternity in Hell.  We will live forever die no never, but we choose where we will spend eternity. 

Scriptures that have eternal life:  John 3:16, Romans10:9-10 

A Christian

  I want to ask a question.  When you hear the word Christian, what is your first thought? To me the word Christian main a relationship with Jesus.
  In the nation that we live in there are many that call themselves Christian, but have no idea what the term means.  Some believe if they go to a certain church, or have gone through certain steps of that church, that means they are Christian.  Some believe because they live in the U.S., and it is called a Christian Nation that they are Christians.
  As a preacher of the Gospel it always hurts when I hear people use the right words, but when talking to them they have a head knowledge, but haven't experienced Jesus. I want to start the New Year with the basics of the Gospel.
  As a Preacher of the Gospel, I am thankful that the Gospel is simple, for I am a simple man.  When you read about the apostles,  they were not crucified, beheaded, and killed for anything else except that they were proclaiming the Gospel.  A simple message, but a great price was paid for proclaiming it.  What did they proclaim?
  I want to talk about a man named Cornelius.  There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius a centurion of the band called the Italian band.  A devout man and one who feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always. Acts 10 1-2 (KJV)  Cornelius did all the right things, but hadn't experienced Jesus the Messiah.  An Angel appeared to Cornelius, and told him to send for Peter, and when Peter came to his house, he was to listen to what he had to say.  Cornelius did what he had been told by the Angel.  When Peter came to Cornelius, Cornelius fell at Peter's feet and began to worship him.  Peter told him to get up because he (Peter) was just a man.
  Cornelius was a good man, but not saved, because he hadn't experienced Jesus. What did Peter tell him?  The first point Peter made was Whom they slew and hanged on a  tree (Crucifixion of Christ).  The second point Him God raised up the third day (the Resurrection of Christ).  To Him give all the Prophets witness (He fulfilled all of the Prophecies) that through His Name (Jesus) whosoever Believes in Him shall receive remission of sins. True Christianity is a relationship with The Lord not a religion.