Why Do We Doubt?

"Why do we doubt? Glory, power, victory, salvation and honor are due to the Lamb who was slain and rose again, and with Him to us also, who believe that He was slain and rose again."
-Martin Luther

Why are we afraid? Why do we doubt or fear anything? It is the liars job to doubt and fear. Because it is impossible to defend an open lie against the manifest truth that is found in the Bible.

Jesus desperately wants us to be with Him wherever He is! We don't have to fear anything as a child of God! What a great reward we have, what a loving Savior we have.

Smile,

David
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Can I Vent?

I was thinking and since I have a blog, I have a chance to vent.

This world (and even the church to some extent) is filled with spiritually barren people. Everyday I see people trying to find substance for their lives in the things of this world. And, of course, they are coming up short. The reason??? Their life was never meant to be filled by the things of this world. There is only one thing that can truely fill and bring meaning to our lives...His name is Jesus Christ.

I don't want to come off overbearing or judgemental, I know first hand what it is like to seek the things of this world and come up empty-handed and I want to expose this lie that corporate America is force-feeding us. The millions of advertisements, movies and T.V. shows that are being pumped into our minds are dictating how we live our lives! Why do you think Jesus warned us to be careful of what we allow into our bodies through our eyes (Matthew 6:22). For whatever is in your heart determines what you say (Matthew 12:34c).

We truely are like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36). Wondering around aimlessly being herded wherever the next person with persuasive words tells us to go. THINK FOR YOURSELF! I am tired of watching those who are too lazy to think for themselves just believe whatever sounds smart! It truely sadens me.

I am also sorrowful for those who think this life is all there is. What a hope, huh? Eternal nothingness! Sign me up for an eternity of that. Of course that sounds good to most, it aligns with your flesh. You can do whatever you want and you believe you will never be held accountable. Humans are sinners and humans like to sin. Coming to a Pure and Holy God does not line up with our sinful desires. So humans will run for as long as they can before turning to the One who won't allow sin in His presence.

The funny thing is, He will let you run for as long as you want to. He is very patient! I know it took me 3 separate times (I can see them clearly now) before I finally submitted myself to Him. And that's another thing, we in America don't like the word submit or even obedient or humble. Because what does corporate America tell us to be? Everything but; submissive, obedient and humble. This is where you as an individual need to ask yourself, "Who are they really looking out for: me or their wallets?"

Trust me, I am a Marketing guy and all that I have been taught is how to make somebody want something they don't need. That is all they are doing. Playing off of your emotions to get you to do what they want. Think about this stuff, don't just blindly fall victim to their schemes. Why do you think the savings rate in this country is in the negatives? Because the advertisers and producers are doing a great job of convincing you that you need something so badly that you must get it, even when you don't have the money for it!

I am not a cynical person at all, just tired of watching millions of Americans fall into traps every day. It's really not your fault. Who are you to look to in the world? There is no guidance, no leadership, no direction. The leadership in this country is only concerned about keeping America the wealthiest country on the planet, even at the cost of their own citizens souls.

Final thoughts:

• If you don't have the $, don't buy it!
• Just because you see someone famous do it, doesn't mean your supposed to do it. They are people just like you and I and they fall victims to the same traps that you and I do.
• Don't blindly follow! God doesn't ask us to do that with Him, why should you do it with humans?!? Ask questions, the more the better.
  
• If you don't agree with something, say so or at the very least don't go along with it.
• Finally, if you don't have a loving relationship with the only God of the universe, you have more to worry about than your credit card debt.

broken and humbled,

David

Act Like a Believer

It has recently been brought to my attention that my blog is called "LiveHoly" and I am yet to actually talk about living holy! Let me start now:

Do you know that our God is a holy and righteous God? And do know that One who is holy and righteous will not reward another with things that are not holy and righteous? So you can be assured that God will not reward us with impure and unholy things. So, the sin and lust which some believe they will inherit if they blow themselves up for their god would contradict a true and holy God. Needless to say, they will be surprised when they meet the Uncreated, Holy, Righteous, Judge of the Universe.

I got a little sidetracked there, but if we don't first understand that we are serving a Pure and Holy God, we will never desire a pure and holy lifestyle for ourselves.

I feel compeled to give you a lot of Scripture here, I emplore you to look this up for yourself.

First, when you come to Christ, you are a new creation (Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 2:4-6). Therefore you ought not continue to live in sin, the way you did when you didn't know any better. (Galatians 5:16-26, Romans 6:1-2) Now you are born again, with new life from the Living and Eternal God through His One and Only Holy Spirit (Romans 8:2,11, Ephesians 4:24). And you are to live by that Spirit as a child of God (Romans 8:14-16, 1 John 5:1-4).

That does not mean it's ok to sin as long as you don't think it's that bad! It's not ok to make up your own rules as you go along. If you are going to label yourself as a Christian, you should be ready to walk the same path Christ walked. Too often, we want to change the rules to most benefit us. That's not how His kingdom works. Sin is still spelt SIN, and ironically enough I is right in the middle of it. We can no longer continue to indulge in the things of this world if we are ever going to make a difference in it. Remember; God's grace is not our license to sin (Romans 6:1-2)

So, now that you know that you are a child of God (a new creation) and you know that you aren't supposed to live an ungodly lifestyle, you are now what I like to call; accountable. You have heard the truth and now have the opportunity to obey it or not. I heard a pastor say once, "Our problem isn't understanding what the Bible means, it's doing what it says". Everyday you have the choice to choose Him or to choose the world. You can't have both, unless you would like to be known as "lukewarm" (Revelation 3:16). Dr. Vernon McGee put it like this, "There is something wrong if a Christian is too popular in the world". That may be a little hard to take for a culture who is so concerned with pleasing everybody and not making anyone feel uncomfortable but we as the body of Christ must take a stand for the Truth and not be ashamed to defend it! (Luke 9:26, Romans 1:16, 2 Timothy 2:15)

Of course we can't do any of this without God's grace but I am only talking about our part, which God will not do. If we first, voluntarily choose to follow and obey Him, His grace will abound in our lives. However, He will not force us to love and/or follow Him. We must first choose Him, only then will His grace be available to us whenever we need it.

For more Scripture on this topic:

• Matthew 5-7 (Christianity 101)
  
• Ephesians 2:1-10, 4:17-32
• Galatians 5:16-25
• 1 Corinthians 6:9-20
• 2 Corinthians 5:1-21
• Romans 7:14-25, 8:1-17

And there are many more, but this will give you an idea.

Why Do I Need Jesus?

Newsflash...We Are Sinners!

And because of that sin, we have been separated from the God of the universe who desperately desires a relationship with us. And because our God is a Righteous and Holy God, He will not allow sin in His presence. He requires a penalty be paid for sin and that penalty is far too great for you or I to pay. But because our God is a God of Love and Mercy, He decided to pay OUR penalty Himself so we would not have to.

That is who Jesus is...God, taking our penalty for sin upon Himself! Now we don't have to worry about who is going to take on this punishment, it has already been done. And because of that, we can now come into the presence of the Uncreated, Eternal One who loves and adores us. That's our God! One who took OUR punishment on Himself so we wouldn't have to! (Romans 3:21-31)

If you haven't accepted Jesus Christ into your heart, there is no better time like the present. You can do it right there at your computer, under your breath if you need to. Just thank Him for paying a penalty you never could have paid and dying so that you may have life everlasting! Then ask Him to come into your heart with His Holy Spirit. Then, go to my next post and learn how to live like a believer... ;)


Romans 10:13

David

Just Ask

Ask. It's a simple position that I am taking. I don't have all of the answers. But if I don't know something, I will ask around and do my own research until I find an answer.

Why are we on this peanut of an earth? What is the purpose of this life? What is going to happen to you when you die? These are questions that must be answered. And if you don't have a satisfactory response to them, I suggest you start looking. Why do you think we have the ability to think rationally or to speak in a manner that provokes others to think? These are features of human composition that cannot be explained by evolution or chance (which are really the same thing). Take advantage of the intelligent design that created you and seek the truth.

I cannot see the rationale in just brushing these questions off and worrying about what I am going to wear today or what car I am going to buy next, or whatever else is going on in my own little world! There is more to this life than what we see. We have a limited period of time on this planet; then what? I am pleading with you to just ask. You don't have to ask me, there are plenty of others who can probably tell you more than I can, just ask! What other system in this world makes that claim?

There is only one truth out there and if you seek it, you will find it.
Matthew 7:7

Salvation is Here

What is this free gift of salvation? It is the gift of God that He offers to sinners. Salvation is deliverance from the penalty of sin, also called redemption. The gift is not forced upon us by some dictating overlord; it is offered, we still have to accept it. We accept this gift by acknowledging what Jesus did for us on the cross and by admiting that we are in need of His saving power (in other words, admiting you are a sinner).

REMEMBER: Salvation is by GRACE. There is nothing you can do to make Jesus love you more than He does right now. His love is so overwhelming, we will need eternity just to grasp a portion of it! Nevertheless, He knows that we are going to mess up...we're human. What He expects, however, is that we come back to Him (in repentance) so He can help us to avoid messing up the next time. That is how He designed this life, in such a way that we would have to depend on Him in order to live it. It is through a relationship with Him that we find TRUE LIFE.

The Bible isn't a just nice book to be browsed through once in a while... it is our lifeblood! It gives us strength, power, wisdom, confidence, faith, hope and LOVE (not to mention the spiritual armor that we so desperatly need). In order to have all that Jesus wants us to have, we must search the scriptures consistently...on a regular basis, how else are we going to know what God has for us? The Bible has promised to reveal that information if we will just read it.

Amazing Love

Jesus is in love with us. That is the reason we believe. If it wasn't for Him loving us first, we couldn't love Him. When you encounter that love, there is no other alternative than to love Him back. The God of the universe desires a relationship with YOU! It's you that He longs for, It's you that He cares about and It's you that He wants to be with for eternity, It's YOU!

Whenever you are going through trials or troubles remember that. Don't jump ship the moment the waters get rough. Stay in the boat, it's the safest place to be. Jesus doesn't ask us to know everything during our time here on earth, all He wants is a relationship with us. We will have eternity to learn all about the majestic, omnipresent, omniscient God of the universe who individually created us and everything else there is!