An extraordinary claim

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
                                            John 14:6,7 

Jesus here is answering Thomas and in doing so makes the most extraordinary claims ever made by any one of any faith, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father (God) except through me.”
Jesus was no respecter of person. He doesn’t care if your gay, strait, black white, asian, or Eskimo.  He cared for everyone.
Jesus wanted all people everywhere to come into a personal relationship with God the Father. He wants all people everywhere to have eternal life.
I challenge anyone who has not taken time to read the Bible and in particular the New Testament in it’s entirety to read it with an open mind.
I don’t care what ministers or evangelist say be they in church or in the media God loves everyone.
He has a perfect plan for everyone. Psalm 139:13-16 states
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know them full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
All your eyes saw my unformed body. 
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
                                                                                                                      Psalm 139: 13-16  
God wants what it best for your life it’s that simple.
So as I said take time to read the bible with and open mind and as you do ask God to show you the truth and logic within it.

Is Your Life Meaningless?

Read Ecclesiastes 1

“Meaningless! Meaningless!”

 Says the Teacher

“Utterly meaningless!

Everything is meaning less.”

                  Ecclesiastes 1:1(niv)

The wisdom of man. Your born you labour, acquire knowledge and material wealth, bare children and die. After which you’re forgotten.
Just listen to any scientist talk about human life. Evolutionist state we came from the basic dry chemicals that made up the earth when it was first formed. The Christian would say we are created from the dust of the earth.
The difference however between the two is that the evolutionist would say when we die all that we were dies with us. Only that portion of our genetics that we past on to our children remains.
The Christian on the other hand acknowledges that we are more than that. That we have something that separates us from the animals, an eternal soul.
An animal is intelegant. Monkeys and other animals can learn to do things even use tools but they lack compassion.
For an animal to kill another animal even one of its own kind there is no remorse or feeling it’s “just doing its thing”. They have no sense of right and wrong.
Humans however have feelings they know what is right and wrong. We have a sense there is more to life than merely existing.
We strive all our lives for a meaning to life.
In his satirical book the Hitch Hikers guide to the galaxy, Douglas Adams spoofs virtually every human institution. Particularly the institutions of religion and philosophy.
In the book earth is simply an organic super, super computer built by another computer to find out what the question to the answer to the meaning of life is.
The meaning to life having already been stated by the lesser computer to be forty-two.
People today want meaning and fulfilment in their lives. Everyone is striving for it. A world class athlete strives for excellence in his or her sport. They get a great deal of pleasure and sense of accomplishment in not only winning but even if they don’t win doing their best.
The average person on the street tries to get fulfilment out of life by getting things or working for the “American or Canadian dream”.
Even if they get what they are striving for they still find themselves empty. Saying as the writer of Ecclesiastes states,

I have seen all the things that are done under the sun;

 all of them are meaningless ,

 a chasing after the wind.”

                                                                           Ecclesiastes 1:14
There is a meaning to life, its just not what the world puts in front of us.
Within every person there is a need for God. We are made in the likeness of God. Only He can fulfil that emptiness we have.
That emptiness that the world has, is chasing the wind, gathering material wealth in an effort to end the aching in our soul.
To those people Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 
                                                                                                    Matthew 11:28-30
Question: Is your soul at rest? Are you constantly restless? Does it seem that no matter what you do you fail to find rest within you?
Why not ask Jesus into your life today?
Jesus made it clear when he said “...I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” John 14:6
Asking Jesus into your life is as simple as a prayer like this one,
Dear Heavenly Father
I know that you above all are God. I acknowledge Jesus as your One and Only Son.
I believe that He came to earth to die for my sins.
Please forgive me of my sins and come into my life today.
In Jesus name I pray
                              Amen.
If you have prayed this prayer I suggest that you pray and ask God to lead you to a church where you can fellowship with other believers.
I also urge you to read the Bible daily. If you’re in a part of the world were you cannot get a copy of the Bible then I would urge you to read the Bible on line. There are many free sites.
As I only read English the Bible translations I would recommend are the New King James, the New International Bible,  the Amplified Bible or if your English is poor try the Good News Bible.

Where is your heart

Read 1 Corinthians 8

But the man who loves God is know by God. 

So then, about eating foods sacrificed to idols:

 we know that an idol is nothing at all in the world 

and that there is no God but one. 

For even if there are so-called gods. Whether in heaven or on earth

(as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”:) 

yet for us there is but one God, the Father, 

from whom all things came and for whom we live’ 

and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, 

through whom all things came and through whom we live.

                                                                                       1 Corinthians 8:3-6
In this chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul is talking about meat being offered to idols, but in verses 3 to 6, he makes a definite statement about Christ and God.
* if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.
* that there is other gods in the world but they are nothing.
* for the Christian  there is one God from whom all things come.
• and there is One Lord Jesus Christ through whom we live.

This is the message we must take to the world. THERE IS BUT ONE GOD.
Our society is as full today with “gods” as Pauls was.
People may not admit it but they hold money as a god, their car, their house and a host of other things.
Those “gods” are even making their way into the church.
“Trust God and he will ‘bless you’” some are saying. Their translation being “trust God and He will make you materially rich” the ‘give to get’ philosophy. A bad way of thinking.
God will bless you but not necessarily materially. He blesses us all the time.
If you want a good indication of where you are. If there are any “idols” or false gods in your life. Here’s a good test.
In Matthew nineteen there was a man who came to Christ and asked how to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him.
At the end when the man said he had done all of what was required of him from the religious stand point,

 “Jesus said to him, 

“If you want to be perfect go, sell what you have 

and give to the poor,

 and you will have treasure in heaven; 

and come, follow Me.”

But when the young man heard that saying,

 he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

                                                                                 Matthew 19:21,22

Something to think about:

Here is your test of your love for Christ.

• Will you be willing to give everything you have up for Christ?
• Where is you heart. 
• Is it with your work, in your house and possessions or in your Heavenly Father?  
• Who or what do you trust the most?

Here’s something for you to do. BUT think very carefully first because it does take commitment.
Pray and give everything you have to God for Him to do with as He wishes.
Then listen carefully for what God wants you to do with your life.

An Equal Opportunity God.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made I the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” 
                           Psalms 139 :13-16
I am a number of months short of my sixtieth birthday. I have known the Lord as my personal Saviour for over forty-one years.
In that time I’ve seen a lot of garbage done in the name of God and it seems to be getting worse. Especially now in the age blogs and tweets and other social media.
The message of the church, the true church hasn’t changed.
It does however seem that many of the people who claim to be giving out that message have bent it to their way of thinking.
In Matthew seven Jesus makes it clear we are not to judge anyone, in Matthew 28:19,20 States
 “Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
This is the principle message of the church. To go into the world and introduce people to Jesus Christ and the saving grace that can only come from Him.
If one is to believe the first scriptures I quoted from Psalms 139 and I don’t know of any Christian who wouldn’t, then I would assume that God knew what we were going to be like before we were born.
God essentially read our genetic code. He knew if we were going to be tall or short. If we were to have blue eyes, green eyes or no eyes.
God knew beforehand if we were going to be gay or strait, white, black, or oriental.
He knew what “our normal” would be.
I live with Bi-polar affective disorder. I am not what some would call normal.
I get up every morning and thank God that my illness is in check enough that I didn’t do something stupid to myself the day before or during the night.
I have found there is no such thing as an “absolute normal”. We all live with our own normal.
And you know I don’t think God bothers about our “normal” he’s an equal opportunity God.  He calls to all men and women,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” 
                                                                                                         Matthew 11:28
It is my experience that we all have fallen short of what God wants for our life. That’s why God sent Jesus down to earth. That we may turn to him. Ask him to forgive our sins and come into our life. That we may be guaranteed Eternal life. Think about it.