The Most Powerful Book!

Yes, the Bible is not only the most important book you will ever read, but it is the most powerful. As I may have said before, it's not just a book for Sunday School children.

Jesus said, "The words I speak unto you, they are Spirit and they are life!"

That means that the very words in this book are alive. They are living.

Sound strange? I guess it may sound a little spooky or weird or insane. Words that are alive. Here's how I see that. When you mix those words with your faith, they do come alive. I have seen it! When you mix the Word of God with prayer and faith, it's like Super Magic. I shouldn't use the word magic, but I just don't know another word that people can relate to that describes how powerful the words are in the Bible.

They are LIFE. They are alive.

In fact, they are GOD. How powerful is that? So... if you put your trust in the WORD, you are putting your trust in GOD. So... you should put your whole trust in the Word.

If it's written in the Word, BELIEVE IT. If it's in the Word, it's the Truth! "The whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me, God."

Trust in the Word. It says exactly what it means and means what it says. Especially the words of Jesus. My Bible has all the words of Jesus printed in red to see quickly the words that came right from His mouth.

In particular, I was asking the Lord about the difference between the God of the Christians and the God of, say, for example, the Jehovah's Witnesses or the Jews or Muslims. (Hot topic.) Now, the Jews believe in Jehovah and Jehovah was the Father of Jesus, so isn't it the same God?

Good question, right? Tough question! Ok, so, we go to the WORD to see exactly what Jesus said about it. And, the verse I got was where Jesus told a pharisee, "Ye are of your father... the DEVIL!"

You mean that's in the BIBLE? Did Jesus really say that? (If you were reading your Bible, you'd already know that Jesus said that. In fact, he said a lot of stuff to the Pharisees.)

John 8:41-44 "Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44. Ye are of your father the DEVIL, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it."

Matthew 15:8 "This people draw nigh unto me with their mouth, and honour me with their lips; but their heart is far from me."
Matthew 23:33 "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?"

Now, is Jesus saying here to these wise, educated, so-called holy men that they were NOT in tune with God? They worshipped God! Didn't they? I mean, they taught the people how to worship God. Didn't they? Didn't they teach the Word? Didn't they teach people how to pray? Didn't they teach the people how to tithe and make sacrifices? And follow all the rules laid out BY God?

How could Jesus be so crude as to tell them that they were of the devil?

Doesn't it show us that it is not enough to believe in God? God wants us to love Him. And, the rules of the "game" have changed, people. It's NOT enough to follow the ten commandments and all the law and to take the day off on Sunday and go to church and pay your tithe and bla,bla,bla. It's not enough. Sorry.

The Pharisees did all that stuff and they went straight to HELL. (Not me saying this.)

So, WHO we pray to and HOW we pray are important. Very, very important. We are supposed to love God not just a little bit. You know who I think of when it comes to how we're supposed to love Jesus?

--Mary Magdelene!

She bought an alabaster box of perfume and anointed Jesus's feet with it and kissed his feet and washed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.

Picture that. If you want to know how Jesus would like us to treat Him, that's the example to follow. What a love she had for her Master! Right in public, in front of a group of critical men who were judging her and even verbally criticizing her, she got down on her hands and knees in front of her King and poured out her love the best way she knew how, holding nothing back.

So, don't pray to Jehovah (unless it's in Jesus's name). Don't pray to Buddha. Don't pray to idols. Don't pray to Allah. Don't pray to Zeus. Don't pray to Krishna. Don't pray to Vishnu. Don't pray to Shiva, Lakshmi, Durga, Saraswati, Venkateswara, Aiyappa. And, for heaven's sake, don't pray to the Devil! (Well, you are praying to the devil if you pray to any of these gods. They are NOT your friends. They won't help you. They will do their best to send you straight to hell.)

Incidentally, "Allah" is the Arabic name for god. The Arabic god, is the Muslim god. Now, if you are Muslim, go to the mosque or masjid. That's where you will find worshippers of Allah. I strongly warn against praying to Allah because when you do, you are praying to a god or higher power that is not Christian.

I used to live several years in Muslim countries and, when speaking to the locals about my God, I would use the word "Allah", thinking that we would understand each other and, at that time, I thought that the Muslims quite possibly worshiped the same "God of Abraham" as I worshiped. I don't know why I ever thought that.

Now, when Hagar was dying of thirst in the desert and she cried out to God to save her son, God answered her cries. God saved her. That was the God of Abraham. In fact, Ishmael was a son of Abraham, which is why I used to think we all had the same God.

At what point in history the Arabs decided to call their god Allah, I don't know, but one thing I know is that it is not the same god as the God who saved Hagar!

You know how I know? Lots of ways, but one way is that they do not obey what Mohammed told them in that Jesus is the Messiah and that they should have a relationship with Jesus as their Messiah. (It's in the Koran. Amazing what you can find out when you do some reading of these books people say they believe in. But, if they believed the Koran, wouldn't it lead them right to Jesus? Just as the Torah would lead the Jews to Jesus!)

In fact, a venerable and prominent Jewish leader admitted to his people that, according to the Torah, Jesus Christ was the Messiah. That's right! You don't have to wait any longer! You don't have to rebuild that temple and start sacrificing red cows at the Dome of the Rock, you guys.

Jesus already came!

I was saying that the rules of the game have changed. In fact, the new rule is: LOVE. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and you will fulfill all the law and the prophets!

Do You Know What You Believe?

You say you are a Christian. After all, you go to church. You pray. You listen to the pastor's preaching. You even pay your tithe. AND, you were baptized. So, that clinches it, right?

Christian. What IS a Christian? My dictionary says it is a believer in the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Where do you find the teachings of Jesus Christ? Right! You know it's in the Bible. That's WHERE you find the teachings of Jesus Christ.

So, how do you know what the teachings are unless you read the Bible? How do you know WHAT you believe? I mean, maybe if you read the Bible, you'll discover that there are lots of things in there that you don't believe and do not want to accept!

You know, what if, for instance, Jesus tells you that you should love your ENEMIES? --Or cut off your hand? --Or, even pluck out your eye? Are you going to embrace those beliefs?

Seriously. The Bible says a lot of things that we need to know. We need to deeply, deeply know and absorb the Bible in order to be a "Christian". And, for my opinion, I'd have to say, if someone doesn't KNOW the Bible, they really shouldn't call themselves a Christian.

We are not supposed to be following other Christians. Not even our pastor. Sure, he's a great guy and maybe he loves the Lord, but what has that got to do with you and your connection with God?

Jesus said, "If you continue in my Word, then are you my disciples indeed." John 8:31

 Find out what you believe. You may find out you're not a Christian after all. You just have a lot of friends who are Christians. Or, who say they are.

When it comes right down to the crunch, are you going to be willing to die for what you believe in?

That sounds really harsh, I know. But, unless you actually feel that deeply and strongly about your faith, you need to ask yourself if you really believe in the teachings of Christ. Jesus said, "You cannot serve God and mammon (money)."

He said it. I didn't say it. It's not my idea. In fact, none of this is. I get all this stuff out of the Bible.

Matthew 6:24 "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

I think we should ask ourselves: "Am I putting God first?" What is number One in my life? God or Money? Did you know that there is a god of money? Did you further know that MOST of the world worships that god?

"How can we live without money? It's impossible." Well, money itself isn't the evil. It's our ATTITUDE towards money that is evil.

Does having a nice, fat bank account make you feel as though you're invincible? On the other hand, do you feel useless and worthless when you're broke? See how deceptive money can be? It's all in our attitude, isn't it? The money doesn't really have this power over us. It's bluffing.

But, when you put God first and let Him take care of your life, money becomes secondary. It relaxes its grip and control over your life. Don't worry about feeling worthless. Allow yourself to feel that way before God. That's just a good check and balance. We ARE worthless without Jesus. I think it was David who said he was a "worm". Talk about humility. But, with God, we are everything!

So, dear ones, my prayer for Christians is that they will READ the Word! You'll be glad you did.  

The Names of God

Did you ever try to call someone and you accidentally got one number wrong and the wrong person answered the phone? It's not as likely to happen these days with cell phones where you don't even need to dial anymore. But, when it happens, it makes you realize that each number is important and it's important to get it right. Otherwise you may accidentally end up talking to an axe murderer on the phone and not even know it.

Well, I think the same thing can be applied to calling "Upstairs". We have to get the right extension. And, as you know, that Extension is Jesus Christ. You can call Him Yesus. Or Esau.Or Christo. Or variations and He'll still understand. He knows who He is. So, not much confusion, as long as you call out to Jesus, the Son of God.

Sometimes, when I'm really going through battles with the enemy, I make a direct call to the King of Kings through His Son and make sure it's Jesus Christ, the son of the virgin Mary who was crucified and rose from the dead!

You may laugh. It may seem funny to go through all that bother. But, what is the effect?

Well, for one thing, it makes me feel better; it encourages my faith and gives me the knowledge (in my human brain) that my soul is making doubly sure to whom I am connecting. I don't want the operator to connect me to someone or something else. It's like writing "AIR MAIL" on an envelope that has already got red and blue stripes on it. You just feel a NEED sometimes to make sure the mail is going to get there fast.

Ok, so why am I making a big deal out of this? Here's why:

The devil, satan, lucifer, the beast, and the opposite of our God is also a god! Yes, folks, the devil is the GOD OF THIS WORLD. He doesn't care what god you want to call him by as long as you don't call him by the name of Jesus! He can go by the name of "God" if you don't specify WHICH GOD!

See?

You might get on the phone to talk to "God" and you end up having a conversation with the Imposter of God! Why? Because, there ARE rules to this game! YOU HAVE TO GET IT RIGHT! You have to get the Holy Spirit, not the unholy spirit. One little name makes all the difference to get the right connection.

God gave us the right phone number. We just have to dial it accurately. He said, "Call onto ME and I will answer thee and shew thee great and mighty things..." And the Mediator between man/woman and God is Jesus. He's the all-important Connector, Mediator, Shuttle Buffer, Advocate and Plea Bargainer between man/woman and God.

When I was a kid, I went to church every Sunday and listened to sermons that were all about "God". And, it was nice. It was uplifting. It carried me through the rest of the day with a little inspiration. But, there was something missing. I didn't receive the power to change or the power to overcome obstacles put in my path.

I DID NOT GET SAVED. Do you see? All that talk about "God", "Lord, Father God", "Almighty God", "Heavenly Father", "God", "God", "God" didn't carry the weight of salvation. It didn't mean anything to a searching soul like me because the word "God" just meant "somebody-way-up-there-out-of-reach-who-I-don't-know-personally".

Was God Buddha? Was he, Hari Krishna? Was he Allah? Was he Zeus? Who knew? As a teen-ager, I really wondered which god was the true god. I tried out a few of them, too! I bought books on Hari Krishna and later I delved into the Baha'i faith and read up about Baha'ullah.

In fact, I was shocked and mystified to discover, in the end, that the true God was Jesus Christ! All along, I thought he was sort of a Sunday School character who went around in a dress eating fish.

Then, I discovered the power in the name of Jesus and it blew my mind! You get INSTANT response. It's like an instant response system! You cut through all the red tape, confusion, wrong connections, tiring wastes of time and cut right to the main source of power.

This is not a joke. This is the way God has set up the spiritual world, my friends. You are held responsible to DIAL THE CORRECT NUMBER. God's not going to come down and do it for you. I mean, he could. He might, under dire circumstances. But, most of the time, he wants YOU to figure things out for yourself! Yep.

So, if you're having difficulty making that connection fast and strong, USE the name of JESUS. That's what it's FOR! The name has been paid for with a very high price. It's not just a nice little namby pamby name for Sunday School.

How to Beat Jealousy!

Jealousy can be debilitating. For every head you chop off, it grows ten more. I think that's what they say.

It's one of the most vicious obstacles to happiness. When confronted with jealousy, we tend to feel totally helpless.

How do we fight it?

From my experience, the best way to win this particular battle is to not engage it. DO NOT ENGAGE. It's bigger and stronger and more multifaceted than we can comprehend with our human minds. So, it's one of those battles that you can't win gracefully, you have nothing to gain by fighting it and it just ends up being a big waste of time and energy.

So, how does one refuse to engage? By simply blocking entry. Recognize the entry points and BLOCK THEM. It really helps to be one step ahead of the enemy for this one. If you struggle regularly with jealousy, it would help you to be TWO or THREE steps ahead of the enemy.

You've heard his voice before. You are aware when jealousy is coming on. Probably one of the first signals is that you start to lose some of your happiness. We are weakest when miserable because "the joy of the Lord is our strength" and just the opposite is also true: "The misery of jealousy is our weakness." But, no more!

What is the cause of jealousy? Once you know the cause, you can cut it off before it starts. I cannot stress how important it is to stop the jealousy from getting your ear or your eye or your focus. Ignore it. Walk away. But, what is the cause?

COMPARING.

It's as easy as that: Stop comparing.

You should know that I have just handed you an invaluable jewel.

It's worth repeating: STOP COMPARING YOURSELF WITH OTHERS.

Ok, I admit, it's a LOT easier than it sounds. It takes practice and determination.

I remember when I learned that it's wrong to compare yourself with others. It SET ME FREE! I mean, it really changed my life. I guess I'm one of those self-doubters, unsure of myself, always wondering whether I'm good enough. (Know anyone like that?) For me, whenever I compared myself to anyone else, I ALWAYS came out on the bottom. I was always last in my own estimation.

But, even though I knew I was going to come out last, I HAD to compare myself. It was like a compulsion, or even like a duty that I felt it was necessary to perform. Or, maybe it was just a habit. Maybe I hung out with people who had that habit and I picked it up from them. Who knows?

So, when I finally realized I didn't NEED to compare myself with others, it set me free! When I discovered I was NOT obligated to compare myself with others, I was liberated.

GET IT?

Simple, but true. It must sound like the world's simplest idea, but, I believe, for  a lot of people (especially young adults and teens) you will have an easier life and a happier life if you can receive this one simple piece of advice.

Girls, you don't NEED to compare yourself! Quit comparing! Fatter, shorter, heavier, prettier, skinnier, smarter, faster -- forget these adjectives. What difference does it make? If it makes you miserable, just quit it. Nobody is forcing you to compare yourself. (Except, maybe you-know-who, right? He tries to get you comparing.)

There's the key: at the FIRST suggestion from the devil to compare yourself, don't listen. Don't obey him. He's not your boss! You don't belong to his team. You're on the winning team.

Winners don't need to compare themselves.

So, keep the victory! Maintain your attitude of joy! STAY UP! Don't compare yourself to others. Then you won't even have to deal with what follows... all that misery of "if only I were (fill in the blank)" and "she's so thin" and "he loves her more than me".

Let's not even go down that rabbit hole. STAY OUT OF RABBIT HOLES. Embrace God's joy! Be happy to be you, just the way God made you. And, don't fall into the habit of comparing yourself to others.

Hope this helps!

Is Joel Osteen a Man of God?

From time to time, I go on Youtube to listen to pastors and preachers speak. Admittedly, the people who do a lot of screaming and shouting are not my favourites, but I always go back to the ones who encourage me and boost my faith. Joel is one of those pastors. I admire him immensely and I believe he is a true man of God who not only stands up for his faith, but puts his faith into action and demonstrates to others how to shine the love of God out to the lost.

If you listen to what he has to say, you’ll discover that he started from nowhere. Although he grew up in a Christian home, the son of a pastor, he didn’t even feel qualified to preach. But, step by step, as he followed the Lord’s leading, he became a popular public speaker, drawing thousands to his church.

At this time, there are those who are viciously attacking Joel. It grieves me to see any brother in the faith being treated this way. In fact, it reminds me of how the Pharisees attacked Jesus.

They tried to trick Jesus, by asking him the most difficult question they could come up with. “Should we pay taxes or not?” They figured if Jesus said yes, the common people would be disappointed in him but if he said no, He would be breaking the law. Jesus, knowing their hearts, asked for a coin to be brought to him. Then he asked,

“Whose image and inscription are these?”

“Caesar’s.”

“Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.”

Here it is verbatim. 

Matthew 22:16… Master, we know tht thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. 17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? 18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? 19 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. 20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? 21 They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.

In Joel’s case, his antagonists like to bring to him the question of the gays. They know that however he answers the question, he’s caught in a trap. He’s bound to offend either the Christians or the gays and their sympathizers.

I believe Joel answered the same way that Jesus would when the Pharisees brought a woman to him that was taken in adultery. (According to Jewish law, both adultery and homosexuality are worthy of death.) But, did Jesus pick up rocks and throw them at her? That’s really what was required to be done according to the law at that time, wasn't it?

He told the Pharisees, 

“Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone.” 

Boy! Those stones must have become burning hot to the touch because those guys dropped them like they were snakes!

Can you imagine what they must have been thinking? (Jesus could hear their thoughts and, no doubt, he was amused.)

 They probably thought, “Oh my God, if anyone knew what I did last week, that woman would be throwing rocks at me!” Their consciences were hurting so bad that they all left. So, Jesus asked the woman,

“Where are your accusers? Didn’t anyone condemn you?”

“No man, my Lord.”

“Neither do I condemn thee. Go. And sin no more.”

In the Hebrew law, there are many such sins that are punishable by death. Bestiality, certain kinds of adultery, sacrificing your children to Moloch, homosexuality and even cursing your parent will get you killed.

Thank God all these sins were nailed to the cross so that we are allowed to partake of God’s mercy. In thankfulness for that, it is our godly and loving duty as followers of Christ to extend that mercy to others. We are not supposed to pick up stones and stone the sinners that come into our churches. We are supposed to welcome them with open arms into a loving and friendly atmosphere where God’s Love covers a multitude of sin.

Yet, there are some believers who continue to point the finger at Joel Osteen. I fear for them. What if they are poking their finger in God’s eye? What if Joel is God’s man? What if his preaching is Bible-based? What if it’s true that God is Love and that God wants us to love the lost?

Brothers and sisters, should you decide that Joel is an imposter who doesn't minister God's Word, please pray before you judge him. Take a look at his fruit. The Bible says that "by their fruits we shall know them".

The fruits of the spirit, according to Galatians 5:22, 23

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

Does Joel have the fruits of the Spirit? (Keep in mind that the first fruit is love.)

I, for one, stand with Joel Osteen in these times of his testing and persecution and I hold him up in prayer as a faithful brother and fellow laborer of the Lord.

God bless you, Joel and continue to make you a blessing to many others! In Jesus' name!