We must look to the word of God to properly define what a Christian is and what a Christian is not. There are so many interested Christians and very few committed Christians.

An interest is something that is based on our convenience. If it is convenient, then we will do it. But when one is committed to something, they accept no excuses. Commitment is a willingness to do whatever it takes. It’s a promise to yourself, from which you refuse to back down. When you are truly committed, you accept only results.

Only you can decide whether the reward for being committed to God is worth the effort, the sacrifice. A committed Christian is one who believes in Jesus. In John 6:26-55, Jesus explains that so many come to Him, but as soon as something is required of them, they balk, they get mad, they get so disappointed that they will walk away from God to fulfill their own selfish desires. We believers who are committed purpose to do whatever God asks us to do in His word.

When people were following Him for what He could give them, Jesus began to talk about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Crazy, right? No, because what He was saying is to believe in Him enough to do what it takes. In Luke 14, He tells us what it would take to follow Him. It takes us being a committed believer — not just one who is only interested. It’s not about our convenience — it’s about obeying the Lord.

Just a thought,

PSS

Growth is a part of life — either you are growing or you are not. It’s your choice, and only your choice, if you want to change your life or some part of it.

We all need to work on some area of our lives. It can be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. We can always improve. The reason so many don’t is that it is hard work. People will say, It’s no fun — it is hard. Changing our thinking can be a tough process. In our culture today, it seems as if hard work is a disease, and we’ve built up an immunity to it. We want everything right now, and we expect achieving, growing and developing will be easy.

Anything worth having will take work. When we work for something, we tend to appreciate it more. When it’s just given, and requires no effort on our part, we tend to not appreciate or value it as much. Our investment in our own lives helps us to respect the process. I believe there is an area (or areas) in our lives that we need to work on.

Here is a thought: O.A. Battista said, An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it. Let’s do the Lord’s work and watch the good things that happen in our lives. Do better — be better — live better. You are worth the work!

Just a thought,

PSS

Maybe you have heard the saying: Opinions are like noses — everyone has one.

When is it just an opinion? When it is based on emotion or taking sides in a situation. We should be careful not to think that our opinion is right, and everyone else’s is wrong. When it comes to the word of God, that is not an opinion — it is the absolute truth.

I have learned recently that loyalty — right or wrong — only goes so far. As long as you say and do everything someone else thinks is right, people are with you. But once you don’t, then they think something is wrong with you.

What I find even more interesting is that people will give you their opinion even when you don’t ask for it. They feel as if it is their right to give you their opinion, and if you do not listen to it, then somehow they feel rejected. I personally do not offer my opinion unless specifically asked for it.

We live in a very sad day when someone’s opinion means more than God’s word. We will violate the word of God to be heard, to say what we feel, even if it is not accurate or based on fact. I do believe in the multitude of counsel there is safety, unless it does not agree with your opinion.

I believe we all ought to make sure that we are not moved by what others think more than by what God says.

Just a thought,

PSS

So much is being said about hate speech in our country today. We know it is a relatively new term. What it really means is that there are certain words and phrases which we should never say because they may hurt someone’s feelings.

Even though we should never purposefully hurt someone’s feelings, we should never bow down to a small group of people who want to restrict our speech. The politically correct police, whoever they are, want to tell us what we should say or should not say.

It’s crazy how our country has gone in the last twenty to thirty years — how today everything hurts someone’s feelings. It’s sad to me how people can buy into this rhetoric. What people are actually saying is: “If I don’t agree with what you are saying or just don’t like what you are saying, then what you are saying is hate speech.”

I think we all should be careful, because if it weren’t for the First Amendment to our Constitution, the courts and the media would decide what we can and cannot say. What makes America great is people who honor the Constitution of the United States. We allow people to say what they want even when it may be offensive or hurt our feelings. We do not stifle someone’s right to say what they want because if we are not careful, one day someone will say to you, don’t say this or that. Freedom of speech is paramount to keeping us free in this country to be able to believe and say what we want.

The greatest thing for me is to be able to worship the Father of my Lord Jesus without any fear of repercussion from anyone. Let’s be kind to one another, but continue to put God first in every area of our lives.

#Truth is the new hate speech. If you quote the word of God, touchy people are calling that hate speech. Let’s be mindful.

Just a thought,

PSS

As our society gets more and more secular (anti-God), we as Christians must develop and maintain our Christian worldview. That means those whom we support politically or in our everyday lives must be weighed against the word of God.

How unfortunate, in this their culture, that we will be forced to vote for people who are the most closely aligned with our Bible — the word of God. The First Amendment of the Constitution is the foundation for all the amendments to our Constitution. The two most important principles are freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Without these two, the Constitution will fall apart. The government is telling us what we should believe and what we are allowed to say. If we don’t put our Christianity first in every area of our lives, we will lose our rights.

If you really believe in the Bible and in the Lord Jesus, you could never support or approve of a socialist. Socialism is contrary to biblical principles. I have said it many times — the public school systems are indoctrinating our children. What they should be doing is educating and teaching them about the greatness of America and the Constitution and what the republic means.

We can see today many, not all, young people want things for free. Nothing is free: somebody will always have to pay. Let’s begin to put the word of God first. Let’s weigh everything against the word of God. If it is not in line with the word of God, we must reject it or them, and allow God to truly lead us. I’m concerned for the church and people who claim to believe the word of God and claim to obey Him, but yet follow the ways of the world and support people who are against our faith. We will know them by their fruit — their actions, not their words.

William Booth wrote in the late 1800s: “The chief danger that confronts the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, heaven without hell.” It’s happening today; we are witnessing this right now. Let’s allow God to lead our lives. Let’s put Him first in every area of our lives!

Just a thought,

PSS