Let your light shine! 1-6-16

Only one place to find true joy.

Contrary to popular opinion, true joy can only be found in one place:

Psalm 16:11
You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Sadly we try all kinds of things for joy but as this verse tells us sure joy can only be found in the presence of God. We may find temporary happiness in something of the world but everlasting joy can only be found in God. 

God loves us so much that He sent himself to dwell in us (Holy Spirit) so that we the joy will never be taken away once we become followers of Jesus! How awesome is that!

I can have a horrible day but you can’t steal my joy in Jesus! Remember that! He died for us and has provided eternal life to His followers. I have joy, joy, joy, deep down in my heart!!!

Do you have joy? It is all about where you are with Jesus! He changes everything!

Tom

Pornography-the Truth.

Want peace? Follow Jesus!

World is going crazy, where do I go?

It is depressing to turn on the news these days. Satan has the world in his hands so it seems. Murders, crime, rape, captivity, and the list goes on. Do we give up? NOOOOO! Where do we go then? The bible as usual tells us:

Psalm 11:1-3

In the Lord I put my trust;
How can you say to my soul,
“Flee as a bird to your mountain”?
2 For look! The wicked bend their bow,
They make ready their arrow on the string,
That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.
3 If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?

We don’t flee, we put our trust in the Lord! Nothing surprises God, He is in control. He allows us free choice to do as we please....thus we have the world in the condition it is in. So as followers of Jesus, we trust, we stay faithful, we obey, and we continue to love the world and share the gospel. Just as the God has told us to do.

Stand strong brothers and sisters....Jesus is coming soon and may he find us standing strong and remaining faithful.

Tom

Christian drinking-do you know the truth? (Watch the whole video)

Make the effort.

When we are followers of Jesus, we should have some traits that mark us as belonging to Jesus. Some of these may come easily to you but others mat take some work to implement them in your life. Look at this verse:

2 Peter 1:5-7

Fruitful Growth in the Faith

5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
Let’s break these verses down to grasp the full meaning. 

1. diligence-constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken. So we are to put an all out effort to obtain this growth in the faith!

2. virtue-conformity of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles. Is your life morally in line with God’s Word or with what the world says is morally ok? 

3. knowledge-your main knowledge is to be God’s Word. Sadly most are ignorant of the most important book in the world. You can not live a godly life without a good knowledge of God’s Word!

4. self-control-this may be the toughest for it requires discipline. Can we discipline ourselves fully to be in line with God’s desires for our lives? The key here is do we want to be in line with God!!!

5. perseverance-desire to stay after a course of action no matter the obstacles. This is key to our faithful walk with God. Remember we have an enemy who desires for us to fall on our face.

6. godliness-conforming to the laws and wishes of God. Are we conforming to God or the world? Remember self-control!
7. kindness-Are we kind....always?

8. love- a great love for God and others, even our enemies as we keep in mind eternity and where folks will spend it. 

So as you can see we have plenty to work on in our growth in the faith. I pray that our desire is to grow closer and more obedient to God’s call on our lives in 2016. Let’s do this brothers and sisters!

Tom