Finding Truth

 These are very difficult and perilous times.  I believe that we are living in those perilous times in which the Apostle Paul wrote about in his letter to a young Timothy who needed encouragement.  We all need an encouraging word especially in times such as these.  We can grow so very dry and lukewarm if we are not careful.  We can become hardened against the truth of who God is when we allow all the tribulation going on around us distract us from our relationship with God.

The world is in trouble, but there is good news that needs to be heard and told.  The Church is not dead and God is not dead.  The Lord is still calling people to Himself and He is using believers in Jesus Christ to do just that by proclaiming the truth of the Gospel.

The first part that we need to understand is the truth about you and I.  We have missed the mark when it comes the reaching the standards that God has set up.  He is Holy and no sin can ever enter into His presence.  We have all sinned and fallen short of His high standards.  There is nothing we can do on our own to earn our way into God's favor.  We aren't good enough on our own to get into Heaven or even receive forgiveness of our sins.  We are sinners.  That includes myself.  I am the least of all believers in Christ Jesus and I can't save myself.  I am the worst sinner I know.   

God in His great mercy and love did something wonderful for you and I.  God loves us so very much that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth to live a perfect sinless life.  Jesus was tempted just like you and I are, but He resisted the temptations.  He never sinned.  He went obediently to the Cross and gave up His life for you and I.  Jesus shed His blood and died for our sin debt.  On the third day Jesus rose to life and He is right now at the right hand of the Father interceding in prayer for you and I.  

We must come to the realization that we are sinners and can't save ourselves.  Then we must go to the Lord Jesus in prayer and receive Him as our Lord and Savior.  We place our faith in Jesus and that is how we are saved.  Everyone on our planet needs Jesus.  The Church's mission is still the Great Commission which is to make disciples of all nations.  We do that by proclaiming the Gospel and helping people grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.  

Over the years the Church has become worldly and lost interest in proclaiming the Gospel and helping people grown in faith in Jesus Christ.  It is time for the Church (all believers in Christ Jesus) to WAKE UP and proclaim the truth to all that will hear.  Time is running out for our nation and our world.  

One day Jesus Christ will come back as the King of kings and the Lord of lords.  He will Judge the world in His Righteousness.  Those whom have received Him as Lord and Savior will have an eternal Home in Heaven with Jesus and those who reject Him will be placed in a literal hell outside the presence of Almighty God for all eternity.

Those of us that already know Jesus must cling to the hope that we have in the Lord Jesus and keep telling others about Jesus.  Let's run the race with our eyes on Jesus and try to bring people to faith in the Lord.  

Lord,

I have failed you so often and I am sorry.  I have sinned against You time and time again.  I have been lukewarm and aloof at times.  Please forgive my sins against You.  Help me to be about Your business.  Revive Your Church by starting in my heart first.  Help me to do my part to tell others about Jesus.  I can't do this on my own.  I need Your help, O Lord.  I pray for this world to repent of it's sins and turn their hearts to You my Lord and my God.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Hope in Times of Uncertainty

 These are very troubling times to say the least.  None of us have ever been through such trying times.  It seems like there is new trouble everyday and I am afraid that things will indeed get worse especially for we believers in Jesus Christ.  The mission of the Church must go on and we must be the light of the world and beacon pointing people of all nations to Jesus.

There is hope in our day and age.  There is hope for those in pain and in financial trouble.  There is hope for those who are depressed and anxious.  There is hope for those trapped in the bondage of sin.  There is hope for those who have feel at the end of their rope.  

Where do we find such hope?  Is it in a politician?  Is it in a political party?  No,  It's not found in either of those.  It is not even found in any man made thing we can think of.  On our own we are hopeless.  I am a wretched sinful man.  I am a loser and an outcast.  I can't save myself, but thankfully God in His wonderful mercy made a way for me to be reconciled back to Him.

You and I are sinners by birth.  We were all brought into this world with a sin nature.  We have all missed the mark of God's high standards.  God is Holy and nothing unclean or sinful can enter into His presence, but God out of His great love for human kind made a way when there seemed to be no way.

God demonstrated His love for you and I by sending His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, into this world to die for sinners of whom I am the worst.  Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life.  He went obediently to the Cross where He shed His blood for our sins and for the sins of the entire world.

Jesus is the Messiah.  He came so save the lost and set the captives free.  Jesus is the true living hope that we need.  We must come to the conclusion that we are sinners and desperately lost.  We must receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior in order to be reconciled back to the Father. 

This year has been difficult on everyone.  There is an increase of anger and hate across this world.  It has even infiltrated the Church.  These are dark times.  Many are growing lukewarm in their faith.  Many are turning away from the Lord for one reason or another.  

If you have never trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior the time to do so is now right where you are.  We don't know what tomorrow may bring.  We may not live through tomorrow.  The day of salvation is today.  Come to Jesus by placing your faith in His grace.

If you are a believer and you are struggling during these times.  Keep seeking the Lord in prayer and ask Him to give you a hunger for His Word.  The Church needs a Revival.  We need more of the Lord Jesus in our lives.  I need more of Jesus each and everyday.  I fail so much.  I need the Holy Spirit to take over my life to draw the lost to Jesus.  We need to remember the wonderful hope that there is in Jesus Christ.

We have lost focus of our purpose and mission.  We need Jesus.

Lord Jesus,

We need You!

You are the hope we all need.

Forgive us our sins.

Forgive us for being lukewarm and angry over silly things that don't matter in the long run.

Revive us by Your Holy Spirit.

We lift our eyes unto You for You are our help and our hope.

Come Soon, Lord Jesus.

In Jesus Name I pray,

Amen

Finding Real Hope

This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent.  It is during this time of the year that we should examine our hearts and remind ourselves of the blessed hope that there is in the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is truly the reason for the Season.  This would is in dire need of hope and peace.

When we look at the world around us it seems so very hard to see anything to be hopeful about.  We see anger, loss, hate, fighting, shootings, despair, lying, cheating, and other bad things that make us shake our heads in disbelief.  We may wonder if there is any hope for the people of this world.

The good news is yes, there is hope.  There is wonderfully amazing hope to be found.  Where can we find this hope and blessed assurance?  We will never find the kind of hope in a world leader, no matter how powerful or charismatic.  We won't find that hope in a president, member of congress, parent, or spouse.

The hope that we need has been giving to us by the true living God.  The creator of all things seen and unseen.  God made you and I in His image.  We are deeply loved by God.  In the Garden of Eden Adam sinned against God by eating from the tree he was told not to eat from.  It was then that sin entered into the world.  From that point on everyone born into this world has their heart bent away from God.  We are all born sinners separated from our loving God and there is no amount of good deeds, works, or rituals that we can perform that can bring us back into right standing with God on our own.

God made a way when there seemed to be no way.  You see at just the right time God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, into this world on a rescue mission to save us from our sins and reconcile us back to God.  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life ( John 3:16).

Jesus was born into this world to die.  He lived a perfect and sinless life.  He was fully tempted, but He never gave into those temptations like you and I do.  That means Jesus never sinned.  We sin everyday.  We sin many times a day in either thought or deed.  The Bible plainly tells us that, "for all have sinned and have fallen short of the Glory of God (Romans 3:23).

The wages of our sin is death.  "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).   It is because of our sin that we are all deserving of being placed in a literal hell of all eternity.  God is Holy and Just.  Nothing sinful or dirty can ever enter into His presence.

God made a way when there seemed to be no way.  I am glad He did that for you and me.  God sent Jesus to go and lay down His life upon a cruel old rugged Cross for my sins and yours.  Jesus took the punishment in the Cross for you and I.  I can't save myself.  I am not good enough.  My good deeds are like filthy rags in comparison of our Holy God.  I am saved by grace through my faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus rose to life on the third day conquering the grave.  He is at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven and one day Jesus Christ will return to this earth and bring with Him the Kingdom of God to this earth in full completion.  He will Judge the living and the dead.  Those who have turned from their sins and have trusted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will enter into Heaven where they will be with the Lord forever.  Those who refuse to turn from their sin and trust Jesus Christ will be sent to a literal hell outside of the presence of the Lord for all eternity.

It is only those who repent of their sins and trust the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior that have this hope.  It is a matter of our hearts.  The Lord doesn't want anyone to god to hell.  I don't want anyone to go to hell either.  That is why I feel compelled to tell people and warn them in the best way I know how so they can escape the wrath that is to come.

We followers of Jesus Christ have a wonderful hope in Him and we have a wonderful future in store for us in Heaven.  The Lord Jesus Christ is the hope that the world needs.  Many people won't turn from their sins and turn to the Lord unfortunately because of pride.  Their eyes have also been blinded by Satan so they can't see the truth of who Jesus Christ is.  Jesus Christ is Lord.  He is the Savior of the world.  Jesus Christ is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.  Jesus Christ is God.  He is the Redeemer.

Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.  I praise His Holy Name.  I am thankful that Jesus Christ saved a wretched man such as I.  I am thankful that everyone who receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior has the Holy Spirit indwelling in them.  May we cling to the hope that we followers have in Jesus Christ.

We must not look at the world and try to find hope there.  We must not try to find hope in material things or relationships with other people.  We must attain our hope from a solid and firm foundation.  That solid and firm foundation is the Lord Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith.  If you are facing a time of trial and you feel hopeless I would encourage you to go to the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer and call out to Him for help.

Lord,

Thank You, for being the true hope that we need.  
We praise Your Name.
I pray that You would comfort us by Your Holy Spirit.
Help us to grow closer to You.
We love You, Lord.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.

Loving God and Others

The world seems to be getting darker and more dangerous nowadays.  There is a lot of anger and arguing back and forth.  Sometimes it is hard to find out what the truth is these days.  There is also a lack of love in our world.  I am not sure if the world really knows what true love really is.  The love that most people talk about these days is a shallow type of love, if it is real love at all.

There is only one way to truly understand what love is and that is to look to the One who loved us first.  God loves us with a deep and everlasting love.  We have all sinned and we are all deserving of eternal punishment in hell because of our sin.  God demonstrated His love for us by sending Jesus Christ into this world to die for us sinners (Romans 5:8).  We have all sinned and we have all fallen short of His standards (Romans 3:23).  The wages of our sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23).

We must repent of our sin and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ by placing our faith in Him (John 3:16).  We are saved by grace through our faith in Jesus Christ and not of ourselves (Ephesians 2:8-9).  God loves each one of us and He doesn't want any of us to be separated from Him forever.  That is what happens when we reject God's love.  God made a way for you and I to be forgiven of our sins and have a home in Heaven for all eternity.

We need to place our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved.  It is important for us to love the Lord with all of our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls.  It is also important to love our neighbor as ourselves.  God made a way for us to be reconciled back to Himself by sending Jesus Christ on a rescue mission to save us sinners.  We believers in Jesus Christ must tell others so they too can have the opportunity to have their sins forgiven through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  There is only One Way into Heaven and that is through Jesus Christ (John14:6).

Let's love the Lord Jesus and love others enough to tell them the truth of the Gospel while there is still time.  Time is running our for our world.  The Lord is coming soon and people need to be ready for that day.

Lord,

We praise Your Name.
Help us to love You more and more.
Help us to love others as You love us.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.

True Living Hope Blog

I just wanted to thank you for reading the Truth and Hope Blog over the several years that I have done it.  I have started a new blog and I invite you to come a see it.  It is pretty much the same blog format of Bible devotions, but hopefully there will be room for future improvements, Lord willing.

Here is a link to the True Living Hope Blog Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/True-Living-Hope-Blog-100606857977626/?eid=ARAj-GharLRFUA9pa2UYWHO_l79rWaJRyU9QK53MPRdoCrfu0uI8vjtya8CVMV-4j6tytacISLNmsrDB

Please like the page.

My WordPress website for the Blog can be found at:

https://truelivinghopeblog.wordpress.com/

Hope to see you there.

I may write some entries here in the future.

May the Lord bless you abundantly.

Keeping Our Eyes On Jesus

Life can be hard and rather troubling at times.  The world seems to be going down hill fast.  There seems to be a lot of anger and negativity.  I believe we are living in the perilous times that the Apostle Paul said would happen just before the return of Jesus Christ.  

It is easy for us to be tempted to collapse in despair at all the bad things happening all around us.  I have thought about becoming a hermit and living in the woods, but that wouldn't change anything about the way the world is.  The problem is world wide.  The world is full of trouble.

Jesus told us that in this world we would have trouble, but we must also remember that it was Jesus that has overcome the world for us.  Jesus took the sin of the world upon Himself at the Cross.  Jesus conquered sin and death for you and I.

Jesus Christ is our blessed hope.  He is our true living hope.  Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ there is no hope to be found.  We have all sinned and we have all fallen short of God's high standards.  There is not one of us that has not failed in someway in life.  We have all made mistakes over and over again.  We have missed the mark.  That is what sin is.  Missing the mark.  

God knows our ways and He knows our hearts.  The Lord knows ever detail of our lives and He loves us anyway.  God showed us how much He loves us by sending Jesus Christ into this world to live a perfect sinless life.  Jesus went to the Cross where He shed His blood for our sins.  Jesus took the penalty for our sins upon Himself.  

We must confess to the Lord that we have sinned against Him and then receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9; John 3:16).  Everyone who repents of their sins and receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior has forgiveness of sins and a home in Heaven being prepared for them.

We believers and followers of Jesus Christ must not lose heart, but keep on believing and trusting the Lord Jesus.  Let us lift our heads high for our redemption is drawing near.  It is closer now then when we first believed.  Let's continue to run the race that the Lord has set us in and keep our eyes on the prize.  

Lord,

We praise Your Name.

Help us not to lose sight of You as we run our race of faith.

Come Soon Lord Jesus.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.

Offer Up Prayers and Encouragement

Have you ever tried your best at something and all people can say is something negative?   Sometimes people try to be helpful, but in the end, after thinking about what the person said, it sounds more like a criticism.  I must admit I am times too sensitive about things.  I may be hypersensitive.  Things seem to affect me more then other people at times.  I also over think things and read too much into what people say at times.  I am very inward person and can probably come off as aloof, cold, and uncaring, but that is not entirely true.

Sometimes it feels like no one understands me.  Do you ever feel that way?  There is good news for us.  The Lord Jesus understands exactly what we are going through.  When Jesus was doing His earthly ministry He was misunderstood by many people including His very own disciples whom He had chosen.   We can take comfort knowing that the Lord loves us and He will lead us and guide us to where He wants us in His perfect timing.

During the summer I preach at times at a small church in Selden, Maine.  It is a seasonal church that is only open from June to the first Sunday in September.  The church is supposed to be for those who have camps at the lake in that area of Maine, but this year the attendance hasn't been very good at all.  There were a total of four people there today including myself, my mother, the piano player, and a woman that goes to the church I belong to in Houlton.  We had a good time worshiping the Lord.
We keep saying, "Where two or three are gathered, the Lord is in the midst."  We know that is true and we are thankful that the presence of the Lord was indeed there this morning.

Ministry is hard that is for sure and I am not sure if people really know how hard it can be especially for those who work in full time jobs and try to minister.  It is a very difficult task and people just don't seem to appreciate that.  Even those who work in full time ministry encounter hardships and those negative people who wear you down.

There is something seriously wrong in our world these days and in or churches.  We need to refocus our lives upon the Lord Jesus Christ and have a Holy Spirit revival take place in each believer in Jesus Christ.  We need the Lord to shine His love and light threw us into this world of darkness.

Instead of criticizing people we need to pray for them and encourage them.  I can be hard enough on myself, I don't need anybody else's help in that endeavor, thanks.  Let love one another in the Lord and encourage one another.  Let's show kindness and understanding.  May we show the world that we are disciples of Jesus Christ by our love for one another.

I am sorry that I haven't been writing in my blog very much lately.   I am sorry that I am not a very polished preacher behind the pulpit for some people.   I am just trying to do the best for the Lord and not to please people.  I want to bring the truth to people so they can turn from their sins and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord, 

Help us to forgive those who criticize our efforts to serve You.
May Your will be done.
Come soon Lord Jesus
In Jesus Name I pray,
Amen.