All Human Life Matters To God

"13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 
                                                                           

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 

                                                  

15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 

                                                  

16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. 

                                                  

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! 

                                                  

18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!"

Psalm 139:13-18 (NLT)

The Lord loves us with a deep everlasting love.  We are created in His image.  Human beings are important to God.  We are each made to have a relationship with Him through the Lord Jesus Christ.  All human life is special and important to God.  He sees us as we are knit together in our mother's womb.  

He knows the plans that He has for us.  We are each special to God and we each have a purpose.  That purpose is to love the Lord with all of our hearts, minds, bodies, and our entire being and to also love our neighbor as ourselves.  

The devil wants to kill and destroy humanity by driving them away from God.  Satan is the father of lies.  The devil doesn't want people to know the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ and thus be set free from their sins.  The devil want s to keep people ensnared in sin and bondage.

The truth is that we have all sinned and we are all deserving of hell and eternal separation from God.  God, out of His great love for humanity, sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins.  Jesus died on the cross for our sin debt.  He came to set us free from the bondage of sin and whoever the Son sets free is free indeed.

There is no sin too big that God can't forgive.  Jesus loves you!  The Lord is rich in mercy.  Confess your sin to the Lord and repent.  Turn away from your sin that is weighing you down and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith, trusting in His grace.

We live in a selfish world where people only look out for themselves.  If there is something that is inconvenient they get ride of it no matter what it is.  If they don't like what is happening in a marriage.  They get divorced.  If they don't like to have a baby.  They abort it.

If walking into a place a shooting people is wrong and it is most definitely.  Why then is it right in some people's minds that destroying an innocent life in a mother's womb is alright?  The Lord is our Maker and our Creator.  We each are special in God's sight and He loves each one of us.

Let's stop the hate and find the love of God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

We must repent of our grievous sins and turn to God in pray so that God will hear from Heaven and forgive us our sins and heal our land.

Lord,

I pray for mercy for the United States of America and this entire world.

We have sinned against You O God and we have done horrible things out of convenience.

We are so very sorry.

We have made a mockery of marriage which is supposed to be the union of one man and one woman by Your design.

We have allowed the murder of innocent babies through what is called abortion.

We are under Your judgment O Lord.

Have mercy on us through Your Son, Jesus Christ.

I pray for a call of repentance.

I pray for the pouring out of Your Holy Spirit to give us a boldness to stand for the truth of Your Holy Word and the truth of all that is right in Your eyes.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.

Standing Firm In The Truth Of Jesus

The world can be a rather scary place at times and things seem to be getting worse.  The world is so desperately trying to distance itself from the Lord and the truth of His Holy Word, the Bible.  There are many false teachers in this world that are spreading lies and deceiving people to keep them away from know the truth about God.

The devil is going around stirring up trouble all around us because he knows his time is running short.  There seems to be no fear of God in our world and especially in the United States of America, where I live.

There are a lot of things that can cause us to feel anxious and worried, but we must remind ourselves that the Lord is with us each step of the way.  God will never leave us nor will He ever forsake us.  We believers in Jesus Christ are children of God and the Holy Spirit dwells within us.

There is nothing that can separate us from God's love once we come to faith in Jesus Christ.  We have been sealed for the day of redemption by the Holy Spirit of God.  We have nothing to ear any longer for the Lord is with us and He will fight our battles for us.

The enemy will prowl around and try to find someone to devour, but we much stand firm in the truth of the Lord Jesus.  The Lord will protect us.  We need to trust Him and listen to His call.

We don't know what the immediate future holds for us, but we know who holds our lives in His Mighty hands.  The Lord Jesus loves us and He has a solid grip upon all of us that have placed our faith and trust in Him and His finished work on the cross.

May we not be distracted by things that have no eternal value whatsoever.  May we press onward to the prize that has been set before us.

Lord,
Thank You for Your great love and care for us.
We praise Your Name.
We trust You O Lord with our very lives.
Help our faith in You grow as we read Your Holy Word.
Come soon Lord Jesus.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.

Thankful for the Lord's Healing Touch

I am sorry for not writing a blog post for an entire week.  The Easter weekend was rather busy one.  There was also an unexpected event that took place.  I had to rush my mother to the Hospital on Easter.  She spent three days in the Hospital, but she is home now and doing much better.  Thank you for your prayers and I would encourage you to keep her in your prayers.

I am thankful for God's provision.  He always takes care of us because He loves us.  The Lord promises us in His Word that He will never leave us nor will He forsake us.  He is a constant help in our time of need.

I am thankful for the Cross where Jesus shed His blood and died for our sins.  I am thankful for the empty tomb.  Jesus Christ is Alive!  Hallelujah!  We have a wonderful living hope in the Lord.

We may not know what will happen to us in the days ahead, but we can rest assure that the Lord will see us through each step of the way.  God is good.

I am thankful for the prayers of God's people.  I am thankful for hearing our prayers and answering them in accordance with His will.  I am thankful for the Lord healing my mother and I am thankful that I sensed His presence throughout the ordeal.

We must lift up our hearts unto the Lord Jesus when the difficulties of life arise.

Lord,

Thank You for Your love and care for us.
Thank You for healing my mother.
I praise Your Name.
Come Soon Lord Jesus.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.

Ultimate Love

Today is Good Friday.  It is the day Christians around the world take a moment and reflect what occurred on this day nearly 2000 years ago on a hill far away.  The Lord Jesus Christ was nailed to an old rugged cross and died.  He laid down His life for each one of us.

It was a horrible death, but it was the greatest demonstration of love that the world has ever known.  We are all born into this world with our hearts bent away from God.  We are born into this world as sinners.  We have all sinned and we have all fallen short of God's high standards.  There is not one of us that is good on our own.

There is no one good enough to earn the forgiveness of God by our own good deeds.  We have all failed for there is none that is righteous.  We are all sinners and we are all deserving of facing God's wrath and being placed into a literal hell outside of God's presence for all eternity.

Thankfully we know that God demonstrated His great love towards each one of us by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.  Jesus took our punishment for us on the Cross.  He went obediently to the Cross and laid down His life for our sins.

Jesus went obediently to the Cross and died there for our sins.  We must repent of our sins and receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  We must remember the events of Good Friday and we should also remember that there is Easter Sunday.

There is wonderful hope in the Lord Jesus Christ for all those who believe.

Lord,
Thank You for loving us so very much.
We praise Your Name.
Help us to live for You O Lord.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.

Walking In The Spirit More Often

Sometimes we try to handle things on our own because we think we can handle them.  We may even think that the difficulty will pass on its own.  I try to handle things on my own perhaps too much.  I also keep things to myself, perhaps too much.  I am an introvert so that means I bottle things up inside and stay inside my head too much at times.

I mentioned in a blog a little while ago about a person at my work place that kept on mocking me and my faith in Jesus.  He is a sad young man that is full of anger.  Today I tried to open a door for him inside that store and before I could open it he rudely plowed through the door nearly jamming my fingers.  I was furious.  So, instead of confronting him, I stewed.  Which unfortunately is my response most of the time when I am wronged.  The more I stewed the more up set I became.

A little while later in the afternoon I was walking and here comes the man in question and he is heading directly towards me walking at full speed so I move to avoid him.  He moved in the same direction purposely getting in my way.  So I had enough and kept walking brushing into him rather assertively.

I lost my cool and yelled after he said I hit him.  This guy has been bullying me and I am sure others at work.  I told my story to the manager and he has been written up finally.  I told someone about things that were going on a while ago and they told me there was nothing that could be done, but this manager told me that wasn't true at all.

I want to walk in the Spirit more often and not give room to the fleshy nature.  I want to get along with others, but there are times we must stand up for the truth especially when someone is causing us to be uncomfortable.  I probably should have handled things better like telling another manger what was going on a long time ago instead of trying to handle things on my own.

I forgive this young man.  I would ask that you would pray for him.  I would ask prayers for myself as well for courage to stand for the truth of Jesus Christ and not be so timid.

I am not perfect.  I am sinful wretched man saved by the wonderful grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I am thankful that Jesus has saved my through His sacrifice on the cross where He shed His blood for my sins.  I don't always in step with the Spirit.  Sometimes my fleshly sinful nature come roaring to the top when the pressure mounts.  I need the Holy Spirit to change my heart and my mind in a powerful way.

I am tired of tripping and slipping.  I am tired of a lukewarm faith.  I need a revival fire in my heart fanned by the Holy Spirit.  I need Jesus in a powerful way.  I am small and weak.  I want to do what is right, but I fail to carry that out at times.

I need a fresh faith and a fresh power of the Holy Spirit to take over my life for God's Glory, Honor, and Praise.    I need to walk in the Spirit more often and give no room for the flesh.  My Bible reading for tonight was Galatians 5 which really helped open my eyes to certain things.

Sometimes we lose sight of the Lord and we act out in our sinful nature.  The devil likes to see us fall and get angry.  The devil wants us to ruin our witness and tarnish the image of Christ.  We must be on guard against the wiles of the devil and stand firm upon the truth of God's Word and the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord,

Forgive us when we lose our cool and get angry.
Help us to love others as you love us.
You are the Lord and You are in control.
Place upon us the full armor of God and put a hedge of protection around us.
Fill us with the Holy Spirit and help us to keep step with Him.
Protect us for evil O Lord.
Forgive those who hurt us and mistreat us.
Come Soon Lord Jesus.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.

Trusting the Lord

"Trust in the Lord with all of your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek His will in all you do,
and He will show you which path to take."

-Proverbs 3:5-6

There will be times in our walk with the Lord where we will be challenged in our faith.  The Lord wants us to trust Him with all of our being.  Sometimes we find it difficult to trust Him when the circumstance seem hard and challenging.  We are told hundreds of times in Scripture to, "fear not," but it is another thing not to fear when we feel outside of our comfort zone.

The road of life isn't always easy.  There will be opportunities that seem tempting to take, but they may not be what the Lord would have us to do.  We must pray for the Lord to reveal His will for our lives and then we must take a step of faith and trust Him.

I am still learning to trust the Lord everyday.  Sometimes my faith seems weak and I fail to take the steps that I know that I ought to take.  I want to do what God wants me to do, but sometimes I end up shrinking back out of fear and uncertainty.

We must learn to rely on the Holy Spirit who indwells everyone that has placed his or her faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  The Holy Spirit will grant us more courage, more love, and direction when we submit to His leading.  Sadly, many of us Christians lean more on our own understanding of things and we fail to listen to the Holy Spirit.

We can trust the Lord in every and all situations no matter what.  God is good and He is always good.  The Lord will provide for us and He will enable us to accomplish all that He has for us to do.  We are just to trust Him and walk in obedience to His call.

Sometimes it is hard to distinguish God's call from our own wants and wishes.  We must call out to the Lord and ask Him of a certain opportunity is from Him or not.  The Lord will let us know.  He will either open the door or He will close it.   The Lord knows what He is doing and we must trust Him.

Lord,

We praise Your Name.

Help us to trust You more and more.

Thank You, Lord, for this day.

Thank You, for Your goodness and mercy.

I uplift those who are ill and facing hard times.

Heal them O Lord and shine Your face upon them.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.

Overcoming Our Fear

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline."

-2 Timothy 1:7

There are many things in this world that can cause us to shrink back in fear.  There are things that we should definitely be cautious about and have a healthy fear.  An example of a healthy fear would be a fear of snakes if you live in a place where there are poisonous snakes.  Thankfully, I live in a place where there are no poisonous snakes around.  

Sometimes we experience fear at trying something new and wonder if we will fail or not.  I was at a Bible study the other day and we were studying about the Church in Philadelphia in the book of Revelation.  Jesus told them that there was an open door in front of them.

Sometimes God puts an open door in front of us as well.  We have a choice either to go through it or shrink back in fear and miss out on a great blessing and opportunity to serve the Lord.  A few months ago I heard about a Ministers Conference that is going to be held in my state where I live.  Pastor Jim Cymbala from the Brooklyn Tabernacle will be leading it and I so wanted to go.  I was disappointed that the free conference was sold out of the free tickets they we issuing.  I noticed that there was a waiting list available on the website of the Conference so I filled out my information and then just forgot about it.

Yesterday, I got an email and a voice mail on my cell phone about the Conference.  A ticket was made available for me.  I had to reply by 12:51 pm yesterday.  I looked at the clock yesterday after I looked at the email from the conference and it was 12:50pm.  So, I hurried and replied.  I filled out some information and they sent me an electronic ticket.

I want to go, but I would rather go with someone.  It is a 2 hour ride and in the past I experienced panic attacked while driving on the interstate.  I have been able to drive around on normal roads thankfully with no problem, but there is that fear in the back of my mind, "What if I have another panic attack on the highway on my way to the conference?"

I am one of those overly nervous people at times.  I want to have strong faith and trust in the Lord, but I know I weak.  There is nothing Christ like about me.  I need the Lord's help through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to help me over this hurdle.

I would ask for your prayer that God would provide someone to go with me or that He would give me a dose of courage to go to the conference.  Every thing seems to be falling into place that this is God's will.  I am tempted to not go which would be a lost opportunity.  This maybe the opportunity of a life time.  

The Lord hasn't given us a spirit of fear or of timidity.  He has given us believers in Christ the Holy Spirit to equip us with power, love, and self-discipline.  We don't need to fear for the Lord is with us, but sometimes the enemy loves to fire those darts of fear at us to prevent us from doing God's will.

Lord,

HELP!  Help us to overcome our fears.

I thank You for Your great love and mercy.

Help me not to be afraid.

Help each of us to trust You more.

Empower us Holy Spirit to live more boldly and be more loving.

Provide for my need I pray O Lord.

In Jesus Name I pray, 

Amen.

Being Ready

The world is a crazy place at times.  We look around us at all the turmoil, the arguing, and anger and we wonder where things will head next.  We wonder how much worse things will get.  Things will continue to grow worse until the Lord Jesus returns to this earth at His Second Coming when He will bring the Kingdom of God to the earth in full completion.

The Lord Jesus could return at anytime and it is highly important that we are ready for His return.  It is important that we are not taken off guard by His coming and be found not ready.  The Lord will come like a thief in the night.  That is He will come unannounced at anytime.

We live in a sinful fallen world.  There are many in today's world that give no thought about God.  Many are living day to day just for themselves.  There are those around us that have no desire to have a relationship with God and there are those who have never heard about Jesus and His saving grace.

We believers in Jesus Christ maybe the only message anyone ever hears about Jesus Christ.  The thing is are we proclaiming our faith in the Lord with our words and by the way we live.  May we deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Jesus each and everyday.

The Lord loves us and He wants to have a relationship with us.  We have all sinned and we have all fallen short of the glory of God.  We need a Savior.  Jesus came to die on the Cross for our sins. We must repent of our sins and place our faith and trust in Him to be saved.

Lord,

Thank You, Jesus , for saving me.

Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.

I have been saved through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus.

I pray that more people will come to faith in You O Lord.

Come Soon.

In Jesus Name I pray,

Amen.

Fixing Our Eyes On the Unseen

Sometimes our troubles seem like they will never go away.  The burdens just seem to pile up on us and weigh us down.  Our troubles seem so hard to cope with at times, don't they?  We wonder if things will ever get better.

The good news is if you are a believer in Jesus Christ then yes, things will one day get better for you when you enter into the Lord's eternal presence in Heaven.  It is easy for us to loose our focus here on the earth where there is much suffering and death.  There is coming a day for the believer and follower of Christ when those afflictions will be a distant memory.

The apostle Paul writes about this in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 which says,

"Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away,

yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory

that far outweighs them all.

So we fix out eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.

For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Everything that we see around us will one day go away.  Everything that we see with out very own eyes has a beginning and it will come to an end eventually.  That sounds rather grim, but it is true.  The troubles that we experience won't last for ever either if we are believing in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  If we have rejected the Lord Jesus and His finished work on the Cross then we have no hopeful future ahead of us, but we can only expect divine judgment and to be cast into a literal hell separated from the true living God for all eternity because we rejected His one and only Son who died for the sins of the entire world.

We believers have a great hope, a true living hope, in Jesus Christ.  We must keep our eyes upon Him and the hope of Heaven that lies ahead for every believer in Christ Jesus.

Lord,
Thank You for this day.  Thank You for the hope we have in You.
Help us to have our eyes fixed upon You.
Help us not to be discouraged with the trials that afflict us.
Come Soon Lord Jesus.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.

Tragic Moments

Sometimes we forget that we live in a fallen world where tragic events happen everyday.  We may feel like we are immune to them at times because those things always seem to happen to someone else.  The truth of the matter is that in this sin filled and fallen world those bad things can happen to us as well no matter who we are.

Those of us who are believers and followers of Jesus Christ are not immune from troubles.  Jesus tells us that in this world we can expect troubles.  Just because life seems to be going smoothly right now for us doesn't mean there isn't something just around the corner that will test our faith.  Times of trial will come to each of us.

We must make sure we are firmly anchored upon a firm foundation that will not move when our lives are shaken to the core.  The Lord Jesus Christ must be our anchor and we must stand firmly upon the truth of who He is.  We must hold firmly to the truth of the Holy Word, the Bible.  

There is a lot of trouble in our world these days and things seem to be getting worse in all areas, but we must not shrink back in fear and lose all hope.  We believers in Jesus Christ have a wonderful living hope in Him that no tragedy ,no matter how big, can ever take away.

Life isn't easy.  Sometimes it is mean and unfair.  There will be times when we a completely blindsided by a tragic even.  In those moments we must lean upon God and trust Him to lead us by His Spirit to healing and comfort.  We also need to lead upon fellow believers in Christ especially those whom have experienced tragic life events of their own.  

We must persevere in our walk with Christ with our eyes firmly focused upon the Lord who will never leave us nor forsake us.

Lord,

I uplift the family of Maine State Trooper Det. Ben Campbell for comfort and strength.

I pray for the Law Enforcement community who are grieving as well.

I ask that You O Lord would bless them and their families as they continue to work to make our communities a safe place in very difficult times.

I uplift the people who were involved in a head on crash that injured 15 people today.  I pray for the healing of all of those involved and may You draw them into a relationship with You Lord.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your love and compassion.  Thank You, that You do care when we go through hard times.  Help us to be compassionate towards others.  Forgive us when we are short with others and frustrated.  Help us to love each other as You have loved us so very greatly.

Come Soon, Lord.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.

I Don't Want To Be A Fool!

The world is in trouble.  There are many people all around us that live as if God were not real and some just don't care one way or another.  I used to be one of those people.  For the first 28 years of my life I didn't believe that there way a God and I didn't really care if He existed or not.

I considered myself an agnostic.  I only believed in God when I got into trouble.  The first time I ever bowed down my knees to pray was right after my dad died of a massive heart attack on the kitchen floor.  Then later that same year my mother was hospitalized for two months of so.  I prayed for her non-stop.

She eventually recovered, but I still really didn't come to know God in a relationship.  I thought I was a good guy.  I bragged that I was a nice guy and most people probably would have agreed of you would have asked them.  A few years after my mother got out of the hospital I was invited to a church service by my future sister-in-law.

I heard the Gospel preached by an older gentleman with a slight southern accent.  He told about Jesus in a wonderful way that seemed to draw me in.  Later that year I received my first Bible for Christmas from my sister-in-law and I read it like I have never read any other book.  That is because the Bible is unlike any other book you will ever read.  The Bible is the true word of God.  The Bible reveals the absolute truth about who God is, who we are as people (we are sinners), and how we can be reconciled back to God through faith in the one He sent, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I kept reading the Bible and I discovered that I wasn't as good as I thought I was.  I really thought I was good.  I didn't drink.  I didn't drink.  I didn't do drugs.  I never got into trouble that people knew about.  I was really proud of my goodness, but I found out I was wrong.

There is nothing good within Michael Rairdon (that is in my fleshly nature).  There is something broken inside of me and it is my sin nature.  We are born with a sin nature that separates us from the Living God.  God is Holy and sin can never enter into His presence.

I found out that despite all of my good works that I would never be good enough to earn God's forgiveness.  I was totally lost and dead inside and I never knew it.  I surrendered my life to the Lord Jesus Christ and came to faith in Him.  I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior in 2004 and I was baptized later that same year.

Psalm 14:1 says,

"The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does good.

I was a fool for not believing that there is indeed a God.  He is the Creator of all things seen and unseen.  There is only One God.  He is the God revealed in the Holy Bible.  He the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

God is real and He does exist.  He loves you and He wants to have a personal relationship with you.  God demonstrated His great love for you and I by sending His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to this world to live a perfect and sinless life.  Jesus went to the Cross where He shed His blood for our sins past, present, and future.

I never understood the Cross or the Bible for that matter until I came to faith in Jesus Christ.  When I came to know the Lord the Holy Spirit cam to indwell within me as He does with anyone who comes to faith in Christ and He opened my eyes so I could see the truth of who God is and all that He has done for me.

I Corinthians 1:18 says,

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are
being saved it is the power of God."

It is a foolish thing for us not to believe in God and it is foolishness to reject His way to coming to know Him.  The Lord wants each one of us to come to repentance of our sins and He wants us to come to faith in Jesus Christ, the One who came to save us by His shed blood on the Cross.

Lord,

Thank You for not giving up on me when I lived as a fool.
I am thankful for Your patience and all the people You placed in my path to draw me to You.
I am not perfect.  I still struggle with sin and I stumble.
I am thankful for Your mercy and grace.
Thank You that You are still working on me to make me more like Jesus.
I pray that more people will come to know You Lord Jesus in the days ahead.
In Jesus Name I pray,
Amen.