Walking by Faith

Please join me in praying for Greg Laurie and his family

 http://www.ocregister.com/articles/laurie-mcclure-son-2106065-church-family

What does Love mean?

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, “What does love mean?” The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined.

“When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.”
Rebecca- age 8

“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.”
Billy – age 4 (I love this one)

“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.”
Karl – age 5

“Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.”
Chrissy – age 6

“Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.”
Terri – age 4    (How true)

“Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.”
Danny – age 7

“Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss”
Emily – age 8

“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.”

Bob by – age 7 (Wow!)

“If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,”
Nikka – age 6

Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.”
Noelle – age 7

“Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.”
Tommy – age 6

“Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.”
Elaine-age 5

“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.”
Chris – age 7

“Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.”
Mary Ann – age 4

“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.”
Lauren – age 4

“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.” (What an image)
Karen – age 7

“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn’t think it’s gross.”
Mark – age 6

“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.”
Jessica – age 8     (I think we just assume people know we love them)

 

And the final one — Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four-year-old child whose next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry”

Let the washing of the brain commence brothas!!!

There are many brainwashed people in this world. They are religious as well as non-religious. Many times in Christianity people believe what they believe because that is what mom or dad believe regardless of what is actually taught. They call it tradition or the fact that they were just raised that way. They usually say one thing and live another because they don’t really know what they believe. I was there at one point.

This is true in other realms of life though and not just in Christian homes.

We do what we do because we saw our parents do the same or we believe something because we admire someone and we want to be or act like them and we don’t think for ourselves.

There are those who were raised to be a certain way and that is all they know or care to know and they state the moniker “If it was good enough for my parents, it is good enough for me” the only problem is that we seldom try to find out why our parents believe this way or do things a certain way.

I heard a story once that drives it home:

A young lady went to her mother one day and asked her why she cut a certain part of a side of ham. The young lady had done it as long as she could remember and she did it because her mother had done it. They would cut a certain part off of the ham and throw it away. Her mother said, “I don’t know why, I did it because I saw your grandmother do it, why don’t you ask her.” The young lady went to her grandmother and her grandmother didn’t know because that is what her mother had always done, so she suggested that the young girl go ask her great-grandmother. “Granny” the young girl said, “Why do we cut that part off of the ham? I do it, momma does it, even grandma does it and they all say that they did it because they saw each other do it first.”

“It’s simple,” her great-grandmother answered “I cut that piece off the ham because my pan was too small.”

I once believed what I did only because it was what my family had believed. I went to the same church that my family went to and I thought that it was o.k. because my family wouldn’t lead me astray. Right? The truth is that I was not thinking for myself and only when I started asking questions did I realize what was going on in my own life.

In John 3:16 Jesus said.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

 

What is belief?

What kind of belief is Jesus talking about?

Is belief is just a statement of fact?

Is belief just knowledge about something or someone?

We are responsible for what we believe when it comes to Jesus Christ.

It is not just the fact that we say we believe.

In Acts 8:9-24 we see Simon, a sorcerer who believed in the name of Jesus. He professed it and was baptized; yet he was still unsaved. He did not believe.

Many times demons in the Bible have proclaimed who Jesus was, yet they were destined for hell. They did not truly believe.

James 2:19, Matthew 8:29

Jesus said.

Matthew 7:22-24

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

These people knew who Jesus was. They had certain knowledge about Him. They believed in Him, just not enough to let Him into their hearts.

Notice that the text does not say that they didn’t know Jesus but that He never knew them.

The whoever mentioned in John 3:16 means anyone and everyone who believes. Meaning anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord of their lives in faith

Hebrews 11:6,

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

1 John 5:1
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

1 John 5:5
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

1 John 5:12-13 

 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

It takes a faith that is personal to believe this way. It takes a faith that does not come from you parents or from others. It takes a faith that is grounded in God and through God.

We must believe that we are sinners. We must believe that we are infected with sin. We are not just infected with sin, we are sin. We must believe that the only way to change our situation is through the price that Jesus Christ paid for us.

John 3:12-14

12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up

Numbers 21:1-9

1And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.

 2And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.

 3And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

 4And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

 5And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

 6And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

 7Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

 8And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

 9And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Jesus Christ became sin for us. He became a curse for us so that we might live.

Romans 5:8

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Galatians 3:13

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

I believe in Jesus Christ because I know Him. Not because I was brainwashed into thinking a certain way, not because my parents believe in Him, not because someone I look up to told me too.

I believe in Jesus because He died for me. I believe in Jesus because He is my Savior. He is my Lord and my all. He died for me and He dwells in me. I believe in Jesus because of what He has already done for me. That knowledge never changes even though my walk with Him changes because I grow closer to Him each day

In this way I am responsible. I am responsible to know Him in faith believing so that He knows me through salvation and Lordship

So what do you think?

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!