FollowingJesusUS.com

A Pastor said: “In essentials unity. In non-essentials liberty. In all things charity”. Lately there has been much debate among Christians as to what are the essential beliefs for a Christian.

There are definitely some essentials. But who decides what those essential are. God does.

God left us His Word, the Holy Bible, to instruct us and we should ask the Holy Spirit to read it with us so that we can understand exactly what the essentials are.

But while we are doing that, we need to remember that in “all things charity”.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”- John 13:34-35

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” – Galations 6:2

Love is an action verb. If we want to truly love each other, we need to take action 🙂

Harder times are coming. We know that. For some, they have already come. But God knows our problems. Our needs. For some, food is needed. For others, they are plagued with an illness that just won’t heal. For still others, their need is for a home to shelter them.

There is a tendency for people to think they are on their own. That we must fulfill our own needs, because no one else will. But we forget that we have a Father who loves us very much. There is a verse in the Bible:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” – Matthew 6:23-34

Our Father knows what we need and He loves us. We need not fear.

We just need to change our focus from our problems to our Provider:

“Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’- Isaiah 41:10

As we look towards the future, we can see that there will be hard challenges ahead. And we ask ourselves, what should we do to prepare ourselves for them? To prepare those we love?

The answer is truly simple, rest in Jesus. Let go. Be. There will come a time when the only genuinely safe space will lie with Jesus. But for today, spend time just being with Jesus. Enjoy all He has given us. Thank Him. And instead of worrying about tomorrow, enjoy the moments we have today.

And learn how to truly Rest in Jesus and receive His Peace.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:7

There has been much debate about whether we should defend Israel or not. But as much as it seems to be a difficult question, it’s not. Israel belongs to God. The Jewish people are God’s Chosen People. And God loves them in a special way, God always will.

We don’t really get to debate this question, because God Himself answered that question long ago.

There are those who claim that Israel has commited grave crimes against many. There are those who claim that Israel has only done what they needed to do in order to defend themselves.

But at the end of the day, they are God’s people. If they are in need of discipline, God will discipline them. Not us. They are God’s people, not our’s.

Should we support Israel? The answer is simple. We only have to answer one question . Do we want to support what God supports?

We all know what happens to those who refuse to accept Jesus before they die. They do not go to Heaven.

The Gospel itself is often called the “Good News”. That is because the Gospel Is the Good News :). It’s like winning a lottery ticket. We get to share, that because of Jesus, everyone gets a to have a close relationship with God, we get to have all of our sins forgiven and go to Heaven :). It’s a free Gift! And all anyone has to do to receive it, is accept Jesus as their Savior and Follow Him. It’s free 🙂

It’s Great News! But too often we fail to share that news with anyone. Why? If we won a lottery ticket and we knew where someone could buy one too, we wouldn’t hesitate!

So why do we hesitate to share the Good News of Jesus Christ?

Despite the recent celebration of July 4th, America will not rise again. At least not as a nation. In order to rise again as a nation, our country would need to repent and as one turn to God again, but that is not going to happen.

But the American People, many genuinely love one another! The American People are like one big family. They have faith in God and in each other. And they have faith in the values and traditions that built this great country!

So we need to Pray that God will heal “our family”, and help us to love one another as Jesus loves us. And we need to pray that we will not “drift away” from the God who has been so good to us all.

We were “born for such a time as this”. We need to be ready and ready our families as well. And we need to share the Gift of our Lord’s Salvation now, for soon it may be too late!

Sometimes, we just get tired. As we rush around trying to make this July 4th truly wonderful for all those that we love, we forget sometimes to “let the Grace of Heaven breathe us in”.

Sometimes, no matter how much we have to do, we need to take a moment to ask the Holy Spirit to refresh us, to help us. To be with us! So that we can give all of ourself to those we love 🙂

Keep praying! Prayer changes things 🙂

And who, with God’s Help, we can be again!

I know for many, that July 4th, the 250th anniversary of our country is not something to celebrate. It sometimes seem that we are surrounded by darkness. And that darkness seems to be spreading everywhere, not just here. And sometimes, that darkness can feel overwhelming.

But there are things we should all remember. Our country has survived WWI, WWII and the Great Depression. Not necessarily because of the courage of our government, but because of the great faith and courage of the American People. Because of the way we love each other and because we knew that Faith, Family and Freedom needed to come first! And because Jesus was our Safe Space.

There are those who have claimed that our country was not founded as a Christian Country. This is just not true! We have always been a Christian country, just as we always had a deep commitment to allowing people of all faiths to practice their own religions.

Follow Jesus and Keep Praying. Prayer can change things 🙂