FollowingJesusUS.com

But we do have to choose to see Him 🙂

This photo is just a simple floor rug. We probably see it every day. But there is a Cross on it. The question is do we notice it? Are we reminded to pray by it?

Jesus is here, but where is our focus:)

Jesus has all the answers and He is the only way to Heaven:)

How often do we see a Rainbow or a Cross in sunlight. Or perhaps it is something extraordinarily beautiful in nature. Or perhaps Sun dancing on the water in an amazing way 🙂

God is always with us, comforting us, holding our hand…But we do have to choose to see Him :). Whether it is our Father, Jesus or the Holy Spirit, God is always with us 🙂

And He gives us such good gifts! Sometimes it’ a hug from someone we haven’t seen for a while. Sometimes it’s family and sometimes it’s friends. Sometimes it’s our puppy nudging us. And sometimes it’s a beautiful nature scene.

But no matter how difficult our lives may become, God is always there, giving us hope and strength, courage and comfort…

We just have to see it and realize God is with us 🙂

Thank you God 🙂

Our Father knows how to give good gifts!

Follow Jesus 🙂

When attacks on Christians happen (as in the attack on the Christmas Parade), it’s hard to know exactly what to do.

The first thing we can do is remember that Justice belongs to God, not to us. God is as Just as He is Merciful! And there WILL be Justice!

The second thing we can do is pray for mercy for those who committed such a heinous act. I can’t really imagine anything worse than murdering parents and children who are attending a Christmas Parade! I still remember bringing my own children to one. How excited little children are, and how happy we are to watch their faces! That innocence is now lost. It will be a long time before anyone will attend a Christmas Parade without remembering this one.

But as Followers of Jesus, we walk a different path. We leave Justice to God, and we pray for Mercy for the sinner. Granted, in this case, it seems a lot to ask, but then God gives a lot :).

There is one other thing we can do: We can restore this country to what it once was: The land of the free and home of the pray. A country in which God’s Place it it was valued by all 🙂

The first step-pray! The second-return to a Bible Believing church that is filled with the Holy Spirit! If you can’t find one that preaches the truth of God’s Word, attend a Bible study. Some may feel they don’t need that. But this is not about what we need, it’s about what we can give :).

The third is-only vote for those who share our values! Those who believe in the tradtions that once made this country great! Those who honor God and God’s place in the public square!

And if none of that seems to restore our country, remember our efforts are our gift to God, the outcome of those efforts belong to God :).

“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; or I am God, and there is no other”- Isaiah 45:22

Clearly as a nation,- we will face the consequences of our actions.  God is Just; He will not let our sinful actions go unpunished forever.

For as a nation, we have done much to offend God.  Murder, violence, abortion, gay marriage, atheism, witch craft, the occult…

As a nation, we have created a society that supports evil and violence.

Sadly, is it really a surprise that someone mowed through a Christmas Parade and killed at least 5 and injured 40 people, 12 of them children? Attacking Christians, whether verbally or physically is becoming common place.

From removing Christ’s Cross in a variety of places to the removal of God from the public square…Our nation, which has been so Blessed by God, has done much to offend our Lord. And it’s not like God does not punish nations, look below at what God said to Babylon:

^”For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.”

“Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.”

“Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.” – Isaiah 47:10-13

 Does not America today sound quite a bit like Babylon?

Tolerance of other view points does not mean that total disrespect for Jesus or those who follow Christ is acceptable!

And Mary warned us in Ecuador, but sadly we did not listen.  Mary shared with us that a “spiritual catastrophe” in the Catholic church was coming and would occur sometime after the mid 1990s -and it did!

One thing that Mary warned us of:  is that many would be unable to receive the sacraments of Baptism, Holy Communion, Confession…Think of what happened during Covid!  How many churches were shut down?  While Walmart was ruled essential; church was not!

And she also warned us that marriage would be under attack -and it is! 

She warned us that many of the Faithful would be blinded and unable to see God’s Truth.  And they have been!  God clearly considers gay marriage to be wrong, and yet how many have failed to speak God’s Truth? A great stateman once said, “the only thing needed for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing” How many of us have stood by and done – nothing?

But Mary also gave us a ray of hope to hold onto.  She said that “when evil finally seems to triumph over all, when all seems lost, Complete Restoration of the Church will begin and the Church will finally reawaken.“

God loves us!  He may punish our nation, but He still loves us and will still answer our prayers.  And our hard times will not last forever! No matter what, hang on to God’s Hand and pray, in Jesus’ Name, He hangs on to yours 🙂

“Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself” – Matthew 22:37-39

With friends on all sides, this is an issue near and dear to my heart. And I have been afraid to write about it, less someone be offended :). But “race relations” have deteriorated and continue to do so. This is not of God and we need to make some changes.

Another question to ask ourselves is, “who wins when we hate each other?” “Who benefits?” Not us!

One has only to turn on the news to see photos of African Americans rioting. or school Board meetings in which CRT is debated and parents are threatened. But it’s important to notice that there are plenty of people of ALL RACES speaking against CRT being taught in schools. And as for the riots, there are plenty of white people there too!

There are so many African Americans who truly love the Lord and all God’s people regardless of race. Regardless of color, we are one family-Christ’s family 🙂 And the truth is that we do not have to agree with one another in order to love each another! For a great example of this, we need only look at Jesus and His great love for us 🙂

And we know that the media shows us the worst of everyone-black and white. Because that is what gets them ratings. But there are plenty of good people, of ALL colors, who are truly good people and care about each other. They would never injure another. And they would never be unkind! Black, white, Asian, Afrian, Latino…-as Christians we ALL need each other and Jesus’s command to love one another has not changed just because our country’s leadership has!

Think for a moment just how difficult it must be to be African American and to Follow Christ right now. To be the person who speaks up and says all violence is wrong. I saw one video that showed a young African American girl picking up chairs that had been turned over in a protest. I saw another video in which a number of African Americans at a protest worked together to help an elderly man who had been knocked down. They helped him up, made sure he was okay and protected him. No matter what the media shows, African Americans are not all alike-just like white people are not all alike!

And take a moment, and think about how difficult it is to be a person of non-color these days. The news screams headlines that everyone of color hates you, is willing to hurt or kill you and blames you for just about everything. White people struggle with poverty, health issues, and worry about their children. In other words, we all have some of the same problems. And we all share some of the same dreams! We love our children and want them to grow up and be educated enough to one day sucessfully go in pursuit of their own dreams..But the media never mentions that!

We share the same faith in Jesus Christ and the same desire to go to Heaven with all whom we love. We read the same Bible. We pray for those we care about. And as the song goes, “we all bleed the same”.

My mother always taught us that prejudice is how we feel about someone and racism is how we act towards someone. I don’t know how I feel about the statement that “racism is growing”; I don’t know anyone who is racist. But I do feel that prejudice is growing. And if we allow prejudice to grow; it can lead to racism. And it is many of those in the government and the media who are causing prejudice to grow, but we don’t have to let them!

So what can we do to stop it? We can reach out to each other in Christ and in love. We can make sure that everything we do and say is loving and kind! We can “walk a mile in each others’ shoes”. In other words, we can take a moment and remember how difficult the lives of another must be sometimes!

We can turn off the news! We don’t need reminders that there are human beings of all colors that act badly; we already know that. Instead, we can take a moment to focus on how wonderful good people of all colors can be!

And perhaps most important, we can Pray for ourselves and each other! We can ask God to renew our hearts and empty them of anger, and help us to love each other well 🙂

“Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself” – Matthew 22:37-39

Jesus commanded us to love God and to love each other, regardless of color. And regardess of the many ways we may divide ourselves. We are all Followers of Jesus and because we are, we are all going to Heaven 🙂

“preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. – 2 Timothy 4:2-5

Sounds like our country right now!

It’s easier to remain silent in our country, especially right now. It takes courage and faith to speak up! But there are so many Americans doing so :). Those who share their faith in Jesus with others. And those who live by by their faith and the God’s Word. They care far more about God’s opinions, then they do the world’s!

There are the bakers, the florists and all the others who refuse to violate their faith in God’s Word so that the “elite” will approve of them. Those that serve God by reaching out to others in kindness and love. There are so many Americans who love our Lord and serve Him every day!

“be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of yourr mind, that ye may prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect, will f God.” – Romans 12:2

Gaining God’s approval is much, much more important than gaining the world’s. One is forever (God’s) and one is temporary (the world’s). So choose wisely 🙂

We all get afraid to speak up sometimes. But the “Battle is the Lord’s” , which means the outcome belongs to God-not us. But we do have a part in it. Our part is to share our faith with others. Follow Jesus-not the world. It matters not what Washington or anyone else says is right, it matters what God says is right! And fortunately for us, He placed His “instructions” in the Bible. So if you are struggling with trying to know what is right and what is wrong, simply ask the Holy Spirit to Help you read God’s Word on it in the Bible 🙂

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” -2 Timothy 1:7

Share your faith in Jesus today:) The Holy Spirit will give you the words you need, just ask Him 🙂

In Isaiah 59:12 it says:  “For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them”.  There was no “bridge” to forgiveness and no “bridge” to Heaven until Jesus! Thanks to Jesus, there is now 🙂

And although Jesus sacrificed the most, it is not just Jesus who sacrificed, it’s our Father, Mary, the Holy Spirit, the Apostles, His Friends.  It’s all those who loved Jesus!  Can we imagine our sons suffering and dying on that Cross while we stood at their feet to offer what comfort we could?  Can you imagine how our Father felt as He watched Jesus on the Cross? Or Joseph? 

Or how about being Jesus?  I could not imagine holding my hand still while they nailed it to a cross.  The pain alone!  Jesus had the power to take Himself away from the pain at any time, but He didn’t.  He stayed, and He suffered, because He loves us so much!  And all of those who loved Jesus, suffered to.

In 1890, there was an Evangelical Missionary (Oswald Smith who said, “O. to realize that souls, precious never perishing souls, are perishing all around us…”  How often do we really think about and have compassion for those lost souls?  How often does our own soul prompt us to share the Good News that because Jesus came, a bridge has been built to Heaven. but that we need to accepts Jesus’ Great Gift and Follow Him home ?. 

Our world has become so anti-Christian that many are afraid of “offending” someone, and do not share the Gospel, but sometimes we have to do something even when we are afraid!

God commands it: “When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.” – Ezekiel 3:18

“Courage comes from walking with our Lord”, is a phrase in a popular Christian song.  In this day and age, we need it.  The world tries to convince us to be silent.  But God commands us to speak.  It’s up to us who we obey!

Jesus did not let fear stop Him from suffering on the Cross and Rising to Save us.  We can’t let fear stop us from bringing as many people as we can with us ?

It really is that right and that simple.  For we would not follow God if He was unjust or unmerciful.  We need both ?

In Isaiah 59, we read of God’s Justice.  Woe to any who earn it!

We also read of Jesus’ coming to earth to Save us:  ““The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,” declares the Lord.”- Isaiah 59:20

Notice though, the Redeemer comes for those who “repent of their sins”.  Jesus didn’t come to save us so we could continue sinning whenever we feel like it, so that we could do so without repentance, and still go to Heaven!  We need to make a few changes and the Holy Spirit is here to Help us ?

However, in the next Chapter, Chapter 60, we see just how wonderful Heaven is!  And just how merciful God is and how much He loves us! We need to remember to Thank our Father, Jesus & The Holy Spirit 🙂

Jesus came to earth and sacrificed so much so that we could have a relationship with our Father and go to Heaven for all eternity.  We should honor His great love and sacrifice because Jesus is so good and He loves us! In fact, Jesus loved us first!

But if that, by itself, is not a good enough reason for some, we need to ask Jesus to be our Savior so that one day we can enter Heaven forever.

Don’t get “Left Behind”.  Jesus is the bridge, Follow Him! ?