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God gives us great Gift! Gifts such as life, the world we live in, love, faith, courage…The list is endless.  People have asked me before, “Where do I get my Faith?”  It comes from God.  It’s nothing I did, I asked Him for faith and God gave it to me.    Ask Him, and He will give it to you too. For Faith is a Gift?. 

Jesus Himself knew that it would be hard to put our Faith in something we can’t see, which is why He understood Thomas’ struggle so well and was so patient with Him.  Jesus will be patient with us too, because He loves us. 

Jesus gave us many Gifts.  One of His very best gifts is that He gave us a path back to God and a way to Heaven ?.  And He taught us how to live ?

One note, if we are given the Gift of Faith, or indeed any Gift, we need to remember to say Thank You ?  And we need to use the Gifts that God give us.  For like any Gift, if we do not use it-we will loose it.

At Jesus’ request, God also sent the Holy Spirit to help us. More on that tomorrow 🙂

“Strong people don’t put others down.  They lift them up.”-Michael P Watson

A friend sent me this quote this morning.  What a great reminder ?

Jesus lifts us up.  And reading the Bible, it’s clear that Jesus not only Loves us-He likes us too.  When He was on earth, Jesus enjoyed His time with us!  And remember, we are made in God’s Holy Image ?

There are some great Bible verses about lifting others up and not putting them down:

“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:11

“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”- Romans 12:10

“Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” – Romans 15:2

“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” – Phillippias 2:4

“What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” – 1 Corinthians 14: 26

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”–1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

Clearly, God wanted us to “build each other up”.  And one of Christ’s greatest commandments was to love one another ? So loving each other and building each other up are good choices 🙂

And there is someone else we need to learn to build up and love-ourselves!

There is an old saying, “God does not make junk”.  Trite, but true ?.  As human beings, we have a tendency to run through a list in our minds of all the things that we have done wrong or failed to do. But how often do we run through a list of what we did right or what we actually did for others?

God wants us to love each other, but He also loves us!  Maybe we should too ?

“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you” John 6:12–14

Ever notice how many ways people seems to interpret what God says?

Sometimes that is a good thing. It’s simply God’s way of telling us what we need to know-when we need it to know.

But sometimes it is not a good thing. Sometimes its our way of holding on to pet sins or beliefs that are simply wrong.

And that is why it is so very important to ask the Holy Spirit to read the Bible with us. Because the Holy Spirit can show us the very real, and only, truth of God’s Word.

“Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.  They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.  They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.  For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee”  Psalm 83: 1-5

According to some, Psalm 83 is “is generally seen as a national lament provoked by the threat of an invasion of Israel by its neighbors.”  But it can also be prayed against all threats by those who “hate” God.  And sadly, there are those who do.  And they “hate” all those who truly follow Jesus. 

And there are different types of war. A war to protect our nation from invaders. To protect our souls from any who would lead us away from God. A war against sin and temptation. A war within ourselves as we struggle to choose God over all things :).

Many wars are led by the evil one, for evil has always hated good; just as darkness has always hated the light.  It always will. 

The picture attached is from Auschwitz, need more be said? That evil will stop at nothing and stoop to any level is a lesson we should have learned during WWII, but we didn’t.  And we know what they say about those who “fail to learn from the lessons of history”, they are “doomed to repeat them.”

But we DO have a choice, given to us by God Himself.  That is what freedom is, a choice.  We can choose the slippery slope away from God and all that is good or we can choose to follow Jesus to Heaven itself 🙂

We can choose to protect our souls and hearts from those who would mislead us and put our entire focus on Jesus 🙂

And always remember, we can ask God for Help, in all circumstances!  We are His children and He loves us.  He will answer our prayers, if we pray in the Name of Jesus.

And if we are unwilling to pray in the Name of Jesus, then we have only ourselves to blame for the end result. 

For no power on this earth can stop prayer ?

There are those who have claimed that God has an opinion on this. Personally, I do not know what God’s opinion might be.

But I do know this. Jesus’ command to love one another did not come with a statement such as : if they are vaccinated.

During WWII, the Jewish people were used by Hitler as his “scapegoat” for the terrible economy. He used the media with great success to portray the Jewish people as the reason for every suffering in Germany. And although we all know this to be untrue, he was able to convince millions simply with his use of propaganda and the media.

Flash forward to today. The government seems to be using propaganda and the media once again to successfully use the unvaccinated as scapegoats for all of our hardships and suffering.

And many governments, including our own, are persecuting Christians through out the world!

We do not have to allow them to succeed in their efforts. Christ has commanded us to love one another-do not let any government teach you any differently!

The government seems to want to be your god, don’t let them! We already have God, Our Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit! And that is all that we need and all we should have!

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6: 19-21

Removing our children from public school is costly! And having to discuss how our families will afford this choice is a necessary family conversation. But a conversation that needs to start with the idea that “God gave us these children. They are a Gift from God, and our first and foremost responsibility in this life is to do our very best to raise them to know Jesus Christ and to Follow Him”.

No doubt, private school have become very expensive! And if churches actually hope to have future congregations, then they need to return to making attendng a Christian school-affordable. But attending private school is one available option, albeit an expensive one.

In past years, homeschooling was very difficult. That is not so now. There are many inexpensive internet programs available. Some of these programs even offer associate college degrees upon graduation from “their” high school.

There are also many home school groups that help! And they offer a number of opportunities for kids to socialize 🙂

So the real question is, how do we afford it when they are young? Does one parent need to stay home, because they can not stay home alone, nor can they home school themselves! And this is when it can become very difficult because the choices can become very difficult. Does a family need to give up their house and rent somewhere cheaper? A difficult decision, but sometimes a needed one. Do we choose to have one television, instead of two? Do we have to choose used furniture instead of new? Do we need to have one car, instead of two? None of these are easy choices.

But if it means being able to protect our children, if it means they will never be forced into the bathroom with a person of the opposite sex, if it means they will stay innocent a while longer and live a faith-filled life in Jesus Christ-then it is worth it!

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” – Matthew 18:6

Recently, CBN wrote an article about the new common core standards for sex education in public schools.  I have put two excerpts from their article below and the entire article can be read with this link:  CBN

“The new standards advocate for abortion, requiring teachers to tell sixth graders about it. It also compels ninth-grade teachers to provide information about local abortion clinics to their students.  The transgender agenda plays a strong role in these lessons which urges that children should be allowed to choose their own gender identity, and any pronouns they select to be identified by must “be respected by the adults in their lives.”—CBN

“The standards require that children as young as kindergarten should learn about gender identity. Third graders are taught that gender is on a spectrum. Other topics include lessons about hormone blockers for transgender youth and how to “explain” masturbation”-CBN

Clearly, these standards violate God’s Teachings!  The question really is, “can a child who is taught these standards starting at Kindergarten withstand the onslaught from teachers against their faith”.  And I think the answer is:  Doubtful.

Once a child enters first grade, they spend more of their waking hours at school then they do with their parents.  When children are very young, they believe anything their teacher says, even when it conflicts with what we are teaching them at home. 

Even when children simply mishear their teacher in, for example math, they continue to think that 2 +3=4 (if they think their teacher said that) no matter what we say at home.  Young children believe what their teachers teach them and that is why the content of what teachers teach is so very important.

A good education without faith is useless.  The most important thing we can ever teach our child is:  Faith in Jesus Christ.  All else is useless without it.  And these new standards violate what we are teaching at home and what is taught in the Holy Bible.  Period.

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6

This is the lesson our children need to learn ?