A Choice

Deuteronomy 30:20

Choose to love the LORD your God and to obey Him

and commit yourself to Him, for He is your life.  (NLT)

     Although this message from God was spoken through Moses to the people of Israel, it remains today a most powerful message for every living person on Earth.  Every day we are faced with many different kinds of choices that must be made, but choosing God is by far the most important choice you will ever be face with to make, because without the blood of our Lord God Christ Jesus, you will surely die the sinner’s death, which leads to everlasting condemnation.  This one choice that stands before us today is much different from the days of Moses, for it now involves our God in the flesh, who provided the life-giving gift of salvation that was bought and paid for with the blood of our Savior Christ Jesus, the Lord and Creator of Life.  We can either choose the gift of salvation that God offers us or we can turn it down and hope for the best.  We can accept the robe of righteousness from Christ and stand on His merit or put on the robe of death and follow Satan into the Lake of Fire.  We can choose to put our hope in the blood of Jesus or we can put our hope in a fallen world that is destine for destruction.  These choices are not so easily made, because people today are as they have always been since the Fall; selfish, greedy, corrupt, evil, sinful and prone to making the wrong choices. 

     Because of our sinful natures people tend to choose the paths that are easy and the ones most traveled, because they want an easy fix to satisfy the hungers of their flesh, driving them to do what is wrong rather than right.  In general, we are a rebellious people, especially when it comes to obeying our Lord God who knows what is best for us.  And for many people it is only when the world crashes down upon them that they call out to God as a last resort; even those who say they don't believe in God.  People do this because God created us (whether we believe it or not) to depend on Him.  Everything that keeps us alive is provided by God; not by man, not by our own accord, and certainly not by chance or luck of the draw.  Most of us discover sooner or later that nothing from this world can fully satisfy our deepest needs.  The two things that this world can definitely promise and deliver are disappointment and death.  But our gracious Lord God promises and can definitely deliver us peace, joy, and the gift of eternal life.  You can choose it or lose it, but the choice is yours!

                                           A Whisper of Hope

Choose carefully, My child…for the choices you make all lead to either life or death, light or darkness, God or Satan, and Heaven or Hell.  And they are all eternal by nature.  Satan and his world will try to tempt you into its darkness and discredit My Name.  Don’t focus on the world of the here and now.  Instead, focus on Me and the world to come, and then be grateful for all I have given you. 

Daniel 12:1, 2

Then there will be a time of anguish greater than any since nations

first came into existence.  But at that time every one of your people

whose name is written in the book will be rescued.  Many of those

whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting

life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.  (NLT)

                         Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God,

         and that by believing in Him you will have life.

                                       (John 20:31)

                      Seeing Eyes

Psalm 123:1

Unto You I lift up my eyes,

   O You who dwell in the heavens.  (NKJ)

     Because we are God created, finite human beings, we tend to look beyond ourselves for something or someone that we can look up to—someone greater with whom we can rely on to inspire or encourage us while we live in this difficult world that is getting even more difficult as the days go by. For those of us who have our Lord God and Savior, Christ Jesus, as that Someone we can look up to and rely on to inspire, encourage and give us hope, we are blessed with spiritual eyes—eyes that see through the darkness that this fallen world wants us to be trapped in—a darkness of lies that is created by the leader of Hell’s fallen angels.  Christians are utterly filled with thanksgiving and praise to the Lord our God, because there are billions of spiritually blind people in this world that cannot see beyond the world they are trapped in and trying to make sense of. There are so many lost souls who, because of ignorance or pride, are more inclined to look inward for some hidden inner strength.  There are still other discouraged souls who look downward at the futility of it all and simply give up.  And what's left are people who will look everywhere they can, rather than looking upward to the Living God who knows and sees all things visible and invisible.

     If God is your last option, you may not see Him at first glance, but with persistent gazing upwards into the heavenly realms in search of Him, God will, in His own time and His own way, open the spiritual eyes of your heart and you will find the absolute Truth in the Living God—the only One who can rescue you from the hopelessness that we all face without God in our lives.  Our God is very real, my friends, and He resides in the hearts of all His believing people.  How blessed we are that our God is always Home, always watching, and always waiting for you to walk through His door.  He is always there where you are, because He is your Sovereign Keeper; the One who never sleeps and is always alert.  The Almighty, Sovereign God is the infinite Watchful One who has eyes that see it all and the powers to fix it all.

                                     A Whisper of Hope

I see it all, My child…nothing is hidden from Me.  When you look up to Me for truth and resolve, you are looking in the right place, for I Am your Creator and the Keeper of your soul.  You need only look up into the heavens to find the help and hope you need.  I Am always Home and ready to help.

Isaiah 55:6-7

Seek the LORD while you can find Him.  Call on Him now while His is near. 

Let the people turn from their wicked deeds.  Let them banish from their minds

the very thought of doing wrong!  Let them turn to the LORD that He may have

mercy on them.  Yes, turn to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.  (NLT)

    The LORD is watching everywhere, keeping His eye 

                         on both the evil and the good.

                                       (Proverbs 15:3)

                         Simple but True

Psalm 119:130

As Your words are taught, they give light;

   even the simple can understand them.  (NLT)

    Immediately after God’s words pierced the outer toughness of my hardened heart, the Light of His Truth began to brighten up the darkness that I had been trapped in all of my life, and it began to fill that empty space with love, understanding and blessed hope.  For it was out of my deepest darkness and the hopeless desperation of my soul that my depraved heart and soul received the Lord and He healed my wounds, took the burdens that I bore, and gave me some believable understanding about this life and what it all means—Truth that would comfort my weary soul and give me a life that was really worth living.  Anyone can read God’s Word, but if we fail to read it through the eyes of the Holy Spirit and let those God breathed words seep deep into our hearts, the light may flicker on for a while, but the power of darkness will raise its ugly head and blow it out cold. 

     When the Holy Spirit reveals the Truth to us, it penetrates our hardened hearts and softens it with His love and grace.  You cannot merely see or hear the Word of God in order to experience the transforming power that it offers.  We need the Light of Truth shining brightly on the pages of our lives, for without the Light, God's words will either fall on deaf ears or remain foreign and impossible to understand.  Mankind has proven over and over throughout the ages, that when we are disconnected from our Creator we are oblivious to the Truth, leaving us unprotected from the schemes of Satan that have deceived the world and killed many a soul.  Without the Word of God and His Everlasting Light, the world is a very lonely and hopeless place, my friend, for it was there from which I personally came.  Respond to the Word of Life and feel the power of His Truth and forgiveness.  Let the Light of God subdue the darkness, because it brings life to the fullest!

                                           A Whisper of Hope

I Am the True Source…for Light and Life, dear child.  I Am the Word of Life for any and all. I have given the world My Light so you could see through the darkness of this difficult life-journey.  My Light brings you hope and peace; the darkness brings you death and condemnation.

1 John 1:1-2

The One who existed from the beginning is the One we have heard and seen. 

We saw Him with our own eyes and touched Him with our own hands.  He is

Jesus Christ, the Word of Life.  This One who is life from God was shown to us,

and we have seen Him.  And now we testify and announce to you that He is the

One who is eternal life.  He was with the Father, and then He was shown to us.  (NLT)

               Your Word is a lamp for my feet and a 

                            light for my path.

                              (Psalm 119:105)

                          Joy In the Lord

Psalm 119:7-8

When I learn Your righteous laws,

   I will thank You by living as I should.

I will obey Your principles. 

   Please don’t give up on me.  (NLT)

     A lot of people think it is more difficult to obey God’s ten simple, yet life-saving laws than it is to comply with the thousands of complex, man-made laws that people cannot even understand, little less obey.  This is not because God’s laws are more complex or harder to understand, but it is because we are all born with a sinful nature that loves to rebel against God’s timeless and perfect laws.  And even though our conscience tells us that our sinful behavior will cause us shame and guilt and possibly death, we go ahead and do it anyways.  One of the best lies of the Enemy is that obeying the laws that God wrote in stone takes the fun out of life—that it is impossible to enjoy life when we are bogged down with a bunch of righteous rules that we cannot bend to fit our desires.  This cannot be further from the truth, my friends, because our obedience to God leads to an amazing peace and an amazing joy that the world cannot take away nor compete with.  It is not easy living against the swift currents of this fallen world that threatens to pull you down into its utterly cold darkness, but with the life-vest of salvation, you are held safely above the darkness.  When obeying God and submitting to His will becomes your first priority, you begin to discover what the joy of the Lord is all about. 

     The righteous ways of the Lord are always perfect and true and when followed, they will, in return, give you the desire to please the Living God who created you to live and reign with Him forever.  The Lord has given us many things to enjoy while living on this earth, but in our fallen state we often take the very things God gave us to enjoy and turn them into our only reason for living. And many people end up doing almost anything to get them, often ignoring what is right and what is not.  The first command that God gave Adam and Eve was to be obedient (which they weren't), least they die, (which they did).   The first law that God wrote down in stone was to love Him above all else, but we quickly become lovers of self and the world instead.  But for the children of God who have learned and accepted His Truth, they not only find it easy to love the God who saved them, but they also develop a burning desire to follow His Way, which pleases Him and gives us pleasure as well.  God not only teaches us the right way to live and die, but He also points the way to Heaven as well. 

                                   A Whisper of Hope

Unlike this world, dear child…I do not enforce My Way upon you, nor do I force you to obey.  But know this, child, when you blatantly disobey Me with glee and without remorse you will receive the death penalty.  Ignoring My Ways to embrace the ways of this evil world is both foolish and short-sighted.  For when you live in the world, life is short, but when you live in Me, life is never ending. 

Jeremiah 7: 21, 23

This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel says;

“Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My

people.  Only do as I say, and all will be well.”  (NLT)

  If the righteous are barely saved, what chance 

          will the godless and sinners have?

                               (1 Peter 4:18)  

                           Justice Reigns

Psalm 89:14

Righteousness and justice are

   the foundation of Your throne. 

Mercy and truth go before Your face.  (NKJ)

     Since the Lord God is the One who created us and then personally paid for our salvation, it is only right that we are His, because without our Creator and Savior we would be nothing and we would have nothing to celebrate.  We should celebrate that God is love, righteous, just, merciful and filled with amazing grace.  Our God refused to leave us to our own demise.  Instead, He gave us the wisdom that would give us a clear picture of how to live in this life so we could live in the glory of the eternal life to follow. Our God is also perfectly holy and just in all His ways, sovereign in all He does, and fully knows all things.   We can always trust in God's divine governance, because He is too right to be wrong, too powerful to be stopped, and far too wise to make mistakes.  The Lord Jesus Christ foreshadows who God is and how He will deal with mankind in the last days. 

     Sadly, there are many people who believe there are no afterlife consequences for what they do in this life.  But Scripture tells a different story, my friends.  Jesus has personally told us about the dark consequences awaiting those who die hanging on to their sin, and glorious rewards in Heaven for those who seek forgiveness and salvation from the Lord.  No one can survive in the Presence of God without the blood of Jesus covering their sins.  Because we are unable to refrain from sinning, the Lord became our sin and died our death.  We have a just God who judges fairly, and we have a merciful God who gives us the chance for salvation.  But for those who refuse the blood of Jesus to go their own way, they will justly end up where they justly belong.

                                        A Whisper of Hope

Do not believe…in the foolishness of man-made doctrine and the world’s philosophy on life.  Instead, believe in Me, your Creator and Savior.  You live in a world that hates Me and all that I Am.  Therefore, the world hates anyone who belongs to Me.  Rejoice, for My justice reigns.

Deuteronomy 32:4

He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a

God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.  (NKJ) 

          And there is no other God besides Me,

                          a just God and a 

           Savior,  there is none besides Me.                         

                                  (Isaiah 45:21)

                          Saving Face

Psalm 80:3

Restore us, O God; cause Your face

   to shine, and we shall be saved!  (NKJ)

     Only the Savior can save us from the sinful condition that leads to eternal damnation.  Only the Redeemer can transform our sin-filled lives into God-filled lives that only get better and better—as in an eternity of living in the Presence of God, learning the mysteries of life and creation.  Because of the blood of Christ Jesus, we are blameless in the eyes of God, but we must live righteously before the Lord.  One of the most important areas in God’s restoration process is our sanctification, not so much our personal circumstances, because when the Lord restores the person their circumstances will almost always follow suit.  The divine restoration that we are blessed with upon receiving salvation comes from only One Source, my friends, the Holy Spirit sent by our Savior, Jesus Christ.  And throughout our restoration, God’s face shines favorably upon our everyday lives, blessing us in ways that brings hope for the future, comfort in the present, and peace about our past and this dark world we must live in before we go Home. 

     It is actually the Lord’s favor that brings all people into salvation, because His love is unconditional and His mercies are limitless.  No matter how far away from the Lord you may be, His Light will shine favorably upon all who ask, ensuring both victory and liberty from the chains of darkness that hold you captive to this evil world that is head for destruction.  Only the Lord can save us from dying in our sin.  Our conversion from a godless life-style is as divine a work as creation itself.  And with the Holy Spirit as your Helper and God’s Word as your sword of defense against the evil powers of darkness, you will be redeemed; becoming a new creation and a child of the Living God.  When you have the Lord’s face shinning favor upon your life, you will be saved no matter how deep in the darkness you have been, because nothing can trump God’s favor. 

                                      A Whisper of Hope

My Face shines favor... on those who come to Me broken and ashamed.   Search diligently in the Word I have written, for with in its holy pages you will find the Truth about who I Am, who you are, and the deception this fallen world wants you to believe.  Without the Truth, your life will be wasted and it will end in tragedy.

John 8:44

Let all the world look to Me for salvation! 

For I am God; there is no other.  (NLT)

         May the LORD show you His favor 

                    and give you His peace.

                           (Numbers 6:26)

                               Guiding Light

Psalm 73:22-24

I was so foolish and ignorant—

   I must have seemed like a senseless

   animal to You. 

Yet I still belong to You;

   You are holding my right hand. 

You will keep on guiding me with Your counsel,

   leading me to a glorious destiny.  (NLT)

     Prior to my new life in Christ Jesus I lived much like the animals do—driven by lust and survival, but trying desperately to do what I thought was right.  Even though I had the God given sense of right and wrong, of good and evil, the difference was still confusing, because much of what the world saw as right and good was in fact wrong and evil.  And the longer I lived abiding to the ways of this world, the more I felt there was something terribly wrong, and unbeknownst to me, I was getting further away from the Truth that I so desired.  Finally, after many years of living the world’s way, I came to the depressing conclusion that nothing of this world made any sense.   So in the defeat of my quest for truth, I simply gave up trying to find purpose in this pointless life that seemed to always ended in disappointment and death.  And in my defeat, I began to set my sights on the foolish folly of this world that would bring about my death and hopefully an end to my pain.  And what still boggles my mind to this very day is the fact that God would not allow me die in my sin, because if He had, I would be, at this very moment, chained in the pits of Hell awaiting the final judgment.  But because of God’s incomprehensible love, mercy and grace for me, He never stopped calling into the darkness so He could rescue me from the rancid mire that this evil world had sucked me into. 

     Sometimes the Lord lets us sink deep into our darkness before He is able to get our full attention.   And when He finally woke me up, I wasted no time surrendering to Him, confessing my sins, accepting His forgiveness, and receiving the gift of salvation—I finally found the peace and hope I had always longed for.  When you surrender your life to God, He will pull you out of the dark and into His Light, where you will find the only Truth that will lead you Home.  Whether it is fear or doubt or whatever it is that is keeping you from the Lord’s calling, let it go, my friend.  Only Jesus can pull you out of the muck.  Only Jesus can save you from the just punishment that you deserve.  Do not be duped into believing the lies of the world.  Instead, surrender your broken life and let the Lord be your Guiding Light.  Discover the Truth, for you will be glad you did!

                                            A Whisper of Hope

Being born again, My child... is to know the Truth.  I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  The world will tell you different, but the world hates the Truth. The false truth of this world will leave you unsatisfied, confused, and headed down the many paths that leads to darkness and death.  Know the only Truth and I will set you free!

1 Peter 1:22

For you have been born again.  Your new life did not come

from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will

end in death.  But this new life will last forever because it comes

from the eternal, living Word of God.  (NLT)

                               He is our God forever and ever. 

               And He will be our guide until we die.

                                      (Psalm 48:14)

                           Heavenly Bound

Psalm 71:19-21

Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the

   highest heavens.

You have done such wonderful things.

Who can compare with You,

   O God? 

You have allowed me to suffer much hardship,

   but you will restore me to life again and lift

   me up from the depths of the earth. 

You will restore me to even greater honor and

   comfort me once again. (NLT)

     There is nothing in all of creation that can compare to the flawless and holy character of our Almighty God.  For His Perfect Plan to bring us back into His Glorious Presence has literally snatched us from the eternal grave of darkness, to put us in the Everlasting Light of the Son that leads to Heaven’s gate.  The greatest achievements of mankind are utterly puny compared to the Lord’s incredible creativity that we are just now beginning to discover, or to His ability to breathe life into the lifeless, or in His persistence to find and rescue the lost so He can heal and give them a new life that has no end.  In Light of God’s sovereign power, righteousness, and perfect love, it is often difficult for us to understand why God allows so much pain and suffering that comes with living in a world that holds us hostage to our fallen nature that loves to rebel against the holiness of God.  I spent most of my life disliking God because I could not understand why this life was so cruel, or why so many people were born only to suffer and then die, or why it was so futile to even try to find the true happiness that our hearts so long to find. 

     But there was one thing that I did understand, and that was why so many of us turned to things that numb the pain of living—so you could forget the seemingly senseless existence that always ended in death.  We don't choose this life, nor do we choose our parents or where we are born.  It is as if all of a sudden, we are magically here and dealing with whatever we are given.  Because we are finitely born into a broken world with a sinful nature, we are weak and vulnerable to the things that always lead us away from God, and where we are easily preyed upon by the dark forces that rule this fallen world.  But our gracious and merciful God created the Perfect Plan—a Plan that works for everyone.   Because we are powerless against our sinful natures and cannot save ourselves from destruction, the Lord did it for us.  The Savior can pull anyone from the muck of this wicked world, cleanse their sins, and then clothe them in His robe of righteousness! ANYONE!

                                 A Whisper of Hope 

Fear not, My child…for the Hope you find in Me is Heavenly bound.  It is the only way to survive this cruel and evil world that will drag you down and eat you alive.   Nothing compares to the saving Power of the Living God—the only Hope you have.

2 Corinthians 7:10

For God can use sorrow in our lives to help us

turn away from sin and seek salvation.  We will

   never regret that kind of sorrow.  (NLT) 

         This “foolish” plan of God is far wiser than 

                       the wisest of human plans.

                               (1 Corinthians 1:25)

                             Chance

Galatians 1:4-5

He died for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order

to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.  That is why

all glory belongs to God through all the ages of eternity.  Amen.   (NLT)

     For every breath we take in, we should breathe out in praise and thanksgiving, because without the Lord; our God, our Provider, and our Savior, there would be no hope for anything, least another chance.  Without the sacrificial death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, we would be hopelessly lost in the darkness, deemed as unforgivable, and condemned for eternity.  Without the sacrificial blood of Jesus there would be no atonement for our sins and we would all be hell bound.  God created both the angels and mankind with free wills and the intelligence to make choices.  God did this because He didn’t want the heavens and earth filled with mindless beings that He had to control and manipulate in order to have them love and obey Him.  And much like the angels who chose to disobey God and follow Satan, man too, made the same fatal error. But unlike the rebellious angels, God has offered us complete forgiveness, and given us another chance to change our rebellious ways so we can escape the eternal condemnation that was created for Satan and his fallen angels. 

     Because God loves man above all His creation and because He is an honorable and just God, He has provided the Way for us to regain our right standing before Him.  But once again, God does not force us to accept His gift of forgiveness and salvation; instead, He gives us the freedom to choose His Way or not—to receive the Crown of Life or eternal condemnation.  You can choose living with the Lord God, Jesus Christ, in the new Heavens and Earth or you can choose to be thrown into the Lake of Fire with Satan.  Either way, the choice is yours to make, my friend, because God will not choose for you while you are alive.  Time on this Earth is short and should not be wasted, because you never know what tomorrow will bring, or if there will even be a tomorrow.

                                                                  

                                       A Whisper of Hope

Take My hand, dear child…because there is no other way to escape the coming night.  When you choose to live in My Light, you will not only be saved, but you will find the peace to comfort your soul in any and all circumstances.  Remember child, this earthly life is but a moment.

Genesis 2:15-17

The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend

and care for it.  But the LORD God gave him this warning:

“You may freely eat any fruit in the garden except fruit from

the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  If you eat of its fruit,

you will surely die.”   (NLT)

    But I will call on God, and the LORD will rescue me.

                                     (Psalm 55:16)

                             One Savior

Psalm 68:19-20

Praise the Lord; praise God our Savior! 

For each day He carries us in His arms.

Our God is a God who saves! 

The Sovereign LORD rescues us from death.  (NLT)

     It is impossible for born again Christians to praise and thank the Lord enough for rescuing us from our bondage to sin and the eternal darkness it brings.  If you feel as undeserving of the gracious gift of salvation as I do, it's because you are.  The Lord our God is sovereign, perfectly holy and just in everything that He does and only He can save us from the eternal punishment that is justly due.  The Lord rescued us from the clutches of damnation, opens our eyes to the Truth, and embraces us in His mighty arms where we find protection from our enemies who want only to drag us back into captivity and devour our souls.  We cannot stand alone against the evil powers of darkness because our will power is weak, and our nature to sin is not.  The Lord knows our needs and does not leaves us on our own, but supplies us with everything we need to keep our freedom and fight the enemies of God. 

     The Lord is always faithful, even when we are not.  We can trust Lord Jesus with every area of our lives, whether they are large or small, because He is our God and He watches the lives of His children very closely.  There is no defense against the Power of God, because He is the Almighty.  Jesus is also our High Priest who cleansed our sins once and for all.  He clothes us in His Righteousness, so when we stand before Him in judgment, we will receive the Crown of Life.  As finite human beings, we are unable to comprehend the magnitude of God’s amazing grace this side of Heaven, but as we walk with the Lord in this brief journey Home, we can be sure that He will give us as much clarity as we need to know and can handle.  Even in our darkest hours, we should always praise and honor the Living God of our salvation, because without the blood of Jesus we would all be trapped in the eternal darkness without hope of ever seeing the Light again.

                                                A Whisper of Hope 

I Am the only One, dear child... that can lead you out of the darkness and bring you Home where you belong.  In Me you have everything you will ever need.  Without Me you have nothing but the eternal darkness of the grave.  It is as simple as that, like night and day.

Ephesians 1:4-5

Long ago, even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us 

in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes.  His unchanging plan 

has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself 

through Jesus Christ.  (NLT)

           For He has rescued us from the one who rules 

                      in the kingdom of darkness,

 and He has brought us into the Kingdom of His dear Son.

                                     (Colossians 1:13)

                            The Reason

Revelation 1:8

“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End,”

says the Lord God. “I am the One who is, who always was, and

who is still to come, the Almighty One.”  (NLT)

     The Lord God Jesus Christ, is both the Creator and Finisher of life; the Almighty One.  And it is from this one verse that we learn exactly who Jesus is.  With that said, you need to ask yourself why it matters that we, mere mortal human beings, should know and develop a relationship with the only infinite Being—the Living God of creation?  Because I spent most of my life not knowing it was possible to have a personal relationship with the Lord God Almighty, I never knew or understood who God is nor did I know or understand the purpose of life, especially my own miserable life.  But that has all changed since I surrendered to the Lord and put my life into His hands.  He has removed the blinders so I can see more clearly the decadence around me so I can be better prepared for the plan He has for me and what is yet to come. 

     For those who believe in a universe and life that is nothing more than an accident of random chance, no explanation for living is needed, because it is survival of the fittest.  But for those of us who believe in the Lord God as the Creator, it is vital that we know and understand the Truth about why He created what He did and where it's all going.  These are essential things you must know and understand if you are to have any real sense of true purpose while living this very short life, because on the surface this life makes little to no sense.  We are now able to watch the whole world as it spins wildly out of control and it's not hard to wonder how much time is left before we annihilate ourselves.  This is the reason you must know the One who created you, why you were created, and where it's all headed.  God has a good reason for creating you, my friend, and He has a good Plan designed just for you.  Find out what it is.  Embrace it.  And then live by it!

                                             A Whisper of Hope

You belong to Me, My child…and I created you for My good purpose.  The reason you are who you are is because I designed it that way.  I have a plan, but I will not force it upon you.  You must choose My Plan or the world's plan.  But choose soon, because your time is limited!

Ephesians 1:13, 14

And now you also have heard the Truth,

the Good News that God saves you. He

has purchased us to be His own people.  (NLT)

                    He created everything there is.  

             Nothing exists that He did not make.

                                                      (John 1:3)  

                                                  Fountain of Life

Psalm 62:1

I wait quietly before God,

   for my salvation comes

   from Him.  (NLT)

     It is in the Presence of our gracious God and Savior that awes our hearts into quiet submission, for it is here that we always find the peace that comforts our weary souls. And the Lord delights in the quiet times we spend with Him.  Charles Spurgeon, explained it this way: “It is an eminent work of grace to bring down the will and subdue the affections, so that the mind lies before the Lord like the sea beneath the wind, ready to be moved by every breath of His mouth.” It is when we quiet our hearts and wait patiently for His reply that we hear God's Still Small Voice drawing us gently into His Presence where He can touch our lives in just the right way.  There is neither a man nor a plan from this world that is able to offer us a perfect life that never ends—a life that so many of us long for—an eternal longing that God has put deep into the very fibers of our being.  Only the Plan of Salvation can deliver the promised gift of everlasting life, where every child of God will live perfect lives and be able to walk and talk with the Creator at any time.

    Whenever you wait quietly in the Presence of the Lord, you are silently telling God that you are faithfully trusting Him to do what is best for you; that you are confident He is who He says He is and will do what He promises He will do.  When you know that your salvation is secured safely in the nail scared hands of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, there is absolutely nothing that can take your life out of His hands.  Because the great minds of mankind tell us this life is an accident and it is all we have, people have always been searching for that fountain of youth that could keep them from getting old and dying.  And since these same great minds think this earth is our home, they are always coming up with new ways to save the planet from self-destruction.  But the reality, my friends, is we cannot save ourselves from death nor can we save this earth, because this earth and all those who belong to it will one day perish and be replaced for those who belong to God.  Jesus is our Fountain for life!

                                       A Whisper of Hope

Quiet your heart, dear child…and listen closely for My voice to be calling you into salvation.  When you are quiet and patiently waiting, you can be sure that I Am not doing the same, for My Plan is always working, and My Fountain is always flowing!

Zechariah 2:13

Be silent before the LORD, all humanity,

for He is springing into action from His holy dwelling.  (NLT)

But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength.

                                   (Isaiah 40:31)

                         Live in Truth

Jude 3-4

Dearly loved friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you

about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write

about something else, urging you to defend the truth of the Good

News.  I say this because some godless people have wormed their

way in among you, saying that God’s forgiveness allows us to live

immoral lives.  The fate of such people was determined long ago,

for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.  (NLT)

     Although Jude wrote this letter to warn the first century Church of the apostasy that was taking place, it is also meant for the Church today, because the Good News is still being compromised. This only message of Hope that we have is being mixed with many different world views and false religions to be carefully twisted out of context in order to accommodate the carefree life-styles of the modern age that justifies man’s love of sin.  We are being bombarded with many false prophets who are successfully drawing crowds of new Christians into a false Church under false pretense while drawing many other Christians away from the unchanging, inerrant Truth of God’s Word.  These clever lies are taking many churches into some gray areas that are very dangerous, for they cause division and strife that sometimes lead to the church's demise.  The Truth of God cannot be changed for any reason nor can it be compromised to fit our agenda.  Since the beginning of the Church there have been false teachers spreading their deadly lies, but they are now better equipped and more refined than ever before. 

     It is not wise to twist the message of salvation from our Lord God and Savior to justify your sinful passions, because God will not be mocked.  As this fallen world changes, so too, do human lifestyles, but do not allow the clever lies of this ever-changing world draw you away from the Absolute Truth, because if you do, you will be led into a grayness that leads to utter darkness.  The world wants you to believe in many gods and many ways to Heaven, and God is too loving to allow people to go to Hell.  We must always be careful and remain steadfast in our Christian faith as found in God's Word.  The amazing grace of God is running quite thin, my friends, and when our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ comes again, it will be to judge not to save.

                                                             

                                              A Whisper of Hope

My dear child…walk carefully and live in Truth and Spirit as your Guide.  The evil forces in this world are so powerful and so deceitfully convincing that you must stay focused on the Truth of My Word if you want to survive the Day of the Lord. 

2 Peter 2:2

Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality.

And because of them, Christ and His True Way will be slandered.   (NLT)

  

        If you wander from the teaching of Christ, you will not

                             have fellowship with God.

                                       (2 John 9)

                         Live in the Light

1 John 1:5-6

God is Light and there is no darkness in Him at all. 

So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on

living in spiritual darkness.  We are not living in the Truth.  (NLT)

     When you surrender your sinful life to the Lord, the first thing you do is nail it to His Cross and be resurrected anew, because from that moment on you are a child of the Living God—you no longer live just to satisfy the desires that once controlled how you lived—you are no longer a slave to the sins that this dark world embraces.  With God's Light shining upon the darkness around you, you will see the deceit and better understand the utter hopelessness it offers.  Just as light and dark cannot co-exist at the same moment in time, neither can we live in God’s Light while embracing the darkness of the world.  The apostle John goes on to tell us: “Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you.  For the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions.  These are not from the Father.  They are from this evil world.  And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves.  But if you do the will of God, you will live forever” (1 John 2:15-17).

     It is certainly not a sin to enjoy the good things that God has given us to enjoy, but where we go wrong is when we make them our gods.  Our sinful natures crave the pleasures of the flesh that will pull us into darkness where we are fair game for the jaws of Satan.   Without the Light that the Lord has so graciously provided, you will journey into a darkness that will not only wreak havoc upon your present life, but will have horrific eternal consequences that never go away.  But living in the Light of God’s Truth is everlasting and God centered.  You cannot fool God my, friend, nor can you hide in the darkness of your sin, for it is either God’s Way or the highway to Hell.  You are either with God or without Him.  There is no gray area, just light and dark.  You are either in or you are not!

                                           A Whisper of Hope 

Wake up, My child…and walk into the Light.  Avoid the evil traps found in the darkness by living in My Light of My Truth.  Although you are safe in the Light, you must be aware and look for the traps that come cleverly disguised as gray.  

Romans 8:7-8

For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. 

It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 

That is why those who are still under the control

of their sinful nature can never please God.  (NLT)

 I have come as a light to shine in this dark world,

    so that all who put their trust in Me will no 

                 longer remain in the darkness.

                                   (John 12:46)