Sorry I have not been online for some time. I hope this new entry enlist some of you to read what God has inspired me to write. Is quite a life we lead in this world and sometimes right turns are actually left ones and we find our selfs dangling on the edge of the abyss. However we must continue to seek those who are lost, encourage those who are new and comfort those who are hurt. Please don't stop reading after the first article, you just may find what you have been serching for in the words God has placed on these pages.

Enjoy the reading and God be with you always.

mj

Life Is Short

Older people often use the phrase “Life is short”, but to a young person this seems foolish. Each new day brings a youth one more beginning added to their seemingly endless beginnings. Second Peter 3:8 says: But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. So maybe young people see life as our Lord does, before adulthood burdens them with the responsibilities which manifest the saying;”Life is short.”

Is life short? If you think only of your flesh and not your spirit as the world thinks, then life is indeed short. Picture in your mind a straight line that reaches from the floor to the ceiling. This time line represents all the time that has passed since God created the world. Now beginning at the floor adjacent to that time line, picture another line representing your life. How far would it reach, how long would it be in comparison? It would appear as only a tiny dot. Face it; your lifeline would be short.

However, Christians are not to be of the world. When saved, our old self dies and a new person begins. We are no longer to think of life as ending with our death on earth. Instead, we are to view life as beginning at salvation and continuing for eternity. We are to look at life in a different way as found in second Corinthians: 2Co 4:18: While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Now go back to our time line example. Visualize again the line representing all of time since creation, and the line (or dot) next to it representing your life. Begin a third line that extends from the floor reaching up through the ceiling. This third line continues upward not stopping until it reaches the end of our universe. This new line represents eternity. Compare the three lines in your mind. The line that was originally your lifeline has become invisible and the one representing time since creation is now just a tiny dot. Now how short does your life seem?

The saying is true and our life on earth in the flesh may be short but life itself is eternal. We all will live without end, and God’s grace gives each of us the chance to choose where we will live that eternity. Through God’s grace, and by our faith in the atoning power of the blood that Jesus shed for us, we can choose to live that eternity with God. It is God’s amazing grace that we sing of when we sing that famous hymn and those beautiful words which declare: “When we been there ten thousand years… we have no less days to sing God’s praise, than when we first begun”. Amen.

With Love;

mj

Techno Christians

We live in a world unlike any of the past, a world that seems to be getting smaller as the days go by. Not so long ago news traveled from town to town on horseback and people were somewhat isolated from the world. Thanks to technology, we can now receive more news and information in one week than most people who lived in the 1800s received in their whole life. Along with this newfound privilege however comes a newly appointed responsibility. With all this information we must carefully sift through it and verify what we read and hear is true.

False information abounds in many forms and if you are not careful, it can lead you into errant decisions or beliefs. Some false information may lead you into financial difficulties by getting you into too much debt. Some may cause false views of yourself, making you to think you are not attractive unless you dress, look or smell a certain way. Some false information will even lead you to question your beliefs and cause you to doubt what you believe about God.

Television offers a variety of religious programming, each of which you must compare with scripture to determine its merit. With cable and satellite television, many shows deemed educational are not always verifiable by historical evidence and are simply the opinion of someone or based on the latest book. Then there is the internet. This marvelous tool enables us to communicate with anyone in the world and share our thoughts and ideas but also allows other people with false information to share theirs with anyone willing to read or listen.

We live in the information age, an age that has seen the sharing of information go from delivery by horseback over a narrow dusty trail to instant access on an information super-highway. What does the Bible have to say about our information treasure chest? Though not intended to relate to the sharing of information, the following verses from the Holy Bible tells us plainly of the dangers we face. M't: 7:13 (KJ) Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: M't: 7:14 (KJ) Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

It is great to be able to find the answers to almost any question with a few keystrokes. Most people like to stay informed by watching news and other informational programs on television. Never has the common person been able to research anything and everything with the ease that we have today. However, you must beware of the information you receive because Satan is aware of today’s technology and is just as thrilled with our new ability to seek out and find information as we are.

Being the great deceiver that Satan is, he to will take full advantage of this freedom of information. Many people willingly and unwillingly serving him are hard at work turning truth into lies and force feeding it down the throats of unsuspecting audiences by every technological means available. Their goal of deception, confusion and dissension made even simpler with our newfound toys of technology.

Enjoy your latest techno gadgets, make use of the new technology and keep up to date with the status quo. Just be sure to remember as you are surfing the web, deciding what to watch tonight on cable television or picking your next paperback off the shelf, privilege without responsibility can be dangerous. When something is false, it is not knowledge it is merely deception. Test all you see and hear against the answer sheet provided between the covers of Gods Book, The Holy Bible. M't:7:15: Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. M't:7:16: Ye shall know them by their fruits.

With Love;

mj

History is Your Future

Aristotle 384-322 BC

Aristotle was one of the most influential philosophers in history. His influence extended well beyond philosophy and encompassed many other areas of thought.

Current day natural sciences and physics still contain roots of Aristotelian logic. He was the founder of the study of biology and philosophers still debate his ideas in metaphysics. Aristotle even contributed to poetry with literary criticism and strongly influenced classical drama. 

Augustus 63 BC – 19 AD

Augustus was the first Roman Emperor. His father a senator of Rome and his mother a niece of Julius Caesar named him Gaius Octavius at birth. The Roman Senate gave him the title of Augustus in 27 BC. Octavius and Mark Antony defeated the republican leaders Brutus and Cassius at Philippi in Macedonia in 42 BC to gain control of Rome, which they divided between themselves. When Antony had an affair with Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, Octavius slandered him as a trader intending to destroy Rome. In September 31 BC, Octavius defeated Antony in battle at Actium, and in 30 BC, he conquered Egypt. Mark Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide leaving Octavius the sole ruler of Rome.

Jesus 2 BC – 33 AD

Jesus was the son of a carpenter, born in the city of Bethlehem. He lived a moderate life with his family in Nazareth until 29 AD when he began a ministry announcing that He was the son of God. Jesus selected twelve followers as his regular students teaching them about the coming of God’s Kingdom. For three years, Jesus traveled with the twelve conducting miracles of healing among the people as he taught. Then the Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, at the request of the Israelite people, found Jesus guilty of treason against Rome because of his claim to be King of the Jews. Sentenced to death by crucifixion Jesus died after only a three-year ministry.

Three men, three lives and three legacies all within a 400 year span of history.  Three paths, three purposes and three contributions these men provided. Aristotle was one of humanity’s greatest thinkers. Augustus, was the most wealthy and powerful man in the world for a time. Jesus, a carpenter’s son rejected by his own people and put to death for the message he shared.

Today, no one questions the accuracy of the recorded history of the life of Aristotle. There is no doubt about the validity of the historical account of Augustus. However, millions of people are not convinced that Jesus was whom He claimed to be. Believing in Aristotle’s genius gains you little, knowing Augustus ruled Rome is but trivial history, but what a person believes about Jesus will determine their eternity.

Satan deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden and has not rested throughout time. He continues his treachery still today and has succeeded in twisting the truth into lies in millions of minds. If you are not convinced that Jesus was the Son of God then you are a victim of this treachery. Do not be victim of the selective acceptance of history because in the case of Jesus, history is your future.

With Love;

mj

Emptiness

Emptiness describes the state of being empty. When we refer to something as being empty, it is usually because in the normal state it contains something. A jug of milk is empty when the milk is gone; the gas tank in a car is empty when there is no more gas in the tank. The main definition for empty in Webster’s dictionary is, having nothing within, containing nothing, void, vacant.

People often refer to their stomach as being empty when they are hungry, but a person can feel empty in another way. A broken friendship or divorce can leave you feeling empty, as though something that was once inside you is no longer there. The death of a loved one can also cause a feeling of emptiness leaving you feeling void, vacant, as though you have nothing within.

The second definition of empty in Webster’s describes empty as being without force, weight, value or meaning. An example of this type of empty would be an empty promise or and empty accusation, no one wants to be thought of in this manner. We would all like to think that when we make a promise people feel they could believe it. Each of us needs to know that we are valuable in some way and that our life has meaning. Then there are people who like their decisions to have force and their opinions to have weight.

A third definition for empty in the dictionary is as follows, destitute of intelligence or ideas, senseless, inane and frivolous. This type of emptiness is found when a person rambles on talking without focusing on a subject. We call this type of meaningless dialog, empty talk. Though we all may be mentally distracted from time to time and talk emptily, some people seem to ramble on ceaselessly and never say anything of value.

As you can see, we generally do not think of empty in good terms. Empty and emptiness we usually try to avoid. We want milk in the jug and gas in the car and we certainly want our friendships to be unbroken. We should never give our promises lightly and no one wants false accusations spoken of them. When we talk to someone we like them to hear us plainly and understand the idea or thought we are trying to convey.

However, we have another emptiness to look at, an emptiness we have not yet discussed and an emptiness that is positive in nature. So positive in fact, this emptiness has changed the world and affected world governments. It has cemented prophecies of the past and laid the foundation for the future. This emptiness has the capability to change everyone, and thankfully, this emptiness is available to each of us.

The emptiness we are speaking of is the emptiness of the grave. The empty tomb found three days after the crucifixion of Jesus. The emptiness proving our Savior had risen from death, proof that we have hope for life. This emptiness guarantees that we too shall some day rise, leaving behind our own wonderful emptiness.

M't:28:6: (KJ) He is not here: for he is risen,

Happy Easter

With Love & Emptiness;

mj