The Meaning of Life

     There have been many times when I have been reading my bible, meditating on His Word, and suddenly God gives an answer to a question. It may seem as an epiphany at the moment, but careful reflection may remind you of a prayer for an answer to something puzzling. When answers come at a later time,  when you have forgotten asking, I call those my God winks.

     Studying the bible not long ago, I came across a verse in Micah that answered a question most of us have in our pre-Christian life, and that is “What is the meaning of life?” I see it more and more on TV and hear it on radio. I see and hear despair in some voices searching for something only to stay unfulfilled. They don’t know it, but they are searching in the wrong places.

     God has given me, and each of us, answers. He will answer you also if you just give your life over to Him and study His word. Jesus came to give life, to save the sinner and to give peace to a searching heart.

     So yes, I do know the meaning of life. I am not the smartest man in the world; I am not a scientist, nor a philosopher, nor a degreed intellectual. I am simply a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and study God thorough the Bible.

     So what is the meaning of life? What does God want out of us? The prophet Micah says in 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

     What more can we ask? Accept Jesus, open you bible, pray for the scriptures to come alive in your heart, and God will reveal Himself to you. It is beyond mere mortal understanding, it is a Spiritual Awakening! Now, open yours and see what God reveals!

My Time Away

Hello dear friends and followers. It has been a while since I last posted and I apologize. I've had two extensive abdominal surgeries in the last two months as I have been very ill with a hole in my stomach causing a sever internal infection, then a very large incision hernia developed, so I needed that repaired. I am on the mend now with God's touch and thankfully only missed three total services at the church I pastor. God's family truly come through when a brother is down.

However, between surgeries, I completed my four year studies and was fully ordained with the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) in September. Maybe that's why the devil has fought so much. But for those who knew about my health issue and prayed for me, God Bless you and my wife and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I will restart my blog postings and trust God to lead those by these pages as He wills, for His purpose. I don't argue or brow beat, I just present the Gospel as I feel God has led me. It is up to the Holy Spirit after that.

May God Bless you and Keep you.

Bro. Terry

Combat

   Whether we thought about it or not, when we became Christians, we went to war, drafted into the battle for mankind’s souls. We are the infantry, the foot soldiers in the quagmire that is this sinful world to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ. But ours is a spiritual war, fought in seen and unseen realms. Our weapons are prayer, fasting and the word of God (sword of the Spirit). Our armor consists of spiritual helmets, breastplates, shields, footwear and belts as described in Ephesians 6:10-18.

   We have as our General our Lord and Savior, our tactician and field adviser called the Holy Spirit and our Supreme Commander who is God the Father. Our enemy is Satan and sin. We must not be dependent upon ourselves, or we will loose the battle. We must depend on Jesus because the war has already been won, but the individual battles will rage on until Christ takes the battlefield once and for all.

   We will get bloodied at times, earning many spiritual purple hearts. Although we can be confident in the eternal outcome, we must never take our eyes off Jesus and stop lifting Him up. If so, our battles will turn sour and the result could be a defeat to the enemy in our lives. But returning to the promises of Jesus in our lives can and will turn the tide.

   Dear believer, I remind you of our battle because the war is quickly getting bigger and more intense. Many of our brothers and sisters are being martyred and our faith is being attacked. Our very beliefs are close to becoming illegal to practice and the devil is winning the ground, flanking us on all sides. So now is the time to put our weapons on full auto and pray without ceasing and fasting with divine purpose. God Bless us all!

Teaching Moments

   As I continue my walk with Christ, I find He uses people, places, animals and things as a learning experience. At the time it may be a joyous experience, at others a painful one. There are those rare times when it will be a combination of pain and joy that is inexplicable.

   Many of you remember I wrote three years ago about putting down my dog, Custer, and how painful it was, especially because I had taken him for granted all those years and didn’t realize what he meant to me. I grieved a long time, and still do on occasion, even though God has placed Toby the Goldie in my life. The lesson learned was not to take anything for granted. Now Toby is spoiled, and that’s OK. He is also my praying partner at home when we’re alone.

   Yesterday, as I write this, I had to give up another that was loved, but this time it was my Tennessee Walker mare. She has been a faithful, well mannered, gentle lady of a horse and I shared my time with her for eleven years. We got her when she was thirteen years old and they said her name was Granny. I thought it an odd name until I had her for a short time. Then I came to see she had the patience and demeanor of a human granny. Over the years, she taught me more than any instructor ever could. We spent time together on trails here on the farm, just singing like Roy Rogers, or talking to God or just enjoying nature (without the sound of a motor). She will be twenty-four years old this year, but doesn't look anywhere near that age.

   However, during the last couple of months, I would lay awake at night; because I was getting the strong impression it was time to let her go. I would agonize over this thought, because I had grown to love this old horse and there was a bond between us that can’t be explained. My wife can attest to how Granny would whinny for my attention whenever she saw me. She was my horse and I was her fella. Now I felt God was telling me I had to let her go, because He has things He wants me to do. There is no one here to take care of her if I’m gone for days at a time.

   So I began the search for a new home for her. I was going to give her away to a good home, where she could retire in comfort, if I could just find one. One phone call to Vicki Ervin was the step God wanted me to take, Before I could make any more calls, Vicki put the farrier in contact with me because his son, who has a farm, was looking for a gentle horse to teach his kids to ride. I knew Granny at her age would be perfect for that.

   Then the snows came and I had to take almost hourly care of her. Those days were hard, knowing she was going to leave. Then yesterday came and it was time to say goodbye. It seemed she knew something was up, she kept nuzzling me and I couldn't stop the tears. When it came time to load her on the trailer, she went like a trooper, but when they pulled out, I could hear her whinnying for me. Then I went home and cried like a baby.

   During those tears I felt God speaking to me again. He brought to mind verses of sacrifice, of love, of faith, and of comfort. God used that horse to teach me patience, to listen to something other than myself, to be a good master and to trust. Now I realize it’s the same relationship with God. He can be trusted, He can be listened to and He loves me. He is a good Master.

   Yes there is pain in her going, but there is a joy in knowing God was in it, and there will be a reason revealed for my good and His glory. What that is, I do not know. It’s just another chapter closed and another to begin. Thank you Granny the horse and Happy Trails. Thank you God for the lesson.

HOW LONG, OH LORD

   As I set at the computer editing this month’s newsletter, snow is once again falling out my office window. And it is very tempting to ask, “How long will this snow last, Oh Lord?” But then that would be an almost blasphemous question, at least in my spiritual life. Because whenever I have felt like complaining about anything that is irritating me these last few days, snow, ice, stuck cars, livestock needing extra care, the picture of twenty one  brother Christians kneeling on a beach about to be beheaded for believing in Christ, flashes in my head.

     This is the ultimate picture of the ultimate sacrifice for our Savior. Never giving in, never denying Him, no matter the cost. What a strong, stirring portrait of faith that image is. As horrible as the picture is, it should be a rallying point to all of us in America who think tribulation and persecution is having a hard time parking in the church parking lot because the snow isn’t completely removed.

   God has been pointing me to the verses in Revelation that should be attached to this picture of the kneeling Christians. Read them and think about what it says. And then cry out to the Lord to return soon. God bless and keep each of you, and God bless our brothers and sisters in harm’s way!

        

 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

    And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Revelation 6:9-11

What is LOVE?

                There was a popular song by Haddaway in the 1990’s called “What is Love”. But every time the song asked the question, the next line said “Baby don’t hurt me, no more.”  So why do so many people associate “love” with pain?

                It is obvious that when we lose someone we love to death or relocation to another area, i.e. military deployment, we feel a since of loss because the focus of our love has gone away from us. But that isn’t the kind of pain I’m writing about. Love isn’t abuse of any kind.

                Love has many forms. Other languages have words that speak much closer to the true meanings of the different types of love than the English language conveys. But no matter how you say it, real, true love never hurts or demeans anyone. The problem today is few people really know what true love is. Their only references are movies, television, the internet, broken homes or abusive homes. Unfortunately, many in today’s society have been brainwashed into believing love equals sex. How that has cheapened the truth of love.

                This month, I want to set the record straight. Love was invented by God, and as such was bestowed to us, His created beings, as a feeling, an attachment, between Him and us and between us and others. God also defined love in His Word. Let’s take a look at just a few verses.

                How much does God love us? John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

                How many of you would allow someone to kill your only child, or even pet for that matter, in order to save someone else from perishing? On top of that, what if you knew that they may reject your love anyway?

                What does God’s Word say about the definition of love? 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 tells us 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. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

                God defines love as having only good toward another, not pain, nor will it ever fail if it is true Godly love. He even tells us that language and knowledge may cease, but love never will.

                The confusion lies in the common way we use the word. We say we “love our new car”, or we “love that new dress”. But truthfully, we can’t “love” any material thing. We may like an object, or have a preference for a color of fabric, but God has reserved true love for us spiritual beings towards other living beings.

                Many will say true love is hard to find. I say it isn’t, although I’ve made mistakes in that area myself. What we need to realize is that Jesus loves us and if we would only believe who He is and accept Him, we would know real, true love here and now. We don’t have to try to find Him and we don’t have to love Him first. He already loved us first. That’s why he died and rose again, so we could by grace have our sins removed and have fellowship with a Holy Jesus.  We call it “agape” love, a love that loves the unlovable sinners that we are, not romantic or sappy but pure, hardcore, self-sacrificing love that Jesus showed on the cross.

                So what is love? You won’t find a good definition in Webster’s Dictionary. The only place to find what love is, is to read the gospels about Jesus. Now there is a true love story with an ending we all can partake in! 

Resolutions

            A lot of people make resolutions at the beginning of the New Year. Some don’t because they’ve never been successful. Weather you make them or not is up to personal preference, the bible is silent on the practice.

            I was listening to the Dennis Prager Show this past week and he was talking about this. He is in favor of doing it, because it gives you a goal, something to strive for, a bar to rise up to. After thinking about it, I believe he may be right. It doesn’t matter if you succeed one hundred percent. What matters is a good honest effort.

            We all fail in life, but we must dust ourselves off and continue. We can’t refuse to commit to something because we are afraid of failing. The race is never finished if we refuse to take the first step. So it is with becoming a Christian.

            We resolve to never sin again, but we fall short. We say we will trust in Christ, but forget who to turn to when the devil attacks. We proclaim to put the Lord first in our lives, but often push Him to the rear of the line when it’s something we want to do.

            Yes, we resolve to be a good and faithful follower, and then we don’t even pick up His Word to see what it is He wants. Christ knew all of this from the beginning. He knew our fleshly selves will get in the way of holiness and perfection. So he gave us His resolution. He promised to forgive us and to shed His blood instead of ours for our redemption. His resolution was to save us from ourselves, and he finished it on the cross.

            See, Jesus Christ became the Messiah in the flesh. To those who believe in Him, and confess it with their mouth, He makes them a new creature, a new man. (Romans Chapter 10 and 2 Corinthians 5:17) We have Christ to hold us up through our failures and forgiveness if we would only sincerely seek it.

            Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”     Paul never said he didn’t get bruised and bloodied in the fight, he did! He said he finished “his” course, not someone else’s. We each have our course the Lord gives to accomplish His will. And he kept the faith through it all. That’s all God wants from us; just keep believing Him in whatever position He places us in. The main goal is to FINISH, there is no first or last place.

            So if you want, go ahead and make that New Year’s resolution. Just do your best and do not beat yourself up because you will fail at times. And while you’re at it, give God the thanks and worship He is due for the blessings past, present and future. It is the course and the finish that is important, not the hills and valleys along the way. May God Bess you richly this year.