When you were introduced to Jesus through either a family member, friend, or someone God put into your life you learned about the Saving Grace of God and how His Word changes a person. You learned the answer to some questions you may have had that brought you into a relationship with other of like mind and are seeking to know Him more. You learned that your life is not your own and do your best to live a Christ like life. Congratulations you are almost home.
God wants us to return to Him. That is evident from the first few chapters in Genesis and throughout Scripture. He wants us to grow closer to Him but our human nature and the world seem to always get in the way and we cannot find the balance. Thing is, finding that balance means giving up certain things in the world and finding time to talk to God through prayer, reading His Word, and living In His Word while trying to function in the world.

​I will not sugar coat things and say it is easy because it is very hard to be a Believer of God in a very dark and demon infested world, but I can help find that balance through the Word and the Spirit. The first thing we have to do is to build a relationship with God. The first step in building that relationship is to be born again. Jesus tells us this:

... “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  John 3:3-6

Jesus is speaking of a renewed life through the Holy Spirit which comes from God and is actually within us once we accept Jesus. Some think that once they are baptized they are good and are home but they stay in the world. That is like living in a broken home still being that rebellious child and throwing tantrums when things just do not go your way. But the Spirit separates us from the world and the desire of the person should be to live in the Family of God.

Family
Children, what you should do in union with the Lord is obey your parents, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” — this is the first commandment that embodies a promise —  “so that it may go well with you, and you may live long in the Land.” Fathers, don’t irritate your children and make them resentful; instead, raise them with the Lord’s kind of discipline and guidance. Ephesians 6:1-4

Our family life should be a reflection of the relationship that God desires. God had a great relationship with Adam and Eve until that fateful day when the children rebelled through total disobedience. They broke the Godly family mold and it has not been the same since. The home God desires is one where He is ever present and the family lives in a way that is not hurtful towards one another or those who are in their lives. Yes there will be problems but they should be worked out in ways that keep the family together instead of tearing it apart.
Today’s family has been torn apart through the desires of society and worldly things. There are so many distractions and temptations in the world that make it hard to maintain a healthy home. We as Children of God have to fight the outside world and make God the priority.
A Christian family is not faultless, but one that counts on God for all thing through His Grace. We have all probably heard the saying, “ A family that prays together, stays together”, which is a true statement but there is more than prayer that keeps the family one with God. It is the companion/partnership of the husband and wife, the obedience of the children, trust, the ability to seek solutions to problems without anger or bitterness, but most of all the reflection of God’s Love in each of the hearts. When God’s Love is there, the relationship with Him can be built in the family and the light can be shown to others.
Seems like a fantasy but guess what, I know families that are close to perfecting this way of living. But no family in this world is perfect. My family is still working on this but I know that God is ever-present and is in our hearts to help us develop a deeper relationship with each other as we grow in our relationship with Him.         

We Are Adopted
Paul discusses the fact that we are adopted into the Family of God. Even though we are all created by Him there was only one group of people who were first in obedience. Though many worshiped to an unknown God. The Hebrews and Israelites were the ones that God chose to have a personal relationship with in order to spread the truth so anyone outside of their tribal bloodlines are adopted in to knowing and loving God as Father. But there is a difference.
We are adopted into the family through the spirit. One thing that people do not understand is why God chose to reveal Himself to a small group instead of the world even though He can be everywhere at once. I cannot answer that either. All I know is that when we choose to obey God’s Word and do our best to live it, we become part of the Body of Christ and through this begin to build that relationship with our creator that He so desires. By this we begin to become closer to God.

Worship
The path to a closer relationship with God is through worship. Worship is not just singing. It is prayer, giving of oneself, sharing, being baptized, sharing in the meal of communion, and may other aspects of Christian life. We do these things out of love, obedience, respect, and fear. Worship is our communication with God that allows us to praise Him, listen to Him, become one with Him in the Spirit.
Since we cannot see Him through our human eyes, we must work on seeing Him with our Spiritual eyes. We do this through worship and private reflection (also a form of worship but needs to be separate here). In our times of private reflection we examine our earthly lives repenting of our faults through confession in prayer since Jesus opened the direct link. Doing this we can see God more clearly through His creation and see the beauty of His handiwork in us. This opens the door to become closer to God.

I know this was a long one but here we are in conclusion    
Brothers and Sisters, let us work together to become closer to God in the Spirit and advance His Kingdom through us. We are the temple, not made of brick and stone but of flesh and Spirit. He built our corruptible bodies to carry the incorruptible Spirit. We are the solid that holds the fluent which desires to flow through all of us. What we do with this gift determines our eternal existence. Let us continue to grow closer to God and build healthy Godly relationships starting with our family. I pray that each of us can build upon one another and grow closer so that we can say that God IS our FATHER, Redeemer, friend.

Blessings and sharing God’s Love with All,
Rob, Servant Of God

When a person accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior he accepts the fact that the life lived is not his own. The writer of Psalm 116 gave all things to God as understood that He alone is the one that can save from this life. God is the deliverer from the darkness and carries us through the world.    
I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.
The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
 For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling;
 I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
 I believed, even when I spoke: “I am greatly afflicted”;
 I said in my alarm, “All mankind are liars.”                          
 What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?
 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord,
 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
    You have loosed my bonds. 17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
    and call on the name of the Lord. 18 I will pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people,19 in the courts of the house of the Lord,
    in your midst, O Jerusalem.
    Praise the Lord! Psalm 116: (ESV)
How beautiful is the public confession of one who loves, trusts, and obeys the Lord our God. Recognizing that we are broken and cannot live righteously without God in our lives is the hardest yet easiest thing we can do. Because of this, the door to our hearts are opened to accept our frailty and give everything over to the only one who can save us.
When we confess our love for God, we enter into a new way of living that is no longer for our own personal satisfaction. Our lives are not our own but now given to be conduits for the Word, the Joy of Heaven, so that others may come to know and love God the way we do. How great is the Lord God Almighty and greatly to be praised.   
At the end of our lives, it does not matter how much good we tried to do because we cannot save ourselves from the ultimate price for our sinfulness. Nothing we can do on our own saves us. Only God can do that. He did it through giving His Son, Jesus the Word made flesh, to take on all things that bind us to sin and death and remove them from our sentence which is eternity in darkness.  
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I pray that all who will seek Him find Him where He has been present all along. That those who desire His Grace and Mercy find it and accept the free gift of life without question or ill intention. That they are covered in the blood and become cleansed never to repeat the sins of the past which trapped them in this world so that their spirits will be free and living in the Kingdom embraced by the Arms of the Father. I pray that we will be the lights that expose the world to His Love and that we can defeat the evils of this world through the Holy Spirit. Be blessed in His Glory.
In God’s Love
Rob, Servant of God    

The Word living and breathing inside each one of us. Though some may not know it or realize it, God put us together and left His mark in and on our hearts even in our very DNA.
See, the Word of God is alive! It is at work and is sharper than any double-edged sword — it cuts right through to where soul meets spirit and joints meet marrow, and it is quick to judge the inner reflections and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
Every time we take a breath, God’s Word speaks from us. When we do what God desires of us and commands us to do in faith and trust, His Word is seen and heard. We are living examples of His Word at work, so why do so many of us fail?
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We are only human
How many times have I heard that one? We are human, yes, but we are made with a purpose and should be doing our best to live within that purpose not for our own satisfaction, but His. Our humanity only gets us so far and when we choose to follow a path that is not part of God’s purpose, we stumble. Even then, we may have to stumble for another person to fulfill a part of the purpose He has for us. God is not easy to comprehend.
Because of Sin, we suffer

Adam and Eve made a choice to disobey God. It was that choice which brought sin into the world. Because of the sin, we are given free will to choose in order so God can work in our lives. God uses us for His Glory no matter how bad our suffering seems. I know it does not sound like God cares what happens sometimes but we have to remember, He designed us, He created us, and He knows our every thought word and deed.

Even in our failure we will succeed
God told Joshua when he was preparing to take over for Moses that he will succeed. This powerful message is true today for all who believe.
“Yes, keep this book of the Law on your lips, and meditate on it day and night, so that you will take care to act according to everything written in it. Then your undertakings will prosper, and you will succeed. Haven’t I ordered you, ‘Be strong, be bold’? So don’t be afraid or downhearted, because Adonai  your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:8-9
What we do in God’s name through the understanding of the Word will help us become better believers and closer to God. This is not an automatic guarantee of earthly riches but of things that boost our spiritual life and will help us through the tough times. Our success is when we are living in accordance with the Scriptures and doing our best to live in a Christ like way. It is not easy but even the little things can show that the Word of God is alive in us.

Be Strong And Courageous   
This is a message to us for when we are being persecuted. Keeping the Word on our hearts and not wavering will give us strength even in the darkest moments of our lives. We keep the Word of God alive when we do not show fear even in the face of death. How often do we just let our human emotions get in the way of God? Too often really. God knows our hearts and when fear overtakes us we should try and think only of God’s Word. I know it is difficult sometimes but calling out to Jesus and knowing He is there will relax our fears of earthly matters.

Jesus, The Word of God, is Alive
You see, the Word of God is Alive. Jesus came to us as a gift from God. Jesus is the Word made flesh who lived out a perfect life to be the example for us. In payment for this gift, we sacrificed Him on the altar of the Cross so that His Blood would redeem us from sin and death. But Jesus defeated death sealing us with the Father’s Mark on our hearts and rose from the grave, returning to the Father with the promise of His return. He will come again but He left us with the Holy Spirit to guide and protect us in His Word until that time.
The Word of God is Alive
Blessings,
Rob, Servant of God  

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. Romans 14:13
Why are we so quick to judge actions and reactions of others that make them stumble or make it so that they have to take the time from what they were doing to correct the allegations whether they be true or false? This passage is talking about false judgements. All too often, people judge without knowing the truth of the matter and cause a person to have to correct misnomers where a correction was not required before.
Why do we do this?
There are many reasons people lay judgements and blame for things that cause another to stumble. Most of the false accusations are due to being petty, bitterness, jealous, or flat out lying to make themselves look better than the other.
Pettiness is not the Christian way. It is defined as,”undue concern with trivial matters, especially of a small-minded or spiteful nature”. I know that word is usually found when talking about nonsense arguments but it also goes well with judgements especially when one is jealous of another. When a person concerns themselves with things that are not of major concern about another individual, they are being petty. A petty person will judge another out of spite and jealousy. This will only grow the bitterness of a person and lead to false accusations when in truth the person spreading the accusations is actually at fault.
Lives of very good people have been ruined with little chance of recovery when the accusations reach those who know and depend on the person and they do not see the truth. I have seen people who call themselves Christians being petty and spreading false rumors which cause other people to falsely judge. It is very disheartening the trouble it caused the victim. The person will eventually answer for his or her words and actions when the truth comes out.     
What is Our Responsibility?
First and foremost we should not be jealous of another because of who they are. Jealousy, pettiness, bitterness, and lying are not fruits or gifts of the Spirit. If a brother or sister is found in sin that they cannot escape from we should be encouraging them to put away the things that caused the sin so the temptation is no longer there. In this way we are not judging but helping the person turn away from sin and back to Christ defeating the devil one part of the Kingdom at a time.
If we ignore those who judge and do not give in to their will we can be successful. Be careful not to judge the judge but turn the other cheek standing strong in Faith with God’s Strength and Love. Let them feel good about themselves for that will only be temporary. God will take care of them be it here in this life or in the next. Be blessed today and every day wrapped in the arms of Jesus.
Rob, Servant of God
 

Proverbs is the greatest place for one line verses that can make or break a person. These little quips of knowledge and understanding have moved so many people to a right way of life. There are many things we can learn from Scripture but most of the ways of Godly living are covered in this book.
 Making plans is a good thing but before executing the plan make sure you pray over your day that the plans are what God needs you to do.

 One can devise many plans in one’s mind, but Adonai’s plan will prevail. Proverbs 19: 21 (CJB)

God knows the plans He has for us (Jeremiah 29:11) to be a successful person, the main thing that must be done is prayer. Yes God will direct us onto the right path but if we ignore God by doing our own thing then we will have to get through many obstacles before getting to the right place. When we stray from His plan and have a real bad experience we can lose trust in Him but a faithful person will stay on track and make it through to the end.

We are all sinners and the Adversary has made himself known through all the evil and influencing people to influence others astray. The worst part of the influencing has been making good evil and evil good. Common sense and responsibilities have become bad things. Our minds are clouded to the point where many are blaming everyone else for their troubles when they do not want to take responsibility for their own actions. In fact, being a responsible, common sense minded adult has become a bad word. Adulting (the act of behaving like a responsible adult) is like a disease to many who do not want to be responsible for themselves and depend on worldly things to control them.
The influence of the devil’s power has corrupted many and the disease is spreading like wildfire. These plans are not of God but of the devil. So much sin has become the norm that even some established church bodies have caught the disease and forgotten their ways. We really cannot let this perversion of the gospel go on much longer.     

​Brothers and Sisters we must do more than just pray for the souls of the lost. We must pray that our lights get so bright that it opens the eyes of those blinded by all things that are against God. The trust of the masses needs to turn back to God so that we can survive. According to Scripture, we already know that there will be many who are destroyed in the pit because their minds and hearts have turned so far away that there is no return but we can hope for change. We still have influence in this world through the power of the Holy Spirit and our faith, hope, and trust in the Lord God Almighty. The thing is to make sure we are doing the right thing so we do not go through the pains of human plans by fully relying on God.

We all want to get to the “Pearly Gates” and hear the words, “Welcome home good and faithful servant!” but how do know we are a faithful servant. Faithfulness is a Fruit of the Spirit. It is the quality of being faithful to God and His ways. 
Faithfulness: the result of the Spirit working in us. The Holy Spirit dwells in those who accept the truth that God will and has saved us from sin and death through the sacrifice of His Son. Faith is placing our trust in God that He is provider, protector, savior. It is putting our lives in His hands and choosing to let the way and will of God be the controlling factor in our lives.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. Hebrews 11:1-3
Hebrews 11 gives a long list of the faithful from the Old Testament who trusted God. The list is of people that knew God and put their full trust in Him. Some translations will see the word “trust” instead of “faith” in this portion because they trusted God after being witness to certain events which caused them to place their faith, their lives into God’s hands.
Jesus informs us that true faith the size of a mustard seed can be seen as great when it is shown to the world. That is putting full trust in the Lord Almighty and great things can be accomplished. This leads to the description of an active faith verses a going through the motions faith. Just going to church on Sunday and not being involved nor sharing your witness does not mean you are full of faith. You are going through the motions of being a Christian inside the walls and boxing up God. True faith is an active faith where you live it daily. You put your life in God’s hands fully trusting that living for and in Him will get you through while showing others who you are. Yes that means you will disrupt the normalcy of worldly work and be subject of ridicule but that is okay. You have God.
Trusting others is important to make it through the day but God needs your full trust more than anyone. Having this trust gives you the strength to put your trust in the right people and helps you discern who to place your trust in. Being faithful to God will help direct you to the people God will place in your path and guide you through your interactions. Be aware that some that call themselves Christian still have the stints in their eyes and will cause more pain than anything. They are concerned more for themselves and living in the world, do not trust them. Instead surround yourself with those whom you know are truly faithful or those who are searching and the Spirit will shine through you.
Brothers and Sisters, be careful and let God guide you. Place your life fully in His hands trusting in Him to give you the strength when you are at your weakest no matter the circumstance. In His Love you will be comforted. Blessings.
Rob,
 Servant of God