May 18, 2019
There are many things about Christianity that are not true of any other religion. But one of the most amazing is the personable-ness of our relationship with Christ.
Any Muslim or Buddhist or _________ (name any religion other than Biblical Christianity), may read the teachings of their supposed master. But there is no mention of intimacy, for their leaders are all dead and gone. The relationship they carry with the founder of their religion is simply head knowledge.
But not so with Christ, our resurrected Savior and the Shepherd of His Sheep. His promise is continually that He will be “with us.”
John 10:2-5, 11
“But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers ... I am the Good Shepherd.”
CHRISTIANITY IS PERSONAL
It is not about religious rules and regulations. It is a relationship with a living, being who "calls his own sheep by name and leads them out." Over time, we learn to "know His voice" and become more and more intimate with Him for He always leads us by green pastures, still waters, and restores our soul (Psalm 23).
If you want a religion of rules and regulations, seeking forever to somehow prove yourself by a standard of laws, then don't surrender to Christ and believe in Him. But ... if you long for a relationship with the God who knows you by name, loves you personally, and leads you individually, and who died for you so that your sins could be forgiven so you would be accepted and forgiven by God's grace... then run to the Good Shepherd.
He knows you by name and is waiting for you now.
January 15, 2025
Imagine a child created by God and for whom He had sent His only begotten Son to redeem and His Spirit to indwell. And then imagine that child ignoring Him, never communing, never praying, never listening, never obeying. And then realize how an attentive, unceasing life of prayer would delight the heart of the Father who made you.
January 14, 2025
Spending hours in solitude with God alone is foreign to us. We are not familiar with God. He is, for most, a distant entity, not an every day Father.
January 13, 2025
What is more important to you than anything else? Check your values, for they will drive you this year. And what value is it if a man gains the whole world but loses his soul?
