Jesus Is God

God is. God was, God is, and God always will be. Jesus is God.

"In the beginning was The Word, and The Word was with God, and The Word was God." John 1:1 "All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made." John 1:3 "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis 1:1

"For there are three that bear witness in heaven, The Father, The Word, and The Holy Ghost; and these three are one." 1 John 5:7

"And The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten of The Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:14 Jesus is God.

The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it!

We Are Blessed

We often think of blessings as something tangible, like wealth or possessions. Some of the best blessing we can receive are good health, a long life, and happiness. However, it is my opinion that the greatest blessing of all is the forgiveness of our sins.

"Blessed is he whose transgressions is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom The Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." Psalms 32:1-2

We are blessed! Our "... transgressions ... sin ... iniquity ...", our rebellion against the will of God, our failure to live up to His Word and keep His commandments, and the perversions of our fleshly desires, were all forgiven by the death of Jesus on the cross.

Our sins and iniquities are not charged to our account, we are covered by the blood of Jesus. All of our sins, shortcomings, and our deceitful tendencies are forgiven. That is truly a blessing.

A Prosperous Life

A truly blessed man is joyful, happy, and enjoys the favor of The Lord. He avoids evil influences
and avoids the companionship of evil-doers. He finds pleasure in The Word of God daily and lives a godly life. Like a tree, he is strong and steadfast in The Lord. His efforts are productive, fruitful, and beneficial to others. It is the will of God that allows him to prosper and enjoy a life of good fortune.

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of The Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Psalms 1:1-3

This is the kind of person that we should all strive to be like. He delights in God's Word and lives a godly life and God blesses him with prosperity. He did not seek prosperity first.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

Do You Delight In The Word Of God?

What do we really delight in doing? I am sure that we delight in a number of things. The question is, 'Do we delight in reading and hearing The Word of God?' Most Christians would say that they do, but our actions speak louder than our words.

"But his delight is in the law of The Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night." Psalms 1:2

The first "... his ..." as in "... his delight ..." refers to the blessed man in verse one, "Blessed is the man ..." Psalms 1:1 One could ask is he blessed because he delights in and meditates on The Word of God or does he delight in and meditate on God's Word because he is blessed? Either way, as Christians, we should be like him.

We should enjoy, take pleasure in, and receive great satisfaction from reading the Bible. This verse suggests that the 'blessed man' reads and meditates, reflects on or ponders, God's Word at least twice each day, "... day and night." Do we think about and study the Bible twice each day?

We say that we love The Lord, but some of us only want to talk or hear about Him once a week. It has been said that some of us only open our Bibles on Sunday mornings, and maybe on Wednesday night for Bible study. That's only twice a week and not twice a day.

Let us commit to praying and reading our Bible twice each day, first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. I am sure that would please God, and pleasing God is a good thing to do. Who knows, we might be like the 'blessed man' "... whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Psalms 1:3

Choose Your Friends Wisely

Be very careful about who it is that you hang out with. Your running buddies can exert a negative influence upon you. Be careful not only for what you do, but who you do it with. Our choice of friends says a lot about us. If your friends are not Christians, then who is influencing whom?

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful ." Psalms 1:1

Who do you walk with, listen to and seek advice from? Are you being influenced by an ungodly person? If we choose to associate with ungodly individuals, we risk missing out on some of our blessings.

If you friends are ungodly, what does that say about you? "Can two walk together, except they be agreed? Amos 3:3 Again, the Bible says " Blessed is the man that walketh NOT in the counsel of the ungodly ..." (emphasis added by me to Psalms 1:1) Choose your friends wisely, unwise choices may cause you to miss a blessing.

Put On The Whole Armour Of God

We should recognize that we are in a battle every day of our lives. We cannot win if we are fighting our battles alone.

We need to "... be strong in The Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:10-18

To fight this battle we must be prepared and have God's help. To put on the whole armour of God we must "... girt loins with truth ... the breastplate of righteousness ... feet shod with the preparation of the gospel ... the shield of faith ... the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is The Word of God ..." Ephesians 6:14-17

And we fight this battle with prayer by "... praying always ... for all saints;" Ephesians 6:18 But make no mistake about, we need God's help to win this battle.

Walk Worthy

As Christians, we mess up daily. We sin and do not act, talk, or think in a Christ-like manner. However, even though we are far from perfect, we need to endeavor to be more Christ-like each day.

While it really is not possible for us to count up all of our sins on a daily basis, we should attempt to commit one less sin each day than we did the day before. We also should perform one more Christ-like act that we did the day before. That way we would be clearly becoming more Christ-like with each passing day.

"I therefore ... beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit ..." Ephesians 4:1-3

We need to "... walk worthy ..." and be the best that we can be at whatever we are called to do.
Be the best street sweeper, secretary, clerk, repairman, administrator, doctor, lawyer, or whatever that we can be. That includes being the best Christian that we can be.

"... Walk worthy ..." don't just talk the talk, but also walk the walk of a Christian, and do a better job of it with each passing day.

My Prayer For You

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, my prayer for you is as Paul prayed for the saints in Ephesus.

"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ... that He would grant you ... to be strengthened with might by His Spirit ... that Christ may dwell in your hearts ... that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend ... and know the love of Christ ... that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. " Ephesians 3:14-19

The more times I read these verses, the more I am convinced that as Christians, we should all pray this prayer for each other.

God Loves Us, We Can Choose To Love Him

God really loves us. No matter how bad we are, no matter what sin we have committed in the past. No matter what we have said or done, God loves us. He loves us even when we do not love ourselves. He loved us before we love Him.

"But God commendeth His love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

We did not and do not deserve His love. We were just hopelessly lost sinners when, by the grace of God, Christ died for our sins. We could never have earned salvation.

"That ... He might show ... His grace in His kindness toward us through Jesus Christ. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; Not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:7-9

We were created to do good works, to fellowship with God, but He gave us a choice and we chose to sin. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10

God loves us, we can choose to love Him. Choose you this day, to love Him

Signed, Sealed, & Awaiting Delivery

Want some good news that is worthy of shouting about?

We were purchased by the blood of Christ. And once we believed, we were sealed by the Holy Spirit. We belong to Jesus Christ, we are just waiting to be delivered to Him.

"... We have redemption through His blood ... after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise ... until the redemption of the purchased possession ..." Ephesians 1:7 & 13-14

So, as Christians, if you will allow me to paraphrase the song by Stevie Wonder, we are "signed, sealed, (and waiting to be) delivered, we're His".

That is worth shouting about!

Only What We Do For Christ Will Count

Where ever we go and whatever situation we find ourselves in, we should spread The Word of God. If there is anyone to talk to, we should speak about the gospel and spread the good news about salvation in Jesus, The Christ. This is not something that we share with those in our local church on Sunday mornings.

The apostle Paul was under house arrest in Rome but he preached the gospel to all who came to visit him. Acts 28:16-31 Some of them who heard "... believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not ..." Acts 28:24

Every one that we tell about the good news will not believe it. And some people just will not understand it, no matter how we explain it. Some people will "...hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive ... for the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have closed ..." Acts 28:26-27 But our assignment is to tell them, not to make them believe it.

Of all of the people that we talked to this past week, how many of them did we mention Jesus Christ and salvation in Him? Think about all of the words that we spoke, how many of them gave God glory? "For I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Matthew 12:36-37

We can't say that our good deeds out weigh our bad deeds so we are okay. We don't know what our good deeds are and some things that we think of as neutral are actually bad (sinful) like our idle words. "All unrighteousness is sin ..." 1 John 5:17 If what we say or do does not give God glory, it is a sin.

"Every man's work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved ..." 1 Corinthians 3:10-17 All of our wood, stubble and hay shall be burned up, only our gold, silver and precious stones will pass through.

Remember, as the song says, "... only what you do for Christ will last ... only what you what you do for Him will be counted at the end ..."

When The Viper Bites - When Trouble Strikes

How do you respond when trouble strikes? Do you get upset? Do you get mad? Are you fearful? Do you seek the help of others to quickly resolve the situation?

Let me offer some Bible based advice on how we should respond when trouble strikes. Don't panic, don't rush, shake it off, and keep on working for The Lord.

This advice is taken from Paul's behavior after he was arrested and was ship wrecked while being transported to Rome. After the ship wrecked in the storm, Paul and the other prisoners and soldiers made it to the island of Melita. While building a fire to keep them from the rain and cold, Paul was bitter by a viper, a poisonous snake. Acts 28:1-6 & 8-9

The people watched and talked among themselves about Paul who should have swollen up, fell down and died because of the bite from a very venomous snake. But Paul didn't panic, and he didn't rush. He shook it off, kept on working, and shortly afterwards began to heal people.

Don't panic, know that we have Divine protection. Just like Daniel in the lions den, Daniel 6:1-28, and the three Hebrew boys and the fiery furnace, Daniel 3:1-30.

Don't rush, some things when done in haste actually make the situation worse. Trying to pull the snake off would pump more poison into you if you grab its head. And with its curved fangs pulling on the snake would just tear out a chunk of your flesh. Trouble don't last always. Psalms 30:5

Shake it off, after most snakes bite you, they pump in their poison then they let go. The damage is not done by the bite but by the poison. But with Divine protection the poison won't hurt us Luke 10:1 & 17-20.

Keep on working for The Lord, but make sure that you know Him and are doing His will. We can triumph over the serpents of the world when we are doing His will. Mark 16:15-19

If you are a child of The King and are doing His will, don't worry when the viper bites. Just shake it off and keep on working for The Lord. But don't mess with the poisonous snakes if you are not sure that you have Divine protection.

Some Blessings Come From Strange Places

Early in his life, Paul led soldiers to persecute Christians. Now soldiers arrived just in time to save him from the Jews who were "... about to kill him ..." by beating him to death. The soldiers did not save Paul because they knew him or liked him. They were just trying to stop a riot because "... all Jerusalem was in an uproar." Acts 21:30-32

The soldiers were part of the Roman government which was anti-Christian. So Paul was saved by his enemies, the soldiers, from his enemies, the Jews. God arranged it so that Paul's enemies, the soldiers, were a blessing to him, they saved his life. Paul was blessed by his enemies. Some blessings come from some strange places.

Our blessings may come from some unusual places or from some unlikely people. God can use whomever He wants to bless His people. God can "... make thine enemies thy footstool ..." Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:43; and Hebrew 1:13

Or as Joseph said to his brothers, "... you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good ..." Genesis 50:20 NAS version

Would We Die For Jesus?

The apostle Paul caused a riot on several occasions among the Jews who did not want to hear what he was preaching. Paul valued his work for The Lord more than he valued his life.

There is a line in the song 'The Impossible Dream' which says "... to be willing to march into hell and fight for a heavenly cause ..." That phrase now seems to be an appropriate description of Paul. He wanted to go back to the city where they sought to kill him.

"And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there ... but none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy ..." Acts 20:22 & 24

What are you willing to die for? There are very few things that most of us are willing to die for. We might be willing to die for a wife, husband, our child, or our mother, but not to spread The Word of God.

Some men take jobs where they put their life on the line for others, soldiers, policemen, firemen, etc. Some of us would die for our principals. James Brown said in his song 'Say It Loud' that as a people, we would "... rather die on our feet, than keep living on our knees ..." Most of us do not hold that strong to what we believe.

Jesus died for us. The question is, 'Would we be willing to die for Jesus?'

Don't Play With God

Don't call on the name of The Lord if you do not know Him for yourself. Don't pretend to know Jesus to try to impress t.he people.

There were some Jews and exorcists who admired the power that Paul had to heal the sick and to cast out evil spirits. They wanted the power for themselves and tried to immitate Paul.

The Bible says that they tried to cast out evil spirits from a man who was possessed by saying "... We adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preacheth ... and the evil spirit answered them and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded." Acts 19:13-17

They got what they asked for but could not handle it. They wanted the power that God gave to Paul. They called upon the name of Jesus but did not have a knowledge of Him or a relationship with Him. The devil knew this an attacfked them.

Don't play with God. Don't call on Him if you do not know Him. You might make your bad situation worse.

If you do not know Him, get to know Him. Sincerely ask Him to come into your heart and take charge of your life. Confess to Him that you are a sinner and ask for forgiveness. Confess that Jesus is The Son of God and believe in the death. burial, & resurrection of Jesus, The Christ and you will be saved. Romams 10:9-10

Don't Be Afraid, Speak Up For Jesus

Sometimes we sin without speaking or doing anything. We sin by keeping quiet when we should speak out. These are sins of omission as opposed to commission. When we should speak up for Jesus and we don't, we sin.

At a time when you could be beaten for your beliefs, "Then spake The Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, 'Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace; For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee ..." Acts 18:9-10

The Lord basically told Paul to speak out for Him without fear of being harmed because He 'had Paul's back'.

The Bible records that Jesus said, "... whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven." Matthew 10:33

There is an old saying, that silence is consent. If we do not speak up for Jesus when we have the opportunity, then we may as well be agreeing with those who in disbelief put Him down.

"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and b e exceedingly glad; for great is your reward in heaven ..." Matthew 5:11-12

So, even if it kills us for doing so, we should not be afraid to speak up for Jesus. Now is not the time to be quiet.

To The Unknown God

No one knows all that there is to know about God because He has only revealed a very small portion of who He is to us. What we know of Him we know through His Holy Word, The Bible.

Paul spoke to the Greeks, who were an intellectual group that took pride in their knowledge. They had erected statues to honor every 'god' that they knew of. Paul stood in the mist of them on Mars' hill and said, "... Ye men of Athens ... ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an alter with this inscription, 'TO THE UNKNOWN GOD'. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him I declare unto you." Acts 17:21-23

Paul preached to a bunch of 'know-it-alls' and told them about The God whom they did not know. They were religious but they worshiped the wrong things. Paul preached to them about God in the beginning and the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Acts 17:24-32

There are people today who are religious, who go through many rituals as part of worship, but they do not know or believe in The Lord, Jesus The Christ. We may not know all about God, but we don't have to. The Bible says "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth The Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Romans 10:9

Obey The Call of God

Do you know what God has called you to do? Are you doing what God has called you to do or are you doing what you want to do?

Some times we have plans to do one thing and God wants us to do something different. The apostle Paul was leaving Jerusalem, on his way to Bithynia, and had stopped in Troas for the night. There a vision came to him "...saying come over to Macedonia, and help us." Acts 16:9

"And after he had seen the vision, immediately ..." he went to "... Macedonia, assuredly gathering that The Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them." Acts 16:10

Paul quickly put aside his plans to do what The Lord had called him to do. Unfortunately, we respond more like Jonah than Paul. We don't want to do what The Lord wants us to do and frequently we go off in the opposite direction like Jonah.

"Now the word of The Lord came unto Jonah "... saying arise, go to Nineveh ... but Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish ..." Jonah 1:1-3

Jesus said His "... sheep follow Him; for they know His voice." John 10:4 First we need to make sure that we know His voice and know exactly who we are listening to. The we ought to follow Him and obey His instructions. We need to respond like Paul did and not respond like Jonah.

Listen to the voice of The Lord. When you hear His voice, do whatever it is that He calls you to do. There is great pain and penalty in going against The Word of God and great reward for following it.

Disagree Without Being Disagreeable

It is difficult for two people to agree on everything. Even people who like and love each other will not always agree. It is not surprising to hear of members of the church who disagree with one another. The disagreement, usually over something minor, is not the issue. What is important is how they handle their differences.

Christians will not always agree on every issue. The Bible records the fact that even the apostles did not always agree. "... Barnabas determined to take with them John ... but Paul thought not good to take him with them ... and the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other ..." Acts 15:35-40

They could not agree, so they agreed to disagree, and went their separate ways and continued to do the work of The Lord. It is possible to disagree with someone without being disagreeable.

We need to exercise good Christian behavior even when we disagree with someone, especially when that someone is also a child of God. The work of The Lord should not stop just because two people disagree.

After each of you has stated your position and all of your supporting facts, and it is clear that you do not agree, continuing to argue, especially loudly and forcefully, is pointless and usually leads to very non-Christian language and behavior. It may be better to part company when you strongly disagree with someone. Your disagreement should not cause a brother to "fall" or cause a lost soul to "turn" from Christ.

Agree to disagree, but do not become disagreeable.

The Power of Corporate Prayer

There is power in corporate prayer. When the people of God come together and pray, there is power in their prayer.

After the apostle James was killed by king Herod, Peter was apprehended and put into prison to be killed also. But the prayers of the church folk was heard and the angel of the Lord came to Peter. Peter was chained to two soldiers. The angel spoke and the chains fell from Peter. Then he led Peter past the guards and into the city and departed. Acts 12:1-10

Peter was in a bad situation. I'm sure that he prayed for himself, given the circumstances. However, the Bible says that "prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him." Acts 12:5

If you really need help, pray for yourself and ask the church to also pray for you. When the people of God come together and pray, there is power in their prayer.

Don't Let Past Sins Hold You Back

Has your pre-Christian past ever been an embarrassment to you? When you meet old friends are they shocked at the new Christian you? Do you feel that you were so bad in the past that God would not use you to spread His Word?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, then remember the apostle Paul. During his past life before being converted on the road to Damascus, as Saul persecuted Christian men and women. He even entered their homes, hauled them out, and committed them to prison. Acts s 8:3 He was so bad that it was hard for the people to accept him as a preacher of the gospel. But as bad as he was, God was able to change him and use him. Acts 9:21-23

Paul not only preached, he organized several churches while on his various missionary journeys. Thirteen of the twenty-seven books of the new testament of the Bible were written by Paul.

Don't let you past sins, for which you have been forgiven, get in the way of you present work for The Lord. Let go of your past and let God use you now and in the future. God has forgiven you. You need to forgive yourself and move on.

The Power of The Holy Spirit

Some say that only the eleven apostles received power after the Holy Ghost came upon them. The Bible says that in that upper room there were about 12o, Acts 1:12-15, "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come ... they were all filled with the Holy Ghost ..." Acts 2:1-4


This power is not just for preachers but it is available to all believers. After Peter preached his first sermon he said, "Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost ..." and about 3000 people gladly received his word and became disciples (students) of Christ. Acts 2:38 & 41


That number grew into a multitude. Stephen, the first deacon, was full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom , before the apostles laid their hands upon him and prayed for him. Acts 6:3-8


As Christians and believers in Jesus Christ, we have the Holy Ghost within us. Our problem is we have a choice in what we do and say and we do not let the Holy Spirit have control of our lives. We want to be in charge.


My favorite example of this is to use a bus as an example. On the bus that is our life, we want the Holy Spirit to be a back seat passenger on the bus that we are driving, instead of us letting the Holy Spirit take charge and drive the bus.


We have the potential to do great things for The Lord. We have the power of the Holy Spirit available to us, to help us be a help to others. We have the power within us, the question is, what are we doing with it and what are we going to do with it?

We Speak Powerful Words

We were not saved just to sit back and do nothing. We were given power when we received the Holy Spirit.

We are to tell people about our Lord, to be His witnesses. Acts 1:8 We have the power to help people. Our words are powerful. We can share The Word with people and help them. Helping is not always about giving some one money.

"...Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee ... " Acts 3:6 We are empowered to speak to people in such a way as to change their lives. So, be very careful what you say when you speak to people. Speak to them in a way that will be helpful to them.

Don't just show them the error in their ways. Help them to see The Truth and show them The Way. John 14:6

Good Health, Long Life & Happiness

When we fear The Lord, we hold Him in reverential awe and have great respect for Him. The Lord has special blessings for the Godly people who fear Him.

"Blessed is every one who feareth The Lord; who walketh in His ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands; happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee ... thy wife ... thy children ..." Psalms 128:1-6

Here the Bible promises special blessings for the Godly man himself and for his family. Blessings of provisions and prosperity, in addition to healthy, happy, long lives. We can live to see our children and our grandchildren grow up and do well.

We are blessed in our homes and on our jobs as well. This is truly the way to prosperity.

This Psalm reveals blessings of prosperity for God's people, those who "walk the walk" as Christians. This Psalm is the Bible basis for asking The Good Lord to bless some one with "good health, a long life, and happiness." That is my prayer for you.

Some Blessings Are Conditional

We are all blessed by God every day in ways too numerous to count. The blessings that we receive are gifts from God that we do not deserve. He blesses the sinners and the saints, the lost and the saved, the good and the bad.

"... Your Father which is in heaven; for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust." Matthew 5:45

The Bible is full of examples of God blessing His people. The word "blessed" appears in the Bible more than 300 times. However, there are 62 specific times when the Bible clearly indicates that some blessings are conditional. Something must be done in order to receive those blessings.

Blessings that begin with words like: "Blessed is the man that ..." and "Blessed is he that ..." and Blessed are they which ... ", are conditional blessings. We do not earn blessing, we receive these special blessings when we exhibit a particular behavior that pleases God.

God wants us to follow His ways. The Bible says, "...prove me now herewith, saith The Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." Malachi 3:10 However, if we read the beginning of this verse we find that this blessing is linked to paying our tithes.

This does not mean that all blessing are conditional. All of us are blessed, whether we recognize it or not. There are some special blessings, however, which are tied to special conditions that must first must be met in order to be received.

"... O ye children, for blessed are they that keep my ways." Proverbs 8:32

Some blessings are conditional.

How Do You Treat Angels?

When we think about angels, we usually visualize small or adult size, people-like creatures with wings. But not all angels have wings. Some angels are walking around with us here on earth.

"Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Hebrews 13:1-2

Angels are messengers from God. Smith's Bible Dictionary defines angels as "whoever or whatever God uses to do His will." Pastors are sometimes called "the angel of a local church".

Be very careful in how you treat people, especially strangers, they may be an angel that is unknown to you. You don't want to miss out on a blessing because you mistreated one of God's angels.

God may take personally our mistreating one of His messengers. "... as ye have done it unto one of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me." Matthew 25:40 Be careful how you treat strangers and other people in general. Be kind to strangers, they may be angels.

Want To Be Rich?

We are blessed. We are blessed in more ways and more times than we can count. Each heart beat and each breath that we take is a blessing. However, we want more. We want to be rich. We want more for our kids that we had as kids.

Maybe if we changed how we behaved towards The Lord, we would receive even more blessings.

"... Blessed is the man that feareth The Lord, that delighteth greatly in His commandments ... his seed shall be mighty upon the earth ... wealth and riches shall be in his house ..." Psalms 112:1-3

You and your kids will be blessed and you will be rich if you fear The Lord and keep His two commandments.

Fear of God is to hold Him in reverential awe, to have a great admiration for Him. I wonder if we "delight greatly" in His Word and if we keep His commandments. Do we really love God with all of our heart and soul, and do we love our neighbor as we love our selves?

"The fear of The Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do His commandments ..." Psalms 111:10 Maybe if we did a better job of keeping His commandments, He would bless us even more than He already has.

Remember, the Bible says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33 If you want more blessings, try being more like Christ.

Let Us Run This Race

Some things happen to us as consequences of our poor choices, some things as punishment for our sins, and some things as a test of our faith and commitment. There is no testimony without first having a test.

"... My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou are rebuked of Him; For whom The Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." Hebrew 12:5-6 God will spank us when we mess up. He spanks us because He loves us. But sometimes things happen to test us. Remember all the bad things that happened to Job.

"... Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith ..." Hebrew 12:1-2

Let us drop all of the negative baggage that we are carrying, let go of our favorite sinful ways, look to The Lord, and let's run this marathon of life that is before us in a manner that is pleasing to to Him and gives God glory. This is not a sprint. The reward goes to "he that endureth to the end ..." Matthew 10:22 It is important not only that we run the race but also how we run it.

Things happen to us for a reason. We cannot control the things that happen, all we can control is our reaction to them. So, let us act like Christians, regardless of what happens.

Have Faith And Believe

As Christians, we must have faith and believe in God. No matter what happens to us or around us, God is still in control. All things happen according to His permissive will. Do not give up.

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6

We must turn to God for help with all things. We should pray before we say or do anything. We should live so as to give God glory. If we could see our way through every situation, we would probably think that we don't need God. As Christians, we are to walk by faith and not by sight.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report." Hebrews 11:1-2

The Bible is full of the accounts of men and women who had faith and were used by God to do great things. God used average, imperfect people who had faith and believed, to accomplish great and seemingly impossible things.

If you know what God has called you to do, then "... do it with thy might ..." Ecclesiastes 9:10 If you do not know, then pray that He will reveal it to you. Those that He calls, He equips. There is a God ordained work waiting for each of us. We just need to have faith and believe that with God's help we can do it.

Don't Pretend, Be Sincere

Do we truly believe in God and The Word of God? Do we go to church just to see or be seen?
Are we playing church, just going through the motions of service and worship? Are we in God's house on Sunday physically, but our minds are somewhere else?

Do we really love God and His Word? Do we read our Bible during the week and not just on Sundays or during Bible study?

"For The Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit ... and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart ... all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him ..." Hebrews 4:12-13

"While The Word of God is comforting and nourishing to those who believe, it is a tool of judgement and execution for those who have not committed themselves to Jesus Christ."
Rev Dr. John Mac Arthur

God sees our heart and soul, and our thoughts and intentions. We cannot hide from or pretend with God. He not only knows what we did, what we said, and what we thought, but why we did, said or thought whatever. By pretending to be a Christian, we are only fooling ourselves.

We need to confess pray honestly and ask God to have mercy on us and help us to be more Christ like in our thoughts, as well as our spoken words and deeds. Our faithless disobedience will not go unnoticed.

One day we will have to give an account to God for all that we thought, said and did.

Don't Be A Stumbling Block

Have you ever caused someone to fall? I don't mean to physically fall down. I mean, have you caused someone to sin or join you in a sinful activity?

"So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another anymore; but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way." Romans 14:12-13

As Christians, we should not condemn, criticize, or speak negatively of anyone "... anymore ..." We have all done it and we need to stop doing it. We should not tear them down verbally, or cause them to fall spiritually.

Don't be a "... stumbling block ..." and don't put one in someones way. Let's not do or say anything intentionally that would cause another person to sin. We need to exhibit Christian behavior at all times. Someone may see or hear us as we sin and then imitate our sinful behavior. Worse yet, that someone imitating us might be a child.

The Bible says, "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a milestone hanged about his neck, and that he drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences ..." Matthew 18:6-7

Let us ask God for forgiveness and pray that we are not some one's stumbling block.