God divided the world into 2 groups, Jews and non-Jews(Gentiles). God started with the entire world to reveal Himself. But after He was rejected by the world, God chose the Hebrews. Their job was to show that God was real and that He existed. What happened to the Jews was the same as what happens to Gentiles who belong to God, they became peculiar. The world saw that they were different. It is funny how people who are different from themselves are feared and rejected. So the Jews stood out from everyone else. And people could see that they had something real. Many people came to see what was different. They were drawn by the grace and goodness of God. Did you know that unless God draws you to Himself, you can’t come to Him. It isn’t up to man to decide when they will come to God. So if you put it off and refuse God’s mercy, you might lose your chance forever. And that is even sadder than not knowing. God wrote His laws and commandments in our hearts. He did this so we would know who God is and what is expected by God. Nobody wants to hear about sin. Sin is being separated from God. When we are born, we are in sin and separated from God. You can thank Adam and Eve for that. But God gives us a choice. And He will deal with us literally for the rest of our lives. I have known people who gave their hearts to the Lord on their death bed. And I have known of a person who gave his heart to the Lord when he was 31/2 years old. This is the real purpose of our lives. To come to the saving knowledge of Jesus before we die. Because we cross over in death, it is too late to do anything.

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We are in the age of information. It comes so fast it is hard to process it all. The news media tries to keep up with it. But most of the time it is just nonsense. Everybody has ideas and usually it is displayed on social media. All this information is not always informative. It is just new. I have heard this story before. Oh yes, the people of ancient Athens had itching ears to hear something new and endless discussions. But never coming to a conclusion. It seems that information is more to confuse people than to help. Having more information isn’t always a good thing. Most people believe that they receive information about this world through their mind. You can see with your eyes, hear with your ears, speak with your mouth, but that is only part of the information you receive. We as a human being are made up of a body, soul and spirit. The body comes from the dust of the earth. The soul is the life that God gives to unite your spirit and body. The spirit is who you are and is eternal. When people talk about your heart, they really mean your spirit. God made us in His image and likeness. We have attributes that God has that we can access, such as love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, gentleness, meekness and temperance. Our heart searches for these attributes all of our lives.  Hoping that we can find them in the things of this world. That is why the heart is a lonely hunter for God. The only way to receive what God has is to receive it from God himself. There is no other way that the Heart can truly be satisfied. Straight is the gate and narrow is the way.

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Troubles seem to come to us as easily as the sun rises. I see it in people’s eyes. The sadness and lack of hope that anything will work right. People become afraid of circumstances and I hear in their voice. And they don’t know what to do. Ever felt like a stranger or an outcast in your own home? I grieve for that mother who buried her teenage son yesterday and for the families that lost their fathers. People who have no hope are willing to do anything to try get some safety back in their lives. This is how wars are started. I use to live this way. I had no hope that anything would work out. It was so frustrating. It scared me so much that I was willing to do anything. Then I was shown that hope did exist. Hope in my life came when people believe that I was worth something and my life could be good. People showed me that there was a way. It took almost three months for me to believe that this could happen to me. They used patience and love to show me the way. And when I began to believe my life began to turn around. You see the only hope for this world is Jesus Christ. He can change lives and restore us to our proper place. When I saw how much my Father, who is in heaven, loves me, I began to cry for the sin in my life. God believes that every person on earth has value. And His judgement is correct. God never made any trash. All of creation is perfect. And you can be again. Accept the hope God is offering.

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What do you do when all hell breaks loose? Many people would say you respond in kind. But that isn’t what is necessary. Anger words stir up strife. Violence will be met with violence. Many of the disciples of Jesus found many places unwilling to hear what the gospel had to say. Some were stoned and some killed. But the answer to violence has always been the same. Today we heard about the violence in Baton Rouge. 3 policemen were killed. It mobilized the entire city police, sheriff’s department and the state police. Helicopter were called in and a man hunt began. And they will not quit until they have all the shooters in custody or dead. During the day I saw the mother of the first young black man that was killed speak of TV. She called for the end of violence. She said to protest the killings peacefully. She said many things that Martin Luther King said. Social change doesn’t come with violence. But peaceful demonstration does change what people think. I remember as a child seeing the horrible way the protesters in the peace marches were treated and knew there had to be a change. And change came. Jesus told His disciples to love people and speak the truth in love. He said this will change the hearts of people. And you have to have a change of heart before anything will change. And another lady said that we need to pray to ask God to change circumstances. This is the only place it come from. Pray fervently for peace.

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I look at the world as see one thing prevalent in all societies, the lack of trust. The way the world is going no one will trust anyone. It is like the saying, its dog eat dog, is true. Everyone is out for themselves. Money seems to be the prevailing rule. He who has the gold rules the world. What happens when the world economy crashes like it did in 1929? I wasn’t a trusting person before I met the Lord. I mistrusted everyone. I was hurt by literally by everyone. And I was going to get even. It is hard still today to be open and trusting. I look at my world and people are still as greedy as ever. They want what they want. And no one is going to get in their way. What I know is that I came to the end of myself. I was drowning in my anger and mistrust. I needed help to get out of my situation. I knew where to go to get help but I wasn’t willing to go there. I needed proof that I wasn’t going to be hurt again. And that proof came along in the faces of 2 men who gave of themselves. They did it just to help me. It took time for me to believe and to trust. But I am glad I did. Because I saw what was real and what wasn’t. What I thought was real really wasn’t. I had to relearn everything. For the longest time I have seen people hold up a sign that read John 3:16. I know now that what it says is true. It says, 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. In this saying I can trust that my life in this world and the world to come is secure. Place your trust in Him and He will secure your life too.

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Compelled has different definitions. It can mean forced or voluntary. When I was younger I subscribed to Time Magazine. I always enjoyed reading the articles. I love to read. In the fall of 1978, I was lying on my bed reading about abandon children in Brazil. At the time, they estimated that there were 14,000,000 abandon children on the streets of Brazil. The next thing I remember was that I was standing on my feet crying out to God to do something about the children. I realized then I was called to a life of service to God. I was moved by compassion. Brazil was a 3^rd world country and had no real industry. The country was so impoverished that parents were abandoning their children because they couldn’t feed them. I know of 2 international known Evangelist that worked in Brazil. Bernard Johnson established over 200 churches. He led over 1,800,000 Brazilians to a relationship with Jesus. He also built several bible colleges. The German Evangelist Reinhardt Bonnke did the same. What happened next was nothing short of miraculous. The economy of Brazil came back. Life became better for the average person. God intervenes in the affairs of men. Today Brazil has the 9^th largest economy in the world. It is also the 7^th largest purchasing power in the world. There is nothing too great for God. As He says, what is impossible for man; is possible for God. If you let God’s compassion led you, you will discover a whole new world.

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My cat loves to sit in the kitchen window facing the backyard. She watches for anything that moves, especially birds and squirrels. Calli is a beautiful orange calico cat. She has one ear that is bent over. She is healthy and has learn many things from us. She knows how to open doors. We found her as a kitten, starving and abused. It took a long time for her to trust us. We also have a small dog named Olivia. She rules the house. No animals can come into the house without her permission. We brought Calli to Olivia. She took one look at the kitten and began cleaning Calli like she was one of her puppies. Calli began to follow Olivia wherever she went. Olivia became her mother. They play hard sometimes. Olivia has taught Calli how to hunt and ponce on prey. Olivia is afraid of the lightning and thunder. She begins to shake uncontrollable. Calli sits beside Olivia and calms her down. They have become a surety for each other. What kind of surety do we have in this world? Who is looking out for us in this world? Where would we go to calm our fears? Jesus became our surety through His death and resurrection. All we have to do it to go to Him and ask for forgiveness.

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One of the hardest things in my life was and is owning up to my mistakes. I like to think that I am a reasonable and bright man. But it isn’t always the case. I make mistakes like everyone else. I have made some I will never talk about. God only knows what they are. This makes me a human being. I am not perfect. This makes me nervous just talking about it. But I had to see my flaws before I could go anywhere with God. It isn’t fun. It is a pain in the rear. God accepts us just as we are. Afterwards, He begins to work on us to change. When His light shines on our lives, it reveals what is there. I had things tucked away so no one could see it, including me. As God shined His light on my heart, things became visible. And I cried a lot. This is what I was supposed to do. God only worked on one thing at time. So I wouldn’t be over powered by the process. What is happening is am being turned into the image and likeness of God. A process of which is not over. Until I stand before God in heaven, the process will continue in my life. Thank God. As it says in the bible in Romans 6:4 “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

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It seems so far away from us, but in all actually it is right there. Crossing that threshold is one of the greatest steps you will ever make. Eternity is a place that every human will go to. Now where you go in eternity is strictly up to us. The choices we make on earth will decide where we will live in eternity. It is funny that so many people believe that there is a hell or hades, but not heaven. Or that heaven is their version of hell. We are immortal beings and will never die. This is true, but our physical body will die, but not our spirit. Our spirit is who we are, our mind, will and intellect. That will live forever. And people are gambling on their future home because they don’t want to listen to God. The bible says that we are gods, little g. It is because we have a free will and know the difference between right and wrong. We can choose what we will and do accordingly. But the only holdback to that is we have no power the change anything. We can do things, but can’t change it back if it goes wrong. How many things have gone wrong in our lives that we can’t change? Then we live with regrets or sorrow. Eternity is a permanent situation. Once we reach that point there is no changing the outcome. The shame of it is that once we make wrong choices the easier it becomes. It is called the spiral of death. And we rush headlong into death. There is only one way to change your eternity and that is through the good graces of God. He alone has the power to change our lives. And all we have to do is ask Him to help us. Reach out today and ask for deliverance. God isn’t willing that any should perish, but remember that everyone has the right to choose what they do.

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Sheep are many things. They provide wool, milk and meat. To some people they are there livelihood. In Australia there are vast herds of sheep. One of their exports to the world is wool. A sheep is dumb before its shearers. It doesn’t make a sound will it is being sheared. If a sheep sees something good to eat, it will go after it. Even if the food is in thorn bushes. The shepherd has a staff with a crook or hook on the end to pull sheep out of thorn bushes. You see sheep aren’t very smart. They have to be lead to water and food. But the sheep know their shepherd. They know the shepherd’s voice and follow. This is because the shepherd lives with them. The shepherd will protect them at all cost. Depending on the size of the herd, the shepherd will have 3 to 4 dogs with him to protect and guide the herd. It’s funny that Jesus used this parable to teach the disciples about what He saw when He began His ministry. Jesus referred to Israel as a lost herd of sheep that had no shepherd. He actually called His church sheep because they hear Jesus’ voice and follow. When the wolf came in the herd scatters. And unfortunately the church is scattered all over the place. And they aren’t listening to the shepherd. Jesus also said that He is the door to the sheepfold and no one enters in but by Him. The sheepfold is heaven, a safe place for all that belong to God. Jesus also said the My sheep hear My voice and will not follow anyone else. How will you enter into heaven if you don’t hear His voice or follow after Him?

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