This is an excerpt from my second book, The Reality of being a Believer. It is about the everyday requirements of believing in Jesus. My first book is Prayer by Crain Blanchard. This book is about learning how to pray and to get closer to God. It is available on Amazon.

The Apostle Paul was a very smart man. As leader in the Jewish religion, Paul or Saul, was destined to become the High Priest. Paul wanted this more than anything. He pursued this by trying to destroyed the church that the Apostles and disciples established in the first century in Jerusalem. Paul went about killing and putting in prison men, women and children that followed Jesus. Paul was a very learned man, a doctor of the Law. What he did not know was that this learning worked against him. On the road to Damascus, Paul met Jesus. The light of God was so strong that it knocked him off his donkey. Paul knew that this was God. That is when he asked God what He wanted. As Jesus told Paul what he was and what God required of him, Paul was blinded and understood who God is for the first time in his life. Jesus told him to wait in Damascus until a certain man came to him and tell him what to do. Paul was blind for three days. Then a believer came reluctantly and told Paul what God required of him. Paul was converted and wanted to join himself to the church. But no one wanted him to associate with them. Paul began teaching in the synagogues that Jesus was the Messiah. Then the Jews in Damascus plotted to kill Paul. He escaped over the wall in a basket. Then the Apostle Barnabas took Paul in and discipled him. No one wanted to accept Paul until God took him to the backside of the desert to teach him. God had Paul to unlearn the teachings of man and relearn to truths of God. When the church saw the results of Paul preaching the gospel in Antioch, they accepted him.

The book, The Reality of being a Believer will be out soon. Thank you so much to those that follow my blogs. I appreciate you and pray for your pursuit of God. God bless and keep you.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

You know how you just keep putting off things until later. I have a calendar hanging on the wall. I look at it and say I need to take it down. Well it is still there. That’s not the bad part. It is a 2022 Calendar. Well it is 2024. This year promises something new and something old. The old part is me, but the new part is that I don’t know what will happen. A brand new year and set of circumstances will present itself to me and everyone else as we walk in this world. I wonder what will happen this years? It seems that the world has gone to hell in a hand basket. But that is only on the surface. As we watch this pagentry played out what will happen? I have assuance, I am not talking about insurance. I have assurance that no matter what happens in this world I am going home to heaven. Did you know that the same assurance that I have, you can have. You see that assurance is not man made. Everything that is man made will fail, completely. But the Assurance that God gives will last forever. Yes, God guaranteed through the death and resurrection of His son, Jesus, our assurance. So, as you go about your new year, remember that we as mankind don’t have the power to change anything. But there is someone who has the power to help us through this life, God Himself. Have a Happy and Blessed New year.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Where have all the flowers gone? Long time passing. It’s a song by the kingston trio from the fifties. It’s melodramatic but but it makes a point. What it’s talking about is the cycle of life. We’re born. We live our lives. Then we die. Is that all there is to life. We want more. We try to make more and see more. But death is inevitable. There is a point to life. God didn’t put us here to be frustrated with life. He wanted us to have a good life. Our efforts here are to make it home. You see this is not our home. Our home is heaven. I know many people are feeling the depression and let down after Christmas. Our families came together now they’re going home. And we miss the family that has passed on. Each of us has a specific function on the earth. We do our best to find out what it is. And i’m not talking about being a doctor or a plumber. Our purpose in this life is to make it home to heaven. It is a journey. We have to walk it out. And the only way that we are going to find the gate to enter to go home is through Jesus. For God so love the world that he gave to each and everyone of us. God bless you all Jesus name.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May God bless you keep you in this coming year. Also, pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Six years ago I lost my younger brother. I thought I was doing good until I started hearing Christmas music. I began to cry when I heard specific songs. Usually they were the ones that mom and dad played during the Christmas season. We always had a wonderful Christmas. Our family would gather and share a meal, then open presents. As we grew up, we started bringing our girlfriends to get together. Then it was wives and children. Dad’s first grandchild was a little girl named Christy. Dad lived long enough to see my firstborn. Mom lived another 20 years.

This year has been difficult. My younger brother Bill’s wife died. Then my older brother Carson died. I thought I was handling the grief well enough to carry on. Then I began to hear Christmas music and cry. They were the songs I listen to when I was young. Christmas has always been a special time of year. I still remember the little 2 bedroom house we lived in. My 3 brother and I shared one bedroom. My younger brother Bill would sing songs and that would put us to sleep. I was 12 years old when we moved into a 4 bedroom house. And Christmas got bigger.

Christmas is about making memories with your family. It’s about doing things together, sharing a meal, going to a play or musical. You make memories so that when you are older, you remember the wonderful times with you family. Even though they are not there anymore. And no one can take them away from you.

The Christmas song that triggered my grief is “I’ll be home for Christmas”. I’ll put a link below for the song. It is an old WWII song that I still love today. It is about a soldier wanting to be home with his family for Christmas. I want to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

This is an excerpt from my second book, The Reality of Being a Believer. My first book, Prayer, is on Amazon. This excerpt is from Ch.10:Following God.

The command is to follow Jesus. I want to talk about commands. When non believers hear the commands of God, they usually say nobody is going to tell me what to do. But as believers we hear the commands of God and know that God is expressing His love for us. How many times did your parents tell you not to do something. And you did not listen to them. What they told you was a command. And you had a choice in the matter. God is not going to hit you over the head if you do not follow Him in this world. But the destruction will come because of us. We will choose to go to hell or not. God does not send anyone to hell. We have to choose it. Jesus showed us the way to follow and would give us a purpose in the kingdom of God. As we follow a plan begins to emerge to work in the kingdom of God. Then we will gather people to Jesus.

When Jesus said that we would be fishers of men, He added the details of how to do this. We are to gather people to Jesus through the things that we do in the kingdom. What things do we do? Jesus said to love God above all and love your neighbor as yourself. Everyone needs help. It does not matter in which area they need help. Have you ever walked up to someone and you felt their heart reach out to you. Whether they needed love or comfort or food or money. Their heart touched your heart and you knew there was something wrong. Most people won’t admit it, unless the situation is desperate. But if you listen to God and speak what He tells you, you can win a soul for Jesus. The list of things to do is very simple. Shelter to the stranger. Feed the hungry. Give water to the thirsty. Clothe the naked. Pray for the sick. Visit the imprisoned. Jesus said when you do these things to the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto Me. The opposite is just as real and final. Following God is personal. We have to choose to have a relationship with God. We can not follow any other way. We do not have the power or the insight to do what God has called us to. If we do not listen we will stray from the path.

Following God is not about the big things of God. It is about the little things that God wants us to do. God choose us to do the work of the kingdom. It is about loving God and our neighbors and caring for them. The little things of God are walking in the path that God chooses, following with Joy, living the life of God, seeing the darkness and not walking in it, becoming fishers of men, entering the path at the strait and narrow gate, sheltering the stranger, feeding the hungry, praying for the sick, clothing the naked, visiting the imprisoned, developing a relationship with Jesus, doing the will of the Father and being faithful in the little things of God. Then this path of God will lead us home to heaven and to salvation.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Christmas is almost here. This year again has come and gone. We look at what is happening in the whole world and there is not much peace and good will toward man. But when has it ever been different. When Jesus arrived in this world, the Romans ruled most of the known world. Jesus came to bring peace and love to this world. And the world goes on as it does each and every year. So, what is the difference? The difference is that we have a choice to make whether or not we carry on with the same old same old.

My mom and her sisters saw the same world I see and they did something about it. We would gather at our house or either of my two aunt’s. We would meet for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. It would be at one of the sister’s home. Our whole family would meet. The women were in the kitchen cooking and talking. The men were in the front room watching football and talking. The kids were outside playing. When the food was ready, we would all sit down and eat together. Our family was and is more important than any gift or holiday. We loved each other and showed it. Soon as we grew up, we would bring girl friends to our family gatherings. Then it was wives and children. You see our family was all boys. There were 9 cousins, my grandfather’s baseball team. All of our parents and grandparents are gone. We are down to 6 cousins and families. But we have all the memories that we made all of those years.

In this Christmas season, the difference is that we can unashamedly show love and care for our families and well as our neighbors. Jesus said to love God above all and to love your neighbors as yourself. In this Christmas season make a difference and choose to show love and compassion for your families and your fellowman. Joyeaux Noel et bonne annee.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

This is from my up-coming new book called The Reality of the Believer, Jew and Gentile. My first book is called Prayer by Crain Blanchard. And you can find it on Amazon.

From the beginning, God has professed His love for mankind. In every generation, God has had a people who would followed Him. Moses wrote about God’s love when he said that God will keep His covenant and mercy to those who love God and keep His commandments to a thousand generations. There is not one person who has ever come into the presence of God was not affected by it. In the presence or love of God, you will see yourself for who you really are. The light or love of God brings to light everything that is hidden in our hearts. You can not hid anything from God. And He knows it anyway. The love of God is to show us what is there in our heart. Then we can make the decision on what to do next. Not everyone chooses to follow God. It is a personal choice that we must make in our lives. Whether or not we choose God is up to us and we have to live with the consequences. Every thing we do has consequences, good or bad.

Moses wrote that the love of God is an all consuming fire. In other words having compassion on man. The word compassion is two words joined together. The first is com meaning multiple. And the second is passion which is a driving force in our lives. So the word compassion means a multiple driving force in our lives to help our fellow man. It is fueled by the Love of God which is an all consuming fire. In other words, it is the love of God that consumes us to help our fellow man.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

If you look at all the things that God can do and look at who we are, you will see how we are like God. The one thing that stands out is that we can sing. We can make music with our voice. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. It is true that some of us can not carry a tune in a bucket, but God says to make a joyful noise unto Him. In Zephaniah 3, it says that God will rejoice over us with singing.

Singing is not new in the bible. It says that we should sing to God and He sings to us over 119 times. That is specifically telling us that we should sing. When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, they sang a song of praise to God. And in Revelations it says that the redeemed of the Lord in heaven sing the song of Moses to God. It is the song of redemption. In heaven when the saints sing the song of redemption, the angels stop what they are doing and listen. The song is so sweet and the angels can not sing this song.

One day I asked the Lord to see heaven. He told me to close my eyes and listen. The first thing that I noticed was the air smell fresh like after a rain. Then I heard children playing. I opened my eyes and saw green rolling hills with plenty of trees. I looked down and I was standing on a road made of gold. The next thing I realized that I was sitting on top of a great wall overlooking the throne room in the city of God. I looked down and saw Jesus and God sitting on their thrones. I could not see the face of God nor enter into the throne room, because I was not dead. I could not see God because there was a cloud and a rainbow around Him. Then Jesus talked to me. Then the saints began to sing the song of redemption. It was so sweet and pure that I began to shake uncontrollable. And every time I hear that song I shake.

Singing is one of the attributes of God. We sing because it comes out of our heart. So when we sing, we are like God.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Who has not experienced the vulnerability of life. We are here today and gone tomorrow. We are like the grass of the field. There is no permanence in our lives. If you knew your grandparents, you might remember them. But what about your great grandparents? What do you remember about them? Our lives are designed to be that way. This life is temporary. There is an immortal part of us, which will never die. When we are young we have that feeling of invincibility. We will live forever. Then we begin to see death for what it is, the termination of life. We struggle with the reality all of our lives.

God sees that conflict in us and has a solution for us. If we are willing to accept the plan of God in our lives, we can resolve that conflict. God shows us mercy and grace. The most widely known scripture in the world is John 3:16. And it says, For God so loved the world that He gave. This is mercy and grace. When we give through love and compassion, not asking for it in return. It is healing for the soul.

I wonder why so many people fight against this mercy and grace. Thinking that they can control their own destiny. We do not have the power to change anything. You can say no, but does not change anything. This is why God gives us His mercy and grace. Because this is the power of God to change our lives and it is all done in the love of God. All we have to do is to ask for forgiveness and God will. Life is to short to fuss about your rights and desires. We all have a higher calling and purpose. We are to be the example of God’s love, mercy and grace.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com