Do you Know Jesus?

I have battled writing this blog all day. I told myself that I would not write about my nephew Hamp today, but I have an overwhelming need to share Jesus with each of you. You see, Eight years ago today, my nephew was killed in a car wreck. I had always heard that "life is short", and that "you are not promised tomorrow." However, it wasn't until Valentine's Day 2003 that I understood the full extent of those statements.

Before the wreck, I found it so easy to fall into the belief that those type of things happen, but never to me, never to my family. Now I know better. Though I do not understand why it happened, I do know without a doubt that Hamp is in heaven. I also know without a doubt that one day I too will be in heaven. Do you know where you will be when you die? Do you have any doubts? Let me tell you how you can know for sure...

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

This verse tells us that God, the ONE true God, sent His son, that son is Jesus. Jesus came so that anyone who believes in him will not perish in hell, but will have eternal life.

All we need to do to have that eternal life is to believe that Jesus is the son of God, that he died, and that he rose again. He did all this for us so that we will be saved. There is nothing we can do or not do that can save us.

In John 14:6, Jesus tells us, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Jesus is the only way. If you have never made the decision to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, I urge you do it now. Pray and ask God to forgive you of your sins. Jesus paid the price on the cross, so that you don't have to. Confess that you believe that Jesus is who he says he is. You can do it by yourself or call a friend who is a believer. After you do this, tell others about it. Let them know your decision. And please, let me know, I will love rejoicing with you.

Believe me when I say that you are not promised tomorrow here on this earth, but you are promised eternity. Where will you spend it?

Do you Know that God Loves You?

Just a few minutes ago, I said to my daughter, "Do you know that I love you?" Without hesitation, she said, "Yes, I know because I know you." Then she went on to say, "You show me everyday." That struck me as a really profound truth coming from a 5 year old.

Then I thought, how many of us really know that God loves us? Could it be we doubt His love because we don't really know Him? Do we not recognize the ways in which he shows His love to us everyday?

God loves us even more than we as parents love our children. How do we know this? His word tells us so. In order to know God, we must read His word. The more you dig into the word of God, the closer you become to Him. The closer you get to Him, the more you will recognize all the things He does for you daily. The more you see what He does for you, the more you know how much He loves you.

It is an amazing cycle... I encourage you to try it and see for yourself just how much God loves you!

His Love Never Quits

When you were growing up, if your mom told you something once, you may or may not listen. If she told you twice, you would probably consider what she is saying. If she tells you more than twice, you had BETTER take notice. In Psalm 136 God repeats Himself 26 times!!!! I think we better take notice.

I have read this Psalm before, but a few weeks ago I was reading it from the Message. The repeated phrase jumped off the page at me. In the Message it says, “His love never quits.” I love this!
Anytime a verse jumps off the page to me, I always compare what it says in other versions.
King James says, “His mercy endureth forever.”
New International Version says “His love endures forever.”
Amplified says, “for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.”
New American Standard says, “For His loving kindness is everlasting.”

As I was thinking of these, I wondered why some versions say mercy, some say love, and some say both. Although I believe that God does indeed love us, and show us mercy, they are not words that are interchangeable. So, I decided to check how it was written in the original text. I just love technology… you no longer have to be a Bible Scholar in order to discover the original Hebrew text.

In the original text the word is Hesed. This refers to the mutual relationship between man and God. The best translation is loyalty. The word mercy comes from the influence of the Greek translation of the original Hebrew.

So why is He so loyal to us? He loves us unconditionally.

In Psalm 136 the writer describes when God loved us. In verses 1 – 9, He loved us before we were born. In verses 10 – 24, He loves us during hardships. In verse 25 – 26, He loves us when everything is going well.

I want to share with you 4 specific times when God’s Love Never Quits.
1.His love never quits, when we make wrong choices.


2.His love never quits, when someone else causes us harm.

3. His love never quits, when there is no explanation for the events happening.

4. His love never quits, when everything is going great.

So, let me wrap up by encouraging you to remember that no matter what you are going through, no matter what you have done, no matter what someone else has done. God’s love for you NEVER QUITS!