eternal life Archives

Delight In God, Love Him More Than Everything

August 23, 2015 Gracie

Delight In God, Love Him Completely

How many Facebook followers do you have?

Ten, twenty, a hundred?

I know people whose friends list numbers in the thousands.

Thousands!

That’s a lot of friends 🙂

Did you know that, despite how large your friends list is on social media, there is One who loves you more than anyone.

He’s always there, loving you from the start, when you were just a baby in the womb.

Psalm 37:23 tells us that:

*²³The steps of a man are established by the Lord, And He delights in his way. – Psalm 37:23 NASB

He is the God of Second Chances

God is always ready to forgive, if you repent.

How many of your friends can you say that about? I suspect not many. God not only has the power to forgive, He provides the gift of eternal life to those He has chosen according to His will.

We deserve death, but Jesus paid our fine. That is the most sacrificial, beautiful expression of love that has ever existed in this world.

Please, if you haven’t put your total faith in Christ and repented of your sins, I urge you to do so. I also encourage you to start reading the Bible. The book of John is a great place to start. It’s also important to attend a solid, Bible-believing church in your area where you can hear the authentic gospel message of love, repentance, forgiveness, and salvation.

I watch the news sometimes and it’s so disturbing how evil this world has become. It’s getting worse every day. The abortion holocaust is just one example. I see the combative women holding up signs at rallies celebrating planned parenthood and I cringe for their lost souls.

There is still time for us to seek God’s forgiveness.

How long til you return, Lord? No one knows.

Time is running out, though. Jesus Christ will come again and, with all urgency, I say you don’t want to be left behind.

This song from Charles Billingsley is one I listen to a lot on my iPod. I hope you enjoy.

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Our Exceptional God

Keep Your Eye on the Prize

August 11, 2015 Gracie

Keep Your Eye on the Prize

Some of my fondest high school memories are from my years on the track team. I joined the team in my Sophomore year and qualified as a sprinter for the 2:20 and the 8:80 relay. keep your eye on the prize

Track was a big part of my life back then. I loved the sport and we had a great bunch of girls on the team.

The best part of it for me was winning a ribbon or a trophy that I could take home to show my Dad. He never hesitated to say he was proud of me.

Our team worked hard, practicing after school and spending our Saturdays running in meets at other high schools. Our goal was to get to State and compete against runners from all over Florida. Lucky me! I qualified.

I ended up placing sixth in the 2:20 at the State finals!!

The cool thing: I got to run against a soon-to-be Olympian, Chandra Cheeseborough. A quick note about Chandra, she smoked me pretty quickly and all I saw was her dirt fly as she sprinted past me! I still remember that. 🙂

Life in the Fast Lane

Those high school years have come and gone. Have things really changed for us now that we’re all grown up? We keep running and running towards something. In this upside-down world, do we know what or who we’re running towards?

Keep your eyes on Christ There are so many distractions that can take our eyes off Christ. A job, a mortgage, frustrating people in our lives, health issues – all of it can overwhelm us at times. There are so many concerns in our lives and in our world, and yet, Jesus is there. He is unchanging. He is always ready to welcome us back when we realize that we’ve lost our focus on Him.

Don’t forget to keep your eye on the prize. There’s joy eternal up ahead and one path to get there – through Jesus Christ. In the midst of life’s distractions, if we put our trust in Him, we have the promise of complete happiness and eternal life.

A Christian Perspective From Minnesota

We asked a good friend of ours about which Bible verse is especially meaningful to him. Kevin H. from Minnesota chose Hebrews 12:1-2a.

*Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ²fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

Kevin explains why this verse speaks to his heart: the race marked out for me

“Hebrews 12:1-2, a favorite part of Scripture for me, uses the idea of a race or a journey to help focus me on what really matters – Jesus’ great love and sacrifice for me. I can find my personal identity in so many distressingly inadequate things, people, or activities. This verse always reminds me that my identity is held and centered on Jesus Christ. It’s just not about me.

This life or race that is marked out for me has me journeying through a fair share of dark times – but also the good. As a runner, races are that way as well. Yet, I find deep joy in the richness of this life. Knowing God loves and cares for me, that pressure is off. I can absorb the goodness of my life’s time – both in the good times and in the harder times. What a joy to know I can fix my eyes on Jesus. He deeply loves and holds me close.”

I couldn’t have said it better. Many thanks to Kevin for his share.

God bless you all and keep your eyes on the prize!

*Bible reference: New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Real Life Stories of Faith

Life Can Change In An Instant

March 12, 2015 Gracie

Your Life Can Change In An Instant

life can change in an instant Just when you think everything’s fine, something unexpected can happen to you and you could face your own mortality.

If that were to happen, are you saved?

In other words, if you pass away tomorrow, do you know where you’ll go?

Heaven or Hell?

It’s one or the other.

Why so many people wait to figure this out is beyond me.

Minutes Away From A Scary Accident

A few nights ago my husband and I were coming home from dinner when we passed a police officer by the side of the road. It was pitch black dark and I remembered thinking the officer was in a prime stretch of road to tag speeders.

As soon as we got to the traffic light, I heard the officer’s siren go off behind us and, with lights flashing, he was headed our way. We pulled over to the side of the road and he passed us traveling at a high rate of speed.

He didn’t have to go very far.

That doesn’t look good, I thought, as the light changed and we got closer to the scene of the accident up ahead.

At that point we saw several emergency vehicles parked all over the road. The roads were also blocked off already and traffic was being detoured.

The sounds of a Care Flight helicopter loomed overhead as it circled to land on the very same road we were driving on.

Life is Precious

A very bad accident happened that quickly.

In an instant.

It was all very surreal and scary.

The victims were going about their lives moments before and suddenly everything changed.

I thanked God silently that my husband and I were spared, but wondered about the poor victims in the crash.

It turns out that a motorcycle had run into a truck. The motorcycle victim was care-flighted to a local hospital.

I said a prayer for the victims and then I remembered a movie my husband and I had seen late last year – “God’s Not Dead.”

Have you seen it yet?

It’s a really good movie and worth your time to check it out. Specifically, the scene that came to mind is the one where the hostile, atheistic, Professor Radisson is dying in the middle of the street after being struck by a car. In those last few moments of his life, he was ministered to by a pastor who happened to witness the accident. During this heart-wrenching scene, the pastor led the professor to Christ. It’s a scene that gives me a knot in my throat every time I think about it.

It makes me wonder if the motorcycle victim in the accident the other night knew Jesus.

I hope he survived.

You never know when your life can change dramatically like that.

Please Don’t Put Off Cultivating Your Relationship With God

I did for 30 years.

You have a free gift of salvation through the grace of Jesus Christ. You can’t earn your salvation, but you do have to accept the invitation God has given you.

He won’t drag you kicking and screaming to accept the gift of eternal life with Him.

So many people either don’t want to believe the truth (atheists) or they don’t want to put in the effort (a sad choice, but there’s still time.)

Great things and an end to the pain and suffering of this world are in store for you if you place your love and trust in the one and only true God.

God's Holy Word

Turn Around, Don’t Drown

This is a very dark world and there are miserable people out there who want others to drown along with them in a sea of doubt.

Through belief in Jesus Christ, you have access to something better and so much more.

I heard Heaven described recently as a place of pure bliss and adoration.

Why would anyone in their right mind not want that?

God bless you for visiting my blog!

I also wanted to say a big thank you also to all of the law enforcement authorities, emergency personnel, and first responders who give so generously and selflessly of their time and energy to try and keep us safe when Life hands us a dangerous curve ball, in an instant.

Our Exceptional God