Your First 5 Minutes With God

Meditation For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23) There are NO gray areas when it comes to sin. No matter what our society wants us to believe, which by the way, is exactly what Satan wants us to believe. There is a good choice or an evil choice we might make in every decision. There are no other choices. I hear all the time, ‘what’s true for you might not be true for me.’ That’s exactly what Satan wants you to believe. That way, he can hold you in the bondage of sin where you think your behavior isn’t all that bad. What’s true and good according to the Bible, is true and good for everyone in all circumstances. We don’t have to work very hard to earn the sentence of death as the wages for our sins. However, we can accept the free gift of salvation from Jesus and escape that death sentence. We all have an inborn sense to know the difference between right and wrong. We can choose to ignore that naggin...

Meditation “ Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. ” (Matthew 7:1-2) The truth is, no one has the right to judge anyone else because everyone is guilty of something. When we judge someone, we are pronouncing guilt and eternal punishment upon someone, we are actually trying to take God’s place. That being said, we are not being judgmental when we point out someone’s sin? Especially if their worldview has no concept of eternal consequences. However, we should make sure we are speaking words of loving compassion and not with an accusing, holier than thou attitude and a finger pointing in their face. We wouldn’t want to be treated like that and no one else does either. It’s amazing how so many people have this verse as the sum-total of everything they care to know about Christianity. They believe if their sins are pointed out, even the ones that have recently beco...

Meditation I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1) If I have truly given my life over to the Lord, then he will grant me the mercy of forgiving my sins, every one of them, great and small. Jesus willingly sacrificed himself on the cross, suffering a horrific death, to save me and you from our sins. What am I willing to sacrifice to show my gratitude to Jesus for such a sacrifice? I gave up my old life of sin and wickedness, leaving them at the foot of the cross. If I continued to behave the same way I always have, was I ever saved, really? Sacrifice is supposed to be painful. It means I give up something I really love. God wants me to sacrifice my sinful life and live for him. That means, no more living to please only me. Instead, I now live to please God. When I think of a living sacrifice, I think of people like Saul of Tarsu...

Meditation But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9) When we submit to Christ we are no longer black or white, American or Russian, Jew or Gentile; we are all just one race. We become sons and daughters of God, the King of the universe! That makes us royalty by adoption. Think about that for a second. We are born slaves to sin, without hope for anything but an eternity in hell. When we are cleansed, Jesus makes us new. We are no longer slaves but princes and princesses, heirs with Christ. He has set us apart, pulled us out of the filth of sinful living. We belong to him, now and forever more! Not because we deserve it but because of his grace and mercy! A racist cannot fathom how white and black believers can labor in love, hand in hand, for the work of the kingdom…but we understand. Nationalists from ei...

Meditation “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) The only thing Satan wants, is to steal our happiness, smash our hopes, and destroy our souls. He tells us it’s okay to sleep with people we’re not married to, to get drunk, or do drugs whenever we feel like it. He makes us think no one will know if we steel something. He doesn’t explain there will be consequences. He lets us find out the hard way about sexually transmitted diseases. He doesn’t warn us about the empty feeling in our hearts from such shallow relationships or the guilt we will certainly feel. He couldn’t care less when we fall into addiction to alcohol and drugs. He wants us to think it’s all about having a good time and doing all the things we want to do. He convinces most of us we’re having a good time. Nothing could be further from the truth. He is a liar and the father of lies! Our lives can be wearisome at times, so ...

Meditation Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  (Genesis 1:26) God made us in his image. Think about that for a minute. Every human being on earth is made in his image. Whether we’re black or white, red or yellow, we all resemble God in appearance. None of us are any better or look more like God than any other. That’s important because it means God loves us all, equally. He doesn’t love some people more because they have more or less melanin pigment in their skin than another people. Since the racial divide is a human construct, Christians are called to reject racism in all areas of life. God only sees the heart of a man or a woman, not the color of their skin.  God made us in his image however, we mostly behave like the opposite is true. God gave...

Meditation Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. Do everything in love. (1 Corinthians 16:13-14) Why are we supposed to be alert, what are we watching for? Since the very beginnings of the Church of Christ in the first century, the followers of Jesus have been expecting his return. It’s not escapism, as some nonbelievers will claim. He told us he’s coming back, and about the signs to look for, so that’s what he wants us to do. We should always be on the lookout for the signs of his coming and be on guard, standing firm against false doctrine. There are many wolves prowling around trying to devour those who are weak in their faith. We must reject the false teachings of those wolves. However, we cannot resist a falsehood if we don’t strongly demand in the truth. The truth is found in the Word of God. The original language translated to – ‘be courageous’ – literally means to ‘act like men.’ Of course, this passage is speaking to all believers, men and...

Meditation Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. (Psalm 51:12) It’s very easy to forget how we felt at that moment when we realized the truth of Jesus Christ. There are many frightening things going on in the world today that help us forget. We tiptoe through life, going from one man-made disaster after another. The Middle East has been a powder keg trying to explode since Israel became a nation in May of 1948. There are despots in various countries, large and small, who threaten the peace of the whole world. There is political corruption everywhere we look in the leadership of almost every country. The world seems closer now than it ever has been before, to destroy itself in war. What is there, on this planet, to be joyous about? Before Jesus came into my life, I looked on those possibilities with fear and anxiety, even though I wasn’t sitting around, openly quaking terror. My dread was expressed in loose living. It was the old, “e...

Meditation The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. (1 Timothy 1:15) As an unbeliever, I could not understand how Jesus dying on a cross two thousand years ago, paid the price for my sins today. When Christ was hanging on that cross, the Father put every sin on his shoulders – the past, present and future sin. Christ was the sacrificial lamb whose blood washes away our sins. IF we repent and turn to Jesus, we will receive the gift of salvation. The scriptures are clear, we can trust every word and know, without a shadow of a doubt, it’s completely true. I don’t need to hear how to receive Jesus from any other source than the Bible. I can trust the truthful words written there. It’s true that the writings of biblical scholars can help with understanding difficult doctrines. Those writing only explain sound doctrine, they don’t make doctrine. Every man and woman on earth,...

Meditation Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5.16-18) I have been saved from the clutches of sin and where sin would eventually lead me. That is where my joy comes from. I was totally lost before Jesus plucked me out of the darkness. I have so many other reasons to rejoice that it’s not hard for me to find one or two each day to give thanks for. As if my salvation wasn’t enough, all my relationships are better today than they were before. Both my personal and casual associations have benefited after my submission to Christ. It was as if the Lord taught me how to love, which is exactly what he did and is still doing. I know I am still learning how to express that love, but I am light years ahead of where I used to be. I am so blessed since I gave my heart to the Lord. Even though my life isn’t always carefree and happy, I still have things to be thankful for. Eve...

Meditation “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8) Are you like I used to be, refusing to believe in God because I couldn’t see him? Are you unwilling to submit yourself to a higher power? Does the whole idea of Jesus dying on the cross and then coming back to life three days later seem unbelievable to you? Have you ever tried to find out if he’s real or not? Many go through life thinking they know for sure God is not real, but they’ve never done any real investigation. With even a slight but honest examination of what’s claimed in the gospels, they can find out the real truth. I used to think I knew a lot about Christianity before I was saved. I was actually pretty cocky about it. I would challenge any Christian who tried to share the truth with me. I was contemptuous in my rebuttals. The truth...

Meditation Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2) This is an area where many have fallen short. I know that when I was a child, I had a good start at what it meant to be a Christian. I had godly grandparents who saw to my early Christian experience. They took us to church every Sunday, to the Wednesday night meetings, and to Vacation Bible School every summer. When we moved away from them, I chose not to continue to seek any kind of relationship with Jesus. My parents didn’t push me, but it was my decision not to go to church anymore. I joined the world, you might say. I turned my back on everything I learned in my Sunday School classes, which was a lot as I think back on it. I looked around at the other teens around me and thought they looked like they were having fun. So, I went along, thinking I was having fun too. I wanted nothing to...

Meditation For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:20) A rapist doesn’t commit his crime in broad daylight, where everyone can see. No, they keep to the dark areas where no one can see what they’re going to do. A robber doesn’t break in when everyone is awake and watching. No, they wait for the cover of darkness, where they won’t be seen. Men and women who are having an adulterous affair don’t pursue each other out in the open, in the bright light of day. No, they meet in the dark recesses of a hotel room or bar. Someplace they won’t be seen or recognized. Everyone has done wicked sinful things in their lives, it’s our human nature. Most people are not rapists, robbers, or adulterers, thankfully, but we all have some deep, dark secret we don’t want to see come into the light. Hopefully, a Christian will sincerely regret their failures, turn from their sins, and try not to commit th...

Meditation But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. How much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath. (Romans 5:8-9) I confess, I was a despicable, unworthy sinner for most of my adult life. I was self-centered and dishonest with the acquaintances in my life. I thought I was smarter than the religious “nuts” in my life. I was too shrewd to need saving from a lifestyle I thought was just fine. Since I didn’t believe in God, I didn’t worry about the consequence of my actions. Even with all that sin in my life, even though God knew two thousand years ago about those sins and how rotten I was, he sacrificed Jesus on the cross, to set me free. He, of course, was doing it for everyone else on the planet, throughout all the centuries, but I know he did it for me as well. When I weigh those two choices over in my mind, why would I not gratefully receive his offer...

Meditation For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. (2 Timothy 4:3) This is happening everywhere you look. People all over the world sit in churches listening to preachers who never mention the name of Jesus Christ, let alone a warning about sin or hell. Those preachers create for their flocks, a doctrine not found in the Bible. One thing being taught in many of today’s churches is called, “Name It and Claim It.” The teaching says, if you have enough faith, you speak your desire and claim it from the Lord, then Christ will grant your wish. It turns Jesus into some kind of genie in a bottle, granting our wishes whenever we ask. Of course, if we don’t get what we want, our lack of faith is to blame. We can usually remedy the situation with a larger donation to the church. Most people don’t want to hear the...