A look into a life being changed by Christ

Is my Salvation Forever

This subject will be forevermore debated. I had some serious reservations about posting this. Satan does not want me to post this! I LOST an hour and a half of work on my first writings. Please be in prayer for me! The last time I drew my sword and attacked Satan I was unprepared and I was lead astray for about ten months! I say again, Satan does not want me working for God! I feel that I am stronger in my faith and I have more folks praying for me now… SO, without further delay here we go!

 I will post the bulk of this blog in question form. I will keep it short and sweet… yeah right!

THREE QUESTIONS 

Were you serious when you accepted Christ?

 

Doubt is a sure sign that you are not fully convinced. Before I came to full acceptance I was sure that the supernatural realm was real, but I was blinded to the HOLY supernatural dominion. In my doubt, I prayed one day. I asked if God if he was real. I can't put my finger on exactly when it happened, but it seemed as if one day a vale was lifted from my eyes, I could see! God is in control of the Holy supernatural world. The evil one has less power, but has a stake in the supernatural as well. The evil one can make us see and hear things; UFO's, psychics, zodiac sciences, and ghost. They can be quite real and fully convincing, but they are not truth. Satan can even make you see your dear grandmother who has been dead for years. The first vision may seem sweet and fulfilling, but if it is Satan motivated he will lead you away and deceive you! If you have witnessed something like this it is important that you leave the experience alone! NEVER try to relive it! NEVER try to conjure up another experience. Take things as they are…never dwell on them!

Do you understand what Salvation is?

When you fully believed you were INSTANTLY a changed person, you became spiritually alive. You are still Earth bound by your flesh; however you are connected to the benevolent supernatural father FOREVER. The Holy Spirit guides our steps and reminds us constantly of this!

Psalm 37:28, "For The Lord loves justice and does not forsake His godly ones; they are preserved forever."

John 6:37, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out."

John 10:27-29, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand".   

1 John 2:1, "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

Hebrews 6:17-20, "In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."

Do you feel driven to confess your wrong doing?

You will sin! We are not perfect. The best evidence that you are saved is a constant drive from the Holy Spirit to confess your sin until you have confessed your folly. I am not speaking of guilty accusation here, that's important! guilty accusation is a combination of our own carnal thoughts and the accusation of Satan. Our sin is forgiven forever! Christ didn't step down to become human to die for the sins of that time period and before! He died for the SINS OF ALL TIME!  Once you are truly in Christ it's a done deal. You are forgiven forever. You can go in the bible and extract passages here and there that seem to say you can loose your salvation, but don't read into the word too much. DON'T LOOK for a reason of impending doom! STOP DOUBTING and live! 

Satan lies and accuses! He will speaks damnation into the ears of your soul! He can accuse all he wants too! The truth is Christ smashed the head of evil upon his death on

Calvary

.

IN CLOSING!

It is TRUE belief more than anything! If you KNOWINGLY sin and you have no remorse…you are in trouble!

You never believed in the first place!

People can argue as much as they wish! It is written:

Romans 8:33-35, 38-39, "Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

 

Does THIS mean that if you REALLY believe in Christ you can do as you wish? No…the Holy spirit will not let it happen! YOU WILL ALWAYS confess your folly post salvation if you are truly saved. You may find yourself committing the same sin, BUT you will find that you are doing it less and less! A SURE SIGN OF SALVATION!

 

REST MY FRIENDS!

May you reflect the face of God in your walk!

 

Worry...A look into a time wasting problem!

Worry is one of my very worst strongholds. Planning ahead can quickly turn into plain ole’ fashioned worry if you ain’t careful. 

My definition of worry is (a planning thought gone into hyper drive).  

Worry is like a crashing airplane that never hits the earth, the horrible feelings of impending doom resound constantly without the finality of “the crash” the plane is eternally crashing, it never ends…it is self torture!!!! 

Please stop! 

I struggle from time to time with worry even now, but my walk with Christ has eased this enormously. 

Worry is an enormous waste of time. 90% of the things we worry about never come to pass. If we worry enough we can think bad things into existence. If we worry about having a bad day, then we probably will have one!  Worrying accomplishes nothing because the situation typically has not come to pass yet; and if it has, little can be done to un-do what has come to pass when you just sit and fret! Worry can weaken your mind enough to where the evil one can start flipping switches and influencing your thoughts…YIKES!! 

Yes, you can actually worry yourself sick. You can also be worried to death! 

“Well brother Tom…what do I do then” 

Pray about the situation and admit to Christ that you have fallen victim to worry and doubt.

 

Get to work! 

Worrying never gets anything done, if you are worrying it is a sure sign that it’s time to get something done. 

If the situation is in physical existence, and if you can, and if it is safe and will not cause harm get off your tail and run to the problem if it is possible. Face it! 

If the situation has not come to pass yet or if it is unsafe to confront the situation,

do not give the opportunity for Satan to create turmoil. 

Pray until you have prayed! Under girding the situation in prayer helps enormously!

Give the situation to Christ. No, you don't bring it to Christ and leave it, that won't work. No, all the thoughts won't go totally away, BUT Christ can take the load off. His yoke is easy! What this means is he will take the weight off so that the load is lighter..."his yoke is easy! Walk in freedom!
 

Matthew 11 (Today's New International Version)

 

28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
 

Some other tidbits 

Worry in the dictionary it is defined as… 

1. to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret.

2. to move with effort: an old car worrying uphill.

–verb (used with object)

3. to torment with cares, anxieties, etc.; trouble; plague.

4. to seize, esp. by the throat, with the teeth and shake or mangle, as one animal does

5. to harass by repeated biting, snapping, etc.

6. a worried condition or feeling; uneasiness or anxiety.

7. a cause of uneasiness or anxiety; trouble. 

A word from the bible on worry 

Matthew

6: 25

to 34 (Today's New International Version)

Do Not Worry

25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?     28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in his entire splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

A Video

It was time for a change...Christ tapped me on the shoulder

Have a look at this short video

I have no riveting story to tell. I have lived a decent, GOD SHELTERED life. No near death experiences, nothing spectacular.  Their have been many incidents in my life where I have been protected by the hand of God.  I'll illustrate one occurrence and then I will press on with this article.

In the ancient days of my youth my cousin and I always played in the church yard across from my grandmother’s house.  One day I was in a live oak climbing it like any 11 year old.  I fell about 10 feet straight down and planted on my wrist.  The pain shot through me like red hot lightning.  I freaked!  I kept thinking my parents were going to be angry.  Time passed, the pain subsided, and the little swelling that started went away in days.  No broken bones. 

I'm a different man than I was 5 years ago.  No manifestation of miraculous proportions.  I was just prompted by the familiar inner voice of the Holy Spirit to think about how I have never been allowed to crash and burn in the failures of my life. I have always survived to fight another day.

I have learned that being a Christian isn't about a church dress code, or wearing the best clothes to church.  It's not about running laps around the sanctuary and jumping pews because you were "touched by the spirit".  It's not about tithing 10 % and above when you have to buy fuel to get to work for the next week and food to sustain life. 

Being a Christian is knowing the love, grace, and forgiveness of our Savior.  In return for what Christ does for us he wants us to do the same for each other. It is NOT religion...NOT EVEN CLOSE!  Praise the Lord!! I have discovered that being a Christian isn't as big of a choir as it was presented to me in my youth.

I was more or less disappointed by the church where I found Christ as a youth in the early 80's. I went to an alter call after the service and I knew I was changed and that I wasn't "alone" anymore.

The church I attended was a religious type of  fellowship; in other words, they put their own spin on a whole bunch of rules and stipulations in how one was to live their life  No television, short hair cuts for the guys, long hair for the girls, no jewelry, ect. There was a trip to Disney World (imagine that) hosted by the church I attended.  I think my Mom and I both contributed to the fund.  I approached someone about the trip and I was told, "You can't go to Disney World unless you have spoken in tongues". Further more they said, unless you have spoken in tongues to PROVE you had the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, you are doomed to hell".  I was 13 years old; I had some bad feelings about church and fellowshipping for a long time.

After an 18 year absence at age 31 I came back to fellowshipping with other Christians. I am still learning and growing in the Lord.  I am a work in progress.

There are a few I'd like to thank that clarified my view on organized fellowship.

Family Worship (

Pensacola

,

Florida

): This was first church I have ever felt comfortable in.  I was assured that what I experienced as a youth was un-scriptural. They lovingly showed me the path to return home to Christ, and I was reunited with the presence of God.

I loved the folks at Family Worship, but the majority of the congregation tended to be against contemporary worship.

Harvest

Outreach

Church

(

Pensacola

,

Florida

):  I was captivated by the contemporary worship; the flow of Christ's love was WIDE OPEN there.  The outward focus and the LOVE of this church were AMAZING!  The come as you are atmosphere provided a feeling of belonging.  This is where I was baptized, and thanks to the evangelism and agreement in prayer I overcame my cigarette addiction.  Thank God for fellowship at Harvest!

God had answered a prayer for me and gave me turbo charged motivation to focus on the restoration of my home.  I over did it and focused too much. It monopolized all of my time. I drifted from fellowship for about 9 months.

Christian

Life

Church

(

Milton

,

Florida

):  This is my present place of fellowship and worship. I wanted a church closer to home where I could serve the Lord more effectively. I look forward to the blessings that I know will flow from this church.  I am stoked about the future of this church and ready to serve!

Churches like the ones I mentioned above exist all over... all you have to do is find it, then again the right church for you will probably end up finding you.  Don't give up on fellowship; Jesus is the greatest love you will ever know!

Christ's Servant,

Thomas

 

Leaving the "old person" behind to change for the better

I am Thomas, and that's good enough for Jesus. The best decision I have ever made in my life was my decision to follow Christ. If you truly follow Jesus you know that it is not about being better than your neighbor. I do not profess to be a learned man, nor do I claim to be above anyone. One of the gifts that have been given to me is this ability to write about my changing life and my savior. 

The purpose of this article is to show I'm a work in progress, all of us are "in progress" one way or another. I'm not claiming to be a preacher, nothing special here to show. I'm just a man doing what his creator motivated him to do. I'm a man in the middle of changing for the good. The thing that has been placed on my heart tonight is to show my struggles with leaving the "old person" behind.   

Old person = the person I was before walking closer with Christ. 

Many get discouraged after giving their lives to Christ; the thief "SATAN" waits to steal the seed. After church folks return to their cars, cigarettes on the console with the lighter near by. When they crank the car the radio is tuned to garbage. Before they get a block away they are being attacked by Satan. After a few days many give in. Little did they know salvation still belonged to them, all they needed to do was confess the mistakes, and learn to turn away from the sin. They didn't understand that Christ died for all sins, past, present, and future. They have forgotten, or know little about grace.  As soon as someone at your fellowship is saved please talk to them about this! 

Some of us give up on leaving the old person behind. Instead of going back to Christ to confess our wrong doing and asking for strength we anguish in guilt. We try to take on things on our own power without the benefit of Christ sharing the yoke to help pull the load. By ourselves we are futile in trying to change the old person. 

Matthew 11:30 (New International Version)

30.) For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Christ will share the yoke with you!  He takes the load off!

I'll use an illusration.

Ever have a car break down? Remeber when your buddy started helping and the load got lighter? In a way similar Christ helps us.

How do we get to that point of giving up?  What happened to that feeling of elation after the church service? Why do you wake up stressed out before your feet hit the floor and feeling like you've been in a bar fight? Why do we let worry tear us up in our dreams and waking moments? We are listening to Satan. Satan is a LAIR!  He convinces you that you are doomed because you've made a mistake in your walk.

Satan is the perpetrator of worry and anger.

He is the one that gives the single finger salute in traffic jams.

He is the one that makes the snide hateful remarks in the lines at the grocery store when the new cashier is struggling with her new job.

He is the one that says "take it, after all my employer is rich and I haven't got the raise I deserved". 

My weaknesses that are healing: 

I get upset sometimes when things don't go just right, I get frustrated too easy.   

I worry about my past mistakes that people can point at.   

I think about lying to get my way. 

I often worry others will think I am weak…plain old pride ! 

Those are just a few weaknesses I have.

 

Tell you what…. 

Leave a comment! While you leave a comment, identify a weakness that bothers you and I will under gird it in prayer. Those who see the weaknesses identified should also pray for that person. God has you reading this article for a reason. I am doing what God told me to do, you do it too! 

Respond to this and watch Christ work in your life!

 

Christ's Servant, 

Thomas

A definition of Prayer...you know how?...my friends pray until you have prayed. ( a revised-improved) repost

Your comments are welcome; however, they will not post immediately. I have to screen them first before they are posted. Please leave your comments if you wish.

This subject of PRAYER has been on my mind lately.   I feel a burden make this my blog this to you this evening.

In my walk with the Lord I have learned some eye opening things AND STILL LEARNING about prayer.  I would like to share them in this blog.

(A quick history lesson before I proceed)

When Christ the son of God 100% FLESH 100% GOD was sent from heaven to the Earth to become human flesh he endured ridicule, rejection, disbelief, ect. The list goes on for miles. He died, nailed to the cross, killed by man.  During his fleshly life the greatest hero OF ALL TIME constantly prayed to the father "God" and gave him praise. Upon his flesh death Christ took our sin upon him.  He took God's wrath of sin upon mankind with him to the grave.  From that point our sins are gone past, present, and future.  Greatest of all Christ defeated death three days later.

ALL WE NEED TO DO IS: BELIVE IN CHRIST, CONFESS OUR SINS TO CHRIST, AND REBUKE OUR SIN. 

 

Prayer is the communication done through Christ who is the advocate for us to the father "God".  Our Prayer is a constant communion with the Lord done in a myriad of ways. In other words, have the Lord on your mind at all times. 

Some examples:

· Give thanks for the little things within the daily routine.

· Talk to the Lord while driving, walking, ect, “without closed eyes”. ha!

· Give thanks for those cool little miracles.

· When worries cross your mind, lift a brief prayer to God.

· At tense moments ask him to strengthen you.

God wants us to rely on him and to cast our troubles upon him.

Quoting Pastor Paul Stanley: Christ has told us "take my yoke upon you, my burden is easy".  Giving your trouble to Christ doesn't mean to run to him and download your entire load.  Christ can't live our flesh life for us, but he can make the burden easier.  He can share the yoke and help you tow your burden.  Thats why he says my yoke is easy! 

We are the children of God, as a child needs his or her father, we need God! I've walked far from God in my life. Please believe me, there is nothing like being spiritually alive and speaking directly with Christ.

We should try to change up our routine prayers; an example would be the way we give pre meal thanks, ect. Doing this ensures that we are focused on the subject at hand, and it helps us to avoid it becoming a monotonous religious method.

 

If by chance this falls upon the eyes of a non-believer; or a not so sure person, confess that you believe he died for your sins and ask Jesus to remove the stench of sin from your life.  As you grow in the word and communication with the Lord you will see first hand that this is truth.

God is our friend.

Like we talk to our friends, God wants us to speak TO HIM as a friend, “with Godly respect of course”.

James

2:23

(New International Version)

23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.

Our prayer identifies us as belonging to the Christ.

The evil one is crushed when we communicate with Christ.  We are the children of a king; our prayer identifies us as such!

We pray to intercede in other Christians lives. AGREEING IN PRAYER IS VITAL. 

Matthew, chapter: 18, verse 18 to 20.

18"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  19"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.

Eyes closed?

I had the misconception that you had to have your eyes closed in order to speak to God, I've learned better since then. We should always try talk to God as much as possible; busy, or not. 

Eyes should be closed during quiet time, during deep meditation, and when you are in focus and reverence to the Lord to remove distractions.

This subject is ever expanding as a Christians walk through their lives. I think we all need to constantly hone or prayer activities as our life situations change.

Your comments are welcome

 

Christ's Servant,

Thomas

 

 

 

The kids are alright...not so fast my friends...

 

The thoughts below crossed my mind Thursday morning.

 

I passed a bus stop.  Several kids and...well...about 4 adults.  Sad!

 

The condition of this world is degrading friends!  We can't even let our children stand alone with their friends to catch a school bus for 10 minutes.  The contrast of the years gone by is sobering folks.  This ain't scientificly researched, but I think it's pretty accurate. Contrast between say... 1987 and 1957, they weren't too different as far as the moral condition were they?  Compare 1987 with 2007....is enough said?   The gap of moral degeneration and society change between 1987 and 2007 is the same as between 1917and 1957.  The pace of this is frightening and astunding!

 

We are zipping right along.....double time!  The deteriorating world has caught up with us.  We better get busy people!

 

At ten years old my freedom went as far as my bike and energy would let me.  I could go HOURS unattended without my momma worrying about some sicko approaching me.  The only worrys on my ten year old mind was where I was going to build my next fort, and keeping the chain tight on my bicycle. That went ALL THE WAY UP TO MIDDLE SCHOOL! 

 

I think it's sad to see the kids seated in front of the television, controller in hand, and the mp3 blaring away in the ears.   They are pale skinned and unhealthy looking.  Sad! Don't get me wrong I like video games too, but IT'S TOO MUCH.  This inactivity has caused the following modern conditions.  I will note the real causes below.

 

ADD: aka: "Another Disillusioned Diagnosis"

 

HYPERACTIVE: aka: "Not Enough Activity"

 

This is caused by a severe lack of activity in children AND adults.  All children aren't the same and some need to have INTENCE PHYSICAL activity during free time in order to chill out during quite focused moments. Recess is pretty much phased out in many public schools; therefore, your going to get a heapin' dose of some "ADD" and "Hyperactivity" For some folks when physical activity stops, the activity in the brain keeps going.  Yes, it's as simple as that!  Doctors throw pills at it to squelch it. 

 

Stop it!!!! You are breaking the spirit of children!!!

 

Did you know it is VERY difficult to estimate and retain the correct dosage.

The side effects of this poison hurt too!  Cramps.....depression...indifference!

 

I believe that this condition is real, but is WAY over diagnosed and medicated.

 

If I didn't get enough activity as a kid I had this very problem! Fortunately, growing up I had CHILDHOOD FREEDOM.  Running up and down the road screaming like a fool, peddling my bike until my legs hurt, and getting disciplinary corrections from multiple people from a myriad of walks of life rounded me out as a silly kid!

 

My heart is breaking because I hold my childhood experience, and it's FREEDOM close to me, and todays kids don't get to have this unless they live in the woods...even that is dangerous now!!

 

We had a chance to grow a little before the world hit us square in the face.

 

Do I think today's kids are weak?  NO...Absolutely not!  Today's children face more as 7 year olds than we did as 11 year olds. 

 

Our middle schools are full of lascivious behavior in the dark corners and bathrooms where eyes aren't looking. Yes, it is horrible, yet it happens.  We don't like to think about it; but, the more popular your youngin' is the more likely he / she is going to be subject to this.

 

The times are what they are....what we can do is let our kids know we trust, love, AND we care.  We have to establish an understanding of violence and sex WAY earlier than we did with our rents!  Its a shame, but it looks like we have to have that talk around 7 or 8 years old now.....I know...it's shocking, but we better tell em' before someone else does.

 

We need to control what our children see and hear.  Not level four lock down, but at least try!  Television is the worst culprit of society decay!  Stop being greedy! Get a DVR and watch it later!!!! Adults can handle the language, violence, and smut on the TV. Children can't process it properly.  They sometimes end up trying to live it out. They emulate the personalities they see, this include profanity, ect. The key is talking with your kids constantly about what they see on TV; explain to them that it is not the way they should behave if they accidentally see it.   Hellooooooooo!!!!!!!! Remember when you were a kid?  How did you learn how the world worked and life?  By watching others right?  If  11 year old mike sees a man grasping and other "soft" sex scenarios repeatedly over time guess what he might try to do with little Emily up the street!!!! 

 

 

Don't even think you can keep them from trying this out by saying...."now Mickey....that's what adults do...not kids"......EEHHHH YEAH!

 

 

Nice try. Ask any middle school teacher if they have ever caught kids in sexual acts.

 

TALK to your children about the stuff they see on TV.  A five second statement will not deter them from acting it out if they take the notion to do so.  They need to know it is not proper.  They also need to know and be reminded that you care and love them CONSTANLY.  Their eyes may roll in the teen years, but they do listen folks.

 

(The below article was extracted from Probe Ministries) "Violence in Society"

 

The Bible teaches that "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7). What we view and what we think about affects our actions.

 

Defenders of television programs say that isn't true. They contend that televised imagery doesn't make people violent nor does it make people callous to suffering. But if televised imagery doesn't affect human behavior, then the TV networks should refund billions of advertising dollars to TV sponsors.

 

 

 

I could write a novel

 

Thanks for reading

 

Christ's Servant

 

Thomas !