Jesus is the same no matter what - He is the only true salvation, trust Him today

The 2020 election, like the rest of the year, worried everyone. The world's problems aren't over, though. That isn't because someone might have sinned greatly, though some claim this is true.

Rather, it's because no human can solve the world's problems.Jesus can provide guidance and help; one of my most recent posts was this to help teen moms and pray for them. You can read numerous ones I've written on repentance and why it's needed, on unity and equality, etc..Only God can truly help everyone, though, and solve the world's problems, though - which He will someday at the 2nd coming.

I've written of His great salvation, especially in one I have on the front about receiving Jesus as Saviour, which includes what to do if millions disappear.This world has an endpoint, and only God knows when that is. It's not necessarily the climate clock, though the Bible does talk in Revelation about major disasters such as the sun scorching men with fervent heat. One of the Four Horsemen in REv. 6 is the "beasts of the field," which in Greek can refer to germs or insects that carry disease.

Jesus - our faithful friend who will be the same for us yesterday, today, and forever

These things show the world is always changing, even more than an election does. (Or this crazy year.) But, no matter who you voted for, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.Heb. 13:8.

Isn’t the stability of Jesus’ friendship great? His commitment, certainty, guidance, etc., no matter how much it rains in our lives. There’s a cool song to apply to that; I’ll get to it in a bit.

The first key to Bible interpretation is to interpret Scripture with Scripture. Look at the verses before it. Verse 5 should be very familiar, for instance: He will never leave us or forsake us. This is why we should be content with what we have. Verse 6 promises we can boldly say that the Lord is our helper. Another little nugget is that – by connecting this to verse 8 – we have another passage to show Jesus Christ is the Lord our God. This is what we teach because of the love Jesus has shown us. 

We can go many ways with this. Gordon Lightfoot’s “Rainy Day People” is good to use in illustrations, like Paul (Acts 17) says God created us all (Biblical truth), said their own poets say this, and went right back to the Gospel. The lyrics are about friendship, kindness, and how those who really care about you put you first and know when there’s a need. They don’t seek what they can get, they don’t care about the physical, they know time spent on others is important regardless of what they get. The song mentions love, but must mean phileos/BFF love since one verse talks about how they’ll share they’ve been down, too, and can help others rise above it because of that. (It should apply to spouses, too, though, since one’s spouse should be a best friend, too.)

That love is one of Jesus’ many great attributes. Of course, His love is agape, unconditional, before we even knew HIm, but let's stick with that phileos/brotherly love for a moment. God will be there for you no matter what. He provides stability in ever-changing times, no matter what problems the world throws at us.

 

Imagine if He was our friend but changed with the seasons - it would be awful. But, whether we're up or down, His love is there for us. His friendship, peace, etc., are all for us to take freely because of His death on the cross and resurrection.

 

Jesus' will in our lives and our country - to strengthen us, help us keep away from sin

 

 We should pray for God to triumph over that sin and evil in the world. But, His ways aren't always ours, so we must pray for His will first as we pray for Him to work in each person's heart. A true friend should also be there to comfort and strengthen those who go through hard times. Just like Jesus does for any believer who calls on Him for help. so, if His ways aren't what we expect or want, He will get us through it.

This is how we strengthen others by sharing God is there for them, quoting Scripture to help (the Word of God never returns void, Isaiah 55:11), or just listening and consoling. And, it’s also how we help those who don’t know Jesus to see a difference in us, to see Jesus through our actions and our words. So their hearts will be tender when we share the Gospel and we can lead them to Christ.

There is still uncertainty in the world. There will be after everything is settled. But, having Jesus as a friend makes it easy to have peace no matter what.

 Know Jesus personally

So you know Him? If not, knowing HIm is as easy as ABC: Admit, Believe, Confess. Here is a good site that goes further with more verses, but basically:

Admit you are a sinner. This just means you fall short of God's perfect glory and can't save yourself throughyour own works.

Believe Jesus Christ is God in flesh and died to save you from your sins and rose from the dead; He took the punishment for your sins by dyng in your place, and through His resurrection we can have eternal life by simply trusting HIm to save us.

Confess and forsake your sins and Call on Jesus to save you, Choosing to welcome Him into your hear to make you new inside.

You can pray a simple prayer like this right now. "Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. I believe you died on the cross to save me from my sins and rose from the dead. Lord Jesus, I confess I need you as my Saviour, and I call on you today to save me and make me new inside. In Jesus' name, Amen."

That's all there is to it. He will help you grow in Him. Visit here to talk to someone (unless the Rapture happened, in which case hopefully you still get the teachings at Godlife :-) ) if you have questiosn or want to share your decision for Jesus.

Jesus said true Christian would be known by our love.(John 13:35) We must take stands against sin, but we must still love the sinner and help them follow the Lord. Our care and compassion for others will help us to be the friend Jesus wants us to be. Because we are not supposed to be each other's enemy. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers, against principalities, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.(Eph. 6:12)

Intercede for others

Because we are fighting a spiritual battle, it's important to pray without ceasing and to know that God's ways aren't ours. We can pray for God to work in each situation, but it's important to pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal to us how to pray. Even if it's not something we'd expect - like the prophet Habakkuk prayed and God sent the Babylonians to judge His people, because God knew His people wouldn't turn toward Him otherwise.

But, we don't have to know exactly - we just need to pray for God's truth to win out, for sin to be vanquished, etc.. And, we need to do that with our whole heart, and lean not on our own understanding. Ina ll our ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct our paths.(Pro. 3:5-6)

And, we need to remember that Israel is the center of God's prophetic timietable, not america. He raises up kings and brings down kings - only God is forever. He has a plan, and who knows if that plan is to bring the Ezekiel 38 war ( in addition to the link, see J.D. Farag or Amir Tsarfati for a great summery on it and other End Times things) quickly so He can be glorified, or if the covenant with man that the antichrist will sign is close. (they are also good for info on that.)

We don't know what His plan is, but we know He holds our future in the palm of His hand. And the great thing is, any of us is a single, sincere prayer of repentance from eternal life - eternal life begins the moment you trust Jesus by faith by calling on Him to save you from your sins.

I pray if you haven't, you'll do so before it's too late. We're not promised tomorrow. So, share with others as well now.

Coronavirus / Covid19 and repentance revival

I struggled with how to do this post. It's not the end of the world, though it might feel like it - here's how to avoid going through the End Times and what to do if you are left behind. (See first link for more detail on the End Times.) And, many signs show we are getting close.
God is personal and gives perfect peace and comfort to those who call on Him, like teen moms from my previous post. We need to be careful and avoid the occultic stuff that gives false peace, as shown here. I thought about the National Day of Prayer which led me to start this blog years ago, calling for repentance and how we all mess up and need it. But while I have a number of blogs like this which speak of how to pray for our nation and why repentance is needed, not just for what we've done but what we've failed to do (it's sad this on honesty, compassion, etc. has so few views) and a few actions to take as part of revival.

I have a free blogged book here on taking the spiritual lead in your home (and, when we can, your neighborhood and community) which anyone can benefit from, and I encourage all to pass it on. As to the pandemic, though, I wanted to wait to see how bad this was going to get; we now don't have much face to face contact, which I lamented in one post about using phones so much from another blogs, but we can still learn to care deeply about others and love unconditionally like I talked about, not shallow like some..

In some ways, the response is the same no matter how I begin. One might ask as I did in another post or two if America is going to be judged for its sin. Whether it is or not, the answer for each of us as individuals is that we need God in our lives. We need him desperately, and that's how we are in a place with less to do where we can pray more fervently. I share at the end of this a part-by-part piece on one verse about how to do that, but put simply, pour your heart out to God in repentance for this country and seek Him to save lives and, more importantly, souls - not just for our own desires but for His glory.

   God loves us and wants to give us perfect peace. He made this world perfect but we brought sin into it, and death by sin. All Creation groans under the weight of that sin. (Yes, viruses were created to be harmless.) Thankfully, there is a perfect Heaven, and God will remake this world someday. But, He doesn't force us to choose Him. He lovingly guides and calls us to choose to be saved from our sin. So, we must pray He will use this to draw many to know Him personally. Eternal life with God begins the moment you trust Him to save you from your sins, when He comes to live in you through the Holy Spirit.

1. Know Jesus personally now

I will start with the simple ABCs of salvation and explain why we must pray and how. Because we must keep an eternal perspective.

Because, accepting His free gift of salvation is as easy as ABC.

1. Admit you are a sinner in need of a Saviour, that you can't save yourself becasue your sin separates you from God so you can't get to His perfect heaven on your own;
2. Believe Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died for your sins and rose from the dead to take the punishment for your sins; and,
3. Call on Jesus to save you, Choosing to Confess and to turn away from your sins and trust Him completely to forgive you and make you new inside, to change your "want to."

You can do that right here reading this blog, as can anyone you share this with. Just pray something like this in your own words. "Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. I don't deserve your perfect Heaven. But, you died to take the punishment I deserve for my sins, and then you rose from the dead. I believe you did this for me, that you conquered death and are alive always. Lord Jesus, today I repent of my sins, I turn away from them and invite you into my heart to make me new inside. Make me a new creture, Lord, and work in me through your HOly Spirit. I believe and trust you have saved me today, not by any work I have done or who I am, but all becasue of who you are. I trust and believe in you as my Saviour, and receive you into my heart and life to make me new. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Rejection of God's free gift of salvation means separation from Him forever in a horrible place. God never wants to send people there. It was created for the devil and his fallen angels. . People choose to go there when they reject His free gift of salvation the that In God's great love, He clearly spells out that He doesn't want anyone to go there and how they can avoid going there.

2. Share His love with others

I won't be long with this so we can get back to discussing the Coronavirus. But, h=just like a beggar would want to tell another beggar where to find bread (and we are all like that), we should share His love and salvation with others.

God loves us, so He wants us as His followers to share His love and salvation with others You can share it like above, use the Gospel here or use something like this longer online tract. For someone to talk to and teachings, you can go to www.Godlife.com/Gospel. You can easily memorize the 4 Spiritual Laws (or order the tracts) like shown here. (See here for other languages.) . But, for it to work, remember they must believe you, so don't be a Pharisee.

 Once we know Jesus personally of course, we should live for him not because we have to but because we want to, because of the peace he gives us.

3. Back to the Coronavirus/Covid-19, we can be assured of a few things.

A. Our most important act right now is to pray
      We have time on our hands, we must pray without ceasing, intercessory prayer. It is the most powerful connection possible. We must seek God's glory, not ours. There is a lot of stress right now, but no matter when it comes, and how, God can see you through.
     Pour out your heart to God, as 2 Chronicles 7:14 says - the church hasn't replaced Israel, and America certainly hasn't, but the church has been grafted into God's Kingdom. We are His people, and therefore, we can humble ourselves and pray, seek His face, and most importantly, turn from our wicked ways. Then, He will hear from Heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land. Another post about how God can heal the church and country is here.

B. While we wait, we can still, through the Internet, writing, etc. be Godly examples.
     Here are some great examples of answers to give when people ask about the Bible's reliability, etc., as well as how to show ourselves to be Godly people. Here are more ways, especially in sharing God's love with Muslims like the link shows, or this to show ways to show the Bible is true.
      Also, check this on God's Word (which also helps those of other religions thanks to words like "begotten being explained).

     The important thing to remember is, too many people just think we're against stuff - we need to be known by what we're for, like helping others and unconditional love, like above, the deep kind, not the shallow fleshly kind like when we say we love pizza. There are things to focus on like here which will help give you peace and joy, for instance. like in Philippians 4:8, linked below..

3. Coronavirus / Covid-19 isn't one of the deadly plagues of Revelation, but it shows a small dose of how it might be.
     There will come a time when things are a lot worse, during the Tribulation. This is a time when the antichrist will  uniting all against God's perfect love, a time you must prepare for as I show here by avoiding deception. I also show how to avoid such tribulation(or spread around to help people if it's too late and the Rapture comes) in this post which is important enough I also linked it above. There you can see how to turn to Him, and how turning things over to God will free you.
     Is it possible that - during a time with lots of quarantine - the Rapture will come and few will notice? Perhaps, but the Rapture could come at any moment. So, as that last post said, make sure you don't get left behind, and know what to do if you do. Don't worry about when it'll come, keep trusting Jesus no matter what.

4. Think on things of Phil. 4:8 to help calm fears over the pandemic, and to draw closer to God.
      This speaks of the list int he verse I mentioned.
     We need to focus on God's system, but instead emphasize the world system which is against HIm nd follows the devil. That's one reason so many are terrified, but also why so many will turn to the devil's ways is we're not careful and if we don't warn them of the coming judgment. Becasue, this is a global crisis, and we must trust God's ways to solve it, by believing in Him and what He said would happen.

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Finally, here is something long on 2 Chronicles 7:14. I share about praying for America above, but this also shows, going piece by piece of this verse, what is needed. And, how to see how many great things are in the Bible.

2 Chronicles 7:14. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

My people/called by My name: Notice 2 things.

1. We are His people. We are not the chosen people – the Jews – of Genesis 12, but we have been grafted in; we are called by His name. Romans 8:15 says we have the spirit of adoption in us. We were once in bondage to fear. He has freed us like a tender, loving father who will never provoke to wrath, never discourage his children with putdowns, but will speak the truth in love and spea life to them. We are adopted into His family.

2. We can’t lose our salvation. How do we get that from this verse? The people are sinning terribly; so much so God has smitten their land. It can be a disease like the virus going around today, it can be a famine, it can be a spirit of destruction hat brings people against each other, but in the midst of all this, they are still His people, called by His name. They never lost that, even in the midst of horrible sin.

Humble themselves and pray:

To be humble is to realize we can’t do it ourselves. It’s admitting our faults and failures. It’s accepting we’re not perfect, but God is, and He has the right to rule in our lives. He says we shall have no other gods before Him – we put many things in our hearts that we idolize.

To pray to Him is to acknowledge He is Lord. Yes, we sometimes pray when other things are on our minds, but this is not the fleeting thought we quickly apologize for, like being too quick to criticize or not bothering to listen because we have things on our mind. People put many things ahead of God, and they need to be humble like the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 and return to God. This is made clear by the next part of this verse.

Seek My face:

We need to seek God’s face because we are not following Him.

“Wait,” you say, “I am.” Okay, but all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I’m just as guilty of not praying enough as anyone, I get distracted by things of this world. And just admitting that to God and turning from it is one way to seek His face.

And, if we are right with God, if we do walk with Him, then we should be interceding for others, for this nation. Do we pray for our leaders, or only the ones we like? If we put certain people on our “naughty list” and refuse to pray God help them or work in their lives, it is not Godly. He wants children to pray for and help their parents because they are in charge. And, in the same way, He says to pray for our leaders, not to keep complaining. He says to seek His will for our lives, not our own desires. To seek His face, then, is to seek Him; not just to go through the motions but to actively let His Holy Spirit work in us.

Turn from their wicket ways:

Again, why pray for past sins of others? We are interceding like Jesus does for us. He mediates on our behalf. So, we can intercede for others.

My ancestors fought to free the slaves – they left West Virginia, then part of Virginia, and joined Ohio regiments. They were Germans and Germans hated slavery. Yet I beg God’s forgiveness for the horrible cruelty of slavery. I don’t just say, “My ancestors were on your side in that one, Lord.” I intercede for our country.

Daniel did the same thing in Daniel 9, praying for Israel, and the sins of his forefathers. He didn’t just say, “I wasn’t there. Not my problem.” I don’t know if his forefathers were persecuted or not, but being handicapped, I could just say, “Yeah, we had it rough” and not seek God’s forgiveness for others. I acknowledge the sins of my country and pray we will turn away from them, and turn away myself.

But, this also involves action on our part now. So many have neglected family, but now they have a chance to reconnect and love them unconditionally. So many rely on imperfect people instead of a perfect God, but now they are learning they must rely on God. So many are selfish and worked toward self-gratification instead of thinking of others first. So many turn to things instead of God to give them peace and comfort. And so on.

So, when we turn from our wicked ways, we must do so ourselves, and then pray others will, too. This doesn’t mean we have to become Amish, we can enjoy pleasures, we must just stop putting these things ahead of God and acknowledge God gives them to us to enjoy and see His creation in nature, in our skills, etc..

Imagine, for instance, if all the money spent on better and the lottery were spent on helping the poor and supporting missionaries instead. Now that’s something to seek God’s face to it happens. There’s a reason Billy Sunday preached so much against sin – he knew it could be used to help those who really need that help.

Then will I hear from Heaven

The Psalmist writes “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear my prayer.” (PS. 66:18) But, He will listen when we ask Him to point out any wicked way in us so we can forsake it. (Psalm 39:24, other verses.) He knows we’re not perfect, He just wants a willing heart, because He wants to hear from Heaven. That’s why He tells us even with a nation filled with sin how we can see our nation healed.

And I will forgive their sin

God is always ready to forgive. He came into the world not to condemn it, but so that the world through Him might be saved. Each of us is only a single, sincere prayer of repentance away from eternal life. Then, once we have the Holy Spirit living in us, we can know for sure He will lovingly guide us and forgive when we mess up. So, we should be interceding for others and sharing His love with them so they, too, can be saved.

And I will heal their land.

America needs healed not just from the Coronavirus, but from centuries of evil, so much pain that we have caused Him through the meistreatment of others, but also so much painwe have caused Him through our own selfish desires.

We need healed from the bitterness and rage that exists in our land. We need His healing from the terrible way in which we’ve turned the gifts He has given us around for our own gratification. We need healed from that desire to fight for worldly rewards instead of giving toward Heavenly rewards. We need healed of the terrible attitude we’ve had toward life, from the legalist mindset that insisted people be in church without trying to hel them in their daily lives. We need healed from so many sins.

I’m not saing Coronavirus is a direct judgment from God. It’s not like He would judge Israel as His chosen people. We are in the age of grace.

But, I am saying America needs a repentance revival. God has tried so hard to get our attention. Now, this is one more thing where He is begging us to return to Him and be healed. He has removed so much of our lives, so we can have the time to know our Creator, the one who has given us all of this. He has given us one more chance to realize we are filled with sin and to intercede for our country.

And then, when we realize and share with Him we know we are deserving of His judgment, and plead for our nation, for His mercy on us, then we have His promise to get us through this.

He can heal us from this plague. He wants us to have faith that He will. But, not just so we can have fun, as I shared before. He wants it for His glory.

It just takes some dedicated prayer warriors. Will you be one? As Morecai said to Esther, his cousin whom he raised, when she was afraid, because the wicked kind wanted to kill the Jewish people she she was needed to intercede, “Who knows whether you are come into the kingdom for such a time as this?” We need people to pray for repentance revival so God will heal this land. And then, He could restore the economy, maybe not in an instant, but He do great and mighty things.

We just need to have faith.

Teen moms, God wants to provide your needs, just ask Him

First, God loves you. I don't know what you know about Him - He wants us to use things like humility, equality, and common sense, for instance, and to help us avoid danger and so on. I've posted elsewhere on this blog about proofs of God, etc.; you can read those on your own. (Here for instance is a good one focusing on reaching Muslims with God's unconditional love.) I also wrote this free blog book you can print out on how to run a family God's way, too.

Your child is a blessing and so are you. Each person is always special to someone - especially God. Psalm 139:14 and beyond proves it. You are "fearfully and wonderfully made." You got pregnant because God wanted to bless you. You haven't ruined your life. You just have added responsibility now, but God can and will use you.

I'm sure some will read that and say, "All I want right now is for him/her to be healthy." That's great - but God's promise is for now and the future. Because you can and should pray for your child even when they are wee little so you can model it and teach them of Jesus' love. As I share here, you can share anything on your heart, just trust God to change your heart to be more like Him, too; that's part of intercessory prayer. And, why it's so powerful.

​​​​​Others may wonder how to ask. Maybe things have been really hard for you. Maybe people let you down. Remember, though, God is real and He's there for you. But, like a child who needs something, we have to communicate to God or otherwise it's like we're trying all on our own. And, we can't do that well without Him, since He has perfect love, wisdom, goodness, etc..

I'll be typing a longer prayer at the end of this. Your prayers, especially to start, don't have to be that fancy. Just saying like above, "Lord, cause my baby to be healthy," is good enough to start.

But, like a child, you need to grow in that relationship. And, you can. He wants to give you life and life more abundantly.

How to have a relationship with God

I'm not perfect. Nobody is. Most people aren't really horrible like some we see in the news. But, I've used the example on here before of a person who gets mad at someone speeding and cutting them off in traffic - yet that person might be rushing to the hospital to see a sick loved one, or rushing their own child there, or something else vital. You'd say that person who got mad and cursed at them was wrong, correct? We should not be a Pharisee when dealing with others.

We need to be known for the love, justice, mercy, etc. we stand for - not just what we're against.

I always tried to be kind, polite, help others, etc.. But, my thought life was a mess, and Matthew 5:48 - "Be ye perfect even as My Father in Heaven is perfect" - and other verses convicted me that I needed to trust Jesus to save me personally. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.(Rom. 3:23)

Of course, we don't like it when someone bullies us or doesn't listen when we try to explain things or whatever, right? But, we don't always act like we should, either - we've all told lies or cheated someone or been selfish, for instance. There is none righteous, no not one. (Rom. 3:10)

Because I was not perfect. I didn't deserve God's perfect Heaven because no sin can be there. Same with anyone else.

God made a way for us to be there, though. He'll forgive any sin by making that person new inside, by coming to live in them.

I'm writing near the time of Jesus' birth, which started the process. God "became flesh, and dwelt among us."(John 1:14) He lived a perfect life, yet God made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us.(2 Cor. 5:21) The wages - what we earn - for sin is death - separation from God forever in a place called Hell. But, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.(Rom. 6:23)

And, the great thing is, it was "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."(Rom. 5:8)

He then rose from the dead on the third day, . The disciples saw Him  and would go on to die horrible deaths and suffer great persecution for Him; even Thomas, who doubted so much, believed when He saw Jesus alive again.

But, it's not just knowing those facts that matters - you have put your trust in Jesus to save you from your sin.

So, we can't get to heaven on our own. Salvation is by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves as the gift of God. Not of Works lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9.

Receiving that gift is as easy as ABC.

Admit you're a sinner. That just means that you're not perfect, that you've lied or disobeyed rules or been mean to someone or just wanted your own way selfishly sometimes. We've all been like that because of our sin nature.

Believe that Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died to take punishment for your sins and rose from the dead. He did all that was necessary to get you to heaven.

Call on Jesus to save you from your sins and to make you new inside so he can transform you into being more Christ life, more loving and compassionate and everything else like God wants us to be.

You can pray a simple prayer like this. "Dear Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. I know I can't reach your perfect heaven myself because of my sin. But I know you made a way for me to get to heaven. I believe you died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead. Today Lord Jesus I trust you to save me from my sins. I call on you with all my heart to forgive me and come live in me and make me new inside so I can get to heaven and so I can have life forever with you here on Earth too. In Jesus name, thank you for hearing my prayer saving my soul and coming into my heart, amen."

You can go to https://godlife.com/en/gospel/read and learn more about God's love and even talk to someone who will help as an online missionary. Tell them of the decision you made if you made one. They have wonderful lessons that will help you grow in the Lord also.

Okay, so now what?

 God is personal, and wants to fix your stress and help you through rough times. You can read my previous blogs​ at prayercallamerica.blogspot.com​ on various topics. (Also see one with a few different ones at questfortruthradio.blogspot.com) I talk about things like forgiveness and love and peace and how we need to come together as a country and pray and everything else.

Share that Godlife.com site and the gospel with others so they can hear the gospel and trust Jesus to save them also. Pray for them first because there is a great spiritual battle going on.

But, also, God living in a believer is the key to that person having life more abundantly here on Earth. So many who rely on cell phones at such a young age need to hear and I love trying to use anything I can, however God calls me, to share His love. After all, He came that we might have life and life more abundantly. John 10:10. That doesn't just mean in Heaven. It means right here, living with a peace and freedom from anxiety and fear and so much else that grips today's young people.

 So, living for God is all about letting Him use you to impact your world - starting with being a Godly parent and having right priorities in life. (Because prayers don't work if we don't have repentance, as I explain here.

Once you are doing that, you can use the most powerful thing possible - prayer. You can also know that you have God in you to guide you and give you hope, peace, etc.. 

Your soul is free to focus on good things like Philippians 4:8 teaches, because - like other things where God warns us - He wants us to have that abundant life that comes from a life lived for Him. You can meditate on all those things - remember, meditate on something, don't clear your mind and let the devil come in.

Doing the above and building the fruit of the Spirit of Galatians 5:22-23 will help you to be a more caring parent, too - you won't yell at your kids all the time like some do, you'll discipline and enforce limits with love and meekness.

It will also help you to remember good times, it is vital that you catch your child being good and praise them a lot also so they will know it is possible to be good.

Those good thoughts will also help you to avoid the pitfalls of relationships that can hurt your child - if you're not married, you need to keep away from boys (if you're a female, which 99.99% of teen parents are) till you have found one who is so on fire for God that he truly loves you as Christ would; don't settle for anything less. Be so lost in God that a boy needs to seek God with all his heart to find you.

Because there is safety in following God. And, you want safety for your baby, right?

See, that's all God is saying when He tells us to be pure - He is sharing with us how to be safe. For your child. And, for you. You can easily commit to remaining pure from now till your wedding day.

You may have added responsibility and priorities have changed for you, but life isn't over.

Find a church where unconditional love is practiced, where older mothers will help you, where you can be sure that your baby is safe and cared for, where that child will not be considered a mistake but a blessing. But, make sure it's a doctrinally sound church as shown here which preaches the Gospel and where peope are truly getting saved.

Timing might be off on something, but that doesn't mean God is finished using you. He is just going to use you differently now - as a parent, as a praying mother, as someone who can impact your community, your city, your nation, for good.

So many are seeking true love - and God's love is truly unconditional when we come to Him, and He won't just let us languish but will work in us to make us better. If you know him personally as Savior, then Phil. 1:6 promises "He who hath begun a good work in you will  be faithful to perform it."

Let's pray. "Lord Jesus, thank you for this teen mother who is reading this. Lord, give them love and hope and peace as they raise their child. May they be Godly influences on their child,and ive them the wisdom and patience as they rear this child so they can help that child make good choices in life - help them keep their child safe from any predators, safe from any men who would do them or their child harm emotional or spiritually as well as in other ways. For you want them to protect their child from those who would turn them away from you.

"At the same time, Lord, guide them toward a loving church - even if it's just a home church - which preaches the Gospel but which also shows God's love to them and helps them to grow as mothers - and fathers if a boy is willing to be the dad and is safe for that child.

"Lord Jesus, may their son or daughter grow to honor their parent(s) and especially to honor you. May this teen mom grow to love you and if she is not saved may she call on you now and trust you as Saviour. May her child grow to love you and trust you as Saviour at an early age.

"Lord, we are all sinners, we still have that flesh nature even after we trust you, so when she messes up, as we all do, may she turn to you for forgiveness and know that once she has forsaken that sin it is forgotten forever. May she teach her child that, too, so they keep in right relationship with you and you can guide them most effectively. May they have a family altar they can go to and pray whenever they need.

"Lord Jesus, may you protect and guide them in the difficult things of life. May their lives be filled with worshiping and honoring and showing the unconditional love that you have for each of us if we'll only come to you by faith.

"Lord, help these parents, when times get rough, to realize that their lives are different now with a child, but while they may miss some parties they don't have to miss everything, they just have to find sitters and make decisions that are more of an adult nature, like someone almost twice their age might, but help them to be surrounding by friends who care and understand and support them.

"Lord, may this mother reading this and any teen mom surround themselves with people who will bring them closer to you, and help them to be redy physically, mentally, and spiritually for raising their child. Lord, when they struggle with patience, guide them to walk away rather than mistreat their child, give them people they can call to come help them and take the load off them. Lord, I remember my uncle's new bride was in her mid-20s when she first had a baby - actually twins - and she needed grandparents on both sides of the kids helping, so of course it's okay for this mother to seek help. Don't let the Pharisses and backstabbers inflict their wounds of the devil on them, but instead help them to be surrounded with those who will help them be Godly mothers.

"Lord, help this baby of theirs to also have good friends and great help and support in growing up.

"Lord, help this mother to avoid going afte rthe first boy she sees, but instead direct her to the right one, a boy or young man sold out to Jesus who will show Christ's love, and until that time help her by surrounding her child with male roles models - then and after she might find a guy if she does.

"Help her teach her child to pray and to follow you and may this teen mother lead family devotionals effectively.

"Help her also to to find good books that are wholesome for her child to read, do not let her use the TV or DVDS as a babysitter but help her to be involved in the education of her child, to read and talk to her child consistently and even sing if she can. May she expose that child to so much joy that the love of Jesus just abounds in her and her baby grows up to say, 'My mom is a praying mom, she knows God personally.'

"Lord when this child misbehaves, may the mother be a Godly mom and discipline in love, showing grace and mercy and comforting as well, encouraging that child and showing them they are still loved.

"Lord, help this mother to make wise, Godly decision about education, too, and sitters, and everything, so that she can have the Godly wisdom you promise to anyone who asks, as James 1:5 says in Your word.

"Lord Jesus, there are surely more things that can be prayed, help her to pour her heart out to you for everything, praying for and with her baby. Help her to be a Godly woman who can overcome all the problems she faces. May her own education be a good one, and may she one day find employment somewhere and be able to help her child in a lawful way without turning to evil things, without having to commit sin. Lord, help her to steer clear of all those with drugs and other things which can cause such harm.

"Lord, help this teen mom to keep all doctor appointments and to have all the help she needs to overcome anything. Not in her own strength, though she will feel like it is all her sometimes, Lord, but in your strength. For your Word says that with You, all things are possible. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Jesus is near, even if eclipse not a warning, so share the Good News

I've blogged before about whether America would soon be judged. Some feel it already is being judged, of course. The major eclipse on the 21st may not be a sign of doom - but many other things show that we need to return to God, anyway. We must do more, so people know what we're for, not just against, and see God's love in us.

In fact, if you can't do any more, this post should be spread everywhere, in every social media, even if that's all you can do, but there are so many ways to rescue people from evil that we see all around us.

Jesus warns of signs in the Heavens making people very fearful - He doesn't say the signs will *cause* anything, but that the terror will be part of the End Times. We may not have 40 days from the eclipse till judgment as some believe, but we could have only 40 minutes, we don't know when the Lord will return.

How do we prepare?

1. Get Your Heart Right

We must repent, as I've said in various posts, not just what we've done, but what we've failed to do.

Young people can do so much good.You can let the Lord use you even to be the leader of your family, as I wrote in this free blog book and encourage everyone to share.

You are only a single sincere prayer of repentance away from a personal relationship with God who will be that constant guide, comforter, Helper, and friend we all need now, the start of eternal life. 

It is single. Only one time you need to call on Him to save you from your sins, and to make you new inside, then you will be reconciled to him.

It must be sincere. You must truly want Him to save you from the penalty of your sins, which is separation from him forever any horrible place where there is no love or compassion, it is all evil and pain.

And, it must involve repentance. It's as easy as admit, believe, and choose.

Admit you are a sinner, and don't deserve his perfect heaven. Believe Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died to take the punishment for your sins and rose from the dead. And, call on him to save you, choosing to let him forgive you and make you new inside.

You can pray something like this. "Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. I'm not perfect and I don't deserve your perfect Heaven where there is no pain, no suffering. But, I know you died to take the punishment for my sins and rose from the dead. I believe you Lord Jesus are God in flesh and you made a way for me to have that eternal life and peace that passes understanding, with a relationship with you starting now so you can use me to make a difference here. Lord Jesus, I call on you with all my heart to save me and make me new inside. Forgive me Lord, and come work in me so I can be more loving and everything Christ-like. In Jesus name, amen."

You know we can't do it ourselves. This world has too much evil in it. But, we can trust God. You can call and God will answer and move in your situation and community once you know Him. Maybe not exactly the way you want it but according to his perfect plan. And, he is not willing that any should perish but all come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9.

Young people often have hearts more ready to hear of God's love and forgiveness. 

God is personal and wants to help you understand Him. People may have told you different but they have an agenda to control you. They want to make you think like them and feel you're just an animal. However, God gives you freedom to choose Him. We don't do it because we have to. We follow Him and His love and commandments because we want to, out of devotion for what he did for us.

That means letting God the Holy Spirit move in our lives once we have trusted him as Savior. You can go here to learn more but this aloen will help, too.

2. Let the Holy Spirit Move You

Of course, we can't command the Spirit, and we must pray the devil not counterfeit things, as I posted here with a prayer a while back. So, we can't ask God to move ehings for selfish reasons - which connects back to having your heart right above. However, when we step out in faith with our hearts right, the Spirit will lead.  We must beware of the Great Deception, as I posted about a few places.

However, we can trust God the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and in others when we pray and are filled with his guidance and put on the whole armor of God and bear more and more fruit of the Holy Spirit and be filled (controlled by) His Spirit..

God wants to move, but we have quenched the Spirit by ignoring God.  And, we are told we must avoid quenching the Spirit. This quenching is what has caused fires of revival to die, just like throwing water on a fire to quench it.

So, you could say that we have so many problems in this world, with racism growing worse when we are all one (I've posted numerous times, such as this, on how to unite and let God end such evil), with mean people still hurting others, with so many turning away from what is right, because we have quenched the Holy Spirit. We, being the church.

We have refused to be Christ-like. We spend too much time criticizing and complaining and not showing the love that Jesus showed. Yes, we must tell the truth about sin but we must tell it in love, showing that there is a Saviour who can make them new and change them so there "want to," changes, so they desire much better things than they have been chasing after, eternal things, so they want to follow what is right.

We must edify one another  and ensure that we, too, want those better, eternal things so people can't see a difference in us. So we can focus on our home in heaven and not wealth or power or control or this country or anything that will pass away.

The fruit of the spirit, in Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 and 23, show what we should have.

3. Trust the Lord to grow His fruit in you

Love is unconditional love that can only come from the Lord. Family love is very strong but even that is breaking down nowadays. God's unconditional love will give you all that you ever need and fill all the holes in your heart left by people who have disappointed you.

You can find joy and perfect peace in the good things in life, not tear others down. This is why the Bible says to edify one another, we should be building them up so they can know they don't have to turn to the raunchy and mean lifestyle and don't have to follow or heed such awful things.

There cannot be true goodness if we are just animals. And yet, there is good in this world.

There is so much good out there, so many people doing things with altruistic motives that it must be that God created us. He created everything, this world had no sin in it when it was formed.

By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so that death passed on to all men for that all have sinned. Romans 5:12

God gives us freedom to choose to follow him, as noted before, so that we don't have to do good, we get to do good.

That includes being gentle with others, being slow to anger, not showing the wrath of man because it will never produce the righteousness of God. James 1:20. That is also where meekness comes from. Meekness is power under control, using self control which is temperance, another gift of the Holy Spirit.

That self-control is important because we are also to be long-suffering, that is to be patient. We must not keep jumping at each other's throats, but talk cordially. That friendliness is something that is lost so much nowadays because we have turned away from the Lord and quenched the Spirit.

We must have faith that God can provide. We must turn to Him in faith, because Hebrews 11:6 says He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. He will bring that Revival when His people turn to him and call on Him for help, knowing that we can't do it ourselves.

There are other things, such as Ephesians 4:32. Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. That is something which comes from the fruit of the Spirit as well, as does thankfulness, grace, mercy, all those other things which God wants to give us freely and where we should not be quenching the Holy Spirit. Only if we stop quenching it can God give us freely.

That means turning away from the idols of this world, things we put ahead of God, and following Him. If we give those things we treasure over to God, He will use that for His glory and could give them back so that we can use them for His glory.

4. Pray without ceasing

We need to not only repent and turn toward the Lord of again but we must pray consistently. I don't know if we have only 40 days, that is what some say but we could have only 40 minutes. We don't know when the Lord will return. We must pray and witness in love and give out Gospel tracts now.

Let us pray now, with a sample prayer like I have done at other times you can read and pray over so that we can turn to the Lord at this time and call on Him to save this land. Remember, of course, that the first prayer He hears is the prayer of Salvation so you must know Him personally and be right with God before turning to Him on behalf of your family, community, and country.

"Dear Lord Jesus, we realize we have quenched the Holy Spirit. We have failed to show the love and kindness and everything else you want us to show, and turned to meanness and tearing others down rather than building them up. We have followed our own ways and not yours.

"Lord, today we turn from our sins, I first repent of all I have done and said and thought wrong and I invite you to change my heart oh Lord and make me new inside.

"Lord Jesus, please come to this community of mine, my home, my family and  friends, my nation,  and revive us, we no longer want to quench the spirit, Lord we want you to flow down with your unending love and change our hearts. Lord, we need you desperately. We know that there is so much wickedness and evil and it will continue to the end, but we also know that you are full of mercy and grace and can still save. Lord, we know that your Holy Spirit still works in this world, the restrainer is still keeping back the full extent of the evil until it is time.

"So, Lord, we pray that you will work wonders first in my heart and then other's hearts, unite us as one people to accept other races especially and not to put one above another. We do not ask for physical healings and all those other things that draw attention to people. We ask for emotional and spiritual healing and change away from idols and toward you; we pray for a revival like none other. Lord, we invite you, we beg you, come to our churches, even if it is just the youth departments because they are not set in their ways yet, with all of the wickedness we have put in this world, but please come to all of us.

"Lord, we especially ask you to bring revival among the young people. May they all turn from the evil and sensualness of this world. May they share their faith and share their testimonies with Incredible boldness. May their kindness and goodness toward others be so much greater than that of the world, so that people can see there is a difference. Oh, may that Christ-like attitude be evident among your people everywhere, young and old. May an attitude of goodness and grace while standing for what is right be apparent in all of us.

"Lord Jesus, change our hearts, move in a mighty way so that true tears of repentance are flowing, so that people will truly want you at the head of their lives and make you that head, change the wicked ways of this nation and turn us toward you. May all of the young people, teenagers and younger, get saved, covered by your blood before your return, for there being led astray by such evil and they're so impressionable now, and may they share their faith and proclaim the gospel and may many souls be saved in whatever time remains. In Jesus name, amen."