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."

Thankful for God's great love and salvation

​​​​​As we celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you can thankfully say you have life forever in Heaven someday, including a relationship with God right now. Or if not that you will be able to after this.

I have a special little one there. After I share about the situation I will share how to know God personally so you can share with others as well.

I prayed often for a child, and God has given me peace that despite my had some child somewhere child been born, I would have had the chance. Tomychildinheaven.blogspot.com is written to her but for others also, to encourage them.

I'm thankful for so much on Earth of course. However, all the things that I have are nothing compared to the wonderful things available in Heaven. And, good relationships are ones you want to keep in heaven oh, so they can truly last forever, right?

And thankfully, God has a way of making bad things good when people trust him. 2nd Corinthians 5:17 says if anyone is in Christ he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. So, anyone who does bad things will be changed by God working in their hearts. Even if God has to drag them Kicking and screaming sometimes. :-)

Most people aren't really horrible like some we see in the news. However, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.

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. Here however it is different.

I am thankful for God's salvation and that I have a relationship with him that begin the moment I called on him to save me.

I always tried to be really well behaved and usually was. Even when I was little. However, I was not perfect. I didn't deserve God's perfect heaven because no sin can be there.

So, God made a way for me to get to heaven. It takes heart knowledge, not just head knowledge. It takes complete trust in Jesus Christ to save you from your sins. That means trusting that he died to take the punishment for your sins and rose from the dead. And, believing that what he did was all that was needed.

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.

And especially share that 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. We know God will be the winner in the end though.

With God living in a believer, that is the key to 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, go forth and spread the word that Jesus saves from all that when you trust Him and call on Him by faith to save you from your sin - agreeing with God that your sin deserves a price to be paid and that Jesus paid the price for you.

Because, 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. Phil. 1:6 says He who hath begun a good work in you will  be faithful to perform it.

How to be on the right side of changing culture, end times

I haven't posted lately since not only has the news lately been very sad and depressing, but I have been very busy otherwise.

Still, I wanted to encourage young people that they have a voice. Not everyone can have a radio show like young star Kacey Fifield has or even start a blog. Everyone can do something however. Even if it is helping just one person. Indeed, you can be a spiritual leader, as I show in this free blog book.

We lack the strength to impact the world on our own, and even together, we imperfect people can't create a perfect world, only God can do that - and He will. Even adults lack the total foreknowledge needed. None of us knows every fact about a situation, since that would include peoples' hearts. We only know this nation has a major problem with evil hearts - but God can use us through intercessory prayer to change that, as I noted earlier.

I debated about how to start and what to include. You can check out other posts here about avoiding the coming Great Deception which will bring false peace or about how we're all equal or the keys to stopping violence. There is plenty on how to have peace,the need to unite in truth and how, the need to value life, how souls need saved for things to change, etc., I won't link to all of them. gthere is plenty on repentence, forgiveness, etc. you can find yourself, even one on what to do if many disappear.

I will simply say this.

Some are trying to use their voice to push for things that there are major arguments about. I don't want to get on either side right now, because my main concern is the hearts of people. I want our young people to feel safe. People can't make bad guys stop being bad, no matter how hard they try. However, God can and will put a stop to all this evil and violence.

He is personal, loves unconditionally, and will fix your stress when yo trust Him. As noted in a few posts, if a person claims they follow Him and don't act like it, they don't follow Him. It's just like if I say I'm the king of Belgium and whatever I do it has no impact on the real King of Belgium.

God is trying to draw people to His side right now before it is too late, so they can be saved from their sin. Because there is so much sin going on in this world.

Will you be on the right side? The winning side? You may say you think so because you support this position or that, but think of the following....

1.None of us is perfect. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.(Rom 3:23) We are on the right side in some issues at times and not at others. For instance, if you drive and someone cuts you off, your first reaction might not always be forgiving. They might have to speed to the hospital to see a dying loved one, but we don't always think of those possibilities. We think only of how it impacted us.

That attitude of selfishness is normal, but it's also sin, just like lying, cheating, impurity, etc.. But, that okay, because...

2. God must punish sin, but took that punishment on Himself. God is holy and just, so He must punish sin. It wouldn't be fair if God just kept letting sin go on, would it? He gives grace and mercy by not destroying sinners right away, but He does make sure that sin has a price.

Yet, He wants us to live forever in His perfect Heaven where we will be free from sin. How was He going to do that?

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."(Rom. 6:23)

God gave us a free gift. It is hot earned or deserved. We can't work our way to Heaven. Because we would still have that sin in oyur hearts.

God God God came to this world in the person of Jesus Christ, who was fully God and fully man. He was perfect - He never sinned.Yet He became sin for us.(2 Cor. 521) He bore our sins in His body. (1 Pet. 2:24) On Him was laid the iniquity of us all.(Isa. 53:6)

Yes, my sin, your sin, everyone's sin, was laid on Jesus.

But wait, you ask, that doesn't seem fair because some people still keep sinning. That's true, becuase it is not mere head knowledge. Knowing this fact isn't enough. Many who claim to be Christian aren't becaue they think it's about words and supporting certain things, but it's not.

It's about turning from your sins and letting Jesus make you new inside. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, old things have passed away, behold all things are become new"(2 Cor. 5:17) So, is is trusting Jesus to make you new. "Whomsoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."(Rom. 10:13)

3. To be saved from your sin, call on Jesus by faith to save you.

Just sitting in a chruch won't save - neither does believing one particular view or one particular part of culture. Not believing something won't keep you from being saved, except for not trusting Jesus to save you.

God wants us to be known by our love for others. He does this because of His love for us. Since we are loved by Him, we ought also to love one another.

Being saved from your sin is as easy as ABC - Admit, Believe, and Call/Choose. \\Think of it this way. It is like you are drowning. There is a life preserver thrown your way. You must make a choice to take it and put it around you cto be dragged to safety. You can't just choose some other way.

Trusting Jesus by faith will let Him come live in you through the Hily Spirit. He will be a constant guide, comforter, helper, friend, and so much more. He promises the peace that passes understanding.

Think about that. You can have peace in the midst of all the turmoil.God will give you His peace, and He will help you cope. Yes, you can still impact the world, but you will be doing it for Him, not for yourself or even others. You will be doing it to show Godly love.

He can come again before you know it. You jsut need to pray something luike this, believing with your whole heart as you pray.

"Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. I know you died for my sins and rose fromt he dead, though. You took my punishment because I can't get to Heaven on my own. Lord, today I trust you to save me. I call on you by faith to to come into my heart and life and make me new inside. Lord, thank you that you took the whole punishment for my sin, and I pray you will work in my heart to make me new inside, and new every morning. Thank you that your mercies endure forever. In Jesus' name, amen."

If you truly meant that in your heart, then Jesus has saved you. You could go here and learn and grow in the Lord and even talk to a Christian who will help you grow in Him.

God Will See You Through

No matter what happens, though, you can have peace about the present day's problems.

Yes, there are problems with many things, but our evil hearts need to be reached by God for there to be major change.

New laws are opposed by some and supported by others. Some programs may work for some and notj others. But, God is universal. His ways are heigher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts.

What this means is that we won't always know the right solution for a problem, but God will. People can use the Bible in so many different ways for their own ends - I'm surprised we never hear gun opponents using the Bible with "Some trust in chariots (weapons), some trust in horses, we trust in the Lord our God."(Psalm 20:7) God gives us the right to defend ourselves but we also can't trust fully in our own strength (or our own weapons) either.

What this world needs is for all sides to realize that a Holy Ghost Heaven sent revival must take place for people to truly change. That means souls getting saved.

Then? If souls are saved, there will still be battles, but you will be on the winning side.

So, see how to avoid being fooled and make your stand in a loving way for what is right so others can see that Christlike love in you and want it, too.

Keep the Spirit - from the best gift ever- going to prosper

It has become almost a cliche to say that we must remember the reason for the season. As this world focuses so much on getting, it makes sense that we would say giving is more important, to the point where we ignore calls to remember what God gave to us. They are drowned out.

So, instead I want to encourage people to pray - which makes sense because that is the title of this blog - for true change in our hearts.

After all, simply remembering the reason for the season during the season doesn't help us after the season. Nor does it help us do anything about it. Sure, I can ask people what they're most anxious to give or what they enjoyed giving the most. That helps a little. But, truly acting on the reason for the season means being  Christ-like long after the season.

Treating others with compassion

One big thing Christmas shows us is how to care about others. Whether it is volunteering to help the poor or just putting something in a Salvation Army kettle, if it is visiting an elderly neighbor or just sharing gifts with your family, there are many things we do at Christmas because there is a spirit of giving. However, these are things we should be doing all year round  if there is truly a spirit of giving in us.

As one example, standing against bullying is a sign of Christmas cheer. Putting an end to taunting and calling others names is something we can do to help. It also goes along with New Year's resolutions if one does these things. However, we can resolve to do better at any time. Christmas and New Year's just happen around the first of the year so it is a logical transition in people's minds.

This is what repentance is - turning from our own fleshly ways and turning our hearts to God's way. We as human beings often struggle with our fleshly nature.

Oh, some people are naturally more compassionate. Some people are naturally sweet and considerate and caring toward others, though even that has to be taught to some extent. They find it easy to follow those models of empathy and kindness, though.

Our culture likes to talk about a general spirit of Christmas causing this. However, we don't truly have the spirit of Christmas unless we have the Spirit living in us that we can because of Christmas.

That is because if we try on our own we might succeed sometimes but we will be doing it for ourselves or for others, rather than to honor the God who gave us that gift.

Think about it. It makes sense. Even if you think Christmas should be more about getting those presents, you need to be thankful for the present. Because, a person chose to give it to you out of kindness.

We don't earn presents; they wouldn't be presents if we did. They would be wages. A gift is something you don't learn - it is given out of the kindness of one's heart.

Just like the kindness of God's heart that gave us Christmas.

Receive the Best Gift Ever

The gift that keeps on giving. It can be used over and over. It changes your life for the better.

These and more describe what would be the perfect Christmas gift as a worldly thing, it would be something different for each person.

God provided us with one gift, however, which is even better. It is so special we need to not only receive it but tell everyone about it. Because it can be received any time, not just at Christmas. It matches all of those above sayings and then some, as it is the best gift ever.

We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. But, it was while we were still sinners at odds with God that H e chose to come to this world as a baby. Not as a rich King somewhere, not even as a prince in a palace, but as a humble baby in a lowly stable.

We all hear the stories, we love that part of it. But, do you have head knowledge or heart knowledge of Jesus?

A good question to ask others - and yourself - is this. If you were to stand before God and He were to ask "why should I let you into My perfect Heaven," what would you say?

We can only rely on what Jesus did to get us there. You need to have heart knowledge because head knowledge doesn't help. It is like knowing a chair will hold you and standing next to it, claiming all the time that you can sit in it and it will hold you up but never sitting in it.

That faith is as easy as ABC. Admit you are a sinner, that you aren't perfect so don't deserve to be in God's perfect Heaven. Believe that Jesus died on the cross to take the penalty for your sins and rose from the dead. And, Call on him to save you from your sins.

You can pray a simple prayer like this, or lead someone in it. The words are not what saves, what's saves is when you put your whole faith in Jesus to save you. Talk to God and tell Him something like this.

"Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. I know I can't reach your perfect heaven on my own. But I know you died to take the punishment for my sins. And, you rose from the dead. Lord Jesus, I pray trusting you to forgive me and make me new inside and save me from my sins. Lord Jesus, I trust you with all my heart and call on you to come live in me. In Jesus name, amen."

Once you have made that decision, of course, it is a matter of trusting the Lord to help you daily. He will be a constant guide, comforter, helper, friend, and so much more.

That's because it is a relationship with God that is the real gift of Christmas. He wants to guide and direct you through life.

Overcoming obstacles because Jesus knows all about them

We all face so much stress in our lives. We need God's love to get us through. Thankfully, that special gift of God coming to Earth is the key to that.

Remember, this means that Jesus knew what it was like to have homework, to go through the struggles of growing up, to have all sorts of different situations in His life. No, He didn't have video games or other modern things, but Jesus did have different things that could have distracted Him.

That is the key. He had those things in His life. And yet He never sinned. Jesus never had a sinful action, word, or thought. That is how He could be the substitution for our sin.

That also means that He can be our guide when it comes to life's problems. He is the wisdom that we need and with Him living in us through the Holy Spirit, we have access to that. And, if we do sin because of our fleshly nature, He is always there to forgive us.

I work with some inner-city youth. It is very hard for some of them to understand how He can help. One girl in particular has been bullied and realizes it is a spiritual battle to keep from retaliating, but it is hard for her to recognize God's power in her to rejoice and to let God be the strength she needs to get through things. Please pray for her, that she will learn to pray consistently and that she will start to grow in the Lord. She struggles also with pouting when she doesn't get her way, she is working on that but doesn't realize yet just how much power God can give her to overcome that.

There are also a couple boys who struggle with name calling because they don't realize it hurts her even so they talked about how it hurts. Please pray for them to stop bullying also and to behave better in general because they have many problems that have erupted over the last half year or so for some reason. It may be as simple as a spiritual battle but I don't know. Pray for that whole family, please.

 The whole ministry needs prayer in fact, so please pray as the Lord leads you about whatever situations may erupt.

These are the kind of things we need to talk to God about. When we don't, God knows the needs but we act as if we can handle them ourselves.

"Sure, Jesus could handle them when He was a kid," you might say. "But He is God." And, that's true. But when you know Him, He lives in you and you can turn to him for anything. From the biggest to the smallest.

That is what our country needs. For everyone to turn to God for help, because He is an ever-present help in time of need. That's why it's so important to know Him here, not just to be saved from sin but to be guided through this life filled with people who do not know Him.

Sharing his love so others can know

We share Christ's love so others can know Him and have Him living in them. We do it through our words but also our actions, by helping others and being Godly examples. Then, when people see how different we are they will realize there is something to what we say.

In other words, we aren't just saying it, we believe it and show it by living it.

That is showing the spirit of Christmas all year long. That is what this country needs. It is a relationship. It is not religion because religion is all about me and trying to reach up to God. However, none of those work. God had to reach down to our level and we just have to trust and call on Him.

Be part of the solution by dedicating yourself to the Lord. You can share something like this which can be freely printed out and used to lead others, or this where you can talk to volunteers about growing in your faith. you can get little pieces of paper known as tracks from Child evangelism Fellowship or the American tract Society or like the four spiritual laws to give people and use yourself. Posts in this blog cover numerous subjects such as the end of times and avoiding deception, God's justice being better than man's, overcoming obstacles, ending oppression, having victory over things, and much more.

 So, as one of them says, be the role model that many people need. So many need someone to look up to, and while Jesus is the one they should be, they need someone here on Earth to be that example so they can see how it is time.  you may be the only example of Jesus Christ they have ever seen. Don't shirk that responsibility. Many people need someone just like you. People need you to be christ-like and share the gospel.