The Two Roads In life To Choose From!

The road to life, is a narrow road states the Bible. But wide is the road that leads to destruction and death.

If you think about how many people that have roamed, lived and died in this world of ours, what are the the roads chosen by them.  There are only two choices, narrow or wide. 

One life is all we have here on Earth. We often go through each day thinking about what we need to do.  We stress about petty things all day long.  Bills, money, food, oil in the ocean, sickness and many others.  We don't spend a lot of time stressing about the two roads to choose about life or death.  I don't think I spend enough time thinking about either one.  A lot of times those roads seem unimportant to me.  Daily life keeps thinking about my own problems all the time.  When you really take the time to ponder the two roads, it can really get you back on you track.  The two roads allow you to think about how you should live here upon our Earth.  It scares me to think about the possibilty of going to judgement and God telling me that I am not making the Heavenly team because I thought that Earthly decisions were more important than having a relationship with him. 

I read a book not to long ago that talked about the eternal punishment of Hell and it made some sense to me. The writer explained that Hell is not going to be a place of constant fire, but a place where those who haven't excepted Christ in this life here will be left in a state of constant misery and unsatisfaction.  I guess that is what we would feel like if God just left us here and went somewhere else.  We don't realize how lucky we are to be living in God's grace right now.  He holds us together because he is here and we can go to Him in any moment of life.  But to be without God would be a living Hell.  We don't know or even have a clue what that would feel like because He is here now. 

So why is the road to heaven a "narrow road?" Is it because many will not choose that road and the road to eternal punishment is wide because many choose that road. That's my guess!  It's time we put petty things behind us and remember we are here to choose the narrow road to eternal life.  Our lives should be a life of constant communication to our Lord above.  We need to include Him on every decision and praise Him for every gift He gives. That will keep us on the narrow to heaven!

Crossing Our Bridges Of Fear!

I have known people to be very leary about crossing this bridge back home. It is the Wheeling Suspension bridge built by the indians that resided there in the late 1800's.  It is a steel bridge that crosses the Ohio River from Wheeling, WV to Wheeling Island.  As you go across it you can feel it move and to some that is frightening, especially to one of my Aunts.

In life we all have to cross bridges in life that frighten us sometimes. We have to take the risks that God puts in front of us.  Our fear keeps us away from crossing those bridges in life, and doesn't allow our faith in God to be true.  A lot of times I feel an urge to take a risk in life but I often weigh the negatives out first before I see the optimistic views.  The negatives always win, and then my faith in God wasn't executed the way He planned it.  Does God frown when we don't take risks of faith?  Does He sit back and watch us screw up a good decision because our faith was weak? Tough questions to answer but Satan is the author of these questions.  I believe God if He was right here in front of me physically would say go ahead try it, see what happens when you do it in faith and see what happens when I am behind it. Great things will prevail and He won't disappoint us.  We may go through tough times when we cross a bridge of fear but that is when our faith comes in handy.  We always have a bigger source behind us to get us through. 

So today if you have a bridge that needs crossing and your fear is bigger than your faith, just reverse those orders and let your faith determine the outcome, then maybe we'll see each other on the other side of that bridge!

Why Am I A Christian?

Matthew 13:17 "For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

I don't think anybody has ever asked me why I am a Christian.  I think this verse sums it up, because I want to see and hear what those disciples saw and heard.

As human beings we long to see something or somebody great in the world. We want to see the extraordinary instead of the ordinary.  We want our longings to be fulfilled.  That sums up me, I want to see the great things on this Earth.  I am a critic about everything.  Whether it be music, sports, movies or humans and the way they perform these tasks.  I critique or judge, because I want to see the best in everything.

 I would have been amazed if I would've been present at the birth of Christ.  The perfect one, God himself coming to this planet to be among us.  The way He came would have humbled me then as it does today.  The king of kings in a animal stable lying in a manger or feeding trough.  He didn't live as a king here, yet his words and love would have been overwhelming to me.  Finally, someone who could relieve us of our pain and our need for satisfaction.  To be around Christ would have been comforting.  No more questions about life because He was the answer to our life. We would've been complete from wandering about anything.  What will He say to me when I get to heaven?  Whatever it is I will never be or feel lost ever again. That's why I am a Christian!

I've learned a lot over the past couple of years about the reality of being a Christian.  I learned about judging others by not judging yet I find myself passing judgement on someone.  I don't want to do that, it's wrong.  I learned that Christianity is not a list of do and do nots.  Yet, we must live as good a life as we can. I use the measure of WWJD.  What would Jesus do in this situation?  And I find myself not indulging in those sins. I am not perfect and never will be, but it helps to know whatever I do wrong I can repent of those wrongs and continue on in living a life for Christ.  Mercy beyond measure, that's why I am a Christian!

Another world beyond ours. An eternal place that has no end, no worry, no tears, no pain, no lonliness, no disease, no loss, no being judged, no handicaps or disabilties, no financial problems and no harm.   A world where we will see things that have never entered our mind.  We've dreamed of this place and have done our best to picture it.  Whatever we have imagined will be way more than our minds could behold.  A world where our God reigns and Christ glows with great love and radiance.  Keep hoping of such beauty and grace that continues to overflow with no limit.  That's why I am a Christian! Period.

Why Do We Shop? It's A Pointless Activity!

I have been thinking about this theory for quite some time.  It's a strange thought, but it is has been on my mind. Shopping? I listen to people at my place of work and everything they say sometimes just sounds so meaningless.  Most of my work experience has been in the nursery/landscape business.  I found this to be my calling because I found a Holy reasoning behind it.  As I listened to customers this past weekend I could not help and think about how pointless our needs are sometimes.  One customer was asking about a certain plant we had and she said, "I will be back tomorrow to get that tree, because so and so really wants one really bad!"  Why doe s she really want that tree so bad?  Is it because her life might become truly satisfied if she had it? I don't think so. 

I really like plants and how beautiful they really are. I see a plant as an object created from the mind and hand of God.  That is my Holy reasoning behind my interest in plants. But I don't really need any certain plant to satisfy my needs.  I really don't need any material possesion to satisfy my life, but sometimes my want overcomes my real needs.  The massive overflow of people in our store has really got me thinking lately.  I like to shop sometimes, I don't like to shop for my needs but I like to shop for my desires.  I'm not one to go and spend a lot of money on massive things like  a new stereo system or a huge plasma so I can impress somebody.  That's not who I am,  and I have no reason to impress anybody. Yet, many people do buy things for that exact reason.  They want to be seen by others with their mass inventory of stuff.

Shopping is not always not a bad thing, we do need to go to the grocery store and get food and sometimes we need to go and buy some new clothes because our other ones are complete rags.  I understand the reasoning for people coming to a  place like I work at. To buy things for their house or to fix something that is broke or to buy a plant to enjoy a beautiful creation of God.  But, sometimes the other reasons are because of want and not necessity.  I often think and get mad because I have to be at work on a Sunday morning and miss church because people have to come in for their unecessary wants instead of their real needs.  I could be spending valuable time with my family and my brothers and sisters in Christ in a Holy worship service praising God.  Instead, I have to be there because of the companies need for greed and money and also because somebody decided that their needs were more important than worshiping God. It irritates me a lot!

Our country has gone in the wrong direction in it's desires.  The world's true desire should be going to those who are in need, not just needs in material things but a need for a Savior.  I often think when I am at work and see people shopping that  I could be doing something for Christ and for those who are lost, but instead our world puts its faith in money and wealth instead of true wealth in Christ.  Our desires are in the wrong place, our needs instead of Christ's.  So instead of doing God's work and furthering His word, I have to wait on customers and load their needless desires into their car. Let's shop for lost souls instead of our worthless desires that will never satisfy our lives.  Store up true wealth in heaven instead of worldly things that will be taken away from us in a split second.    

Bad Weather Allowed Me To See the Strength Of Our God!

The past couple of days here in Arkansas has really been bad for weather.  Tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and dangerous lightning have bullied our state.  And I am not a huge fan of any of this, at all.

Many have lost a lot in the past 48 hours to tornadoes and bad straight line wind.  I have seen many pictures and many news reports in the past 48 to last me for awhile. I can't say I am not fearful of any type of severe weather,  I would be lying if I said I wasn't.

We've been lucky here in our town of Searcy lately.  A tornado ripped through a small town a few miles from here at the end of March.  I took a drive to see what the damage was like.  What little there was amazed me, you could see a path right through a wooded area that had half trees standing.  The trees were laid down and some were standing with the tops twisted off them.  Tonight, a huge black cloud past overhead where I work and I was ready to see something awful happen.  There was a slight twist to the clouds and it just made me think how powerful our God can be.  It started raining and lightning bad and then it all stopped and complete stillness in the air. That's a bad sign, a possible tornado could come down and take away everything we had.  I thought as I stood there and watched that cloud pass over, what would my chances be of running from it? What would it be like to be  caught in one of natures greatest display of strength? I didn't want to find  out!

I think of the same thing when Christ comes back to destroy all evil. What will it be like if he says to you and I that we are not going with Him to Heaven? Life would be darker than we have ever seen it.  I believe the devastation would be worse or about as bad as that tornado coming down and sweeping us away from all eternity.  Our God is a powerful being who wants no one to perish, but if we don't start living in Him our path will become tornadic.  Life will be no more, and we will be in that dark cloud forever.  Today I am going to live for Him and not for the world.