Random Ramblings

Random thoughts of the day:

1. Madison and Kaylee were looking adorable this morning in their costumes! Madison was Cleopatra and Kaylee was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Have I mentioned lately that I adore these girls?!! They are so precious, inside and out!

2. My doctor told me that the pathology report came back fine for the mole I had removed. I'm very thankful for that!

3. My friend's Mom that has breast cancer that I asked y'all to pray for.......they found out it has not spread, so that's really good news! She will have a masectomy and other treatments to get rid of all of the cancer. The prognosis looks great! Thank you for praying!!!

4. I just finished reading Rebecca St. James' book, "Loved". It was really good. It was more like a compilation of short stories of women who had wandered away from the Lord and found their way back. It was full of hope, that no matter what you've done, the Lord is always waiting for you to come back to Him with open arms.

5. That brings me to a quote I loved. I picked up my "Heaven" book, by Randy Alcorn, again yesterday. I had read some of it, but never finished. It's a great book. A great quote was, "You may think that you don't deserve forgiveness after all you've done. That's exactly right. No one deserves forgiveness. If we deserved it, we wouldn't need it. That's the point of grace. On the cross, Jesus experienced the hell we deserve, so that for eternity we can experience the Heaven we don't deserve." One of the biggest lies that Satan has convinced everyone of is that you are "good enough" to get into Heaven on your own, that you don't need a savior. Our default destination is hell and the Bible states that the only way to enter into Heaven is through Jesus. There is no other way. Our society is all about new age thinking these days, and thinking that no matter what you believe, all roads lead to God. They say it's ridiculous for Christians to say that their way is the only way. Well, we don't say it is, the Bible says it is! The Bible is God's word and it specifically says that Jesus is the ONLY way. Period.

A lot of people simply do not know what the Bible says. I didn't really understand it all and I hadn't spent any time trying to understand it. What I've discovered though, is that it's so simple. It's clearly written out in the Bible. I think alot of times we just think that people know the truth and just don't want to accept it, but I really believe that most people just simply do not know what the Gospel says. The scariest thing to me is when Oprah herself, being in the position she is (idolized by millions of women as being the authority on all subjects), gets on TV and states that Jesus couldn't possibly be the only way to God. Oprah is preaching that God is not something to believe in, He is a "feeling". This is absolutely incredible and scary, because so many people who do not know what the Bible says will believe this type of teaching because it makes you "feel" all warm and fuzzy inside. That is exactly what the enemy's plan is, to convince people that they don't have to follow God's word (the Bible), but instead that it's okay to follow false teachers. It's the easiest way for Him to turn people away from God, to convince them that they can save themselves.

Then the question for alot of people is, well how do I know the Bible is true? How do I know it's not just a work of literature? Well, I went looking for proof and found there are lots of books on this subject that prove the Bible's historical validity, that the characters were real people. I have heard Atheists claim that there is no proof that Jesus was even a real man or that He did the things he claimed. That is just not true. There are historical records proving He existed and hundreds of eyewitness accounts that He appeared after his death. It's just absolutely not true that there is no proof for the Bible. And, if you believe the Bible is true, then you must believe God's instructions that He gives in it. It's a huge relief when you realize that you don't have to guess about what to believe, because the answers are all right there in the Bible.

I guess I should've done a whole post on this topic! LOL! I guess the point is that if you don't believe, take the time to check out the facts and it will be very clear what the answer is. Most people will never get that far though, and will get sidetracked along the way into thinking that it's okay not to follow Jesus. That is what our mission as Christians has to be.........to help people search for the truth. It's not about a religion, it's about helping people to understand the choice they are making because we care about their eternity. It's like us having the cure to cancer and choosing not to share it with people. That would be absurd!

6. I really don't like to preach on my blog, but this is my blog, and I can say what is on my mind, right? I think so many people view Christians who want to share their faith as trying to cast some kind of spell over them. That's just not true. I want people to know that Christianity is not based on feelings, it's based on the truth of God's word in the Bible. Faith comes in because you are believing in things that are unseen. I just want to help people understand the choice that they have made because I truly do not want for anyone to enter Hell and be crying and asking why I did not tell them the truth when I knew it all along. The problem is that I have no idea how to walk that fine line between lovingly showing people where to find the answers or coming across as a fanatical Christian that people steer clear of, or when I mention God, they put their fingers in their ears and go "la, la, la, la, la."

7. I told you these were going to be random thoughts! Is everyone ready for the weekend? We have a Fall Fest to go to tomorrow that our school district organizes to raise money. The girls love it because they have all kinds of games, a petting zoo, moonwalks, etc. Our church is having a booth and giving away free cotton candy all day too, so we're going to help with that. Then, we're just going trick-or-treat with our neighbors on our street. We're starting a marriage series at church on Sunday, so that should be good too since we just wrapped up our small group study on that subject.

Okay, I'll stop rambling now! Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!