Share the Gospel with love not fear!

 Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  ACCEPT THE PRESENT GOD OFFERS YOU THROUGH JESUS CHRIST---

     S A L V A T I O N ! !

    God offers us a present through His son Jesus Christ and all we have to do is accept it.  If you are given a gift that is wrapped nicely in a pretty paper do you take it to your room, office, or somewhere and leave it there?  Sitting, still wrapped and not opened?  If so then you have a gift that you never received.  Once you open it, then you have truly received the gift.

   This is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  If someone knows about the gift but never takes the next step to accept, then there lies a gift unwrapped.  So, what then? If you don't receive the gift of salvation from Jesus Christ then you are HELL bound!!

  Let me ask you----Do you share the gospel with others? If so, great; if not, why not?   So often people try to use fear as a tactic to get people to come to Jesus. Romans 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

  Too often people use the first part of this verse, using fear.  The rest of the verse is, to me, the most important. The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our LORD.

  What about John 3:16 AND 17?  16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

  It is important we share both 16 and 17 out of John.  So often people recite only what they want just to scare or use the fear factor to bring people to salvation through Jesus Christ.

   Tell the truth when you share.  Oh, do you share the gospel - aka GOOD NEWS with others?  If you do not have an ice breaker please let me know.  I will send you 10 business cards that are printed on both sides.  

   The front has a cross and says:  "May you be proud of the work you do, the person you are, and, the difference you make!!

  Then on the back I have: Mark 16:15 He (Jesus) said, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."

 Then under the verse in smaller print is "For prayer or questions call 903-(your number).

   If you like this and want another verse let me know and I'll change verses.  If this will give you an opening to share the gospel just let me know.  

   Thank you for reading today. Love Y'all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

Light in the darkness!!!

 Good morning all.  God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  YOU CANNOT HIDE A LIGHT IN A DARK CLOSET!!!

   If you put a light in a dark closet it will shine; if you put a light in a dark field it will shine; if you put light in any darkness, it will shine.

   The world is ruled by the Prince of the world who is satan.  Knowing this we can say the world is filled with darkness.  So, if the world is filled with darkness, my question to you is CAN YOU BE THE LIGHT???????

    JOHN 1:5 (NIV) "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

   JOHN 8:12 (NIV) "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"

  PSALM 119:105 (NIV) "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path."

  1 JOHN 1:5 (ESV) "Thos is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."

     The light in you has overcome the darkness.  You have the light of life and it is a lamp for the path you are on. Remember, God is light!

  

God's word gives us direction and helps us be the LIGHT!   Following Jesus moves us from living in the darkness to living in the light of God's word and sharing this good news with the world.

                   Again, CAN YOU BE THE LIGHT???? 

  Thank you for reading. Love y'all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

1 Peter 2: 1-3

 Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  God gives us all a "GOD STORY" and we need to share it and give God the glory.  What is yours?

 Peter says this is the word that was preached to you. I would like you to look at 1 Peter 2:1   Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

 

   Let's break this down more.  Definitions of:

MALICE - active will or desire to harm another

DECEIT -deceiving or lying, a dishonest action

HYPOCRISY - a pretending to be what one is not; a pretense of virtue, piety, etc

ENVY - discontent and ill will over another's advantages, possessions, etc.; a desire for something another has

SLANDER OF EVERY KIND - the utterance (saying) a falsehood that damages another's reputation.

  We must rid ourselves of these damaging values and become more like the newborn baby.  Crave pure spiritual milk?  What is that? Praying, studying the Bible, sit under true teaching of God's word.  WHY????

   So we can grow to be strong spiritual Christians and share the word of Christ with others.  You do not know who you will touch and how that will affect others.

   An usher at a tent revival stopped 2 boys who looked in, saw it was crowded and turned to leave.  He took the boys and found them a seat.  The usher did not know the effect this would have.  One of those boys was Billy Graham, a man who touched hundreds of thousands of people.  BE THE USHER!!!

   How will you grow in the LORD?  Who did you touch in the past?  Who will you touch today, tomorrow, and in the future?

   The choice is yours - to be a vial and angry person or to be the babe, grow in Christ and touch others.  Thanks for reading. Love y'all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

Food for thought------

 Good afternoon,  It is a cool day, yet we know that GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME, ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD!!!

   Some thoughts I have gleaned from different preaching I've heard.  When we are born, we end up with something that we cannot throw away, divorce, hide from, or get rid of in any way.  You may say, nah, that is not possible.  Well, this one little thing that will be with us till death do us part is  T E M P T A T I O N !!!

   As a child growing up we have temptations, and it may only to see how something works, so we touch it, hit it, kick it, or do something to it.  Why?  Because it is there.

   Then as we grow we have temptations leap in our face.  We can be tempted by: peer pressure, drugs, alcohol, just dangerous pranks, or ????

   Then we become an adult and the temptation is still there.  Drugs, alcohol, naked pictures of the opposite sex, cars, houses, play toys (ATV's, etc), and more.

  Those temptations stay with us until we die.  Oh, but I have accepted Jesus as my savior and I have eternal life in Christ. I am free of all that. We have to remember who is Prince of this world:  Satan, and he cast a lot of doubt darts or temptations our way.  We are not free of temptations.

  Now think about this. When God gave Moses the 10 commandments what does the first one read?  Thou shalt have no other gods before me- Exodus 20:3.  It is the little "g", meaning gods, not the living God.  God knew all about the temptations and how we would let them become gods to us.  Jesus was tempted so why would we think we are exempt?

  You "temptation" may be your phone, facebook, instagram, tik-tok, reels, or just news or calling someone constantly.  Maybe it's drugs, alcohol, porn, materials things; who knows.  However, the temptation lies out there.

   Take a moment and reflect on what my temptation(s) is (are).  We are doing a fast at our church and one thing I was hooked on was playing computer games.  This is a 21 day fast and I have not played a computer game for 16 days and it actually feels good.  My time is used more productively ( like take a nap. lol)

   Check out your temptations, see if your temptation  has become a god in your life, then take necessary actions to correct.  Thanks for reading my Food for Thought. Love y'all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

A new year, what STRONGHOLD is holding you back?

Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.

What is your stronghold that is holding you back?  We all have strongholds, or thoughts of inadequacy or inferiorities.  What stops you from praising God, doing God's work and being a disciple to the world around you?

  With a new year we make resolutions that may be reasonable, but so often  are "dreams" that we, in our minds, convince ourselves we cannot achieve.

  Maybe, I am going to read the Bible each day.  That is reasonable but requires discipline.

I am going to lose 100 pounds this year.  Not so reasonable and we know in our minds we cannot do it.  May lose 10 pounds by March or April.  That would be reasonable.

   I can tell you my stronghold is computer games.  When I could be spending that time with God, studying the word, praying, or sharing with others I am playing a game.  And we justify it---I'll only play 1 game of hearts, then 1 game of cribbage, then a game of Euchre, then Spades, Minesweeper, Mah Jong,-------when does it stop???  Suddenly 1 hour or more has passed and no productivity in my life.  

  Look at yourself.  Is it the News?  Is it facebook?  Is it just to be on the phone?  Instagram? tic-tok?  What takes you away from God?

   When you are with other people are you constantly on your phone and you believe you are listening to them?  

  Be honest!!!  WHAT IS YOUR STRONGHOLD THAT KEEPS YOU BACK!!!!

Food for thought for the new year - 2026. Love y'all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

 

What is your perception of you? Colossians 3:2; Proverbs 14:2

 Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  YOU ARE BLESSED!

 

What is perception?  Is it true what I perceive?  Our life is full of perceptions.

What we perceive is real to us, BUT, IS IT REAL?

Some parents got help for their son, psychological help,  Why??

Because they thought he was cruel and had a fascination with worms. Whenever he found a worm he would cut it in half.

  Parents, friends, psychologists all observed this cruelty, BUT, no one stopped to listen to the young boy.

   As he would take each worm and place it on his "cutting board", no one heard him say, after cutting the worm in half, "THERE, NOW YOU HAVE A FRIEND".

  DO YOU TAKE YOUR FIRST PERCEPTION, FIRST GLANCE AS FACT, OR, ARE YOU OPEN TO OTHER POSSIBILITIES?

Colossians 3: 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Do we look at things as Christ does, or as our flesh tells us to.  How do you see yourself?  A wreck, a disaster, troubled?  Or do you see yourself as Christ sees you?

  Think about this verse in Proverbs 14: 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

  Where is your mind set? What is your perception?  Thank you for reading. Love y'all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

Forgiveness! Matthew 18:21-22

 Hello and Merry Christmas,

   God is good all the time, all the time God is good.

This is the time of year when people hustle around, buying presents, and getting ready for Christmas, Santa, New Years and new resolutions.

So, why not start your new year with a resolution that you can actually do and stay with.  It is called FORGIVENESS!   Jesus commanded this in Matthew 18: 21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times

What Jesus is saying is there is no end to forgiveness. However, there is a limit to tolerating the bad (evil) things happening.  Example:  If someone is being abused, they can draw a line in the sand and say, "this is it, if it happens again I am out of here".  Then stand firm.  We can forgive, but we won't forget nor do we need to bring the past back up. Grant forgiveness and move forward.  Jesus loves you and may your Christmas and New Year be bright, joyful, and full of God's blessings. Love y'all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

 Johnny