The Right Direction - Looking Forward

Jude 1:21 – Keep yourselves in the of God, Looking  for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.(KJV)

  - staying right in the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ.  This is the life, real life. (Message)

Have you ever tried to walk backwards for any length of time?  It’s not easy, yet there are those who are trying it.

Yes, it is nice to have memories, but you don’t want to get stuck always looking back.  If you do, you cannot  see the road ahead.  Maybe, it’s the fear of what is laying ahead of you, your future is not certain.

Everyone needs something in their lives that helps them focus in looking forward.  One thing that keeps them putting their feet on the floor every morning.  For some it is wealth, others may be family, or the worst, re-payment  to ease the guilt of a past failure.

What is it that keeps you looking forward?

For myself it is first my faith, then my daughter and my grand-children.

Faith is a very positive motivator .  It does not mean pie in the sky, pipe dreams, but something that is achievable at the end of the road.

Many elderly will tell you that what keeps them going is faith that creates a positive outlook on their life.

While looking forward I have learned not to forget the mistakes of the past, so that I don’t stumble with the same.

So, keep looking forward, because faith in Christ will order your foot steps.

Follow Me on Twitter @dmbourne

Grace, Back to Fundamentals

"Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." - Genesis 6:8
"We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone." - Martin Luther

Ask yourself, 'What is grace' ?  One of my pastors defined it like this:
Gods
Riches
At
Christs
Expense
I have come to believe that grace is much more than that.  I have also come to the conclusion that grace is the absence of legalism, the rules of do's and don't s.
To inherit God's grace one must believe by pure faith that it is freely given because of Christ.  This is total freedom, knowing there is nothing we have to do to obtain it or receive it.
Grace lifts the burden of shame and guilt and in grace there is no condemnation.
Grace is both horizontal and vertical.  It allows us to approach God and also change how we approach others.
During the scandals of the late 1980's there were those who declared that those preachers should never enter a pulpit again.
My stand on the subject is this, Grace is a two way street.
Parishioners expect that there leaders to show forgiveness when asked, but pastors who fall from grace should also expect grace from the parishioners.
I have learned to live by faith that I have God's grace all the days of my life.  If I were to transgress, I can go boldly to God and ask for His' forgiveness, and freely receive grace.

Follow me on www.twitter.com/@dmbourne

Point of Order - Change of View

As a young preacher I was very steadfast on views of Bible themes and doctrines.
I was 17  and a woman started attending my home church along with her husband.  He was sort of a quiet and staid man, but she was very outgoing.  It turned out that she was an evangelist out of a large church in Detroit, Michigan.
I liked her and we became friends.
I was looking for work and one day her husband asked me if I would like to work in an orchard that he managed.  I told him yes.
I began having conversations about different things with the woman.  Sometimes we would agree, other times we would differ.  One day she chuckled, looked at me and said that I would mellow one day.  I just shrugged off that comment.
I am no longer active in any ministry, but I do still study and do research.
Lately, my mind has been on things to come according to Bible Prophecy.  How does the things mentioned in the Old Testament mesh with ideas mentioned in the New Testament.
What did Jesus mean in Matthew 24, or the Apostle John when he penned the Book of Revelation on the island of Patmos?
Mankind has unleashed some terrible horrors on each other.  Just in the 20th century alone we have seen a nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima.  Could this be something John saw and wrote about?
The wars that have been fought in just the last hundred years have been the reason for millions of lives lost.
Brother against brother.  Wars between factions of the same culture and faith.  Wars launched for the sole purpose to eradicate a whole race of people.
In every time, event, there have been religious alarmists that have declared that this was the end times and that Christ is coming very shortly.  This is a message I have heard since my earliest memories.  I believed that message for most of my life.
Yes, I believe in the end times but just not how I was taught to believe.
Christ warned that not even the Son of Man knew the hour of His' return.  So, those who are preaching that we are in a certain period of Bible prophecy, I would caution those who are listening to them.
I have resigned myself to the idea that no one has the correct meaning of the time when events will unfold.
I now live like it could be tomorrow, but I have trust in God no matter what.  I really do believe in the words of the hymn, "God Will Take Care of You" :

1. Be not dismayed whate’er betide,
   God will take care of you;
   Beneath His wings of love abide,
   God will take care of you.
• Refrain:
  God will take care of you,
  Through every day, o’er all the way;
  He will take care of you,
  God will take care of you.

Scriptures teach us not to worry over tomorrow.
Someone reading this probably thought I was going to elaborate on Bible prophecies, sorry I am not doing that.
I am writing this because of how many are panicking over the markets on Wall Street, the price of oil, etc.,.
To worry is useless, because it will not change things.