Making a Difference in your Life, in the Parts that are for Keeps!
What is your faith good for ?
What difference does your faith make ?
What do people around you know about your faith ?
Does your faith make waves ?
Should your faith make waves ?
Is Jesus satisfied with your faith waves ?
Is the devil satisfied with your faith ‘waves’ ?
Are you satisfied with your . . . ?
Are you a comfortable Christian ?
–
COMFORTABLE CHRISTIAN ?
Unbiblical Oxymoron !
We did not become the greatest nation on earth by denegrading God.
We became the greatest nation on earth by acknowledging Almighty God as the source of our rights and liberties.”
—–E.W.Jackson
“We did not become the greatest nation on earth by denegrading God.”
—–E.W.Jackson
Why do writers of creeds (theologians?) have an aversion to quoting the Bible ?
They ‘have to’ change the wording, make new wording, different from the simple Words of God, or they haven’t done their job.
Or they’re out of a job.
It’s all-important to answer those two questions.
Do you need Jesus ?
Have you got Jesus ?
Can you explain your answers, to Jesus ?
The four astronauts on the way back from the moon have been enjoying this trip.
They seemed to have fun, from the start, taking pictures of earth as soon as they were leaving earth’s orbit.
And be sure to check out the ‘never before’ perspectives of the moon and the earth in the same picture(s).
They had unique position for that because they were so far beyond the moon, for the first time.
I’m sure they had serious work to make the trip successful, but they had fun on their loop-de-loop around the moon, with no G’s and pre-programmed navigation for a ‘free ride’ through space.
God, bring them home safely.
Wrote this after watching
FALLING FOR VERMONT
(True Texan still falls for love stories.)
I was born in the middle of Texas, and the ‘Heart of Texas’ is in my heart.
I also did my time outside of Texas, so I know even more what it means to be a Texan.
Spent the last three years of college in Nebraska.
Survived ‘up north’, -14° one morning, because I didn’t need a car (walked everywhere in the small college town).
Spent the next seventeen years ‘in the big city’ of South Florida.
Should qualify in Guiness Book for longest a Texan spent in S. Florida (maybe the only Texan—never met any there).
When moving onto my inheritance (in land) became an option, I thought it was better for my children to finish growing up in the country and attend small-town high school (with its limitations, without metal detectors).
Hasn’t been perfect, but no regrets for this Texan returning to Texas.
Please enter TEXAS in the search bar,
and read more, lots more, what it means to be a Texan.
Note the dates on articles.
I wrote all that since returning to Texas.
GOOD FRIDAY, 2026
What strengthens your faith ?
What should strengthen your faith ?
Biblically, what should strengthen your faith ?
What should you not look to, to strengthen your faith ?
I started writing this on Good Friday morning, listening to a program investigating the shroud of turin.
Whether the shroud of turin is authentic as the burial cloth of Jesus—or not—I am content to leave the matter to research of others—I AM CONTENT TO LEAVE THE MATTER TO GOD, TO JESUS HIMSELF.
After all, HE KNOWS.*
Oh, now we can see how things the Bible said, happened, can happen, will happen, when they were dismissed because we couldn’t see how they could happen.
Even recently, in our lifetime:
— technology
— mark of the beast
— simultaneous worldwide visuals
— antichrist
How could David write (in our Bible, 22 centuries ago) about the Messiah “pierced . . .hands and feet”, before crucifixion was invented by the Romans, before they came to power ?
How could Isaiah write about “God, Who sits above the circle of the earth” several millenia before we learned and believed the earth is indeed round.
Jesus did miracles after miracles—healed many and fed thousands—and how many believed and followed — — and how many stopped following Him when He told them the rest of the story (not just about food and healing).
Note the astronauts that left earth’s orbit for the moon two days ago, enthusiastically looking back as soon as they could on the beautiful round earth.
And, how about recent archeology, uncovering countless items that factualize Bible references previously discounted.
Someday, we may find Noah’s ark, and irrefutably ‘prove the flood.’
Amazing how powerful evidence everywhere, wordwide, already matches and confirms the flood of Noah’s day—beautifully !
There is so very much evidence, so many facts that would make a person believe, and strengthen a person’s faith.
But I bring up something on the flip side, that discounts depending on signs, and artifacts, and especially near-death-experiences to strengthen anyone’s faith, or bring someone to faith in Jesus.
X☆X☆ “If they do not listen to Moses (the Law of God, our sin) and the prophets (the message of the Messiah, Jesus, our Savior), neither will they believe if someone comes back from the dead.”—–Jesus said that.
If something, anything, makes it easier to believe in Jesus to forgive you and save you from your sin, it makes it less likely that you will believe.
Anything that makes life easier is less likely to strengthen your faith.
–
So, what strengthens your faith ?
—Both physically, and especially spiritually
—universally, and indisputably
–hardship and testing strengthen your body
—trouble and persecution strengthen your faith
“We must through much tribulation enter the Kingdom of God.”
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
How can you tell your faith is being strengthened ?
“We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us.”
What do persecuted Christians today say about their suffering ?
They say persecution blesses them with a new and closer walk with Jesus.
And they only ask that we remember them, and pray for them.
That is what strengthens faith.
We can expect the same—
☆ ☆ ☆ JESUS SAID SO ☆ ☆ ☆
*They say the Shroud of Turin has evidence of an enormous flash of light embedded in the cloth, to match the LIGHT when Jesus THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD came back to LIFE.
And that would not be the only supernatural evidence in the natural world, of The Almighty.
Just a note about the shroud–
–For most people, even the label, ‘the shroud of turin’, immediately takes it from something Biblical to another ‘Catholic relic’ to be worshipped or disputed.
Consider how many details the Bible describes that seem to have little or no relevance to the story, like what it says about Jesus’ burial cloths–BUT GOD has reasons for including it all, for us to discover and understand someday, just like—
—like power with crude oil, uranium
—like technology with silicon
—like communication with . . .
God just expects us to “acknowledge Him in all our ways, and He will direct our paths.”
We get used to what we see in the world around us and in the heavens above—boatloads and boatloads of evidence that “leaves us without excuse” that there is God, and “He created the heavens and the earth.”
So, His promise to return in power and splendor and majesty to conquer and judge, is just as certain as all the evidence around us, and all the evidence we continue to discover.
No wonder the Bible says,
“The goodness of God is to lead us to repentance” and faith.
“PREPARE TO MEET YOUR GOD !”
– – – – – – – – – –
+ The Bible says, over and over, “Fear God.”
DISCLAIMERS
X – just respect God
X – don’t be afraid of God
– – – – – – – – – – –
+ The Bible says, “Submit to your husbands.”
APOLOGIES
X – not a doormat
X – we’ve got it more right now
X – mutual submission
– – – – – – – – – – –
+ The Bible says, “In six days, God created the earth”, 6000 years ago.
DILUTIONS
X – old earth, young earth, not so important
X – don’t lose fellowship over creation
– – – – – – – – – – –
Again and Again:
“Did God really say, ‘. . .’?”
HE DID SAY SO !
And He wrote it down, just what He said, just what we need to know, just what we must obey.
In all my interactions with others nowadays, there is an assumption and expectation of functioning like always, when I know that is simply not the case anymore.
It is difficult to reconcile life as normal, that others want to see, and still count on—and life as I know it (losing ground), that others don’t want to see and can’t count on as in the past.
So the alternative is to start pretending more and more, to carry on life as in the past as long as possible—all the while knowing it isn’t real, and it’s not real living.
There comes a dreaded or feared reality when others finally recognize and label you with some “condition” so they can talk about “it”.
That is worse because you become the “it”.
The worst is awareness of talk about you, which most surely will feel demeaning.
And all along you just want[ed] someone to believe you, accept you, and relate with you where you are—not what they hope, wish, expect, pretend, so they can cope with (or ignore) their their own life issues.
And, you certainly want to avoid turning inward and focused on no one understanding—when your heart’s mission is to unselfishly make a difference in others with your wisdom from living.
Nowadays it seems no one under 50? has time or patience to step in the shoes of seniors, with struggles—and with much to offer.
It is much harder for over-busy, over-loaded, over-scheduled younger generations today to be content spending time—TIME—with older folks just to absorb good stuff gained through decades of living.
Rather, they are more likely to apply the lense of their ‘got it together’ generation and ‘much too fast life’—wanting quick answers that they will accept by pre-set default.
They don’t have time to wrestle through issues in life like older folks did, to come to convictions and foundation principles to stand firm on, through difficult, rough, hard times, like today, and the uncertain days ahead.
Where is there room for those in 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, to find change in their life, from time spent with seniors ?
Wisdom is so much more than just an interesting story of someone who has lived longer.
The Bible is full of wisdom, and so are the older ones among us who have walked with the Lord and His Word.
Mary chose “the one thing needful”, sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening.
I urge the reader to do the same, and sit with a senior, and listen.
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