Across the USA in churches and among individuals the debate continues. The debate surrounds this subject.  What is eternal life? In I John 1:2 John answer both of these questions!

I John 1:2 says, “The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us!”

The eternal life that John is talking about is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. If you want a definition, eternal life is a Person, and that Person is Christ. It’s so simple a little child can grasp it! You either have Christ or you don’t have  Christ! You either trust Christ or you don’t trust Christ! If you do trust Christ, you have eternal life! If you don’t trust Christ, you don’t have eternal life! Eternal life is wrapped up in one package, and that package is Jesus Christ!

Since the lost world is watching us we need to realize how important it is for us as Christians to live a holy life down here where the rubber meets the road. A holy live is one separated unto God.

When it’s all said and done what’s really worthwhile in this earth today? What are your goals? Are you a productive Christian moving toward a worthwhile goal?

Somebody says, “I want to raise my family!” That’s worthwhile. Someone else says, “I want to raise my family and make sure my kids get a good education!” That’s worthwhile. Although these things mentioned are worthwhile, what is really the object of your life? Is it live for God? If you live for God, all of these secondary things, I believe, will take care of themselves!

II Peter 3:14 says, “So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with Him.”

Christians across America are talking about the coming of Christ. Some thinks He’s coming soon and some thinks it’s gonna be a while. Personally, I don’t think He’ll come back in my lifetime. The reason I say this is because He’s longsuffering and He doesn’t want anyone to perish.

The longsuffering of our Lord is salvation. His patience in delaying His return in judgement is providing an opportunity for men and women to be saved. Our focus shouldn’t be on His return but our focus should be on ways to get the Word of God out to a lost and dying world!

II Peter 3:15 says, “Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave Him.”

Top of the day to ya. I’ll bet many of you thought I’d forgotten about the devotional today. Well, I didn’t! Here’s what happened. Robin and I turned in early last night and we didn’t wake up until 6:30 a.m. This only gave me 30 minutes to have my Quiet Time and get today’s devotional out.

I had to make a choice. Was I going to spend quality time with the Lord or publish the devotional? The choice for me was easy. I choose the Lord over the devotional and you. Just remember, I love you but I love the Lord more!

I’ll have to admit, at one time in my life I would have left the Lord waiting for me like a groom leaves a bride waiting for him at the altar. Those days are long gone. I don’t let anything come between my time with the Lord anymore.

Psalms 46:10, The Lord says, “Be still, and know that I am God!”

A few weeks ago Robin and I went to Mark and Diane’s ranch. One day Mark and I was walking down a dirt road and all of a sudden Mark stops dead in his tracks. He showed me this huge tree that was on the side of the road that looked dead. He asked me if I’d ever used a chain saw and I said yes. Right then and there we decided to cut that tree down.

The problem was, the tree had to fall right between two fences and we’d never fell a tree before. We eye balled it, notched it and proceeded to cut on the opposite side with the chain saw. Slowly but surely the tree began to fall. It fell right between the two fences, according to plan. Mark and I jump around like a bunch of school boys.

After the excitement we starting cutting the tree into pieces so that we could get it out of the road. To our surprise the tree wasn’t dead completely. It looked dead on the outside, but on the inside it was alive! We had been fooled!

Christians are like that. Some don’t look very good on the outside but on the inside they’re alive and vibrant because they know and spend time alone with the Lord. There’s others, who look and smell good on the outside, but on the inside there hearts are as cold and hard as ice! You might ask, “How can I know Which One They Are?” The Bible says, “You’ll Know Them By The Fruit They Produce!’

It’s true, we’re not to sit in judgment of others, but it’s AOK to be fruit inspectors!

We’ve all heard the story of the prodigal son. He left home and went off to a foreign country. While there he spent all his money on ungodly living. After spending all his money his so called friends deserted him. He got so hungry, he went down to the pig pen and ate slop with the hogs and sows. He soon came to his senses and headed home not knowing what to expect. His father saw him, or smelled him from afar, ran, and threw his arms around him, hugging and kissing  him. The father had him cleaned up, put a rob on his back and a ring on his finger. He threw a banquet in honor of his son coming home.

When a son who’s been in the pigpen of life comes home it’s time to get down and celebrate. I’m celebrating this morning concerning a friend of mine, who’s a son of God but he’s been living in the pig pen of life.  He’s been having an affair with a bottle of booze and it’s caused all kinds of trouble in the home. I found out yesterday he’s checked himself into some type of rehab organization here in Texas.

I talked with him this morning and he told me he realizes his problem is not an illness but it’s sin. He agreed that it was time for him, a son of God to get out of the pigpen and go home! Pray for him, I do believe he’ll be there for about a month, but rejoice with me in the Lord, for this son who acted like a pig is now home! It’s Time To Party!

This morning I woke up to a box of chocolates, a pack of Reese’s’ Pieces, and a kiss from the most wonderful woman in the world. After all that, I went to my recliner and opened up a book called the Bible containing love letters from my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

I wonder how it makes God feel when we don’t read his letters that are intended for us! They are the most interesting  letters you’ll ever read. In them you’ll read about yourself and others. You’ll learn how to love your spouse as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it! You’ll learn how to love others even though they may never love you! You’ll learn about forgiveness and being forgiven! You’ll learn about the death, burial, and resurrection of or Lord Jesus Christ! You’ll learn about heaven, and how you can get there! It’s amazing, absolutely amazing!

The chocolates, cards, and kiss today was amazing, but the most amazing thing that happened to me today was my time spend alone with the Lord!

Ephesians 5:1-2 says, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

I’ve been around Christians who don’t have anything good to say about anything or anyone. All they do is criticize this person or that person. I’ll have to be honest with you, I’ve done exactly the same thing! It’s easy to get together for a meal and have a discussion about someone over lunch or dinner.

When I preach in churches across the US I always tell  people that it’s sin to leave church and go home and have preacher for dinner. I tell them they should pray for the preacher if they don’t agree with what he says! In the same way we should pray for those who rub us the wrong way, hurts our feelings, or tries to use us for selfish gain. We should pray for those who engage in filthy conversation around the water cooler instead of joining in!

Gossiping about someone only belittles that person and in reality makes the one gossiping look down right foolish. We as Christians should be building others up and not trying to destroy them with a loose tongue! If this describes you, let me say this, reel it in and get control of that thang!

Matthew 5:43 – 45 says, “You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you: Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”

In II Peter 1:12 Peter knew he wasn’t going to be with his friends much longer. Soon he would be put to death. Knowing this he felt called upon to stir up the saints. He wanted to remind them that they should be growing in the grace and knowledge of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He didn’t want them to become spiritually senile!

There are Christians today who are spiritually senile. They are tottering around, not seeming to have all their facilities. They’ve lost their love for God and they’ve forgotten how good God has been to them. My friend, don’t forget the one who created you! Share Him with you neighbors, your friends, your co-workers, and yes, even those you don’t consider your friends! Remember this, if your enemy gets saved they will become your best bud!

II Peter 1:12 says, “So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.”

As Christians we should not be ineffective or unproductive. Unproductive also means idle. We are to be about the Fathers business. We are to produce fruit, and that fruit is the fruit of the Spirit!  We must understand that we cannot produce fruit by sitting on the sideline and twiddling our thumbs!

2 Peter 2:5-8 says, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self – control; and to self – control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”