Richard Craig, Author at GraceAndWorks - Page 10 of 59

I find it very difficult to understand politics. We have politicians that have their own agenda and will vote accordingly. They will make agreements with others so that both get their way. How can we ever come to an understanding of that? We have a government that is run by imperfect people. We vote them in and try to do the best we can to get qualified candidates, but sometimes it doesn’t turn out for the best. We think we have things figured out and then someone changes the rules. The constitution isn’t perfect so we have amendments to try to make it better. How can we come to an understanding of that? We have a group of people that are ultra conservative, a group that is ultra liberal, and then there are those in the middle that keep trying to figure out what is what. Confused by what is going on? So am I. Imperfect laws, imperfect rules, and imperfect people leading, leaves most of us with no understanding what is going on.

Religion, on the other hand is laid out in perfectness. God laid out a plan and it doesn’t change and neither does He. The basics of religion and salvation is very simple and easy to understand because there are no amendments, no rule changes, and is run by a perfect person with no flaws, GOD!! God says, “Those who have ears, let them hear.” God’s word will speak to you, if you will listen. Sometimes we need help to understand. Even the Eunich needed help from Philip. However, once he heard the words spoken, he obeyed the Gospel and asked Philip to baptize him. So the basics are this: 1) Hear the Word, 2) Believe the Word, 3) Repent from your sin, 4) Confess that you believe Christ is the Son of God, 5) Be baptized, 6) Live a righteous life thereafter. The confusion and misunderstanding of religion is that man’s opinion tries to change God’s plan and there is no room for that to happen. God is perfect, God’s Word is perfect, and Christ is perfect. In the book of Revelation we are told to not add nor take anything away from God’s Word. No rule changes, no amendments, and no opinions!!

My conclusion is this: Politics are not understandable because of the imperfect things that occur. Religion is very understandable because it is perfect.

Have a good day all and SMILE God loves YOU!!

As I was driving down the road today, I was looking at all the signals my car has and was thinking about how nice it would be to have those for everyday life.

POWER BRAKES: Gives me that extra boost to put a stop to things I shouldn’t be doing.
POWER STEERING: Gives me the ease and quickness to get out of harms way.
TURNING SIGNALS: So those around me would know when I’ve changed direction or changed my mind.
BRIGHT LIGHTS: So that I might always walk in the light and never be in darkness.
SPEEDOMETER: To let me know when things are going too fast or too slow.
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION: So when there are changes in my life, there would always be a smooth shift to another chapter.
CUSHIONED SEATS: To always provide that smooth ride that I desire as my life goes on.
WIPERS: Giving me a clear look at what is happening so I can make better judgement calls.
CHECK ENGINE LIGHT: So I would have a warning signal when things are about to go sideways.
OIL PRESSURE GAUGE: That I would always know my blood pressure and if I’m under undo stress.
HEAT GAUGE: To let me know if my temper is out of control and I need to stop and let things cool down.
AIR CONDITIONING: So I can maintain a level nature about myself–Never too cool and never too hot.

And what about the engine that makes everything go? That’s what reminds me of God. He and the written word He gave me is the engine that pulls me through life. Without the engine all the other signals that a car has would be of no value. Without God life would have no meaning. There would be no road to travel down and no need for anything or anyone to give any signals for danger.

SMILE God loves YOU!!
Have a blessed day all.

Building a good relationship takes work. It doesn’t just happen. I think many times we take a relationship with others for granted and that is why they fail. The Apostle Paul lays out the groundwork for a successful relationship in the book of Romans.

Romans 12:9-21:
Love without hypocrisy
Cling to what is good
Be kind to each other
Be patient
Be of the same mind toward one another
DO NOT be wise in your own opinion
If it is possible, as much as depends on YOU, live peaceably with everyone.

Romans 14:1-23:
Accept others differences
Don’t be judgemental
Do what leads to peace

Romans 15:1-13:
ACCEPT EACH OTHER!!

Every one has their own little quirks. We all have different personalities. We have different likes and dislikes. Let’s respect that!!

SMILE God loves YOU!! Have a good day all.

Let’s talk about friends, family, marriage, and God.

So how is your relationship with your friends? Are you talking, texting, or staying in contact regularly? Or do you just wait around until they contact you? In the age of electronics, it’s real easy to stay in contact–just grab your phone and text/talk away. But what happens when no one texts or calls you and you are always the one to make contact? How does that make you feel? Agitated, angry, left out, lonely, or just plain upset? It’s been said that highways and phone lines run both directions, but many times they are only going one way.

How is your relationship with family? Always in contact, spotty, or not at all? The same thing can be said about family as I said with friends. If you are the one who always has to make that first contact, how do you feel about it? If you do always make the first contact and then get a one word response with no other conversation, how do you deal with that? Highways running one direction, phone lines only running one direction–do you eventually just decide they don’t want anything to do with you and throw your hands up and move on the best as possible?

How’s your relationship with your spouse? To be a success, I’ve always believed that communication is the key to that success. One person always initiating the conversation is not the ideal way to communicate. Is there love in the marriage? Do you do things that are special? Do you tell each other that you love them? The special touch or that smile that melts the heart? Many marriages end in divorce because of the lack of communication. The highway and phone lines–are they only running one direction?

What about your relationship with God? Do you pray without ceasing, as the Bible teaches. Praying is the communication line between you and God. Christians know that God will answer your prayers. It might not be what you wanted, but was what God wanted for you. And after some time goes by, you see He was right. Or do you treat God like friends, family, and marriage–just wait around until you need Him to talk to Him? What makes God different is that the highways and phone lines run both directions. He will answer you and He will also let you know through blessings that things are good. You don’t have to wait around for Him. There is no wandering if He cares. There is no doubt in this relationship. He is always there for you and He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. When everyone else fails you, God WILL be there!!

Have a good week all and SMILE God loves YOU!!

Tis the time for New Years resolutions. I thought I would share a day by day formula to help being a better person.

Monday: I will live through this day only. I will not brood about yesterday or obsess about tomorrow. I will not set far reaching goals or try to overcome all my problems at once. I know that I can do something for 24 hours that would overwhelm me, if I had to keep it up for a lifetime.

Tuesday: I will be happy. I will not dwell on thoughts that depress me. If my mind fills with clouds, I will chase them away and fill it with sunshine.

Wednesday: I will accept what is. I will face reality. I will correct those things that I can correct and accept those I cannot.

Thursday: I will improve my mind. I will read something (Bible?) that requires effort, thought, and concentration. I will not be a mental loafer.

Friday: I will make a conscience effort to be agreeable. I will be kind and courteous to those who cross my path, and I will not speak ill of others. I will improve my appearance, speak softly, and not interrupt when someone else is talking.

Saturday: I will refrain from improving anyone but myself. I will gather courage to do what is right and take responsibility for my actions.

Sunday: IT’S THE LORD’S DAY!! I will observe it and attend both class and Worship services.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
SMILE God loves YOU!!

Jesus is the Messiah spoken about in Old Testament prophesies (Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 7:14, 2 Samuel 7:12-13, Psalms 89:29, Zechariah 9:9, John 4:21-26).
Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see (Colossians 1:15-17).
Jesus is our nourishment and our lifeline; our Bread of life (John 6:35-38).
Jesus  will never leave us in darkness. He is our light (John 8:12, John 9:1-5).
Jesus is “the door”, not “a door” (John 10:9-16). Furthermore, Jesus is not only our Shepherd who leads us into the “sheepfold,” but He is the only door by which we may enter and be saved. He is the good Shepherd and He will look out for us, because He knows us and He loves us.
Jesus told Thomas, “I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). In other words, the only way to the Father and eternal life is through Jesus Christ. We must be in Christ.
Jesus is the vine and we as Christians are the branches (John 15:1-5). Jesus, the vine is the source of life for us, the branches. The branches are totally dependent upon the vine. Without the vine, we could bear no fruit. Without the Christ, we are cut off and there is no hope of eternal life and we are nothing.

As we engross ourselves with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, remember who Jesus is and what He means to our lives.

The little child comes to you about 30 minutes after all the Christmas presents have been opened and he/she has tears running down their cheeks. Their new toy is broken!! What to do? You hug them and tell them everything will be OK, then you try to fix it.

Someone threw a rock through your plate window. It’s cold and windy outside, so you find the duct tape and cover it up until it can be fixed. The repairs are all done and all is good again.

You were following a semi down the road and a big rock comes sailing through the air and breaks your windshield. You get angry as he drives on and there is nothing you can do to stop him. So, you call the insurance company and then take it to get repaired. You pay the deductible, it’s fixed, life goes on, and all is well.

Your health is broken!! You go to the doctor for a routine checkup and he finds you have a problem and it needs to be fixed. You get upset, cry a few tears, gather yourself, and hopefully get it taken care of. It’s fixed, life goes on, and all is well.

Your life is broken. Completely shattered, in shambles, tears running down the cheeks, nothing is working, no where to turn, all is lost, and you are at your wits end!! What to do? Some will turn to a psychologist to get help. Some will turn to a friend. Some will lean on their spouse. Some will crawl up inside a bottle of booze. Some will turn to some type of drug. Some, if it gets bad enough, will turn to suicide. Psychologist, friend, spouse, alcohol, drugs, suicide–REALLY?? Will any of these actually work? Probably not.

The one thing that will work is God. He is the Great Physician!! He has given us His written and living word to find the answers we need. He has an open communication line, through prayer, that we can talk to him. He will never give up on us or forsake us. He will be there in any time of need. Talk to Him, let Him speak to you through His word, you’ll be amazed how quickly your life will turn around!! You have cried the tears, gathered yourself, and got your life fixed. All is well!!

Have a good day!! SMILE God loves YOU!!

Dear Members and Friends of the Church:

I secretly visited your Bible classes recently and was overjoyed to see that so many of you had not come. I heard some lessons that were not very well prepared and other teachers said no visits had been made during the week. I was simply delighted! It thrilled me to see some leave the worship service right after the Lord’s Supper was over, indicating that they were not going to let the proclamation of God’s Word come near to them. I saw some others come just in time for the worship to sit glassy-eyed with their mouths shut while a few sang the hymns. Then they dozed or acted bored to death while the preacher went through his Sunday morning ritual and hum-drum or “bore-a-story.” I was especially pleased to note how many failed to bring an offering. I love to see the church in financial difficulty.

Think you know what this means? Not so fast, my friends. As I was thinking about this particular subject, I started asking different individuals what this meant and I found most people don’t know the meaning. Most think it is about lying or not. Most of us have probably told some “Little white lies” somewhere or sometime in our life and we have heard, “Just tell the truth and that will set you free”. Soooo, what if you confess to a crime, do the police set you free? If you’ve done something wrong at home and your parents tell you to tell the truth, you do, and there are times you got in trouble and maybe even got grounded or some other consequence happened. Did that set you free? You probably felt better by coming clean with the truth, but you didn’t get set free. What if you did something really wrong at work and has to fess up the truth? There was a consequence, maybe even dismissed from your job. Did that set you free?  Don’t get me wrong, it is always better to tell the truth. One nice thing about telling the truth is that you don’t have to try to remember what you said. Tell a lie, and pretty soon you are telling another one to cover for the first one and then another one and another one, and you get caught up with because you can’t remember what the lies were all about.

Now back to what “The Truth Will Set You Free” really means and where it came from.

John 14:1-7 says, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Fathers house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through Me”.

Jesus, is the TRUTH and he will set you free. He was born on this earth, He lived on this earth, He died on this earth, He was buried on this earth and he was resurrected from this earth. He died for our sins so we might have salvation simply by obeying what God says to do. His shed blood set us free. The TRUTH (Jesus) will set you free.
Hear
Believe
Repent
Confess
Be Baptized
Live a righteous life.
That’s what God commands and if we want to be saved at Judgement Day, that’s what we will do!!

Have a good week all. SMILE God loves YOU!!

Matthew 7:13 says, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” According to scripture, not everyone is going to Heaven.

1st: We’ll look at who is not going.

1st Corinthians 6:9-10; Do you not know that these will not inherit the Kingdom of God?

The unrighteous

Those deceived

Fornicators

Idolaters

Adulterers

Homosexuals

Sodomites

Thieves

Those who are covetous

Drunkards

Revilers

Extortioners

1st John 2:15-17:

Lovers of the world

Those who have the lust of the flesh

Those with lust of the eyes

Those with a pride of life

Do not love the world or things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

2nd: Those who will inherit the Kingdom of God:

Romans 10:17, Hear the word of God

John 8:24, Believe that Jesus is the Son of God

Matthew 10:32, Confess that belief

Luke 13:3, Repent of your sins

Mark 16:16, Be baptized

Revelation 2:10 Remain faithful.

John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

1st John 2:3-6:

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.

The Bible is our map and lays out very plainly the plan God has for our salvation. Are you on the right road?

Have a good day all!!

SMILE God loves YOU!!