All Words At Their Root Have Deep And Profound Meaning, And Over Time They May Change Their Original

All words at their root have deep and profound meaning, and over time they may change their original connotation and be perceived a different way. Religion is one of those words.

In modern use it means the practice of any belief system, denomination or spiritual application — and in one sense that is true. However the actual meaning of the word is much more restraining and ominous.

The Latin origin of “RELIGION” is 'RE' which means “AGAIN” and 'LIGUARE' meaning to “To Tie Or Bind.” Put it all together and the real effect of all religions is to put people in a position to continually go back to those things that BIND THEM BACK To A Never-Ending Walk Of Works, Worship and Warnings.

Christianity on the other hand in the modern usage of the word could be classified as a 'religion,' but in the true meaning of the word it is the exact OPPOSITE of a system that ties you to rules, regulations, regalia, and restraints.

True Christianity is not another RE-LIGUARE which binds you to doing THIS, not eating THAT, wearing certain DRESS, self-PUNISHMENT, presenting SACRIFICES, requiring strict schedules of SERVICE OR ATTENDANCE, or PRAYING PRAYERS at certain times. Instead the true essence of being a Christian is being in a RELATIONSHIP — not only to God that made you, but to the only true God who is KING OF KING AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:16)

Christ alone is the only one that can and will redeem you from sin and eternal death, and freely give all that choose to believe that He conquered death by raising from the dead. In doing so he alone opened the way for all to follow HIM as truly the only “Way, Truth and Life“ (John 10:10b) to heaven and eternal life. All that He requires of you is to believe in your heart in the Lord Jesus, and confess with your mouth that Christ is the only true God and repent of your sins, then you will be saved (Romans 10:9)

Friend, all Religions require YOU to pay a cost by binding you to doing something to redeem your life or achieve a state of perfection. Your sweat and blood is not required because Christ has already PAID THE PRICE of redemption WITH HIS BLOOD to make YOU Perfect in His holiness and wholeness that 'religion' can only partially promise and vainly hope for IF you do certain things.

Saul who became the great Apostle Paul saw that religion is a FALSE PROFIT that cannot save. Like Paul instead put your trust in the TRUE PROPHET of Christ alone today as He is THE ONE TRUE AND ONLY WAY.

God Bless Your Day, Jesus Loves You

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We all make mistakes in our lives, but making a mistake is NOT committing a sin, but mistakes can turn into sins if taken to an evil end. This raises an interesting question about the difference between making a MISTAKE and committing a SIN.

There was a story about a man playing golf, and in teeing off, his drive hooked badly into tall, rough weeds. That hit was a mistake, but instead of skillfully playing out of a tough spot, he casually dropped a new ball on a bare patch from within the weed bed so he could hit a far easier shot back onto the green.

Like the golfer in this story, sometimes what starts off as a mistake may evolve into a lie to cover it up. As today’s scripture verse tells us, those with integrity won’t let the mistake get them down, but will pick themselves up and do better next time. However if you lack integrity, the Bible warns us that while you might get away with that today, eventually that — and all other like sins — WILL eventually catch up to you.

None of us are perfect, so when you make a mistake, don’t get down on yourself, but pick yourself up, learn from it, and let it make you better not bitter!

God Bless Your Day, Jesus Loves You

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When should we pray? Is it just when we’re troubled? No, the Bible says to pray without ceasing, but are you asking how i s this possible? It means that we are to include God in our thoughts and conversations listening low to His voice not only when we are troubled about something, but for all kinds of requests to answers we need.

Do we need to have others pray for us? Yes, Jesus says in Matthew 18:19, “Again, I tell you truly when two or more are gathered together, there I will be also.” In this life there will be some very troubling times, and praying with others gives us strength and comfort, yet too often we try to find a quick fix to our problems by asking everyone else to pray for us. There’s nothing wrong with having others praying for you, but you’ll never get your life to a place of victory until you begin to pray yourself.

The biggest church in the world is in Seoul, Korea, has 800,000 members and is pastored Dr. David Cho. How did that church grow to be so large? According to Dr.Cho, the key was and is prayer. Not just his prayers, but the prayers of all of his people, because praying is a way of life in that church. They have a place called Prayer Mountain where thousands of people come every day to pray.

I once heard Dr. Cho’s mother-in-law on television talking about the emphasis they put on prayer. She said that when their church members are in trouble, or when they have marriage problems or other difficulties in their lives, before anything else is done, they are told to fast and pray for 24 hours.

We need to do more of that here in our churches in the United States and not encouraging people to run around asking others to pray for them, but instead teach them to pray for themselves. Begin to buckle down and pray for yourself and discipline yourself to start searching out the things of the Spirit, and you’ll receive answers from God and learn how to make adjustments in your life that will keep those problems from cropping up again.

When you make Jesus Christ your Lord, you always have access to the throne of Almighty God. He has every solution to every problem you’ll ever have, and He’s just waiting for you to come to Him so He can give you the answer. Make it a priority to have some “private time̶ alone every day with Him to hear His voice speak to you and He will never disappoint you.

Don’t depend on others to do your praying for you. Go personally to the throne of God today and pray for yourself.

God Bless Your Day, Jesus Loves You

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My first job out of the Navy was working for a fine men’s store in San Francisco, and while our suits were  definitely of a very high quality and not inexpensive, they were not on the same level as the world-class couturier design houses of the ultra rich.

One of my favorite suits was a grey three piece that one of our tailors custom fitted to perfection for me, and although inexpensive compared to the best of Paris or Milan, it wasn’t inexpensive nor in the same league of Seville Row, London  — yet still looked terrific.

After college, I was a software engineer at AT&T and one of the great benefits of that job was traveling to take engineering classes. One of them happened to be in New York City, and being a 'clothes guy' I had always wanted to go into the famous men’s store at BARNEYS NYC.

On my lunch hour I walked in wearing my fabulous three-piece suit, shoes polished to the nines and even a stick pin in my lapel (hey…this was the 80’s!) and while browsing through the men’s clothing area, curiously, three nearby salesmen never approached to ask if they could serve me.  I thought that odd as that is what I would have done in their position, but shortly after this, two things hit me.

First, I got the nerve to turn over some price tags and was shocked! Compared to my old store in San Francisco where the average suit was $250 to $500, their suits started at $2,000 and went UP! I guess they sized me up in my $350 suit and looked down on me as someone that was definitely outside of their league, and I embarrassingly made a hasty retreat under their scorning eyes.

Today’s Bible verse speaks precisely to this judgment of appearances. People do indeed 'judge a book by it’s cover' — but that is not how God sees YOU. No matter where you are, what you do, what kind of car you drive, neighborhood you live in, how rich or poor or talented or good  (or not good looking) you are the LORD sees you for WHO YOU ARE and loves and accepts exactly as you are. Period.

Friend, it is easy to get caught up in the sin of comparison that either you place on others or they place on you, but in the grand scheme of things, it is how and where your heart is as a human being — and more importantly — how your heart attitude is towards God.

God sees the true you. See that in yourself and also see that in others, because that is all who all of us really are.

God Bless Your Day, Jesus Loves You

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The first lie in the Bible on the earth was from Satan to Eve, and she believed and responded to that lie based on secondhand information.

If you carefully re-read the previous chapter, this instruction to 'not eat of the tree of good and evil' was given by God directly to Adam before Eve was created. That means Eve received this instruction secondhand from Adam, not directly from God. This is like the party game 'Telephone' where one person tells another person something, and by the time the message gets to the last person it is greatly distorted.

Note in Eve’s response she changed God’s instruction received by Adam in two subtle ways.

First she did not call it 'the tree of the knowledge of good and evil' (Genesis 2:17) but instead referred to it as 'the tree in the midst of the garden' (3:3). Then she elaborated on the instruction 'thou shalt not eat of it' (again in 2:17) and added to it '...OR TOUCH IT' (lbid- 3:3 - also see Revelation 22:18!)

Satan used her secondhand understanding of God’s Word against her, which caused her to doubt, and led to her making the biggest mistake in human history.

The lesson here hopefully is obvious. If you are depending to understand what God is saying to you in your life through what other people are telling or teaching you, you are making the same grevious mistake as Eve! Instead get it first from God directly through His Word the Bible, through prayer, and listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying to your heart. As useful as going to church, hearing sermons, Christian TV or YouTube videos are, reading Christian books or seeing things in email or on the Internet (just like you are reading here!!) is no substitute from reading and understanding God’s Word FOR YOURSELF.

Do not make the same mistake as Eve and miss the point and remember that “no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own (or someone else’s) interpretation.” (2 Peter 1:20) The final authority is ALWAYS God’s Word, not what someone told you about it.

God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You

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A good friend of mine worked for the FBI for many years and when I asked her how they caught criminals, she said something I never forgot:

“If you want to find a criminal, find their friends, because they are who they associate with.”

The same could be said for our regular lives, but especially as Christians for our life in Christ. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:33 that “Bad company corrupts Good Character” so when we associate with people of an unholy nature, their character can and does rub off on us. The Bible also warns us in James 1:27 “...to keep oneself unspotted from the world” so again we are reminded that it is important to not keep company with people of questionable character.

This does not mean that you cannot be friends with non-Christians. Keep in mind our goal is foremost LOVE of people and seeing them as Christ sees us – as sinners saved by grace. As today’s verse points out, as people of God we are ‘Holy;’ but that does NOT mean uppity or better than anyone else!! The word ‘holy’ means ‘set apart’ as we are set apart for God as His people to do his work and be ambassadors for Christ and need to act and be accordingly.

In your close relationships, choose people of like mind - people that also have the mind of Christ. When you do, godly friends will build you up and make you stronger:

“ As iron sharpens iron; so a friend sharpens a friend’s character.” Proverbs 27:17

God Bless Your Day, Jesus Loves You

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