Author: pgregory2

How do I know if I’m a Christian? How do I know if I’ll go to heaven when I die? 8 questions to ask yourself to have assurance of your salvation:

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December 6, 2020

10:35 pm

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Faith

So, how do I know that I won’t be one of those people who claim to be a Christian and yet find out on judgment day that I was completely wrong?

I’ve been studying the book of Romans and here are some nuggets I’ve picked up from reading my Bible along with John MacArthur’s commentary on the book of Romans. (A good, trustworthy Bible commentary is an excellent resource to really go in-depth in your study. I highly recommend John MacArthur!)

We know from Scripture that no one is right before God on their own. Romans 3:23 tells us that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:10 says, “No one is righteous—not even one.” If you aren’t as good as God, you aren’t acceptable to God.

Ask yourself these 8 questions and be completely honest with your answers.

  1. Do I love God and His Word and do I glorify Him with my life?
    Deuteronomy 6:5 “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.”
    Psalm 1:2 “But they (believers) delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.”
    I Chronicles 16:25 “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;”
    To love someone is to spend time with them and truly listen to them. Love is an action word. Who has first place in your life? God’s Word is His love letter to us. Read it.
    What is the direction of your life? Do others watch you and listen to you and know you are different? Do you act like the bride of Christ and honor Him?

2) Have I repented of my sin and do I hate sin?
To confess is to acknowledge your sin and be in agreement with God that your sin is wrong. Repentance is to make a decision to turn from your sin—to go the opposite direction. Are you sorry for your sin, or are you mostly just sorry when you get caught? Psalm 51 is David’s confession of his sin. He tells God, “Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight.”
Sin is evil. Sin cost God His Son’s life. He takes it very seriously. He abhors it and we should too.

3) Do I spend time in real prayer?
By real prayer, I mean more than a sentence here and there of “God I need this” or “God I need that”; although occasionally that’s OK, too. We should pray without ceasing and let our requests be made known to God. It should be habitual to continually be in communion with God. But do you really spend time thanking Him, praising Him and seeking answers from Him and not just giving Him your request list? Do you pray with your Bible open so that you can hear (by reading) what He has to say?

4) Am I humble?
Does my sin convict me and show me how unworthy I am of His grace? Am I willing to suffer and give up what I want for Christ’s sake? Or is my sin/selfishness more important to me? We live in a self-saturated society. It’s all about what makes me feel good/feel happy. Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.

5) Do I love others selflessly?
Is your life marked by a loving spirit? Do you love others as I John 4:7-8 commands? “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

6) Am I separated from the world?
I John 2:15-17: 15 “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.”
What excites you? Hollywood? Do you know more about sports, music and movie stars (idols) than you do about the Bible and the life of Jesus? Who are your heroes? What does your life reflect?

7) Am I growing spiritually?
Do you read the Bible daily? Are you trying to get to know God better? Everyone makes time for what’s important. Is growing closer to God important to you? Do you want to know what He has to say about how to live your life? Be careful who you listen to—many false teachers are speaking heresy. You have to KNOW what the Bible says in order to spot counterfeit teaching.

8) Do I live in obedience to Scripture?

Love = obedience. John 14:15 15 “If you love me, keep my commands. I John 2:3-6 3 “We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”
While works do not save us, they are evidence of a life that has been transformed. James 2:14 14” What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions?”
To obey the commands, you have to know the commands. Again, read your Bible. Your good deeds (works) should glorify God, not you.

Matt 7:21-23 are some of the most terrifying verses in the Bible to me. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
These people did good works. They called Jesus “Lord”. But HE didn’t know THEM. They didn’t spend time with Him. They knew ABOUT Him, but they didn’t have a personal relationship with Him.

Personal relationship is the bottom line. Do you have the kind of relationship with Jesus Christ that you can say you truly know Him and what pleases Him and He truly knows you and speaks to you? You must read Scripture. Know what you believe, why you believe it and know how to communicate it effectively.
Jude 24-25 “To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

If you have never trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, or if you believe in Jesus, but your life does not show evidence that you are a child of God, please reach out through my email address to find out how you can have assurance that you are a Christian.

A Prayer for Our Nation

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November 28, 2020

4:09 pm

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Faith

Father,

You are the King of all Kings. You are Sovereign over all. You have complete control of every situation, every action, every thing. You set kingdoms up and You take them down. Your name is to be praised above every name. You are deserving of all praise and honor and glory.

Oh God, I come before you in repentance, Lord, for being lazy. For keeping my mouth shut when I should have spoken. For speaking when I shouldn’t. For worrying about offending others with Your Word. For complaining and gossiping and sowing dissension. Lord, my mouth can get me into a lot of trouble. My words come out of a sinful heart. Luke 6:45b “What you say flows from what is in your heart.” Forgive me. Wash me clean and make me usable for your Kingdom.

Lord, our nation is in trouble. We as Christians have grown complacent. We have allowed the enemy to convince us to keep our mouths shut and our opinions to ourselves for the sake of peace. We have believed the lie that loving others means never confronting them with sin. We have let you know in so many ways that we don’t need you in our daily lives. We have turned our face away and allowed our schools and government to erase any mention of you and your Son, Jesus. And as a result, you have left us to our own devices. You have slowly been removing your hand of protection and we haven’t even noticed. We asked for it; You gave it. And now we are crying out to You to save us. We are losing the freedoms we have taken for granted so fast our heads are spinning and we are weeping like children who have been separated from their mama. Hear our cry, O God. Come to our rescue! Like a prince in a fairy tale, we long for you to save us.

This election is in your hands and You will declare the winner. Nothing is beyond your reach. No one can cheat their way past Your sovereign will. But I plead with you to have mercy for just a few more years. Now I see what is coming. Now I know that I had better prepare. Now I know I can no longer fear being mocked or being “cancelled” or persecuted. Tribulation and persecution are here in America. I just ask that you give us a little more time. Let your army of Christian soldiers rise up and fight the good fight!

To You alone be the glory, Father. The labor pains are getting stronger and closer together. This world is coming to an end. You have told us what to expect. You have a plan and a purpose and I have to trust You. You are coming soon. Come, Lord Jesus! Rev 22:20

Can You Homeschool Successfully?

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November 28, 2020

4:05 pm

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Home Education

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YES!

So many are considering homeschooling because of the pandemic but I know many parents are insecure and worried they will “mess their kid up”. Well, don’t believe that for a minute! You can do this! Do not fall for the lie that a school system can train up your child better than you can. You know your child better than anyone. You know what makes them tick. You know what they love to talk about. You know what they are good at. Most teachers and school systems want your child to conform to their standards. They are required to teach to the average student and if you have one falling behind or one that’s bored because they are able and want to move faster, well, that’s just too bad. Your child gets a label—learning disabled or a disruptive know-it-all.

I home educated both my children almost every “grade” (they both made a go at “real” school at one point, but both ended up wanting to come back home). I don’t have a college degree. I spent 5 years taking college classes and changing majors because I couldn’t settle on anything that I really wanted to do. I realized that I just love to learn. Don’t miss this: The desire to learn is what you want to instill in your child. Teach a child to read and their possibilities are endless! He or she can learn just about anything. They can follow their passion. What a wonderful thing! And it doesn’t really matter if their desire doesn’t fall into a traditional subject–history, English, math, science, etc. You can learn all those things through whatever it is that interests your child. Take sports, for instance. If your child is interested in a particular sport, use their interest to teach the traditional subjects around it. Read about the history of their favorite sport, study the geography surrounding it. Do some math involving their favorite sport. Write a short paragraphs about sporting events they watch on TV or do a report of a game in which they participated. Make learning fun!
And don’t get caught up in grade levels. Those are man-made guidelines that know nothing about your child. Talk to your child. Read to them. Have discussions with them and LISTEN to them. You can learn a lot just by listening.
There are a number of good umbrella schools out there that will give you guidance. Make sure you find one that suits you. Some umbrella schools look just like a regular school system. They tell you what to do and sell you the resources you need for your child to pass the grade. Other umbrella schools are more flexible and allow you the freedom to make the decisions (this is how I chose to home educate). I didn’t want someone telling me how to do things and being required to adhere to their schedule. I wanted to make my own schedule and let my children pursue their interests so that I knew they were actually “getting it” for a lifetime rather than just enough to just pass a test or grade.

Don’t miss the opportunity to try home-educating your child. You aren’t making a forever decision. Just give it a try so that you won’t ever have the regret of looking back and having to say, “What if we had tried?” You CAN do this!
Proverbs 22:6

Fit in Your 50’s

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November 28, 2020

3:54 pm

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Fitness

Do you look up over 50 transformations on the web? Is being fit in your 50’s of interest to you? Well, me too! I am 51 (July, 1969 birthday), peri-menopausal, and I struggle with keeping my weight in check and being consistent in exercise.
I am lucky to be married to an over-50 man who enjoys exercise—this keeps me motivated to move. My children are both experienced in athletics which makes it a subject we can all discuss and we occasionally participate in events together.

Being fit at any age is as much a mind commitment as it is a physical commitment. You have to get your head wrapped around the fact that you are going to make changes and KEEP your commitments. This means changing food choices as well as making physical movement choices. It could mean you will need to change your sleep patterns—you might need to go to bed an hour earlier in order to get up an hour earlier if you prefer to workout in the mornings. I personally prefer working out in the morning because I am really good at coming up with excuses and letting other things interfere with afternoon/evening exercise.

Food is a big deal. Food prep is the number one commitment you need to make so that you do not make unhealthy choices when hunger strikes. My husband David and I usually meal prep on Sunday afternoons and we make enough food to give each of us 4 meals a day for 5 days. Our 5th meal is normally a breakfast which we make fresh since its usually an easy protein shake or oats or something quick. More on food prep later. . .

As far as exercise goes, cardio is NOT king! Lift weights and lift as heavy as you can. This will need to switch up occasionally. Maybe 1 week you lift 10-12 reps and week 2 you lift heavier at 8-10 reps. Then go back to the 10-12 rep range and the next week back to the 8-10 reps. Then, change the workouts altogether. There are numerous videos online showing you so many different ways to exercise each body part and how to use proper technique which is so, so important to avoid injury. Write your workouts down. Have your week planned out so you don’t hit the gym with no direction. Know what exercises you plan to do, how many reps of each and how many sets. Have a general idea of what weight you will want to start with. Add weight as you can and push yourself. Ladies, you will not bulk up! What you will do is lose body fat that will expose those beautiful muscles that have been hidden away. You might not even lose a lot of weight when you lift weights because you are replacing fat with muscle and your body composition will change. So, you may only lose 5-10#, but that might mean losing 2-3 pants sizes. Muscle doesn’t take up as much room as fat.

That being said, I do about 3-4 days of cardio every week. I might go for an hour walk or jog. I like to ride my road bike outdoors. I also have an indoor bike trainer and a treadmill so I can get some exercise in when the weather isn’t cooperative. Cardio is for my heart health. It is also good for burning calories and helping to rid my body of fat. But it is not the main deal for me. Most of the time, I prefer to keep the cardio to about 30-45 minutes and I do an interval or HIIT type of training. This is mostly because I get bored and the switching up makes the time go faster for me.

Now, if you are like me, you may have skin that refuses to contract. My skin is thick. It’s loose. It has cellulite. But I have had to learn to accept my body the way it is, keep working towards reducing body fat and keep on pressing on to keep myself healthy.

Listen, YOU CAN DO THIS! Write your workouts down. Plan your day and work your plan. Try your best to find like-minded friends to journey together and keep each other accountable. Have a goal in your mind as well as written down. Read it daily. Commit to it. Pray over it. There is nothing wrong with devoting 1 hour to yourself 5-6 days a week to get and stay healthy. Exercising will release those endorphins that energize you. Do something good for yourself!

III John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.