My Walk with Jesus

I give permission, to anyone who comes across this document to freely distribute it to anyone, so that they may come to faith, or that their faith may be strengthened, in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. This is an account, a journal if you will, of my walk with Jesus. I write this not just for myself, but as stated above, may all who read this account may also walk with Jesus, just as I do. I may not write in it every day. But I try to enter in as much as possible.

Most people that know me personally would agree that I'm a pretty down-to-earth type of person. As that type of person, I hope that through these posts, I'm able to present my faith in a down-to-earth way. I guess you could call this evangelizing, but I'm really not an evangelist, or at least not what I would call a "career evangelist." That said, what you read is real. There are no visions, no wild dreams, no big miracles, just my simple story. I'm not saying that the above can't happen, because God can and will do the above things in some situations, but for me right now, this is it. I'm not here to tell you what you're doing wrong. I'm not here to make money off you. I am here to share my faith and real life, simple story with you. The truth is, you're getting a glimpse into the mind of Tim. :)

Note: - While I pray that the Holy Spirit would guide my hands in typing, please do not take what I write to be authoritative. The Bible should always be your ultimate authority. With that said I pray that your heart and mind would be open to God's Truth.
January 17th 2003 - It's a very common for people to have some kind affection for other people. For example, I just got done watching a movie with Ashley Judd. I've always thought she was really pretty and I'd love to meet her and and she what she's like in person. But of course I'm a realist and I know that will never happen. Even if I did meet her, it wouldn't live up to my expectations. Everyone has someone famous they'd love to meet and get to know, but in reality it will never happen. Even if it does, the meeting doesn't go as expected (usually much worse than expected).

Now let's contrast this with meeting Jesus Christ. He is always interested in meeting us. He already knows us completely, but He's also concerned with our well being. If any of us were to meet Jesus Christ in person, we'd get His undivided attention, and some very very good advice from Him for our lives. In those times where I use my imagination and think about what it would be like to meet someone famous, I should really think about what it's like to meet Jesus, because I can and do meet Him every time I read His Word in the Bible. Jesus knows me, and reading His Word is the way to get to know Him. Thank you Lord, for your love for me!
January 6th 2004 - Lately, as I read over my posts, I've seen the roller-coaster ride that my spiritual life is going on. I really struggle at times with temptation. Once I'm tempted, I sin and then I feel guilty. Then it becomes a battle of guilt vs. grace. I know that God forgives me, even when I make the same mistakes over and over again. Even if I'm in a battle with something I have trouble breaking free from. Sometimes though, I wonder if each time I commit the same mistake over again, I'm slowly losing ground. The answer to that question is, yes and no. Yes, because each time we sin, we separate ourselves from God. The first sin of Adam and Eve was what separated mankind from God. No, because all sins of all time have been paid for by Jesus Christ (or even better Jesus the Messiah). Every time I sin, it does separate me from God, but that sin was paid for on the Cross.

A Bible verse that is very comforting to me when I think about this is Romans 5:8 - "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." That is very comforting. While I was still a sinner, or in other words, while I was an enemy of God, Christ died for me to bring me back to Him. If we read on, verses 9-10 clarify it all the more: "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" Thank you Lord for this saving faith that you give me. Send your Holy Spirit into my heart in times of struggle to give me strength to get through the tough times. Amen.
December 23rd 2003 - It's been a busy time with the Christmas season upon us. In the midst of buying our gifts and doing all the preparations, I hope we stopped to take time to look into the manger and hear the good news of great joy that will be for all the people. This year, I've been blessed because when I read Luke 1 & 2 I also felt the sense of joy hearing about the birth of our Savior (specifically Luke 2:8-20). That's very comforting since the Department of Homeland Security just raised the terror alert to code orange. In fact, as a Christian, I have no need to fear anything. God is with me; He is my Rock and Salvation. Should I be a victim of a terrorist attack, I can confidently say: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." (Psalm 23:4) God is with you too, dear reader. Take comfort in that as you go out into the fearful world we live in.
November 16th 2003 - Well it's a Sunday evening and I just finished watching my favorite football team loose for the 4th straight time. Needless to say, I'm disappointed, even a bit bummed out. While I was driving home from watching the game with church friends, the Holy Spirit talked to me. Why am I bummed out? I am blessed in abundance! I have a car, a job, two cats, a loving girlfriend, I'm paying my bills on time, I have good credit, I live in a house, I have a caring family and friends. I could go on and on. I am rich. There are people in this world that have to fight daily just to feed themselves. They are thankful or even overjoyed when they have the kind of meal I have 3 times a day! And I'm upset about a silly football game?? While thinking about that I remembered the story of the rich man and Lazarus. How can I let an insignificant game ruin my day when I am so blessed and there are people who need my help? Lord please forgive me, the sinner that I am, for doing just that. Help me to remember that I have been blessed in abundance and that there are people in this world that need my help. Help me be willing, and eager to share these abundant gifts with others who desperately need them. Should I loose some or even all of these abundant gifts You've given me, help me to continue to rejoice that I still have the most important gift of all; Eternal life, through Your gift of faith in Jesus Christ! In His Holy name I pray, Amen.
November 5th 2003 - It's been a while since I've updated this document. It's been a rather busy month! I've had things that I've wanted to write, but haven't gotten a chance to write them. For instance, I was listening to The Lutheran Hour and the sermon that I was listening to was talking about great Christians. To very briefly summarize, Jesus says that in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we need to have a child-like faith. So what does that mean? The speakers’ belief was that we should always yearn to be close to our Heavenly Father. Granted Scripture doesn't clarify that very well, but it logically makes sense. So as part of being close to our Heavenly Father, I need to be humble. I thank God that I have the type of personality that makes it fairly easy for me to be humble. When I really reflect on how to be humble, I think of how I can humble myself as much as possible. When I think like that I get this feeling. It's a feeling that I really can't describe. The best description I can give is one where God's face is shining on me, that He's in control and He's happy with what I'm doing. However, thinking like this and putting into practice are two different things. I need to work on that second part in thought, word and deed.

I'm also thankful that God will let me know when I'm not being humble. When I look back at my life, I can think of several examples where I've tried to exalt myself and God has humbled me. So by being humble, I trust God's promise that He will exalt me. May God bless you as you humble yourself before Him, so that one day He might exalt you.
September 7th 2003 - This is another one of my rare two-day-in-a-row posts, but I felt I had a couple important things to say. Recently, I was chatting online with a friend about her walk with God and I started to wonder if I seemed pushy. I asked and she said no. I'm writing this because as a Christian, I should never push my religion on others. In fact, that very thing is impossible! Only the Holy Spirit can create faith in a person's heart. So why do I do it? For one, Jesus tells me to. There are a few stories in the Bible that talk about people finding lost things (see Luke 15). The three "lost" stories are, the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. I heard a pastor talk about these stories. He mentioned a few very important points about these stories:
  1. The items or people that were lost were important to the owner
  2. These items or people were important enough to warrant an all out search that didn't end until they were found (except the last one where the father patiently waited for him to return)
  3. Once these items, or people, were found, a big party was thrown and everyone celebrated
From these points we can draw three more points of what God is trying to tell us here:
  1. All people, whether they are "good" or "bad", matter to God
  2. God actively seeks those who are lost, patiently waits for them to return to Him, and will not stop until they are found (unless they refuse to be found, since we have free will)
  3. According to Luke 15:7,10 - "I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.", "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." So in other words, every time someone realizes they need Jesus as their Savior, a great party is thrown in heaven with that person's name. Even better, that person is the honored guest. That person could be you.
The second reason I talk about my faith is because I want you to have what I have, which is an assurance, and a sense of peace, joy and hope that cannot be attained in this world. You can work hard to get what you want in this world, but the sense of accomplishment you'll get won't last. It will fade away some day. What I have will last forever. Literally.

The second part of this rather long post deals with a football game. I was listening to my favorite NFL team on the radio today and one of the announcers mentioned something about "Who's side is God on today?" And then one of the announcers said to be a "preacher" said God was on "our side." What a horrible thing to say!! That statement made me somewhat angry. It is absolutely not true! I can say with a high level of confidence that God is not concerned about the outcome of a football game! God is concern with the spiritual welfare of every player on the field, every fan in the stadium and every soul on this earth. Does God "like" sports? I don't know, but who wins and who loses a football game is completely insignificant compared to our relationship with Him.

Now that I'm done yelling, I would like to say that I don't hold anything against that announcer. I just hope that in the future he will be more careful of what he says.

As you can see, there's a bit of a pattern between these two posts, that I hope you caught. Remember, God loves you, and He's concern about you. May you let that love of God surround and uplift you so that someday when you see Jesus face to face, His smile will fill you with everlasting joy and you can live with Him forever. Amen.
September 6th 2003 - The other night, I was chatting on the internet and I found myself trying to earn the respect or favor of my fellow chatters. I've also gotten down on myself when I want to be part of a project of some kind, whether at work or elsewhere, but I can't because I'm not qualified or don't have enough knowledge. It's quite a trap that Satan has set for us in the above situations. We spend all our effort try to win the praise of other people and totally forget that our Almighty God perfectly loves us and we have favor in His eyes though Jesus Christ. I always like to say that God is "on my side". The reality is that trying to win other peoples praise and get ahead in this life is rather silly-dangerous is a better word-when we stop and think about the eternal picture. It's so comforting to know that I don't have to "do whatever it takes" to get ahead in this life. I can rest and rejoice in the peace of God which transcends all human understanding. (Philippians 4:4-7)
August 23rd 2003 - "I know that my Redeemer lives" - Job 19:25 As Christians, our Redeemer is Jesus Christ, but have we ever thought about what that means? First off what does redeem mean? According to Merriam-Webster it means:

1 a : to buy back : REPURCHASE b : to get or win back
2 : to free from what distresses or harms: as a : to free from captivity by payment of ransom b : to extricate from or help to overcome something detrimental c : to release from blame or debt : CLEAR d : to free from the consequences of sin
3 : to change for the better : REFORM
4 : REPAIR, RESTORE
5 a : to free from a lien by payment of an amount secured thereby b (1) : to remove the obligation of by payment <the U.S. Treasury redeems savings bonds on demand> (2) : to exchange for something of value <redeem trading stamps> c : to make good : FULFILL 6 a : to atone for : EXPIATE b (1) : to offset the bad effect of (2) : to make worthwhile : RETRIEVE

All of these definitions are important, but notice the main definition; to buy back. The Bible tells us that we were bought at a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). That price was Jesus' death on the cross. This is very significant! This means that God owns us! He owns our body, soul, and all things. We belong to God. For me, that means that I will stand before His majesty and be accountable to Him. That means that I should live my life with Him in mind. Fortunately, this is a good thing, because God loves us and wants what's best for us. Praise Him for that!
August 15th 2003 - I've been thinking about my faith lately. Christianity teaches that our faith is a free gift to us from God. We can only have faith when God gives it to us, and of course He will give it to anyone who wishes to receive it. We don't create faith on our own. One of the things I've been confused about is what role we play in our faith as opposed to what role God plays in our faith. Take the following with a grain of salt because I could be wrong here. What do you do with a gift? Well, if we imagine it's our birthday and we're getting gifts, we first open them to see what they are. In some cases (depending on who gave the gift) it's something alive, like a pet or a plant. So what do we do with something alive? We have to feed an nurture it. For example, I have two cats. Now I have some choices in how I take care of these cats. I could spend lots of time nurturing them and caring for them or I could ignore them completely, or something in between. If I spend lots of time with them, they become very friendly, they grow and the outcome is positive, but if I ignore them, don't feed them and don't spend time with them, they will eventually die off.

I see my role in my faith the same way. I could feed and nurture it daily by praying, reading God's Word and meditating on it as well as going to Church on Sundays and receiving Jesus' Body and Blood, or I could ignore my faith and it will die off. I could also be somewhere in between. We cannot create our faith, but once it's given to us, we can nurture it and help it to grow. The author and giver of our faith is the Holy Spirit. He comes to us and helps us to maintain and grow that faith. We can't, however, control the Spirit. We must let the Spirit control us. A good Bible verse that exemplifies that is John 3:8- "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." May the author and giver of your faith bless you this day as you read this.
July 30th 2003 - One of my many concerns or worries lately is that someone will either "deconvert" me or convert me to another religion or faith. So with this fear, I was seeing non-Christians and even Christians from other denominations as a threat and even an enemy. Granted there are "Evangelical Atheists" out there that are trying to "deconvert" people as well as people from other religions doing the same. But then a sermon in church last Sunday made me remember something. My faith is cannot be taken from me by any man, woman, demon, object, idea, force or anything else. Even Satan himself is powerless against my faith in God. Why? My faith is a gift from God. God controls my faith, not me. Now that doesn’t mean I can’t walk away from it. I have free will, I don’t have to accept this gift, and even though I’ve accepted it, I can walk away from it. But no one can take it from me, no one! Jesus said Himself: "Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.’" - John 6:35-40. I don’t have to fear this, and non-Christians are certainly not a threat and are not my enemy. I thank God that He provides me with this faith and that I don’t have to worry!
July 15th 2003 - This will be a shorter post as it is late at night. There are a lot of false teachers out there. There's the whole concept of New Age, pseudo-Christian cults and many others. We must be careful not to abandon what is taught to us. We don't go to heaven because we "lived a good life" or because "we're good people." If you believe that, please know the Bible teaches that we go to heaven because we believe Jesus Christ died for us on the cross for our sins. That is the only way to heaven. Let me end this short post with the words of St. Paul, a powerful passage that has become one of my favorites to read:

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcise, in the putting off of the sinful nature,not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head(Christ), from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." -Colossians 2:6-23
July 9th 2003 - I've noticed that Christians sometimes forget the true concept of the cross. We must not forget the importance of the cross and why Jesus had to die on it. While it's true that God loves us very dearly, we must not forget that we are full of sin and God can't even stand to look at us as we are. It is only through Jesus' death on the cross that God the Father can see us through Jesus Christ as holy. Another way to put it, is that Jesus stands in our place in the Father's eyes. When the Father sees Jesus, He sees a perfect, sinless person. Through Jesus alone we are allowed into Heaven.

I've noticed that some Christians just focus on God's love and how Glorious He is. They also tend to think that "God will forgive me when I sin, it's not that bad." While the first part of this is true, we must not forget the cross. We must remember that God takes sin very seriously!! As Martin Luther says in his Small Catechism, we should learn to be horrified by our sins. God takes sin so seriously, that blood needs to be shed. Before Jesus, the Jew's had to sacrifice an animal and sprinkle it's blood to atone for their sins. Jesus eliminated that by shedding His blood so we are free from the sacrificial system. When Jesus died on the cross, all the sins of the world, past, present and future were imputed onto Him. We can't possibly imagine how much pain that must have caused. He had to die with all that sin on Him. It was a slow, agonizing, humiliating death! Why would Jesus do such a thing? Because He loves you! He wants you to come to him so He can be your Friend, so you can be saved and part of the Heavenly Family. So every time you or I sin, no matter how "little" or "insignificant" that sin may seem, that sin added to the pain. Something to keep in mind next time we are tempted to do something wrong.
July 1st 2003 - Wow, two days in a row, I'm on a roll! I was reading some of the writings of Echo Bodine. She wrote the famous book, "Echos of the Soul." While I have not read this book, I would not recommend reading it unless you have a strong understanding of the Bible! Echo Bodine is a New Age teacher, not a Christian teacher. Reading any of her books without knowing what the Bible really teaches will result in spiritual harm!

Now to my main point. Echo brings up a common misconception of Christianity, she says that most "organized" religions (Christianity included) teach that God is far away on a throne looking down and that we can't know him personally. That is so far from the truth for Christianity! While many other world religions have this view, Christianity is different from them all! It teaches that God is our Heavenly Father and that we do indeed have a personal relationship with Him. Jesus is our Heavenly Brother who intercedes between the Father and us. It is through Jesus and only through Jesus that we have a personal relationship with God the Father. Christianity also teaches Jesus is with us always, even to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20). Christianity also teaches that nothing can separate us from God's love through Jesus Christ (Romans 8:38-39). What is the status of Jesus? He has the Name above every name and in the Name of Jesus everyone will bow. (Phillipians 2:5-11) So if we read the Bible and understand it, we really do have a personal relationship with God! He is our father. In fact He says to call Him Abba Father, which means Dad (Romans 8:15-17, Galatians 4:4-7)! In fact, Jesus Himself calls upon Dad (Mark 14:36) in the Garden of Gethsemane. I pray that you will make God, your Dad through our Brother Jesus Christ today.
June 30th 2003 - I've been a little low in spirit lately, but I understand that is normal, spiritual ups and downs that is. Perhaps I need to do more good deeds, after all "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." (James 2:26) Finding deeds can be easy. I work in downtown Minneapolis, and after work when I walk along Nicollet Mall, there are a number of people asking for money, or playing instruments with buckets asking for money. A common thought that pops up is WWJD (What Would Jesus Do)? It's a question that caused many bracelets to be sold and worn, but do we really know how to answer that question? Don't get me wrong, following Jesus' example is impeccable, but do we really know the answer to WWJD? Let's take the example of someone asking for money on the street. Would Jesus give that person money? Maybe, maybe not. I'm sure He would have taught the person something. We should keep in mind, that since Jesus is God, He knows all about the said person, including their past, present, and future. He knows their mind, spirit and heart down to the deepest, darkest secret. He knows EXACTLY what to do for that particular person, and how the person is going to react. So Jesus has that over us. However, we're not too far behind, because we have the Holy Spirit ever present and active in us. The Holy Spirit will tell us what to do and what to say. It is my prayer that if I come across someone asking for money, or in any other need, that the Holy Spirit would guide me to a decision that's best for that person. I pray this in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
June 17th 2003 - I had a struggle recently. I read a pro-Islam and anti-Christian website which made some convincing points. I really contemplated the question that a lot of people have: "Am I in the right religion?" This struggle was caused entirely by my own mind. My fear was that I wouldn't be saved. So after talking with others and sharing my concerns, here's what the response was that convinced me that I am indeed on the right path to God. I threw out all the biases of both Islam and Christianity and got down to fundamentals only. Islam teaches that you need to earn your salvation by doing good deeds, praying 5 times a day, paying a tax, giving money to the poor, and making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in your life. Unlike Islam, and all other world religions, Christianity stands out. All other world religions (including Islam) say one of two things:
  1. You have to do certain things to please, or earn your way back to, their god(s) or goddess(es)
  2. If you do certain things you become a god, or like their god(s) or goddess(es)
Christianity, unlike all other religions, teaches that:
  1. Our salvation was earned for us by Jesus Christ dying on the cross and being raised from the dead. By dying on the cross Jesus did what no human has ever, can ever or will ever do which is earn their way to God. He did this because He (Jesus) is the Son of God, and God Himself. Only God, by becoming human (Jesus), could live a perfect, sinless life and fulfill God's Law for us. By being raised from the dead, Jesus is victorious over sin, death and the devil and frees us from it as well.
  2. We cannot, and must not, do anything to earn God's favor, because we already have it! This is the true concept of grace. God loves us so much that he sent His only Son to die a slow, painful death so that we could come back to Him. It's said best in John 3:16-17 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him."
  3. God loves us, and we have a personal relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. We believe that God is our Heavenly Father and He care's for us far more the best human father that ever lived. He wants to draw us closer to Him and wants all people to be part of the Family!
  4. God has a Triune nature, three Persons, Father, Son (Jesus) and Holy Spirit, but one God. If you're having a tough time with that, imagine H2O. It exists in the form of water, ice and vapor. All three states are H2O but all three are very different physically and visually.
Here's a better summary of my beliefs: http://www.lhm.org/believe.htm

So why can't we earn our way back to God? Because God is perfect and Holy and even one little sin is a blemish in God's eyes. Imagine buying a brand new perfectly white table. When you get the table set up, it glows. But then after a while you start seeing specs of dust on it. Now imagine all you have to wipe off this table is a dry cloth. You can wipe all you want and you'll never get all the little specs of dust off because they keep coming back. That's what it's like to try to earn your salvation. It can't be done. I pray by reading this message you will let Jesus into your heard and into your mind and trust Him to lead your life.
June 4th 2003 - As I interact with people at work and with other friends, I put God's word into my heart and into my mind. I pray that the Holy Spirit would use me to speak his words, not only right now but whenever I speak to people. I must confess that I'm not very good at it. One of my weaknesses is that I'm not assertive or good with confrontations and I'm also not good at talking about God with others. But like St. Paul, Jesus says to me "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9) So having that message constantly in my mind and heart will empower me to act according to God's Will in situations He puts me in. I thank God for the honor of having weaknesses, because by having weaknesses, I need my relationship with my Lord, Jesus Christ always. Thank you for that Jesus! Now I leave you with the common Blessing: "The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace." (Numbers 6:24-26)
May 23rd 2003 - I was watching a TV program on witchcraft the other night and a lady that was Wiccan was saying that since some people don’t feel like a 2000 year old book (the Bible) applies to them, they turn to more modern movements including Wicca. Well, let me tell you, the Bible DOES apply to us today! Why? One thing that hasn’t changed since the time of Adam and Eve is human nature. Read the Bible, you’ll find stories of jealousy, murder, gang-rape, homosexuality, war, plots to kill people. And you say that it doesn’t apply to us now? On top of all that, there are stories of persecution and execution of those spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Still think it doesn’t apply to now? If not, take a look at Christians in Muslim ruled Middle Eastern countries. They’ll have some stories to tell! So here’s what ask of you; before you throw the Bible aside thinking it’s just some boring old book, try reading it. Grab the New Living Translation for a very modern English version. Open your heart and your mind to what you read. In addition to all the stories I mentioned above, there are stories of love, forgiveness, redemption, freedom, joy, peace, hope, and salvation. Start by reading the New Testament or the Psalms and work from there. If some parts sound too good to be true, they’re not! May God bless you when you read His Divine Word today!
May 7th 2003 - Today I need to trust Jesus. At work today, I was rolled off a project because I don’t have enough experience. My natural reaction was a feeling of worthlessness or feeling very low in the scale of society. Then I realized that Jesus lifts up people like me, those of us that are nobodies, weak or left out. I am honored and privileged to be where I am now. God has given me everything including this job to mold me for my life of service to Him. This may be hard to understand for those of you who are reading this and don’t know Jesus as your Savior. As humans we like to control our own lives and we think we don’t need anyone’s help. Well, if you feel that way you’re being lied to and I urge you to seek out God. The life of a Christian such as myself is filled with the Peace, Joy and Security that only God can provide. So when my life becomes an utter shamble, I can seek out God to deliver me from that shamble, and He will! Jesus is my Best Friend and Loves me the way no one in this world can. My prayer is for everyone reading this to seek out Jesus and establish a relationship with Him right now.
April 27th 2003 - May the Peace of God and of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with you. I belong to the Lord, he is my refuge for all my fears. I was reading about the End Times today, specifically the book of Revelation and how modern events are coming true. Many believe that we are in the very End Times. I'm not sure if that is true or not, but what I do know is that NOW is the time of salvation, NOW is the time to repent and follow Jesus. Therefore, I proclaim my faith in Jesus Christ. I am his child and He is my Heavenly Brother and devoted Friend. Whenever I write I ask that the Holy Spirit speak through me. I ask that He give me the words to speak to you. So may you let Jesus be your Lord, may you be in fellowship with Him.

There are many people in the U.S.A. that don't believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Some are of other religions; some don't believe that God exists at all. My response is this: I have a sense of peace, hope and joy that words cannot express. I know that when I die, I will be taken into the very presence of God to live with Him for all eternity. I do not fear death and I never need to worry about life's problems, no matter how great they may seem. I know that Jesus is with me always and that I can always count on Him to be there for me. My hope and my prayer is that all people may have relationship with God. It's not as bad as you think. Give it a try; what do you have to lose?
April 15th 2003 - It's been a while since I've updated this document. It's the season of Lent and specifically Holy Week. Easter is soon and we'll be celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord. I've been reading my book on Revelation recently. It helps to clear up some of the confusion of Revelation. I also recently found a new bible verse that really show's me the power of Jesus, it is Philippians 2:5-11 which reads:

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

I really like this verse.
March 7, 2003 - I recently listened to The Lutheran Hour on February 2, 2003 and the speaker was asking "Who is the authority in your life?" The theme of the message was the difference between power and authority. Many things in this world have power, but only Jesus, has the true authority. By having Jesus as the authority in your life and mine, we're able to do many things. I want Jesus as the authority in my life! (that sermon)

I was struggling with something last night. I was struggling with what I need to do in my life to walk closer to Jesus. Then it dawned on me. Jesus will lead the way. I can cast all of my worries on Him. I know this from reading the Bible, but we humans forget these things pretty easily.
March 2, 2003 - Jesus means a great many things to me. He knows me better than I know myself. He's always there for me when I need him. He's been my strength in times of trouble, but yet I don't always listen to Him. I'm not perfect; in fact in the eyes of God the Father, I'm worth nothing. I am a sinner. The interesting thing about sin these days, is that no one takes it seriously. Sin is not a big deal to most people, and sometimes I think that sin is not a big deal. I should know better. I should take sin very seriously. I want to take it seriously. I know that when I sin, I deserve God's wrath and death. Then Jesus comes in to the picture. He saved me from all that.
December 11, 2002 - I struggle in my relationship with God. He has done everything for me, but yet I struggle. I know that God sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sins, but sometimes I have a hard time believing it. Why?? I know that Jesus comes into the hearts of all of us, but is he in my heart? Sometimes I'm not sure.

I know that Jesus loves me, I do, but I get distracted easily. Right now I feel as though I'm not doing enough. I don't talk to others about Jesus, mainly because I'm a non-confrontational kind of person. I've been kind to others in the past, and I believe that Jesus was with me then as well. I'm also afraid of ridicule. When I get home from church I change really quick so that my roommates don't know that I went to church. I don't always speak up when the discussion of religion comes up.