Ryan Callahan's Blog

Good morning friends and family!  Blessings to you all in the Name of Jesus!  Consider that verse in Romans this morning.  We all need clothes to go about our day.  We have our undies, shirt, pants or dress, socks, and shoes and we all have to put on our clothes before we walk out the door.  Before we start our day, the Lord wants us to think about clothing ourselves with one more very important covering, and that is Jesus Christ!

We live in a battlefield and we need to clothe ourselves with Jesus just like we clothe our bodies.  Cover yourself completely and wrap yourself in Jesus!  Let His love warm your heart and let his forgiveness and mercy cover all your sins!  Whatever you do, just don’t leave the house without clothing yourself in Jesus first!

Through Jesus we can overcome our sinful nature and not even think about how to gratify its evil desires.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t ever want to leave the house naked, and I definitely don’t ever want to leave the house without covering myself in Jesus!  Jesus is our protection and comfort.  Jesus is our peace.  Jesus is our defender.  Don’t leave home without Him!

Grace and peace to you all!

That is a powerful verse of truth we can truly rest in!  Jesus Christ is the Righteous One and He speaks to God in our defense!  That is incredible!  No matter who you are or what you have done, when you believe in Jesus Christ you are forgiven and He defends you!  Even if we stumble, He defends us and lifts us up again!  Praise God!

Check out what the next verse says:

“He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

1 John 2:2

It is through our faith in Jesus that we find forgiveness of sins and are reconciled back to God.  Don’t ever forget that!  Jesus is the only One, the Righteous One, who died for your sins.  Jesus is the atoning sacrifice.  Not works or religion or any other way.

What does atoning mean?  In the dictionary it means “to make amends, to appease, to reconcile, to bring into agreement, and to bring into unity.”  That is what Jesus did for us when He died on that cross!  Through Jesus Christ the whole world can make amends for their sins!  Through His sacrifice Jesus appeased the wrath of God as God’s wrath was poured out on Him for our sins.  Through faith in Jesus Christ the whole world is offered reconciliation with God the Father and He alone brings us into agreement and unity with God!  Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world!

Keep that truth deep in your heart and let it grow!  Jesus is the Righteous One and He “speaks to the Father in our defense!”  There is no other name that we can be saved by (Acts 4:12) and no one else will speak for you before the Father in Heaven.  You must know Jesus to be saved!

Consider the verses just before chapter 2 of 1 John:

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

1 John 1:5-7

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

1 John 1:8-10

God is NOT a liar folks!  We all know deep in our souls that we have sinned.  All of us have, and we all desperately need forgiveness from our Savior.

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Romans 3:21-24

“God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.  He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished–he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

Romans 3:25-26

That is why Jesus is called the Righteous One and that is why He has the power to speak in defense of every single person who believes in Him!  Jesus is our atonement and we are justified and redeemed through His blood alone!  That my friends is real hope!  Thank You Jesus!

“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”  For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile–the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:9-13

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”

Romans 8:1-2

Grace and peace to you all in the Righteous Name of Jesus!

I have always liked watching the clouds roll by to reveal blue skies and I have always liked watching the morning mist evaporate in the glorious rays of sunrise.  The book of Isaiah prophesied the coming of Jesus and how He would bring forgiveness to the whole world.  The name Isaiah literally means “YAHWEH is salvation” in Hebrew.  The major message throughout the entire prophetic book of Isaiah is a call to return to the Lord, and forgiveness of sins and salvation through the Messiah Jesus.  Last night, the Lord showed me the above verse in Isaiah 44:22 and it is a beautiful image of how we have been forgiven through Jesus!

Remember that today!  If you believe in Jesus Christ, then your sins have been swept away like the clouds and morning mist!  If you have stumbled, get back up because you are redeemed!  Press on and return to the Lord!  He is waiting for you with open arms!

I pray we rest in the deep and perfect forgiveness of the Lord.  A forgiveness that sweeps away our sins as if they never happened!  God, YAHWEH, the Great I AM, is loving, forgiving, and good and He longs for us to return to Him moment by moment every day!

If you do not know Jesus yet, please know that He longs to sweep away your sins and redeem you!  Let the God of all creation save your soul!  God is love and He longs to forgive you and receive you as His child!

Grace and peace to you all!

Be blessed and rest in the forgiveness we have through Jesus!

“But he was pierced for our

transgressions,

he was crushed for our

iniquities;

the punishment that

brought us peace was

upon him,

and by his wounds we are

healed.”

Isaiah 53:5

Good morning everyone!  My son has caught a cold, so he is home with me today.  Prayers are appreciated!  I prayed about what to write today and the only verse that popped into my mind was 1 Timothy 6:6.  The Lord has used that verse many times during my suffering.  It is one of 7 verses that He has used to help me over the last almost 7 years since I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease.  It will be 7 years on 1-6-2019.

Contentment is not something most people have in this world.  That’s because we can’t truly be content without God.  We can’t have godliness without God, and more specifically without His Holy Spirit.  It is the Holy Spirit of God inside of us that makes us godly and it is His godliness that leads us to contentment.

I need to remember that today.  We can rest in God’s love for us.  We can rest in His forgiveness through our faith in Jesus Christ.  We can be at peace in His mercy and grace.  Yes friends, godliness with contentment is great gain!

The things of this world will never ever satisfy your heart.  The things of this world will not lead to contentment in any way, shape, or form.  We all have a God shaped hole in our hearts that only He can fill.  We were purposefully designed that way!

No matter how much money you have or how many things you possess, it will never fill your heart and lead to contentment.  When everything in your life is stripped away and all you are left with is God, it is easier to realize that.  Unfortunately, many of us have to go through that and God has to teach us that He is in control by removing the things in our lives that are holding us down or holding us back from being truly content in Him.

I am most likely still going through that and the Lord wanted to remind me that although I have lost many things in my life, I have great gain in Him!  Yes, godliness with contentment is great gain and I am learning that more and more as I walk with the Lord.  No amount of lost money or health or anything can ever take away the great gain I have in Jesus!  I pray all of God’s people can be content in that truth!

Grace and peace to you all!

Something very encouraging and funny happened to me this morning.  The Lord spoke a very familiar verse to me that He has used many times during my time of suffering.  When I was first starting the blog earlier this year in August, I wrote a post about how He has used this verse in my life titled “Boomerang Blessing!”  The verse is Jeremiah 29:11 and the Lord just keeps using it to remind me that I am under His care and protection and that is very encouraging!

So, this morning I was looking through my Twitter notifications and I saw a new person had followed me.  This person is a Christian and wouldn’t you know it, the verse they chose to put along with the title of their account is Jeremiah 29:11 written out just like I have it in the Scripture pin above!  I just started laughing and praising God!  He wanted to make sure I knew that He is still with me and He has a plan!  Thank you Lord for continuing to use that verse in my life!  Amen!

When I saw that verse this morning, I immediately thought of the post “Boomerang Blessing!” because that is exactly what just happened to me again this morning.  I was hurting bad yesterday and I was not exactly thinking about Jeremiah 29:11, then this morning that same boomerang blessing comes flying into my heart to lift me up!  God is awesome how He encourages our hearts!

Boomerang Blessing!

Thank you to all of you for praying for me and thank you for reaching out yesterday!  I appreciate how you received my difficult post with grace and understanding.  The Lord is speaking many things to my heart.  A great sister in Christ I met here on WordPress when I first started the blog contacted me yesterday and she let me know that God impressed upon her to tell me that He is not angry with me.  It brought me to tears and the Lord moved in my heart in a new way that I am praying over and learning to rest in.  Thank you for listening to the Lord sister!  Thank you all for obeying the Lord!  I praise God for every word of encouragement and edification I received yesterday.  May His will be done!

May we never forget (that includes me) that God has an awesome plan for us and we can trust Him no matter what–even when we don’t understand!  God showed me last night before I went to bed that my questions do not bother or anger Him and they are not too difficult for Him.  He is glad I give Him my heart.  I am looking forward to seeing how God blesses and delivers us and I am looking forward to telling you all about it!  Let us never forget that He loves us and He will never leave us nor forsake us!

Grace and peace to you all!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:12

“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:9

 

 

I wanted to take a moment and recognize Stan Lee.  He died today at the age of 95.  I loved all the Marvel Comics and I had a bunch of them growing up.  I still have a box under the stairs filled with old comics.  Spider-Man was my favorite and I loved hulk too.  I had a Spider-Man big wheel in the 80s folks!  I loved reading about all the super heroes in the comics and I watched all the cartoons growing up.  Stan Lee definitely had a big impact on my childhood, so I wanted to pay my respect to him and his family.

“Stan Lee, the writer, editor, and former publisher and president of Marvel Comics who co-invented Spider-Man and was responsible for turning superhero comic books into a phenomenon, died Monday at the age of 95.  Lee was taken to Los Angeles’ Cedars Sinai Medical Center on Monday after suffering a medical emergency; he was declared dead shortly afterwards, Lee’s daughter confirmed to Variety.” -Douglas Wolk, Rolling Stone

It always amazes me when someone lives to be over 90!  Stan was a great writer with an incredible imagination and his stories will continue on.  My son loves Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, and Hulk and we have enjoyed the cartoons and movies many times together.  It is always fun to see Stan’s cameos in the movies!  I have always loved the lessons in Stan’s stories of standing up for what is right and doing the right thing even in the face of adversity.  His comics sparked dreams of what could be for many young kids and who knows, maybe God even used my love of comics to draw me to Jesus.

I love that cartoon pin!  Jesus truly is our ultimate super hero who has conquered sin and death and saved the world!  He even gives us “super powers” in the Holy Spirit too!  Super heroes are so popular because deep in our hearts we all desperately want to be rescued!  We were designed to need God.  The Marvel characters are fun to read about in comics and watch in movies, but the truth of God’s power and love in real life are so much better because in the end we need more than a super hero.  We need a Savior!

May God bless and comfort the Lee family.

Grace and peace to you all!

“I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!  And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

Jesus speaking in Revelation 1:18

I want to first say thank you to everyone who reached out to me today!  Thank you all for your encouragement and your prayers!  I’m going to be okay and I have not lost my faith in God for a second!  I know He can do anything.  He had an angel pick me up once for crying out loud!  He is the God of all creation and He can do anything!  God gave me an intensely inquisitive mind and I just have questions that I am not afraid to ask because I take God at His Word when He says I can approach Him with freedom and confidence.  It’s not a lack of faith.  It’s quite the opposite!  I have so much faith that I get mad at times when God doesn’t move because I know how He can move in power and I fully expect Him to!  It’s just He usually doesn’t do it the way I think He will, but it always ends up better than anything I could have imagined anyway.

And that leads me to the title of this post.  It’s funny what God will use to help us.  Today, I was beat down and broken. You all know this.  I was honest about it and I asked for prayer.  Well, God is answering your prayers and this is how He did it!

I sat down to eat lunch and God told me to watch the movie called “All Saints.”  I had seen it this weekend on Starz, but we didn’t watch it.  The Lord reminded me of it and clearly gave me a nudge to watch it, so I said, “okay, Lord, I will watch it.”  I am glad I did!

The pain and hardships in this true story are so real and raw and I related deeply to the main Pastor Michael Spurlock and the challenges he faced.  What God did for Michael and his family, the church, the people from Burma, and the whole community is beautiful and it continues to this day.  I don’t want to say too much about the movie and I don’t usually plug movies, but I recommend watching it.  It is how real life feels and it shows the real challenges, hurts, disappointments, and questions we deal with as we follow the Lord.  It is also about the love and faithfulness of the Lord and that is the best part!  I was in tears through a lot of it, so grab a tissue box.

God gave me a new perspective today and I praise Him for that!  I am still struggling through my challenges, but I’ll be alright and I will be back at it tomorrow.  I hope and pray that sharing my questions, hardships, and struggles will help somebody else who might be feeling the same way.  Jesus will always be there for you!  He cares about you!  And He loves you!

Thank you all for being such great friends!  Grace and peace to you all!

“He must become greater; I must become less.”

John 3:30

 

Good morning everyone!  Romans 12:12 is a short verse in the Bible, but it is packed with powerful advice on living an abundant life in Christ.  I am still learning the value of putting this verse into action in my life and I regret that many times I am not patient in my affliction with Celiac.  However, the Lord always lifts me up with hope and I pray that I would be joyful in the great hope I have in Jesus, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer!  Whatever work and challenges you are facing this week, may I suggest praying to have a Romans 12:12 frame of mind and see how powerful it can be in your life!

Have a beautiful and blessed Monday in this day the Lord has made for us!  You have another day of breath and another fresh start!  Praise the Lord!

Grace and peace to you all and God bless you all!

“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:9

 

Today is November 11, 2018 and it is Veteran’s Day here in America.  It is the time we stop and pay respect and gratitude to our brave men and women in the armed forces.  I always wanted to be a Marine when I was a kid, but that was not in God’s plan for me.  I was even approached by a Marine Corps recruiter as I was walking into a post office when I was fresh out of college in 2000.  I gave it a lot of thought and prayer and it was just shortly before 9/11 happened.  If I had joined, I would have been sent to war soon after that.  For all of those who have served our country, I thank you with all of my heart and you have my utmost respect!  My prayers are with you all!  May the love of the Lord Jesus surround you and may He protect you in every mission of your service!  God bless you all and God bless our great country!  Amen!

 

Grace and peace to every soldier who has served and who is still serving and grace and peace to your families!

God bless you all in the Name of Jesus!

 

 

 

 

My 8 year old son found that picture this morning.  He has been making Scripture pins (just like Dad) on his iPad from school.  My son preaches to me and quotes the Bible all the time and I love it!  The Lord uses both of our kids in our lives in amazing ways!  It is awesome to see the Holy Spirit at work in them as they grow in their relationship with the Lord!  Thank You Jesus!  This one is for you son, thanks for the awesome picture!  When My son showed me that photo of the lion, he reminded me that every knee will bow before Jesus.  I said, “Amen son!  That’s right!”  Remember, Jesus is the Lion of Judah and He has triumphed!!!  He alone is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals!  Hallelujah!!!

Feel free to copy and use the Scripture pin!  I make them for free using fotor.com!

Have an awesome weekend in the blessings and love of the Lord!

Grace and peace to you all!

P.S.

If you read my post yesterday titled “Remember that time when…”, then you know why I am always like “!!!”  God bless you all!