Tag: Forgiveness

Choice is a powerful gift that God has given us.  The Lord has given us free will to make a great variety of choices every day.  Some of those choices are minor and some of those choices are major, but only one choice deals with your eternal soul.  Our Creator, whose Name is I AM, has given us the power to choose Him or reject Him.  God has opened the Way to eternal life and that Way is only through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.  It is my fervent prayer that you would choose life and receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior today!

That word from the Book of Joshua came to me yesterday.  I was praying about what to write and asking the Lord if He wanted to write something through me.  Instead of writing, the Lord blessed our family with a much needed day of rest.  He did not urge me to write yesterday, but He did speak a word to my heart to write about today: “choose this day whom you will serve.”  When I woke up this morning, the Lord spoke the same word to me again.  I was encouraged and lifted up by that and now I am sharing it with all of you!  Thank You Lord!

There was a public service type commercial on TV here in the U.S. several years ago that was trying to encourage young people to be careful with the choices they make.  The slogan was “Own Your C,” which stood for “own your choice.”  It is a good reminder for all of us, young and old.  The choices we make in life determine many things, and we want to make sure we are on a good path.  There are many paths and many of them lead to destruction.  There is only one path that leads to eternal life!

“Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Jesus speaking in Matthew 7:13-14

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6

There will be many who reject Jesus and continue down the road to destruction, but that does not have to be you!  There will be many who choose to live life based on their own selfish desires, but that does not have to be you!  There will be many who choose to live a life full of sin and death, but that does not have to be you!  Jesus Christ died for all of us to set us free from sin and death and reconcile us with our Creator, and the choice to accept God’s free gift of salvation or reject it is up to you.  I pray the Lord draws your heart near to Him and you run into the arms of the One who loves your soul!  We are not promised a tomorrow.  Today is the day of salvation!

Consider what the Lord spoke through Joshua to the Israelites:

“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness.  Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.  But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.  But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:14-15

Joshua said that to the Israelites because many of them were still worshiping the false gods that their forefathers had worshiped while in captivity in Egypt.  Joshua was admonishing them to turn away from those false gods and worship the One true Lord that delivered them out of slavery and through the Red Sea to freedom.

What gods do you need to throw away?  Whom are you serving?  These are questions for both those who know Jesus and those who do not.  Christians, will we serve ourselves today and our own sinful desires, or will we serve Christ?  Think upon what God is calling you to do today and do it faithfully in the power of the Holy Spirit!  Those who do not know Jesus, will you serve the gods of your forefathers that have no power to save your soul or will you choose life in Christ?  Jesus is the only One who ever died to forgive our sins and make us right with God.  Whatever you choose, it will be your choice and you will own it and live with the eternal consequences, good or bad.

“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.  They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.”

Galatians 5:16-18

What are the desires of the sinful nature that lead to destruction?

“The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.  I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Galatians 5:19-21

That folks is the broad road that leads to destruction.  I plead with you in the Name of Jesus to stay off that road and choose life!  None of us know the day of our last breath, so choose wisely.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.  Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

Galatians 5:22-25

Do you want your sinful nature to be crucified?  Do you want all of that fruit of the Holy Spirit in your life!  Do you want eternal life in Heaven?  Choose this day whom you will serve!

Jesus is calling you!  I pray that you receive His love today and are able to say with a full heart, “but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Grace and peace to you all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good morning everyone and God bless you!  Thank you all for celebrating with me yesterday.  I appreciate everyone’s words of encouragement and I was blessed to receive several requests for a free copy of my book.  Guess what though?  I almost didn’t get the messages that were sent through my contact page.  My contact page went nutty and I wasn’t getting the messages sent to my email.  I spent several hours yesterday chatting with WordPress support.  They were nice and did all they could, but they couldn’t fix it.  I ended up just editing my contact page.  I deleted the submission form and now I just have my gmail address on there if you would like to contact me.  I am available if you need prayer, have questions or comments, would like a free copy of my book, or you just need someone to talk to.

If you contacted me yesterday or any other time through my old contact page and I never contacted you back, please know that it was due to the technical issues with the page.  I would never intentionally ignore someone’s message to me.  The support team showed me where to find messages that come through the contact page, so I was able to see that I had a bunch of missed messages.  I wrote several of you yesterday apologizing for the missed messages.

By the way, there is a bit of a learning curve to WordPress.  If you have a contact page with a submission form, then you will find messages that have been sent to you through that form in the “Feedback” link under “My Site” in your blog account.  Even if they did not come through to your email, they will still be there.  Be sure to check the Feedback spam folder too.  You will only see the spam folder if there is spam.  Also, sometimes comments that people leave on your blog posts will not show up in the notifications, but they will be in the “Comments” link under “My Site.”  Sometimes people’s comments also go to spam, so check that too.

I also found out yesterday for the first time (after my book has been out for a year) that Amazon only allows free eBooks to be emailed within the same country.  Since I’m in the United States (Colorado), I can only email the free download link to people in the United States.  No wonder my friends in India and the U.K. couldn’t download the free eBook.  I’m so sorry about that!  It is strange that Amazon has it set up that way since its available for sale worldwide.

You can buy the Kindle eBook version and the paperback in just about every country in the world.  It is also free on Kindle Unlimited.  Remember, you don’t need a Kindle to read Amazon eBooks.  Just get their free Kindle App for any device and you can download all the eBooks you want to it.

If you live in the U.S. and you didn’t get a chance to request a free book or you did and I didn’t get your message yesterday, please check out my new contact page and feel free to contact me again.

Contact Ryan

The first page of Chapter 1 is also available on Amazon for free:

Link to “One Man’s Very Strange Supernatural Life” on Amazon

I pray my testimony is an encouragement and blessing to you all and it shows the world that nothing is impossible for God!

Grace and peace to you all!

“Blessed are they

whose transgressions are

forgiven,

whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man

whose sin the Lord will

never count against

him.”

Romans 4:7-8

 

I am very excited to share this with you all!  On this day one year ago (3-29-18), I started writing out my testimony.  I can’t believe it has already been a year!  I finished the book the next day on the 30th, titled it “One Man’s Very Strange Supernatural Life,” and published it on Amazon.  For some reason, the eBook shows it was published on the 29th, but that’s okay.  The paperback version shows the 30th.  I am so thankful for what the Lord has done and I appreciate all of you who have supported me!  It has been an amazing journey of growth in the Lord and I pray that I will continue to be faithful and obedient to His calling.  The most important truth you could ever share with someone is how their soul can be saved, and that answer can only be found in Jesus!

Many of you already have a copy of the book and I am so grateful for that!  Thank you for all the uplifting messages you have sent me and thank you to all of you who left such encouraging reviews on Amazon!  You have all been a great blessing to me and my family!

When I wrote the book, I was coming out of a lot of pain and suffering.  I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease on January 6, 2012 and I suffered terrible pain and anguish for several years.  The Lord never left me and He brought a great amount of healing to my body.  In 2018 He was calling me to move forward in Him and He put it on my heart in a big way to share my testimony with the world.  I started blogging on August 10, 2018, five months after I published the book, and I have been preaching the Gospel here on WordPress ever since.  God is so good and He has brought me a long way from suffering Celiac and depression!  Thank You Jesus!!!

Most of you know my testimony by now, but there are a lot of new people on the blog that might not.  I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior in October of 1996 when I was 18.  I am 40 now.  When I was in 8th grade my Dad got a new job and we moved to Illinois.  That moved drastically changed our lives forever.  The house we moved into was possessed by a demon and it terrorized our family the entire four years I was in high school.  We were not Christians, but after that my whole family knew hell was real.

I accepted Jesus my freshman year at the University of Northern Colorado and I was trained in discipleship and evangelism through Campus Crusade for Christ.  That December of my freshman year, I went home at Christmas break and rebuked the demon out of our home in the Name of Jesus!  We never had any trouble with demons again and my parents and younger sister all accepted Christ!  Thank You Jesus!!!

My life continued to be strange and supernatural after I accepted Christ, but in a good way.  To give you the quick version: I encountered angels twice in Denver in the summer of 1998 and I stopped breathing on 4-28-12, I left my body, I was with Jesus for a short moment, and then He put me back in my body by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Yeah, I know!  Let that sink in for a minute.  Now you understand the title of my book and why I preach with such passion, yes?

I know it’s true!  Everything the Bible says about God, Heaven, hell, angels, demons, the Holy Spirit, Jesus and His life, death, and resurrection and everything else written in the Bible is 100% true!  I found that out in the most intensely life altering supernatural way at a time in my life when I wanted nothing to do with God.  I never asked for such a weird life.  I hated Christians in high school and by my senior year all I wanted to do was party.  I never thought in a million years that I would except Jesus in college and be preaching His Name for the rest of my life!  The Lord had mercy on me and I am forever grateful for that.  Thank You Jesus!!!

He saved my family from a demon and ended up saving our souls!  He rescued me from a murderer by using an angel to protect me!  He had an angel appear and speak to me, so my friends and I would help a lady in trouble!  I am still alive today and out here preaching the Gospel to the world because the Lord gave me His breath back and saved me by a mighty miracle!  I give Him BIG PRAISE and preach the Holy Name of Jesus because of all these things and I will testify to my very last breath!  Amen!  Glory to Your Holy Name Lord Jesus!!!

You can read all about it in my book.  I also wrote about some of it here on my blog.

This one is about the demon and the angels:

Remember that time when…

This one is about the day I stopped breathing:

My Lazarus Moment

FREE COPY OF MY BOOK (Within U.S.)

I always give away free copies of my eBook to anyone who wants one.  It’s a great way to celebrate the 1 year anniversary too!  If you would like a free copy, just contact me through my blog contact page and I will email you a free eBook directly from Amazon.  I just found out from Amazon today that I can only email free copies of the eBook to people that are in the United States.  It is available for sale worldwide, but that is their policy on gifting books.  Fortunately, if you live outside the U.S. and you would like to buy the eBook, it is only .99 cents.  It is also free if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited.

Contact Me

Read The First Page of Chapter 1 on Amazon

My whole purpose in life is to help people come to know Jesus!  He died for me, for you, and for all of us, so we could be in Heaven forever with our Creator who loves us more than we can imagine!  Please take me up on my offer to get a free book.  It is only 7 chapters long and it only takes about 45 minutes to read it.  You don’t need a Kindle.  Amazon has a free Kindle App that you can get for any device in order to read the eBooks you download from them.  It’s very easy to use and the books look great too.  I pray that my testimony helps set you free from the fear of death and it helps you understand just how much God loves you!

“Some of you need proof, well here I am.  I am living proof that God is alive and that He still moves in power among us just like He always has.  It is still going to take faith to believe these things.  There are similar stories like mine that happened almost 2,000 years ago and they are recorded in the Bible (read Acts), but people still don’t believe.  I am just sharing my testimony so that you will have a better understanding of the reality that surrounds you, so you can make a better decision about your eternal soul.  I pray that the suffering and joys I have experienced in my strange walk with God will somehow help you rise up and become victorious over sin and death!  In the Name of Jesus, amen.”

-One Man’s Very Strange Supernatural Life, Chapter 4

The best news in the whole world is found in the Bible folks!  That soul saving news is that Jesus died for you to forgive all of your sins, He rose from the dead three days later conquering sin and death, and He offers that same powerful victory to you through faith in Him!  Jesus is Lord, Jesus is alive, and Jesus is coming back someday!  It is by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ that our souls are saved!  Jesus is eternal life!

“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

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9

“for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:13

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6

Come to Jesus today and let Him save your soul!  No sin is too great!  You are not too far gone!  He saved a sinful man like me and He can save you too!  Let His love wash over you and set you free!

Grace and peace to you all!

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?”

John 11:25-26

“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.”

Jesus in John 3:16

 

Hello everyone!  I am really excited to share this information with you!  In my post yesterday I talked about the book, “The Exodus Case: New Discoveries Of The Historical Exodus.”  There is also a movie that was made by the same team of researchers that is a companion to the book called, “The Exodus Revealed: Search for the Red Sea Crossing.”  As I said yesterday, the Biblical archaeological evidence they found proves the historical account of the Exodus and it is absolutely amazing!

The first time I heard about this was back in 2001 just a year after I graduated from college.  I picked up the movie at the local Christian store and my wife and I watched it.  I remember my heart wanting to leap out of my chest!  I truly pray you watch it.  Just wait until you see the chariot wheels on the bottom of the Red Sea and you witness how Saudi Arabia is guarding all the Biblical artifacts at the base of Mt. Sinai (which they call Jabal Al Lawz)!  Dr. Lennart Moller and his team found the true Exodus route and the world cannot hide it any longer!

You can buy the book and the movie on Amazon.  I once had a DVD copy of the movie, but I can’t find it.  I do have it digitally in my Amazon movie library though.  Here is a photo of the movie cover:

Folks, seriously, this is an amazing discovery the whole world needs to know!  They found it all: the Red Sea crossing site, Mt. Sinai (Mt. Horeb), the altar to the golden calf, the grave site where 3,000 Jews are buried, the huge rock where water flowed out, and more, and they did it all by using the Bible as a map!  The fake Mt. Sinai is on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula and it is a ridiculous tourist attraction.  The REAL Mt. Sinai is in Saudi Arabia, which was Midian during the time of the Biblical Exodus!  Examine the evidence for yourself and be prepared for a washing of joy and excitement from these discoveries that confirm and prove that God really did part the Red Sea and the Israelites walked through on dry ground!  Glory to God, Amen!

Here is a great map that shows the true route of the Exodus that they discovered:

If the fleeing Israelites had gone all the way down to the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula (which is a route the Bible doesn’t support), they would have been captured.  Why?  Because that was Egyptian held territory for mining operations and they would have been fleeing Pharaoh only to run right into the spears of his soldiers.  Dr. Lennart Moller and his team found the true route by quite literally following what the Bible said about it like a map.

Nuweiba Beach in Egypt is the perfect and only site large enough to hold millions of fleeing Israelites as they waited to cross the Red Sea.  God parted the waters in the Gulf of Aqaba (part of the Red Sea) at the edge of that beach!  What Moses and the Israelites saw after that was a perfect under water land bridge stretching all the way across to Midian (Saudi Arabia).  That my friends is exactly what Dr. Moller and his team found when they did a scuba dive at that point.  They also found chariot wheels, human and horse bones, and other Egyptian artifacts strewn all the way across in a perfect military type line.  The Bible is true and the Exodus happened just like the Bible says, parted Red Sea and all!

Dr. Moller and his team continued to follow the Biblical markers once on the other side in Saudi Arabia and that is how they found Mt. Sinai and all the Biblical artifacts at the base of that mountain where Moses spoke with God.  The mountain is even charred black at the peak, which is geologically impossible.  God descended on the mountain just like the Bible says and the proof is right there in a charred peak!  Only God could do that and nothing is impossible for God!  Praise God!

Okay, I don’t want to say anymore.  You can watch the movie “The Exodus Revealed: Search for the Red Sea Crossing” on YouTube.  There are several good links where you can watch the entire movie, but I recommend getting the book and the movie.  Research it for yourself and go through it with your Bible.  You are going to be so blown away and blessed just like I was and still am about it!

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me?  Tell the Israelites to move on.  Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.  I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them.  And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.  The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them.  The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel.  Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land.  The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea.  During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion.  He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving.  And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites!  The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.”  Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place.  The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea.  The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen–the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea.  Not one of them survived.

But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.  That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore.  And when the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.”

Exodus 14:15-31

Those chariot wheels and all the bones of Pharaoh’s entire army and horses are still there proving what happened that day and You are glorified through them Lord just as You said to Moses!  You are Glorified Lord!!!  Your Word is Truth and Jesus is Lord!

Grace and peace to you all!

 

 

A couple weeks ago I did some cleaning and reorganizing.  I moved a small bookshelf from upstairs and brought it down to the basement where my office is.  I had a bunch of books and movies stacked under my clothes in our closet and they needed a proper home.  It’s nice having everything in its place now.  The photo above is my little den where I write my blog.  I am sitting in that chair right now typing this to you.  The reason I am telling you this is because I found an old note inside one of the books I had been reading when I was struggling through depression three years ago.  The Lord put it on my heart that the note could help others, so I want to share it with you.

Before I get to that, please take some time to read the titles of the books and movies.  Here is a close up:

I love doing research and I read a lot.  One of the coolest books on the shelf (second to the Bible which is #1) is “The Exodus Case: New Discoveries of the Historical Exodus.”  All I can say is there is definitive proof of the Exodus beneath the ocean just off the Beach of Nuweiba in the Gulf of Aqaba part of the Red Sea between Egypt and Saudi Arabia (which was ancient Midian).  I’m talking historical artifacts of chariot wheels and bones strewn all the way across on a perfect under water land bridge!  Yeah, way bigger discovery than the Titanic, yet the world hides it!  They don’t want you to know that everything in the Bible is true!  Praise God for the team of people that dove down in the Red Sea to find it!

They also found the real Mt. Sinai (Mount Horeb) in Saudi Arabia and all the Biblical markers are still there perfectly preserved.  The huge rock where water came out, the altar where they worshiped the golden calf, the huge grave site where 3,000 Jews died for worshiping the golden calf, and the top of the mountain is charred black from when God descended on it to speak with Moses.  They found the true route of the Exodus and all of that amazing archaeological evidence and more simply by following the Bible.  The real Mt. Sinai is NOT on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula!  That was Egyptian held territory at the time of the Exodus and Pharaoh had soldiers down there.  I could go on, but just read it!  It is awesome and it confirms what is said in God’s Word!  Yes, the Lord really did part the Red Sea for Moses and the fleeing Israelites and there is plenty of ancient physical evidence to back it up!  God’s Word is truth!

So, about that old note from three years ago.  At that time I was reading a book by Larry Crabb called “Shattered Dreams.”

Larry is a well known Christian author and he wrote the book while dealing with cancer.  It helped me get a better perspective on Celiac disease and all the suffering I’ve been through.  At one point while reading it, the Lord impressed upon me to write a note to myself.  The Lord was speaking these things to my heart as I was learning what He wanted me to learn from the book.  Here is the note I found inside the book:

This note was written sometime in late 2016.  It’s not dated, but it has been 22 years (23 in October) that I have followed the Lord now, and I said 20 in the note.  This was before I wrote my book and before I started blogging.  I was having a very difficult time with Celiac and I was, for lack of a better term, stuck.  The Lord was showing me that He was still with me and that He loved me.  He was showing me that He wasn’t done with me and He had good plans for me.  He also showed me that I was on a different path and that was okay because He was for me and He would work it all out for good.  I had forgotten about this note and I’m really glad I found it.

If you can’t read my writing, here is what it says:

“You are on a different path.  Always felt like God needed me to be tougher–series of experiences that shaped me.  Silent protector/warrior sometimes means suffering.  God is my shield.

God is for you working everything out for good.

God is not against you.

He is still with you.  He is doing a work in you to help you mature.

It may feel like He is against you and He is not with you in the same way, but He is–just in a way now that is helping you continue to mature after walking with Him for 20 years.

He is walking with you in the knowledge and growth you have now.  Even if it doesn’t feel the same, you can rely on what you know from all that God has revealed to you.

You know the Truth.  Rest and be at peace in it.”

-Ryan’s old note to self

It seems the Lord was reminding me of His goodness and love for me and He wanted me to write it out, so I could see it spelled out plainly.  He was also reminding me of all the amazing things He has done in my life.  I know many of you are suffering and you live with chronic pain and illness.  Please know that God loves you and He has not abandoned you!  Press into Jesus and let Him comfort you.  Give Him your heart and all your pain.  I know it is not easy.  I live with chronic illness and I have suffered depression too.  Don’t ever give up!

I had no idea what kind of work the Lord was doing in me.  I had no idea that I was going to write and publish a book about my testimony and open up about all the supernatural events I have lived through.  I really had no idea that the Lord would start this blog and have me out here preaching the Gospel to the world.  I thought I was done and my life was over.  At the time I wrote that note, I was broken and unable to move forward.  All I could see was Celiac disease and the suffering it was causing.  Now here I am three years later in 2019 sharing that note of brokenness, which has become a note of victory in Christ!

“for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

Philippians 2:13

It is so awesome that the Lord knew I would tuck that note away and forget about it until now.  I truly hope it helps someone who might be suffering today and wanting to give up.  Please don’t give up!  Run to Jesus like I did and fall in His arms.  He will lift you up and lead you forward, so that you soar above your troubles even as they try to bring you down.  I survived Celiac and the darkness of depression through the power of Jesus Christ inside of me and He can do the same for you!

If you are suffering today, please know that you are not alone.  I still fight this disease every day, but I can testify that the Lord has lifted me up and sustained me.  He has shown me that nothing can snatch me out of His hand and His love is more powerful than any of us could ever imagine!

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28

“What, then, shall we say in response to this?  If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Romans 8:31

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Jesus speaking in John 14:27

“The Lord is my strength

and my shield;

my heart trusts in him,

and I am helped.

My heart leaps for joy

and I will give thanks to

him in song.”

Psalm 28:7

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”

Jesus speaking in John 10:27-28

Give Jesus your pain and illness and He will lift you up!  If you believe in Jesus, He will never leave you!  Even if you are on a different path that includes suffering like me, Jesus will always guide us to the good plans He has for us.  We are not forgotten and His love for us will never end!

Grace and peace to you all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good morning everyone!  I was up early this morning around 5 a.m. and I was ready to go in the Spirit.  I took that photo at 6:30 a.m. Mountain Time just as a faint hint of the sun’s rays began to light up the horizon.  The Lord has made another new day full of His blessings!  May we rejoice and be glad in it as the Word says!

It was a strange day yesterday.  I wasn’t even able to write a post.  Today is officially the first day of spring and it has been getting warmer, praise God!  Here in Colorado we have little red clover mites (which are a type of spider mite) that get in our grass sometimes.  Several times we have had them come into our house and end up all over the windows and window sills in the walkout basement.  That happened again yesterday.  The mites don’t like water, so they look for dry ground when they get wet.  They don’t bite and they are teeny tiny, but they smear like red paint when we squish them.  It is a real nuisance.

So, I literally spent all day fighting an invasion of clover mites.  I spray Ortho Home Defense on them.  They come in by the hundreds, if not thousands, and you have to get them while they are bursting.  The words bursting and mites are not good together.  I love spring, but I don’t like the bug activity!

I called our lawn care team at TruGreen and told them about the problem because they just sprayed for mites last week.  Obviously it didn’t work the first time, so they are coming out to do another treatment for free.  We have been getting our house ready because my wife’s father is flying in from Alaska tonight.  It’s not cool to have mites coming into the house when expecting family.

I was very upset and discouraged about it.  Last year it was so bad that it took three straight days of spraying them to stop the invasion.  I fought them hard yesterday and prayed for the Lord to stop it and all is quiet this morning.  I pray they don’t come back as it gets warmer.

I really wanted to write a post yesterday, but it just was not in God’s will.  I expected that I would sit in my office and study God’s Word and write, but instead I killed mites all day.  That was really frustrating and it was not what I expected.  You know what though?  God knew all along that I was going to spray mites yesterday.  I was so frustrated and angry about the mites and I told my wife how discouraging it was to be dealing with it again.  My wife said something like, “But you have what you need to stop it and you took care of it.”

Yes honey, you are right.  The Lord may not have stopped the mites from bursting and coming inside again, but He did give me the weapons and knowledge to strike the invasion down!  The day did not go how I thought it would, but we must always remember that we are not in control.  God is God and we are not.

Thankfully, this post is not just about mites.  I also received a piece of hate mail regarding the post I did on Monday titled “If You Were To Die Today.”  This person has taken jabs at me before and I just delete her comments.  She does not follow my blog and she is a very legalistic Pharisee type person.  She might even be a member of a cult like Jehovah’s Witness or Mormon based on some of the strange things she says.  What she said to me made me feel sorry for her.  She claims to believe in Jesus, but she said she knows 100% that she would not go to Heaven if she died today.  It is so heartbreaking when someone who claims to believe in Jesus does not understand that they are saved by grace through faith in Jesus and not by works.  There are so many living under the fear and bondage of legalism that Jesus already set them free from.  You either trust in Jesus for your salvation or you don’t.  There is no other way to be saved.

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6

I don’t need to argue with every legalistic person out there who wants to mock me and fight me.  My job is to simply proclaim the Gospel.  God’s Word is strong enough on its own.  I preach the same message that Jesus preached: That we are only saved by grace through faith in Jesus.  It is the same message the Apostle Paul preached and I will preach it until my very last breath.  If you believe in Jesus Christ for the salvation of your soul, then you are saved and that is a done deal guaranteed by God, not by you or by any works you could ever do!

“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.”

Jesus speaking in John 3:16

“We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.  So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.”

Galatians 2:15-16

“Where, then, is boasting?  It is excluded.  On what principle?  On that of observing the law?  No, but on that of faith.  For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”

Romans 3:27-28

I was reading the Word this morning, and the Lord spoke to me about His faithfulness.  No matter how long you have walked with Christ, don’t ever forget that you are only righteous because of Him.  He is our righteousness!  He is our peace!  He is our salvation!  It is Jesus that purifies us with His sanctifying love!  We are justified and forgiven by God’s grace through faith in Jesus, not by works!

“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

Galatians 2:21

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.  And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”

Romans 5:1-2

“All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.  Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Ephesians 2:3-9

Consider what Paul said to the believers in Galatia who had fallen into the bondage of legalism and arrogantly trusting in themselves instead of Jesus:

“You foolish Galatians!  Who has bewitched you?  Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.  I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?  Are you so foolish?  After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?  Have you suffered so much for nothing?  Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?”

Galatians 3:1-5

It is because we believe!!!

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.  Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession–to the praise of his glory.”

Ephesians 1:13-14

Believers in Jesus Christ are saved through their faith in Him alone and that salvation is secure because His blood is all sufficient to forgive our sins.  Believers in Jesus Christ are being sanctified, that is being made holy and pure and righteous, every day by the power of the Holy Spirit.  May we always remember that our salvation and righteousness only come from Jesus!  It is not by our works that we are saved, filled with the Holy Spirit, and made righteous!  Jesus is faithful and trustworthy and He will carry us home!

“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Jesus will do it, not you!  Give Jesus the Glory He deserves and trust in Him!

Grace and peace to you all!

 

 

 

 

 

Many of you know I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior my freshman year in college in 1996 through the ministry efforts of Campus Crusade for Christ.  During my entire four years at the University of Northern Colorado I was blessed with a great mentor and friend who was the Director of Campus Crusade at the time.  His name was Jim, but we called him Jim Bro because he called all the guys “bro.”  I received discipleship training in the Word and evangelism and soon I was sharing Christ all over campus with Jim and the other brothers from Crusade.  I want to share one of the questions Jim would ask when we were sharing Christ.  It is a shocking question and the answers people gave were very interesting and revealing.

The question is this:

If you were to die today, how sure are you that you would go to Heaven?

Jim would follow up with, “Just give me a percentage bro.”

Nobody we shared Christ with ever said 100% sure.  They would say things like 80% or 90%, but never 100%.  The next question was simply, “why?”

Answers would vary with different reasons why they felt they should be allowed into Heaven, but mostly the answer was, “because I’m a good person.”  They would say they were not a murderer or anything like that or they would say they had gone to church a few times and they believed that was enough to enter Heaven.

Here is the problem folks.  “Good works” or being a “good person” will never get you into Heaven.  The Lord is very clear on this truth in His Word.  If our works could save us, how would you ever know that you had done enough?  Praise God for His grace!  Jim had asked me the “how sure are you” question when he shared Jesus with me for the first time and I had answered exactly the same way.  I said something like 90% sure, then I followed up with, “I’m a good guy.  I don’t even step on ants.”

Here is another problem folks.  We are not “good.”  Sure we can act “good” for a time, but the human race is utterly sinful and we need a Savior.  If you don’t believe in sin, just look at our world.  Really?  Sin is everywhere and we see it, experience it, and suffer it wherever we live on this earth.  We are born into this fallen state of sin and we need to be redeemed!  We desperately need to get back to the God who created us!

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..”

Romans 3:23

“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

Psalm 51:5

I posted the photo of the Grand Canyon to illustrate the deadly problem of sin.  Sin, which means missing the mark in the Greek, separates us from God.  We fall short because of our sin and sin leads to death.  This whole world is dying because of it.  God is holy and perfect and we are not.  Imagine God is on one side of the canyon and you are on the other.  You want to get to the other side to be with God, but you can’t get there on your own.  No matter how many good works you do, it will never get you across that great void.

God knows we are imperfect and sinful and we could never reach Heaven by our own efforts, so He came down to us and made a way!  Folks, that is the best news the world could ever hear!  How did God do this you might be asking?

God did it by stepping off His throne, coming to earth as the man Christ Jesus, and ultimately dying on a cross to forgive the sins of all mankind!  Jesus paid the price for every single sin that has ever been or ever will be committed by every single person on this earth and that includes you.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:23

“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

“David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are they

whose transgressions are

forgiven,

whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man

whose sin the Lord will

never count against

him.”

Romans 4:6-8

Jesus Christ was not simply a prophet as Muslims say.  Jesus Christ was not simply a good man like the world says.  Jesus Christ is Lord and on His thigh is written KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!  He died for you, for me, and for all of us because God loves us.  He so loved the world that He died for all of us, so He could bridge that great divide and provide a great salvation for the whole world!

“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.”

Jesus speaking in John 3:16

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:8

We would always ask the person we were sharing the Gospel with if they wanted to be 100% sure they were going to Heaven.  They would almost always answer yes.  The only way a person can be 100% sure they are going to Heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ.  There is no other way and Jesus is very clear on this.  We all need the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of Jesus and Jesus is the only One who ever died to forgive our sins and reconcile us with God!

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.  After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time…”

1 Corinthians 15:3-6

Through Jesus, you no longer have to live separated from God.  He has bridged the gap and made the way into Heaven.  There is no boasting in Heaven.  You cannot earn your way there.  It is a free gift of God and you are only saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ!

Upon believing in Jesus Christ, you will be filled with God’s Holy Spirit, which seals you in Christ and guarantees your inheritance in Heaven!  It is by grace you are saved!

“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

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.  Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession–to the praise of his glory.”

Ephesians 1:13-14

Once you belong to Jesus, you will always belong to Jesus and nothing can snatch you away from Him!  Trust in Jesus and take Him at His Word!  He loves us so much that He died for us and that love is for you too!

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.”

Jesus speaking in John 10:27-30

Nobody in all creation in Heaven or on earth is greater than the Father and Jesus!  Nobody!  Jesus Christ is the only One who has ever made such a promise.  Yes, we are all sinful, but we can choose to receive the grace of God and be forgiven and freely justified through faith in Jesus!

“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

I have been 100% sure I am going to Heaven since I was 18 years old in October of 1996.  That assurance has been strong and unwavering for the last 22 years for one reason and one reason only–Jesus!!!  My salvation and righteousness are through faith in Jesus Christ alone and there is nothing I could ever do to save myself.

So, I leave you with this question.  If you were to die today, how sure are you that you would go to Heaven?  You can be 100% sure right now and I have pointed you to our only salvation on this earth.  Death is coming for all of us and that is certain, but that does not have to be the end!  You can live eternally in Heaven and have that peace and assurance today!  It is up to you to choose whether you are separated from God or reconciled with God.  He has made The Way and that Way is Jesus.  I pray you choose life!

“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

Grace and peace to you all in the saving grace of Jesus Christ!

 

 

 

Hello everyone and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  I am a bit late posting this because we are getting our house ready for family to visit.  This week is our spring break!  With my last name being Callahan, I definitely have to post something about my Irish heritage.  I am very thankful and proud of my Irish ancestry and I think it’s really cool how my ancestors came over on the ships from County Cork, Ireland to Ellis Island in New York.  That’s how I ended up here in America, so praise God for my ancestors and their courage to come to a new land and make a new life!  I hope my family enjoys this too.  God bless you all!

The above photo is our family coat of arms.  That is the ancient Gaelic spelling of our name.  We are descended from Ceallachán who was the 10th century King of Munster. History records that he was even fair haired like me, which makes me smile.  The phrase “fidus et audax” means faithful and bold.  King Ceallachán was a brave warrior who defeated viking invaders.  He protected his people and the people loved him.  I pray I will be a faithful and bold warrior for Christ and live up to my family name!

“Callahan is a well-known Irish surname.  The Callahan name means descendant of Ceallachán.  He was the Eóganachta King of Munster from AD 935 until 954.  The personal name Cellach means ‘bright-headed.'”

-TheIrishRose.com

My first name, Ryan, means “Little King” or “Little Ruler,” so Ryan Callahan is “bright-headed little king.”  I love history and ancestral meanings, but just to be clear, I’m no king and any crown I have I lay down at the feet of Jesus.

When my ancestors came over to America in the 1800s there was a lot of hatred against the Irish.  Most of them became laborers or farmers and many lived in the New York City ghettos alongside the African Americans.  They experienced bigotry and discrimination, but they were tough hardworking people that never gave up.  My direct ancestors ended up settling in Illinois because they were impressed by the fantastic soil for farming.

“Suffering from poverty and racial discrimination, thousands of Irish families left the island in the 19th century for North America aboard cramped passenger ships. The early migrants became settlers of small tracts of land, and those that came later were often employed in the new cities or transitional work camps. The largest influx of Irish settlers occurred with Great Potato Famine during the late 1840s. Although the immigrants from this period were often maligned when they arrived in the United States, they provided the cheap labor that was necessary for the development of that country as an industrial power. Early immigration and passenger lists have revealed many immigrants bearing the name Callahan.”

-HouseofNames.com

There are many famous members of the Callahan clan throughout history and they seem to really like to use our name in Hollywood movies a lot.  I have always been interested in my family history and I hope to visit Ireland someday!  My Uncle and Aunt visited several times.  What a beautiful country!

It is said that St. Patrick used the clover leaf to share the Gospel and explain the trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Patrick was a brave man who shared the Gospel fearlessly under threat of persecution and death by the Irish druids.  It is a blessing to celebrate how the Lord advanced the Gospel through Patrick and my Irish heritage on this day!  I can think of no better way to celebrate both than by sharing the Gospel with you!  The Gospel is simply this: Your soul can only be saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.  That’s it!  It is a beautiful and powerful message and gift of love from God and it must be received by faith!

“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

“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.”

Jesus promising eternal life in John 3:16

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:23

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all!  Even if you are not of Irish lineage, you can still celebrate the courage and love to share Jesus with the world!

Grace and peace to you all from the Callahan clan of Colorado!

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6

 

 

 

 

 

Our brother in Christ Tedashii just came out with a new album called “Never Fold.”  This song he did with Sarah Reeves called “Step Into Love” is beautiful!  The Holy Spirit touched my heart through it and moved me to tears.  I pray it encourages you all and it gives you a sweet glimpse at how much God loves you!

“Walk on water with the Father know He’ll carry me to shore.”

Tedashii, Step Into Love

We live in dangerous times, but God’s love is more powerful than all of the sins of this world.  Don’t ever forget that and never give up!

Grace and peace to you all!

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

Jesus in John 15:12

The world received terrible news out of Christchurch, New Zealand today.  There has been more violence against people of faith and the families and the country need our prayers.  Christchurch is normally a peaceful and idyllic place to live and vacation.  It is a sobering reminder that this hatred and evil can appear anywhere.  I lift these families up to the Lord and I ask Him to bring healing and spread revival through this fallen world.

I have several Muslims that follow my blog.  I want you to know that I hurt with you and my heart and prayers are with the families who are suffering such pain and anguish.  Just like all the victims of these mass shootings, they did not deserve this.  I am a Christian and an American and this violence grieves my heart.

This violence comes from the evil one.  It doesn’t matter if the evil person committing the attack is attacking a church, a synagogue, or a mosque, such attacks are all from the evil one.  I pray this violence stops!  We are not ever going to agree on our faith, but we can strive to live in peace with each other.

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

Romans 12:18

Some may say this attack is revenge for all the terrorist attacks Muslims have committed in the Western world.  I say no more!  No more attacks like this from any faith no matter what it is!  God is the judge and He will avenge.  If you have a disagreement regarding politics or religion and you are mad enough to hurt people, then please take a moment to look at your heart and back away from that anger.  It will only lead to evil, which will bring great suffering to you and those you hurt.

“Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.”

Romans 12:19

As a Christian American I have many disagreements with Muslims.  Yes, it makes me angry when I see Imams saying that Muslims will take over America.  Yes, it makes me angry when Muslims attack and kill my people in the streets.  However, I do not wish you harm.  I pray for you in Christ.  I love you in Christ.  Revenge and violence are not the answer.  May the Lord spread His peace and healing through this world.

Grace and peace to you all.

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.  The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Love does no harm to its neighbor.  Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

Romans 13:8-10

“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.”

Jesus speaking in John 3:16