12/11/2025
A person needs to believe and embrace the Gospel of Jesus in order to be saved. When we become born again believers, we need to revisit the Gospel every day of our lives. We never 'outgrow' it. The Gospel is like oxygen to our souls.
Unfortunately, we rarely hear the true Gospel from our pulpits, many TV preachers, and well meaning friends. What we DO hear quite often is what Paul the Apostle referred to as 'another gospel, which is no gospel at all'. We hear about things like prosperity, name it and claim it word of faith doctrine, and all kinds of other nonsense. We have so many preachers claiming that God told them this and that, almost as if they've received some kind of extra revelation. They claim to have actual conversations with God and prance around the pulpit like they're more interested in being an entertainer than a person who is communicating God's Word in truth and love to His people. Many churches are so chaotic, it becomes a playground for people to draw attention to themselves, rather than focusing on God and His Holy Word.
As Francis Schaeffer said, "Instead of the church being in the world and not of it, the church of today is OF the world and not IN it". (paraphrased)
There is Light at the end of the tunnel though, friends...
Through all of this chaos, our God Who never changes, offers us true freedom and His peace.
There is only one way to find inner peace and freedom inside yourself, no matter where your physical body is placed… at home, work, out on the town, or (especially) if you find yourself behind bars. This kind of freedom is something that no one can ever take away from you, my friend.
It’s been 37 years since God, by His grace, removed the scales from my eyes so that I could be in a relationship with Him. I’ve learned so much in that time, friends. I’ve learned a lot about my own compromise and sinfulness. Most of all, I’ve learned that I am a sinful man in desperate need for His daily forgiveness and mercy.
Have you ever considered the one thing that you and I have in common along with every single individual (with the exception of One) that has been alive since the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden?
The one thing that we ALL have in common is that every single one of us are sinners. Even yet another thing that we all share is the fact that all of us are completely hopeless and bound for an eternity of everlasting punishment if we are relying on our own so called ‘good behavior’ or ourselves or any other belief system in order to go to Heaven when we die.
Our only hope is in Jesus. He said, "I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.”
Jesus warned us that many would come in His name and try to convince people that their way is the way… but don’t be deceived.
Our Creator is a Holy God, Who answers to no one, as there is none superior to Him.
He has no beginning and no end. There isn’t a thing that is ever hidden from Him, so He is never surprised by anything.
He is always righteous in all of His actions, even the ones that we never understand… no matter what our ‘human logic’ tells us.
We are the clay and He is the Potter.
This Creator that we worship is all powerful. The word ‘impossible’ doesn’t exist with God. He breathes out a command, and galaxies appear out of nowhere!
Who could ever stand against Him?!! He’s so massively huge, but… at the same time, He cares about you and I to the extent that He always knows how many hairs that we have on our head! He knows exactly how many cells that we have in our bodies at all times. Things that seem so insignificant to us are never hidden from Him!
This is the One we worship. Every other so called ‘god’ could never be compared to Him. How could they?!!!
Our Creator… Our God, is the only One who has ‘Aseity’. The definition of aseity is ‘God does not depend on any cause other than himself for his existence, realization, or end, and has within himself his own reason of existence.’ This is why we worship Him. He is the only God. There is no other.
When we take the time to consider that this God of the Universe has created a perfect plan to express perfect love for His children by rescuing them from their well deserved, inevitable punishment… coming to our tiny little planet as a man, demonstrating the perfect example of how we are to live and love… the only man to ever live a completely sinless life, to suffer the sentence that our sins caused … the only capable Sacrifice to a Holy God, paying the price for our sinful lives as our guiltless substitute… friends, that is a super humbling thing to consider.
Especially when we think of all of the things that we’ve done in our life that our Holy God would find offensive. You, me, and everyone else. We have ALL sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.
We’re all the same; All of us are sin-sick souls, desperate to unite with the only Physician who can heal us from our self-inflicted ailment. If it were up to us, we would all remain in our pursuit of self-fulfillment… itching and scratching to indulge in all of the desires of our flesh… obese in our iniquities. But God, because of His grace and mercy, chose to pluck His chosen people out of the fire… not because we deserved it in any kind of way, but because He loves us as His children and He demonstrated the ultimate act of love by suffering on a cross in our place. We deserved the wrath of God, but instead, He loved us while we were yet sinners. Now, when He looks at us, all He sees is that we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. It’s as if we’ve never sinned because Jesus paid all of our debt!! Who would do that for someone in this day that we live in? Who ever could? NO ONE, my friend!!
As Max Lucado said so beautifully…
"It’s not every day that you find someone who will give you a second chance—much less someone who will give you a second chance every day."
I could go on and on about the wonders of our Abba (Daddy). Words fall drastically short when we try and describe the depths of His love and mercy. His grace (unmerited favor) and our gratitude are what motivates us to live our lives in a way that‘s pleasing to Him. He saves us, calls us His own… declares us as JUSTIFIED forever, and then we spend the rest of our lives living in GRATITUDE to Him… even though we can never add to or take away His free gift of grace and salvation… our response is always one of utter gratitude.
So… remember this. It’s not about what we do or don’t do. It’s not about our performance at all. It’s about His grace. Grace is ‘Unmerited Favor’. We don’t deserve it and it’s impossible to earn it.. because… if we contributed any kind of works or deeds, it would then no longer be grace! We recognize our desperation for Him to forgive us, He makes us clean, and we live the rest of our lives with a new Lord. A new Master. His Holy Spirit guides us through life from that point forward. He is ‘The Comforter’. He is the Spirit of God Himself and He dwells in His people.
If you don't know Him like this, please don't wait any longer. Our purpose in life is to bring glory to our Creator. We were made to let His Light shine through us so that others can see His truth and love through our lives. Jesus came to serve others and His true children are called to follow in His footsteps.
Amen!!!
Soli Deo Gloria!!!
Your favorite chaplain friend,
Your Pal,
Your buddy,
Kenny
🙏❤️🙏
