“He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” you and your household.”  (Acts 16:30-32)

Spring training has begun and the beginning of the baseball season follows in a few days. Every team starts out with a fresh start. What they did last season is history. Each season is a new beginning. Each team has the goal of winning their league’s pennant and then winning four games in the World Series to make them the champion team.

A team wins a game by scoring more runs than the opposition, but there are a plethora of rules that have to be followed. I once heard of a World Series game that was the seventh of the series and whoever won it would win the championship. A batter clobbered the ball and sent it over the fence for a home run.

The batter trotted around the bases and when he tagged home plate, the hometown crown erupted in cheers, but the cheering ceased when the umpire called the runner out. How could this be? He had hit a home run, but the umpire said he was out because he had failed to tag first base.

There is a spiritual parallel here. Some day we will approach the home plate of heaven and the great umpire of the universe will call us “in” or “out.”It will not matter how hard we hit the ball of life. What will matter is whether we have tagged the proper base.

We can tag the second base of church membership and involvement. We can tag the third base of good works, but what really matters is whether we have tagged the first base of salvation . Many people go through life as good people, doing good works, involved in their church, but failing to tag the first base of salvation through giving their all to Jesus.

We all need to make sure that we have tagged that base in our lives. It is not a matter of who we are, but whose we are. Some day we will all cross the home plate of eternity and we should all be prepared to answer by what right do we have to be called ‘in’ rather than ‘out,”‘ and our answer should be that we are in because we have given our life to Christ. Have you tagged the fist base of salvation? If not, make sure you do so today.

By: John Grant
used by permission

John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney.
He is an active writer and frequent speaker.  He can be reached by e-mail at: John.Grant@johngrant.net

FURTHER READING

Salvation Prayer

Salvation by Faith and Not Works

How to Know God Personally

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The post Safe At The Home Plate Of Heaven can be found at Thoughts about God.

“About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.”
Luke 9:28

As we lifted off the runway and made a turn to the South over Puget Sound, I could see it in the hazy distance. As we got closer, it got bigger and more visibly clear. Suddenly we were there and as we flew around the peak of Mt. Rainer, so close that it seemed we could almost touch it. I reached for my camera.

There’s just something spiritual and spectacular about being on a mountaintop. Have you ever thought about how many significant Biblical events occurred on a mountain top? Moses got the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai and later saw the Promised Land from Mt. Moab. Jesus was gloriously transfigured on the Mt. of Transfiguration.

We see God’s handiwork all around us, but perhaps in a greater way in His spectacular creation of the mighty mountain peaks around the world. But mountains are also a symbol of challenge, as they remind us that the best view is always from the top.  In our spiritual growth, we should never stop halfway up, as the real reward is at the peak. We gain our real strength, both spiritual and physical, when we press to reach the pinnacle.

Caleb is one of my Biblical heroes. When God was dividing up the land among the Israelites, the people were asking for the lush valleys and grassy plains, but Caleb asked for a mountain, for it was there that their enemies had been chased and built their fortresses. That did not intimidate Caleb, as he wanted a challenge. He trusted not in his own strength, but in God’s presence. He wanted to see God at work and choose a place where he would have to trust in God. He refused to allow the difficulty to stop him from enjoying all that God had promised him.

If you always choose the easy way, asking for peaceful valleys, you will never see God’s full power displayed to enable you to take a mountain. Seek out the mountains, and you will witness God doing things through your life that can be explained only by His mighty presence.

by John Grant
used by permission
John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney

FURTHER READING

The Mountain Top and the Valley

Mountaintops

A Moving Mountain

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The post A Mountaintop Experience can be found at Thoughts about God.

“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”  Deuteronomy 31:6

Attending our three-year-old granddaughter’s swim meet was a highlight experience. For some, just making it from one end of the pool to the other was an accomplishment. But I noticed an interesting thing.

For those children who had a coach or teacher walking beside them and cheering them on they tended to swim better and faster. It was not that the coach was pushing them along or physically helping them in any way. But, what they were doing was coming alongside the swimmer and encouraging them on and telling them they could make it, no matter how far the end of the pool seemed to be. Just when they were ready to give up, a word of encouragement helped them along.

One of the greatest gifts we can ever give to anyone is the gift of encouragement. Validate their dreams. Tell them to get ahead of the future, pick up a trumpet and start a parade. Shoot for the moon and even if you miss, you will be among the stars.

A good friend of mine is a retired Navy captain. At one time in his career, he was chief aide to an Admiral and I will not soon forget his story of speaking at the admiral’s funeral and saying that he would give his life for that officer. Why, because the admiral was an encourager.

The greatest gift we can give to our children and grandchildren is to be an encourager to them. In the Book of (Joel 2:28) it talks about how ‘your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions.’ With encouragement, people, young and old, can live their dreams. As Christians, we need to encourage those around us. Encourage them in the faith. Tell them they matter. Challenge them to become the person God so uniquely created them to be.

Encouragement costs you nothing to give, but is priceless to receive. Paul was an encourager to Timothy when he wrote to him and said (2 Timothy 1:7) “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”

As Paul encouraged Timothy, we should encourage one another to rise to the challenges of their calling. “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

God himself is our greatest encourager, but often he delegates to each of us the responsibility of encouraging someone else. When He calls on us, we should never let Him down.
(a thought on life from John Grant )

by John Grant
used by permission

John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney.

FURTHER READING

Who Could Use Your Encouragement Today? by Jon Walker

Encourage One Another by Phil Ware

Encourage One Another  by Max Lucado

The post Living Life God’s Way and Enjoying it Too can be found at Thoughts about God.

“Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

The antidote to fear is confidence in God, and that comes through faith. Fear hangs over our head like a constant vulture, ready to devour us. In the book of Hebrews, faith is the essential “engine” of the Christian life. It moves beyond mere head knowledge to a deep trust that results in action and endurance. Chapter 11 describes this best. It is often called the “Hall of Faith.”

Fear can be described as a terror of the unknown… worry, doubt and concern about the future. Most of what we worry about never happens and whatever does happen is far from being as difficult as we had imagined.

Affliction is temporary while Glory is eternal. The only way to overcome fear is through faith. Biblical faith is active trust and reliance on God’s character and promises, not just intellectual belief, serving as an assurance of unseen realities and the foundation for salvation, demonstrated through obedience and action, growing through hearing God’s word, and enabling believers to overcome obstacles and live by God’s truth rather than sight. It’s a gift from God, a response to His initiative, bringing peace, purpose, and victory through Jesus Christ, as expressed in Hebrews 11:1 as “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”.

Faith resides at the core of Christianity and the Christian life. While the Bible has much to say about it, faith is a challenging concept to define. A biblical definition of faith reaches beyond mere belief—the simple acknowledgment that God exists—into the realm of trust. Genuine faith involves abandoning all human reliance on self-efforts and placing total dependence upon God’s character, His actions, and His promises, as revealed in His Word.

The apostle Paul said, “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Faith does not put trust in bank account balances, headline news, or the doctor’s report. As Scripture says, “We don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:18, NLT). When the world seems to be falling apart, our faith stands secure on the rock-solid promises of God.

On a scale of 1 to 10, where does your faith score?

by John Grant
used by permission

FURTHER READING

• Faith and Hope
• Learning to Trust
• The Difference between Faith and Optimism

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The post Faith can be found at Thoughts about God.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

Have you ever stood in a book store and surveyed the number of books that have a number of ways to do most anything? There’s everything from 8 Minute Workouts to 8 Mindful Steps to Happiness to 7 Principles for Making a Marriage and 7 Days to Whiter Teeth. Remember Steven Covey’s,  Seven Habits of Highly Effective People? He put the words ‘proactive‘ and ‘synergize‘ on the map.

Years back, an edition of U.S. News featured on the front cover ’50 Ways to Improve Your Life ‘.  The inclusive list covered everything from flossing your teeth to enjoying a massage to joining a singing group. It seems that everybody writes or reads books that boil anything down to fewer than ten precise steps to accomplish any goal.

We live in a scientific and technological culture where people believe that every problem can be solved by applied techniques (six steps to a better whatever). How much has this way of viewing life shaped you?

Christian bookstores are not immune to this way of thinking. Notice how much it looks like the self-help section of your local secular bookstore. Whether it’s a better marriage or a stronger prayer life, there are numerous books that offer it in six or seven easy steps.

Pastors run to church growth conferences to hear the latest ‘formula‘ in however many steps the speaker may think it takes to grow their church. It all seems so right, so logical, so reasonable. They sell books like 5 Good Minutes to Change Your Spiritual Life and 100 Morning Practices to Help You Stay Calm and Focused All Day Long.

As Christians, we often think there is some magic formula out there to dramatically change us and make all of our problems go away overnight. Well, it isn’t quite that easy. Alot of self-help, spiritual and otherwise, are on the shelves of local book stores. Some contain sound advice and some are marginal, if not outright incorrect. Be careful what you load into your brain and be sure you know the core values of the author and don’t believe that a few steps practiced and applied in your life can remake you.

There is only one way and it is a one step process. Jesus said:, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me‘ (John 14:6). I suggest that if you really want to change your life this year, commit yourself to follow Him and read His Word every day.

In a world that tells us to conform, Jesus tells us to transform and to present ourselves as a living sacrifice.

So, for us all, may this be the year of transformation, the year of presentation, the year we surrender all we have to the one who holds the keys to joy, peace, and contentment. The path to that goal is daily Bible reading, committed worship, not just in church, but in all we do. May this year be the year we renew our pledge to love God more, to seek His face and His plan for our lives more clearly and to draw close to His Word each and every day.

Right now is our most exciting time ever. Last year is history. Next year lies in the future, but this is the only time we will ever have to live right now. So let’s live it to the fullest, changing our lives and changing the lives of others.

Question: What is a goal that you have for the future, and how can your goal be used to honor God?

by John Grant
used by permission

John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney

FURTHER READING

What’s on Your Mind?

The Mind of Christ

Renewed Mind

The post Precise Formulas to Fix Anything can be found at Thoughts about God.

“So Peter was being kept in the prison, but the congregation was intensely praying to God for him.” Acts 12:5

What is the focus of your prayer life? Do you pray more for yourself than for others? Many Christians jump into their prayer life with a grocery list of personal things they want God to do in their life.

While it is proper to bring our personal cares before the Lord, it is of greater importance to pray for others, both the saved and the unsaved. Praying for ourselves and for others is something God commands us to do.

Effective prayer for others will bring us closer to God, because effective prayer is based on a knowledge of His will. It will also bring us closer to others, as we learn more about them and focus on their needs.

Praying for others is important because we are to emulate Jesus who prayed for us
(John 17:20). Here are some ways the Bible tell us we should intercede:

• We are to pray for all people (1 Timothy 2:1).

• We are to pray for government leaders  (1 Timothy 2:2).

• We are to pray for the unsaved (Romans 10:1).

• We are to pray for fellow Christians (Ephesians 6:18).

• We are to pray for ministers of the gospel (Colossians 4:3).

• We are to pray for the persecuted church (2 Thessalonians 1:3).

Praying for others gets our focus off of ourselves and onto the needs of those around us. As we “carry each other’s burdens,” we “will fulfill the law of Christ.” Begin praying for others more today and help to build up the body of Christ. It is a great way to grow spiritually.

Lord, help me to pray more for others than for myself. May I see the needs of others and bring them before the throne of grace, and may I grow spiritually in the process. Amen.

By John Grant
Used by Permission

John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney

FURTHER READING

What Should Be Included in Prayer?

Continuous Partial Attention Is your prayer time undistracted?

Prayer is Talking to God

The post Imbalanced Prayer can be found at Thoughts about God.

God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”. Hebrews 13:5

Having major surgery is no small feat, even in the best of hospitals. I am amazed at the teams that prep you for surgery, as well as those in the operating room, at least those I saw before slipping off to “La La Land“.  Then there are all sorts of people in the recovery room. Finally, when you get to your hospital room, there is another team of people, each with their assigned task. They go from bed to bed and from room to room. But what is missing is the patient’s very own person assigned especially to you and to no one else.

That person is called a ‘private nurse‘. I was fortunate to have one, even though insurance doesn’t cover the cost. But, I got one for free, and she was the best. She was there when I woke up in the recovery room, beside my bed and holding my hand. She accompanied me to my room and remained there beside my bed for five days and nights, sleeping on a small cot in the room.

When I was able to get out of bed and take my first steps, she encouraged me every step of the way. There are a lot of needs a patient has, ranging from painful to personal, and she helped with them all. Whenever I needed something, she made sure that I got it. When I came home, she stayed with me to take care of my needs and encourage me through my therapy. If you are going to have surgery, it’s the only way to go.

When I thought about how blessed I was to have this lady at my side, I thought of a spiritual parallel. From the time I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, He has always been at my side, saying that I should not worry because He will never leave or forsake me. He is always there to carry my heaviest burden or to care for the least of my needs. Scripture often refers to our relationship with God as being like a marriage. The way our society has perverted marriage into a disposable item robs us of the security that concept was divinely intended to portray.

As I am sure you can guess, this ‘private nurse’ was my wife of more than forty years, my best friend, my lover, the mother of my children and next to Jesus, the one who means the most in my life. She never ceases to amaze me with who she is and what she does for me. This new experience in surgery was just one more reminder of how she is as close to me as Jesus and how blessed I am to have both always at my side. I am indeed a most blessed patient, husband and sinner saved by God’s merciful grace.

by John Grant
Used by Permission

John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney

FURTHER READING

How to Hold On

The Never Leaving God

Redirect

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The post The One Always by Your Side can be found at Thoughts about God.

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Philippians 4:8

“Speed Kills.” Or so says the billboard to encourage drivers to slow down. Thousand are killed every year on the nation’s highways due to excessive speed. But as I drove along and thought about the billboard message, I thought how speed can kill the body, but slowness can kill the soul.

Perhaps there is no more dangerous time for our spiritual life than when our brain is coasting, idling or in neutral. It is like going to sleep at night with the door unlocked. There is no telling what will sneak in and harm us.

Our most vulnerable moments are the unguarded ones, not the ones where we are focused on a mission and going ninety miles an hour with gusts to a hundred and twenty. What I think about in my unguarded moments reflects what my mind dwells upon and ultimately decides what kind of person I become.

I need to discipline and exercise my mind just as I do my body. If I fill my body with garbage then it turns to garbage. My mind is no different. What I dwell on in those neutral moments is a good gauge of what is in my heart. I need to be cautious and what I allow in my mind. The best way to exercise and guard my mind is to contemplate those things that are pure, lovely and of good repute.

I should not allow the world to fill my mind with ungodly thinking and focusing on the “things” of this world. The best way to keep the evil one and his devices from entering my mind is to guard its door with scripture and prayer and by focusing on that which is true, noble, just, pure, lovely and good.

The things I allow my mind to focus on will determine the way I live and if I focus on the evils and temptations of this world, I take down my guard and can be led into sin like a sheep to slaughter. If I fill my mind with the things of Christ, then I will become Christ like and if I fill my mind with the evils of this world then I become like the rest of the world.

Beware of neutral…. It’s a killer!

Lord, I know that whatever I fill my mind with is a matter of choice, my choice. Please help me to be aware of those times when I am vulnerable and help me to guard my mind. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Question: How is a person’s physical life (how they take care of their body) analogous to their spiritual life?

By John Grant
used by permission

John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney

FURTHER READING

The Sound Mind Principle

Double Minded, Me?

Where is Your Focus?

The post The Danger of Being in Neutral can be found at Thoughts about God.

“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Jeremiah 33:3

As the man, late for an appointment, drove around the packed office parking lot he could find not one parking space. He kept driving and increased his fuming. Suddenly he thought to pray, saying, “Lord, you know how important this meeting is and if you will find me a parking space, I will attend church every Sunday for the next year.”

Suddenly a space miraculously opened up right in front of him and he pulled right in. He thought and suddenly began to pray, “Oh God, never mind. I found a space right in front of me.”

God hears and answers prayer, sometimes, yes, sometimes no and sometimes wait.

Sometimes we get frustrated as we want immediate answers and we want what we prayed for. But God is God and not a celestial order taker.

I have asked God for a lot of things, but in retrospect, I am glad He didn’t give me what I asked for, as it would have been a disaster for me. He knows much better than I do what is best for me and what is His plan for my life. Prayer is not an exercise in asking for what we want but praising Him and asking what He wants for our lives.

Sometimes God answers our prayers in strange ways and we need to focus on. we are often unprepared for the answers we receive from God. His answers frequently do not look at first like answers. They look like problems. They look like trouble. They look like loss, disappointment, affliction, conflict, sorrow, and increased selfishness. They cause deep soul wrestling and expose sins and doubts and fears. They are not what we expect, and we often do not see how they correspond to our prayers.

The Lord of the universe isn’t under obligation to say “yes” to every prayer. That’s a good thing, considering some of the things we request. But sometimes God says “no” to our most heartfelt requests. Have you discovered this to be true in your own life? I certainly have.

When we pray we should look carefully for a response. It may be disguised even though it is right before our eyes. And when God answers our prayers we should rejoice, give thanks and give Him all the glory.

By John Grant
Used by Permission

John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney

FURTHER READING

What Should Be Included in Prayer?

Should I Pray Every Day? 

How did Jesus Pray?

You Asked God for What?

The post When God Answers Do We Hear? can be found at Thoughts about God.

*written in 2011 but applicable to today

“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be”. Matthew 24:37-39

We seem to have experienced more natural disasters in the past two years than ever before. Thousands have died in hurricanes, typhoons, fires and earthquakes. Recently we watched with horror on live television and then played over and over the disaster in Japan.

First it was an earthquake, then a tsunami and then a nuclear catastrophe. The power moved the coastline of Japan eight feet and shifted the position of the earth’s axis about 6.5 inches, causing the earth to rotate slightly faster, shortening the day by 1.8 microseconds.

As I listened to the reports, I realized that the news without knowing it was describing that which is to come as prophesied by John the Revelator while exiled on the Isle of Patmos. I thought of Luke 21:28… “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift your heads, because redemption is drawing near.”

The world today remains mostly oblivious to all that is happening, not just with natural disasters, but economically and socially. As in the days of Noah, people ignored all the warnings and they did not understand even until the flood came and took them all away.

God is trying to get our attention. Sometimes God speaks to our heart, emotion or intellect through his Word, our prayer life, dreams and visions, reflection or meditation. God also speaks to us through the people in our lives.

God also uses circumstances good and bad to get our attention and calls us to his agenda. Anything that happens to us in life can work for good if we engage our circumstances as opportunities to be conformed to Christ’s image (Romans 8:28-29)

So we are admonished to look up and look around at what is happening in the world, listen to others and most importantly, listen to God. Look at the world and see the signs as we listen to what God is trying to tell to his people.

Think of the flood, of the earthquake and other ways God uses his awesome power to get attention. Recent events have been cataclysmic, but for those who have read Revelation, we haven’t seen anything like it yet. Redemption is drawing neigh.
(a thought on life from John Grant)

by John Grant
used by permission

John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney

FURTHER READING

Spend Time with Him

How Do We Pay Attention to God

Time and Attention

The post The Awesome Power of God can be found at Thoughts about God.