God's perfect plan for us

We were created to be dependent on God, our very first relatives Adam and Eve were born into paradise and dependent on God to meet all of their needs and have a loving relationship with him, just like little children are dependent on their parents for all of their needs, loved by and loving their parents.

Matthew 18:3 And he said "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of God."

In the bible, we see the result of disobedience to God in the people of the bible, trying to go their own way, a direct result of the inheritance of disobedient thinking handed down from Adam and Eve who listened to the father of all lies, Satan. He was the original author of disobedience, deciding that he would
be higher than God.

Isaiah 14:12-17 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a desert, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?"

Every man and every woman has tasted the bondage of the fear of death in this life. We see it in the headlines every day, or perhaps we have seen it in our families, our friends, our towns. With Jesus, we are set free from that bondage. He loved us so much, we who were deceived by Satan, believing the lie that we could rely on ourselves for everything, including the original lie that surely we shall not die if we rely on our own knowledge and abilities spoken to Eve by Satan and followed by Adam believing the lie, that Jesus made himself human, relinquished his omnipresence (capacity to be present everywhere), his omnipotence (capacity to be all powerful) , his omniscience (capacity to know everything infinitely), and relied entirely on the Father God for everything, a model for us to follow.

Hebrews 2: 14-18 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death that is, the devil and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

And so he calls us back to him!

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

What an invitation from the one who made himself low and suffered our punishment for disobedience because he loved us that much!

He rescues us!

Matthew 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

He is the one who saves us and guides us!

John 10:14-18 "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."

And so our FATHER in Heaven sent his son as one of us in human form to rescue us from the lies of Satan that separated us from him because he loved us and did not want us to be lost. And his son was obedient to the FATHER even unto death to save us, being separated from the FATHER and taking our punishment on the cross for our sins, taking all of our sins upon himself and taking an extremely painful death for us so we could be rescued. And then he was raised from death to life everlasting, and made it possible for us to be with him forever more, cherished and loved by him in a life everlasting of joy and love and freedom from evil and sin that destroys.

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory.""Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

We who accept his son and believe he died for our sins and rose again on the third day and rely on him and our FATHER in heaven are set free from that bondage of sin and death, and able to be loved and cherished forevermore by God who created us to have an intimate relationship with us. Just as you would honor those who lay down their lives for you on this earth, how much more should we honor, give thanks and praise the one who gives us the free gift of eternal life, who loved us so much that he gave his son as a sacrifice for us, and his son relinquished everthing to become a lowly servant to save us and be with us. Remove the veil from your eyes, the veil of deception and bondage, created by Satan the father of all lies, and come into the light of love and freedom and life everlasting. All you need to do is accept Jesus as your savior, to acknowledge and believe in him who loves you and wants to set you free from the deception and bondage of sin. We were created by God to be loved by him and to love him and each other, an experience that is like no other experience. We cannot in our present state even imagine how wonderful it can and will be,

1Corinthians 2:9 However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard,no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"

So what do you need to do to be free?

John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Romans 10:8-11 "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified,
and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

Here is a good prayer to pray:
“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.”

Then what? here is what you should do then;
1. Get baptized as commanded by Christ. (Acts 2:38 "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." )
2. Tell someone else about your new faith in Christ.
3. Spend time with God each day. It does not have to be a long period of time. Just develop the daily habit of praying to Him and reading His Word. Ask God to increase your faith and your understanding of the Bible. Ask God to guide you in everything you do and the Holy Spirit will speak to you and guide you. Talk to God just like you would talk to your friend.
4. Seek fellowship with other followers of Jesus. Develop a group of believing friends to answer your questions and support you.
5. Find a local bible based church where you can worship God, giving him thanks and praise for what he has done for you to set you free.
6. Know that you are much loved by Your FATHER in heaven and his Son Jesus and he will provide for you everything you need in life if you follow him, read his word, pray to him, talk to him.

Matthew 6:26-33 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and
your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Call me at 507-331-5801 and I will help you get started in your new life. you are a new creation in Christ!

2 Corinthians 5:12-19 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

Butterflies From Heaven

My wife Linda and I recently attended the Minnesota State Fair, it is our annual date together where we hold hands and spend the whole day together visiting the exhibits, the agriculture and Eco experience are two of our favorites, we look forward to that annual date every year.
We had never visited the butterfly exhibit before and I felt led to do that this year. As we entered the building there were many butterflies of various colors flying, resting, sitting on some of the people there. I said a silent prayer that they would land on my wife and myself so that we could experience that. I thought after a while that that would not happen, only for a second or two and then just believed that it would, a complete stranger exclaimed excitedly that there was a butterfly on my back, she was smiling as were her children. Shortly after that more butterflies began to land on me, I had one on my hand, my arm, my back, my wallet, and then the biggest butterfly of all landed right over my heart. The Lord showed me that in all of the commonality of people experiencing this wonder of his creation they were kind to each other, helping each other, (as in strangers helping children to correctly handle the butterflies so that they could experience an actual butterfly on them) speaking to one another even though they had never met before, with smiles, that this is how it will be in the new heavens and the new earth, a place of friendliness, joy, peace, love! I began to tear up right in that place and as I did people were smiling kind smiles. I felt the great love and kindness of the Lord through that experience! That big butterfly over my heart remained there the entire time I was in there, and I was reminded by the Holy Spirit that my Lord spoke to me last year that as I followed him he would create in me a pure heart and renew in me continually, a steadfast spirit. That big butterfly over my heart is like the Lord covering and protecting your heart from slings and arrows that cause harm to that pure heart. Do you want to experience the loving kindness of your Lord and savior Jesus and your father in heaven? Then dedicate everything to God, your life, your finances, your house, your family, read his word daily, pray to him daily, talking to him about your concerns, your needs, your very heart in all matters, and the Holy Spirit will guide you, counsel you, show you wonderful things as you begin to see in the spirit. He loves you even if you do not know him. But as you begin to know him by his word and by talking to him in a real way and opening your heart to his Holy Spirit you will feel and know his great love and kindness in a personal way! There is nothing greater than that.
Ephesians 3: 14-19 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.