Have you ever been taken for granted? Have you ever felt that someone has taken advantage of your friendship or relationship? I am sure that everyone has had that moment in their life. It doesn’t feel great. Then when that person comes to us and needs something, we are not sure if we really want to jump to help them.

Now, let us put the shoe on the other foot. Have you have taken someone for granted or taken advantage of someone? Sometimes we do that without even knowing it, and we wonder why that person reacts to us the way they do, and we wonder why they are not so nice or are not willing to help us anymore.

We are in an awesome relationship with Jesus. That word, relationship, is so key, it's not a religion. We have to realize that, but even more, we have to realize that we are in an awesome relationship with Jesus.

Here is how awesome it is. We take Jesus for granted all the time. We always want Him to do things for us in our lives. Yet, how often do we put Jesus’ needs in front of our own? Do we talk to Jesus as much as we talk to our friends? How often do we choose to do something for ourselves instead of for Jesus. How often do we complain to Jesus about why He is apparently, in our opinion, not doing something for us. If you think over your life, and are honest, you should be like wow, I haven’t been that great of a partner in this relationship.

Now here is the awesome part. Jesus never walks away from the relationship. When we do talk to Him, Jesus never makes it awkward. Jesus still is willing to show up in our lives and do things even when we have put Him on the back burner, and even when we have complained about Him.

That is the definition of an Awesome relationship.

I have two points:

First, we need to not take our relationship with Jesus for granted. It should humble us every day to realize that Jesus has no reason to be in a relationship with us, but yet He still desires to have one with us. We do many things where Jesus should just walk away, and yet He never does, and never has any intention to do so.

Second, what if we were more awesome in our relationship towards Jesus. How much better things could be for us! James 4:8 states, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."  We have the choice of how close we want this relationship to be, or how distant. Think about how amazing our earthly relationships are when we choose to be close. Now imagine, how good our relationship with Jesus can be if we choose to get closer and closer and closer all the days of our life.

You want to have an amazing life with Jesus, well, Jesus is ready to give it to you. He just wants to know how amazing you want it to be, and if you really appreciate Him. When we choose to do and show this, watch what Jesus will do, because...

Remember Jesus loves you; I love you, and you are awesome!

We live in a world where everything seems to be compromised, especially our values. People begin to consider and believe what was wrong may not be wrong anymore. Just look at the Olympics this year. And the world makes even less sense and causes chaos. God never wanted that and gave us principles that we can stand on found in His Word.

Principles are the things we stand on, that make us who we are. Principles cannot change, or then they are not principles. Many times, we compromise those principles in order to placate someone, or to not ruffle feathers so we all get along. The problem is we think we are doing good for that person or people but in reality we are leading them to destruction by not standing on our principles.

When we fail to hold to our principles, we let the devil win and people are on the road to hell.

Many will say, well, what about this situation, or they are your family, or that stand will cost you a job or a business deal. If you have real principles, you are willing to stand on, there will be times it will be tough, and it may seem to cost you. But we must stand by our principles, people’s eternal destination depends on it, especially the one’s we care very much about.

Standing by your principles may seem to cost you, because of how people will react. People may even be nasty toward you, leave you, and call you intolerant. The thing is in the end God is very intolerant of sin, and there is only one to get into heaven. When we compromise our values, we make a mockery of the Gospel even worse than what we saw at the Olympics.

God is looking for principled men and women to make a stand with. And when God makes a stand with you, things will turn out amazing, Romans 8:28. But for this verse to be true we must decide to take a stand.

The question is where do we find those principles to stand on? I find my principles in the Word of God. Jesus stood firm, took a lot of heat, and still does, but His principles have stood the test of time.

We live in a world that is searching for real principles that will hold them up. Remember there are more people searching for something real to hold on, than people on TV, in music, politics, sports etc. who are trying to say the principles found in God’s Word are irrelevant. To get you to hold on to something else. A question must then be asked, why is the world more chaotic than ever before? It is because their principles don’t stand when put to the test because they are not backed up by the all-powerful God who just happens to love you so very much!!

We need to stand for our principles no matter the circumstance. If we don’t, we betray the very people we love. For example, if a family member is doing something that is wrong, you have a choice to stand by your principles or to say I will loosen up so that I don’t lose that person. Many make the second choice, because we think by giving a little here will leave the door open for the future. When in reality you are saying to them, it is OK to compromise your principles a dangerous lesson to teach, and one that is being taught way too often in the world.

Yes, it is tough to practice, “Principles are only principles if you stand by them no matter what.” But it is important if we are to lead our country, and more importantly the ones we love to an eternal destination in heaven. That is what it is all about. Nothing else really matters. If you get along down here but your loved ones don’t make it to heaven, then it is all for not.

We need to stand on our principles because when the world around those we love is shaken, they will look to the person who is not shaken.

Psalm 16:8 I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

“Principles are only principles if you stand by them no matter what.” Hold to this and in the end, Jesus will be sure you are not moved!

Remember Jesus loves you; I love you, and you are awesome!

Why is it so important to tell those we love about Jesus? 

Many people say this to those they love, “I will miss you in heaven”.  They may also say, “I will be sad if you are in hell”.  But will you be?

Revelation 21:4 states, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

In heaven, there will be no more sorrow, pain, or crying.  God wants you to be eternally happy in heaven.  I am looking forward to that.

Will we miss our loved ones in heaven?  The answer is, we will not. There will not be any pity parties in heaven.  God says emphatically that there will be no pain, sorrow, or crying in heaven.  If a loved one is in hell and you know about it, that could produce those feelings.

God will not allow you to remember those who did not accept Jesus.  He will not allow you to be sad at all.  Heaven is a place of eternal joy and there is no place for any sadness.

If you want those you love to be with you in heaven one day, you need to tell them about Jesus now.  They need to make a choice.  This is about eternity.  It is the most important decision that anyone has to make, whether they know it or not.  They need to know how important this choice is.

I have had many people say to me, “you will miss me in heaven”, or “you will be sorry I am not there”.  The truth is, I will not.  I will not even know that they ever existed in my life, because Jesus wants us to be happy forever.  Jesus will not allow anything to ruin that for us.  There will be no painful memories in heaven.

I will not miss them, but I tell them that I don’t want to miss them. I want them to be there too.  So, I plead with them to accept Jesus before it is too late.

If you want revival in your life, in your church, and in your family, there needs to be an urgency about introducing people to a relationship with Jesus.

We need to share in love, but we also cannot soft sell this.  This is the most important thing that every human needs to know.  We cannot play around with this. 

If you truly love someone, don’t ever stop trying to introduce them to Jesus.  A close relative of mine is an atheist.  Every time we talk, I bring up Jesus.  He said that we would talk more if I would not bring up Jesus so much.  I tell him that I can’t not talk about Jesus, that it is too important.  He says don’t worry about me, and I say that I can’t stop worrying about you.  He says you will just see me in hell, and I tell him, brother no I won’t, because if you do not accept Jesus, I won’t even know you ever existed and I want to know you forever.

Don’t give up on the one’s you love. Yes, they may not want to hear about Jesus, but they need to. It is the only question that really matters in this world.

Remember Jesus loves you, I love you, and you are awesome!

Today is the fourth of July. Today we celebrate the freedom we still have in America. Let me emphasize the word STILL. We are free but not as free as we once were. Some freedoms that we thought would never go away are eroding before our very eyes. However, I am still glad to be a Christian who lives in America.

I have a question for you today. Are you a Christian who happens to live in America or are you an American who is a Christian?

You might think there is not a significant difference, but there is. The one that comes first defines where your citizenship is. I am a Christian who happens to live in America. When I became a Christian, I pledged my allegiance first and foremost to Jesus above anything else. I became at that moment a citizen of heaven. I have a future that is secure. As a citizen of heaven, I am under Jesus’ rules, and I am 100% free all the time. No matter what happens in America I will live forever with Jesus, and I have access to every promise Jesus spoke in the Bible and unlike earthly politicians Jesus keeps every single one of his campaign promises. When Jesus speaks, He does not need to be fact checked. When Jesus speaks, He has your best interests in mind all the time!

One more thing, when you become a Christian, you are not only a citizen, but Jesus says you are adopted into His family. You become a royal! You are a prince or a princess as far as God is concerned. What do royals enjoy when they go to any other nation? Diplomatic Immunity. We have that with Jesus!

This means that we really don’t have to worry about what happens in this world. Nothing can affect our future in heaven and God will do things for us on this earth. For example, inflation, I don’t have to worry because Jesus said if I put my trust in Him, I will always be taken care of. That has been the case. I always have enough and many times more than enough even though prices are going through the roof. I can’t explain it, except that Jesus keeps His promises.

Many say well that does not happen for me, and I am a Christian. The question is how you view your citizenship. Are you an American who is a Christian or are you a Christian living in America. I hope it is the second. The second one is what God wants and what God responds to in miraculous ways to bless you!

Why because Jesus loves you, I love you, and you are awesome!