Job Leon

May God bless you all this Thanksgiving, and may you use your blessings to bless those around you. The first Thanksgiving celebrations are found in the Old Testament of our Bible. The European Pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving in the Americas after their first harvest in 1621. But it wasn't until the Civil War began in the mid-1800s that President Lincoln decided the nation needed a celebration to bring it together and honor the Lord God of creation.  Who in his mind is the benefactor of our nation? I agree with this and know that God and our Lord Christ Jesus are mindful of us all. There was no set date for Thanksgiving at the time.  Each year, our nation's President had to proclaim the Thanksgiving Proclamation.  That is, until, Franklin Roosevelt declared the last Thursday of November the official date of Thanksgiving for the United States. Thanksgiving, by its very nature, is our nation's way of honoring God for His grace and Mercy to each of us. Whether or not a perso...

“from childhood, you have been taught the holy scriptures, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus”. In this passage Paul writes to a young Timothy, who Paul has left in charge of the church.  Poor Timothy, he had been with Paul on missionary trips and witnessed the close walk Paul had with the LORD. Wow, Timothy is young and timid. Probably thinking how difficult it will be to come out from behind Paul’s shadow? Now Paul nearing the end of life, wants to encourage Timothy, to be strong and of good character and to take on His calling. Paul reminds Timothy that he has been brought up in God’s ways, therefore you do what God has called you to do, which is to pastor the sheep. Tough task for the young Timothy, especially now that false teachers are coming into the church. You too are called to be God’s minister right there where you are! Question: Are you ministering to those around you?

Let me ask you two questions. 1. Do you know for certain if you were to die today, would you go to heaven? 2. What if God asked you, “Why should I let you into my kingdom,” What would your response be?  If you answered #1 - “I am not sure” and #2 because I am a good person” let me share some truth with you. No one is saved by “works.” This simply means you can’t be good enough to get into heaven, You can’t do great works like visiting the sick, caring for the elderly or giving monies to charity, etc. Most people, will give you this answer of “by works”. But the truth is that we are not saved by works. Let’s look up this scripture in your Bible, turn  to  Ephesians 2:8-9  to get the true answer to question #1. NOTE: Please see  below  scriptures from either the Jehovah Witness version, or from the Book of Mormon or from the Catholic New Revised version. I want you to see scripture from your version that you read from.  Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you h...