Archive for May, 2026

How do I know Christ lives in me?

Posted: May 25, 2026 in Heaven Bound
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A friend of mine recently posed a question to me that I found very interesting. He asked me “how do you know if you are truly saved? How do you know if you are REALLY a Christian? This guy was genuinely struggling with whether or not he had actually been saved, or was this completely in his head.

For those of you not familiar when I refer to “saved”. This is what happens when we accept Christ into our hearts and He comes to inhabit or live in us. Being saved means we gain eternal life with Him.

But, back to the question at hand; Is it possible to be saved only in your head, and not in your heart?

The easy answer is no, you cant be saved just in your head and how do I know this? Because a truly saved person is changed from the inside out. They are renewed inside, they are different because of that renewal.

J. A. Motyer said it this way, “No one can walk with God without giving himself to a determined pursuit of good.” 

If you just think you are saved and yet you are still on the same path as before, then I would question the validity of your experience. I am not trying to be harsh, but at the same time, God does not inhabit a heart that doesn’t want Him to be there. 

A better way to say this is you can’t profess Christianity and still have a solid foothold in this world. The two do not, can not, and will not EVER coexist. God wants all of you or none of you and He will not share…especially with the enemy.

When your heart has been changed by Him, you will have a desire to pursue good things…and there will be a battle inside of you when you come into conflict with your old way of thinking. That conflict is God inside you reminding you that you are not the same person anymore.

I can also tell you this on solid authority; when you give your life to God, and He comes to live in your heart; because of that personal choice you made, the enemy will triple and quadruple the attacks on you to ensure your experience does not last. When you have lived your life away from God, and then in humility, give your life over to Him…that is when things can get interesting.

Again, this is not a scare tactic, I simply want to present you with the truth. It is critical you are aware that the enemy will not give you up easily. Be prepared for the battle that is coming. But recognize the more you lean into God, there will be challenges in your life. But please…read this scripture today guys:

…Greater is He who is in you than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4

We were not promised an easy life by signing on with Christ. What He did promise was on life’s journey, that He will never lead us or forget about us. David said it this way in Psalm 23, “…Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I am not afraid, because you are right there with me.”

Guys, our God inhabits those of us who truly seek Him and that is the foundation of your salvation. Those of us who pursue the narrow path and are intentional about doing good in this life; I applaud you for your fortitude and I believe in my heart there are a bunch of you out there, just everyday, doing your version of life and serving Him.

Until next time Guys,

IMS Team

Motyer, J. A., The Message of Amos, Intervarsity Press, 1974

Don’t be a Grumbler

Posted: May 11, 2026 in Tough Times
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We have all heard the word Grumble before and maybe you even have first-hand experience working or living with a grumbler.

Websters defines Grumbling as: 

To complain or protest about something in a bad-tempered but typically muted way.

For us men; Grumbling is specifically mentioned in the Bible as something Christians need to work hard to avoid. Grumbling is dangerous because it creates unrest. Grumblers are what a former boss I worked for called, “people who punch holes in the boat”. So whether this is a work application, or just a life application, grumbling ruins everything over time. 

In my own past, being fully transparent, I have done a whole lot of grumbling, how about you? What does that say about me? Probably that I write this particular blog because I need to read and apply this one personally more than most of you…because when it comes to grumbling, I have failed before.

I think it is obvious that when the Bible mentions a topic more than once, we should pay attention; and Grumbling is mentioned numerous times. Now, are you surprised that the Bible even talks about grumbling? 

Why would grumbling matter to God? Easy…because as I said in the beginning, grumbling is a dealbreaker or as my wife tells me, “I don’t really want to be around you when you grumble” 

Honestly, I don’t want to be around myself when I do that either…it is miserable.

When I started looking into this topic, I remembered reading about Moses as someone who had to deal with grumblers as he guided the Children of Israel across the desert. During those 40 years, he was constantly battling the grumblers who actually were not grumbling against Moses, they were grumbling against God…Which is really the point of this blog today.

MY grumbling, the Children of Israel’s grumbling, anybody’s grumbling, is truly AGAINST our God. AND, with a HUGE emphasis on this point…it ALSO makes everyone around you unhappy… 

Read what James says about this topic:

Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

Or, Paul tells us that very fact in 1 Corin. 10:10 below:

And don’t grumble as some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer. These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction on whom the ends of the ages have come.

Destroyer? Wait, what? No one mentioned anything about a Destroyer. But actually, that’s not true because, as we just read, Paul informed us HOW big of a deal grumbling is to God…

Grumbling undermines everything that is good. Grumbling basically means, “I don’t trust this plan, or this person, and I need to make sure that everyone around me knows”. “And, I really don’t think that God is capable of saving me or my family”. 

Guys, can you imagine what grumbling does to your children? I can tell you, it fundamentally provides them an example of how to walk away from God and not trust or believe that He will work things out.

Yep…Grumbling does all that and MORE.

Guys, today I urge all of you, myself included, to refocus on Christ and His salvation and start by just being thankful…THEN…Be intentional and work to push being a grumbler aside by focusing on your family and then finally, being thankful for what you have.

Yes, the pattern for removing grumbling is just being thankful. You can’t grumble when you’re thankful…it is a scientific impossibility. OK…honestly, not sure about the science part but I do speak the truth. When you truly focus on the things in your life that you are thankful for (and, trust me you do have something) you won’t feel the need to grumble anymore.

Guys, if you are like me, the world around us sucks and it continues to suck. But for me, even writing this, helps me remember that I have a tremendous amount to be thankful for and even though the future seems scary and I am unsure, we have a God who cares and asks us constantly to reach out to HIM for help.

Guys, I urge you today to take the first step…be thankful for ALL you have and no more grumbling-

Until next time guys-

Postscript: If you are specifically interested in the Destroyer reference I made earlier, here are some scriptures for you to review:

Exodus 12:23

Hebrews 11:28 

2 Kings 19:32-35

God does not do Vanilla

Posted: May 3, 2026 in Inspirational
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I am not sure where all of you fall in with the longstanding Creation debate. Whether you prefer the “Big Bang” theory, which says that the universe began with a single massive explosion that set all life and everything we know today in motion. 

Or whether you fall on the side that looks at Creation and says that everything we see was designed by a higher purpose or a higher being. Because, simply put, there is too much complex evidence that identifies the incredible perfection and minute detail this entire universe actively runs on each day which, that fact alone leads many to the ideal that there is an Intelligent Designer.

I had the recent pleasure of seeing a new movie that was just released called, The Story of Everything. In this movie, Dr. Stephen Meyer, PHD. carefully reviews all the various arguments against Creationism and then systematically, through recent advanced scientific discoveries at the molecular level, refutes each one. It is fascinating.

But today I wanted to zero in on something I learned from this movie that absolutely fascinated me and I thought you might be too. The commentator was speaking about Creation and all of its beauty and how at every level; From the furthest galaxy down to the very molecular level…every single individual thing; Planet to a single cell…everything was created with exceptional detail and beauty.

As we move forward, keep in mind the words of Paul when he said in Romans 1:20,

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 

Let me try and break this down even further by using the example of a hummingbird. We have all seen hummingbirds before fluttering around with their high intensity wings flapping at incredible velocity that allows them to hover. These little birds are at max, maybe 3 inches tall? But yet when you look at them, you don’t just see a little bird, you see alluring beauty with absolute perfection and grace. 

My point is this: Hummingbirds don’t need to be beautiful. Their beauty is not necessary for their existence. Rather it is an added bonus from the Creator for those who get to witness one of them in person. 

God did not need to create Creation as beautiful as He did. Think about this; If all of Creation was just average, and you and I grew up around just average, would we have known any different? Absolutely not. Average would be normal to us. But our God does NOT do Vanilla…He only created majestic creatures with exceptional detail so that you and I can be surrounded by it.

My final point is what does His Creation say about Him?

God is a perfectionist. As mentioned, average or vanilla, will not work for Him. If it did, then He could’ve called in sick during Creation and took 2 weeks instead of 6 days…but He didn’t. He worked and created absolute perfection down to the most minute detail. 

God did not have to create Creation in this way, with absolute perfection, but He did because that is who He is.

Secondly, it also tells me that part of the reason He did this was for pure enjoyment on His part. God liked what He created. Remember what He said back in Genesis 1:31a? “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good…” God enjoys what He made and you and I get to live surrounded by pure unsurpassed beauty every day.

Guys, I encourage you to try and see this movie if possible. I know it is a limited release and isn’t showing in all cities but it will pump up your faith like it did mine. I have placed the trailer at the end for you to review.

Until next time Guys-

The Story of Everything | Official Trailer