In the past 10 weeks we have looked at what God would put on your bucket list. I hope that these articles have proved invaluable to you and that you will utilize all of them. Here's the entire list and the links for each article for your convenience. Series Introduction 1.) Live Faithfully unto Death 2.) Listen to Me! 3.) Take up Spiritual Arms 4.) Pray for MY Enemies 5.) Count Your Blessings 6.) Realize your Self-Worth 7.) Stop Making Excuses 8.) Don't Put me at Arm's Length 9.) Number Your Days 10.) Prepare for Death

  God’s Bucket List for You, part 10   Introduction In the final item on God’s bucket list for you, this is also the first that needs to be desired. It’s the hardest of all ten as it is a lifelong commitment. Oftentimes, when one hears what they must do to become a Christian, they hear baptism as the last step. But once you become baptized, it’s not the end, but only the beginning. Jesus said in Revelation 2:10, “…Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”   Will You Live for Jesus? How often have you heard people, supposedly Christians, say that they would die for Jesus? If their life were threatened, if they were challenged to renounce God, etc. Over and over people boldly say that they would give up their life for Jesus. But how many of these same people would live for Jesus; day in and day out? It’s only when their freedom of religion is threatened that they suddenly “come alive” for God and Jesus. They’ll stand tall in the face of ...

  God’s Bucket List for You, part 9     In case you missed it, to read the introduction of this series, click   here . Introduction Scripture teaches us that we talk to God through prayer. James writes, The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (James 5:16). Even the disciples of Christ wanted to be taught how to pray (Lk. 11:1-4). This is where we get the model prayer. However, people despair and say things like, “No matter how many times I pray, nothing changes. I talk to God all of the time and it doesn’t help.” The question to ask, then, is, “When was the last time you listened to God?” God’s desire for His children is for them to listen to Him! We’ll bend the knee but we won’t open His book.   Faith comes by… The Calvinists of the religious community will argue and debate until they’re blue in the face that all you have to do to be saved is to believe and nothing more. “Faith alone is what saves you” is what they shout. ...

  God’s Bucket List for You, part 8   In case you missed it, to read the introduction of this series, click here . Introduction In the general world of religion, there’s an extreme dislike of the militant language used in the bible. Here are some examples: Phil. 2:25, Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier , but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need . 2Tim. 2:3-4, You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. If this is such a negative aspect, then why did the apostle Peter describe Satan as an adversary (1 Pet. 5:8)? Whether you want to believe it or not, we are at war with Satan and his minions, and it is up to us to arm ourselves and defend the word of God.   Arming Ourselves The apostle Paul describes the armor of God i...

  God’s Bucket List for You, part 7  Introduction to the series, click here Introduction Prayer is one of the easiest things we can do, as a Christian, and yet it is sometimes the one activity we don’t do enough of in our daily routine. For some it’s prayer before each meal and before going to bed. Speaking to God should be done more often throughout the day. In addition to praying for our food, and the things we have, we should also pray for your friends, family, loved ones, etc. However, for our bucket list, God also wants us to pray for His enemies. That’s right! And this will be one of the hardest things on the list to do.   From the Sermon on the Mount In Matthew 5:43-45 Jesus said, “ You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your F...

  God’s Bucket List for You, part 6  Introduction to the series, click here Introduction One of the songs in our books, that we sometimes sing, is called “Count Your Blessings.” The chorus is written like this:   Count your blessings; Name them one by one. Count your blessings; See what God hath done. Count your blessings; Name them one by one. Count your many blessings; See what God hath done.   This is something we should take to heart on a regular basis. You might be surprised, when you realize, that some things you take for granted are actually blessings.   Definition of Blessing 1828 Webster’s Dictionary— 2. Any means of happiness; a gift, a benefit, an advantage; that which promotes temporal prosperity and welfare or secures immortal felicity. There are some who will say that having a lot of money is a blessing. How about just having money, in general, is a blessing. As Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, Not that I speak...

  God’s Bucket List for You, part 5  Introduction to the series, click here Introduction One of the problems I suffer from, as do a lot of people, is a low self-esteem. We often make the mistake of basing our self-esteem on our family, friends, occupation, area we live in, and our home. Although all of that factor into our lives, they don’t have to be the main basis of our self-esteem. As part of His bucket list for us, God wants us to realize our self-worth by examining our lives according to His scriptures. If we are not following His word, as written, then we need to change and build up our self-esteem.   Moses’ lack of Self-worth In our previous article , we looked at Moses and the excuses he made to God as he didn’t want to lead his people out of Egypt. One of his excuses was a lack of eloquent speech. Here’s what he said in Exodus 4:10, Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant;...

  God’s Bucket List for You, part 4 Introduction to the series, click  here   Introduction One of the biggest anchors we have, that’s holding us back from doing anything, is the excuse. Instead of moving forward, with confidence, we backpedal and choose to give reasons why we can’t do something. As part of God’s Bucket List for you, He wants you to stop giving excuses.   The Excuses of Moses In Exodus 3 and 4, we are familiar with Moses speaking to God in the burning bush. This was when God chose Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. However, Moses didn’t want to do it and gave excuses as such: Excuse #1: (Ex. 3:11) Who am I to go to Pharaoh? Moses saw himself as an insignificant individual compared to the power and might of Pharaoh of Egypt. God erased this excuse by stating that He would be with him. As Paul states in Romans 8:31, What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? To know that God is on our side, we c...