The Depths

I have taken a break from paddling my kayak around the 52 miles of shoreline at Hillsdale Lake. I usually paddle about 1-2 hours every Monday and am probably about 2/3 of the way through with this project. I have branched out to some other lakes lately. I have paddled Wyandotte County Lake in Kansas City, KS, Clinton Lake just west of Lawrence, KS. (rock chalk Jayhawk!), Olathe Lake in Olathe, KS, and Longview Lake in Kansas City, MO. Earlier this year my wife got me a Humminbird Depth and Fish Finder for my birthday. It is specially designed for kayaks. The screen is worn like a wristwatch and the sensor is on a float. This unit tells the temperature of the water, the contour of the bottom, as well as depth and whether there are any fish. The deepest point I have found at Hillsdale has been 48', Wyandotte County Lake 62', Clinton Lake 48', Olathe Lake 39', and Longview 64'. This is an amazing high tech age we are living in! We are not able to detect the depth of a man's spirituality, though. That is something that is discovered by time and the way a man lives. Eventually, a man's spirituality, or lack of it, will reveal itself. What is in the well will come up in the bucket!

Is it a Pumpkin or a Weed?

We have a flower garden along the side of the garage in the backyard. A vine started growing and my wife would not let me pull it out with the other weeds. She said it was a pumpkin plant. I said it looks suspiciously like a weed. Huge orange flowers would bloom and then fall off. This has been going on all spring and summer and NO pumpkins. I was going to pull it again and my wife said, "Lets give it a little more time, I am pretty sure it is a pumpkin." To this day there is no sign of a pumpkin. We'll give it some more time because I think pumpkins are harvested in the fall. (I really believe I am going to be able to tell my wife this fall, "I told you so".) This whole ordeal kind of reminds me of some professing Christians. They claim to be believers, and they may know the language and appear to be believers, but there never seems to be any fruit. Jesus talked about the wheat and tares. Tares look like wheat, but they are not the real deal. Every plant that has sunlight, water, and good nutrients in the soil will bring forth fruit. Every believer that has Sonlight (Jesus), water (the Spirit), and good nutrients (the Word of God) will bring forth fruit.

Can I be sure I am going to Heaven?

I would not be a very good friend if I knew how to be sure one could go to heaven and kept it to myself. You may have wondered if anyone could be sure they would go to Heaven when this life is over. The good news is that, yes, one can be sure. I John 5:13 (the Bible) says, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God". There are four things that you must understand to be sure you are a child of God and that you are on your way to Heaven. 1) You must understand that you are a sinner. As a human being with a sin nature, you can do nothing to earn salvation or merit heaven. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) 2) You must understand that your sin will cause you to spend eternity in Hell. "For the wages of sin is death..."
Death here is eternal separation from God in the lake of fire. (Romans 6:23a) This is bad news, but the third and fourth things one must understand is very good news! 3) You must understand that God loves you and provided a way of salvtion so your sins can be forgiven, and you can become a child of God. "...but the gift of
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23b) "But God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8) 4) You must understand that if you put your trust in Christ's death on the cross for you, and call out on Jesus to forgive your sins, Jesus will save you and begin a relationship with you. "For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13) Why not pray right now: "Heavenly Father, I know I am a sinner. Please forgive me. I now trust Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour. Come into my life and begin a relationship with me. In Jesus name, Amen." If you have trusted Christ, please contact my blogspot so I may rejoice with you and help you to get started right in your new life with Christ!