Today is my first birthday…spiritual birthday that is.
One year ago today I was baptized. Looking back on 
that day it means more to me than it even did that day. The deeper I get into the Bible, my faith deepens, and as my faith deepens I become more appreciative of the faith, of the Bible and of God.
I heard a story recently that touched me and gave me a 
strong visual that I thought I’d share it on today’s video. It’s about a small boy, a successful pianist and twinkle twinkle little star.
God helps us, with His help we can create magic, as long as we keep playing.
Someone asked me recently what were the top 3 things 
I’ve learned in reading the Bible or that surprised me.
I thought about it this morning on my morning ‘worship’ walk and I came up with 5 and then remembered a 6th. I’m sure the more I think about it I might add a few more key ones but for here’s list.
1) The Bible is real
2) There is only one way to heaven
3) The Holy Spirit is critical to our salvation and walking in the faith
4) Satan is real
5) God hardened Pharaoh’s heart
6) You can’t earn your way to heaven. It’s Faith not Works.
As I say over and over…if you are a Christian you MUST read the Bible. If you are thinking of becoming a Christian then you too should read the Bible. If you are an atheist you should read the Bible so you can sound intelligent in your argument. And if you just don’t care…well then there’s nothing I can say but it’s your call.
I was reminded recently that when you put a sweater on one of those old wire hangers, it can screw up its shape.
The same is true in life. When you become a believer its like getting a new sweater. However you better take a good look at your (life’s) closet. 
Do you have a bunch of old wire hangers in there? Don’t kid yourself that you can live the same way. The books you read, the movies you watch, the music you listen to and the people around you can all do the same thing to your life that an old wire (and even rusty) sweater can do to your faith. So risk it…clean out your closet.
When I began reading the Bible a little over a year ago, I thought I was safe on this one. I didn’t worship another god. However, the more I read and understood what was meant by worshiping in general, the more I understood 
we all worship something.
Whether it is striving for success, spending hours in front of the tv, or video screen, or social media, all of these things can be a form of worship. I can’t explain it the way it was explained to me but it’s about how much time you spend on something, at the expense of spending time with God.
It’s also something that can creep up on you I think. So my caution is look at how you spend your days…and make sure God gets His share.
There are many people who do things like donate money in the name of God but when it comes right down to it their motives for giving the
money are selfish, maybe they need a right off for taxes, or they need to ‘look good’ for their friends or the public. In any case their motives aren’t sincere. There are those who go to church every Sunday, perhaps are elders, or even are the pastors, but then away from the Sunday service they live a very un-Godly life.
God’s made it clear he sees the heart. He knows who is giving/do what and he knows why. So get with the program folks. You can’t fool God…after all He’s …well He’s God.
One thing that has definitely changed for me since I have become a new believer, is my view on death.
I always envied my mom’s view on death.
She really wasn’t afraid of it. When one of her last close friend died I was afraid of how mom would react. But she kind of envied her friend. Muriel was with my dad and Fred, Muriel’s husband. She joked they’d be playing cards together (the foursome played cards every Friday for decades).
As the Bible said Death had lost its sting for my mom and for most of the believers I know. It’s living that’s hard.
It also changes how you view the death of a loved one who is a believer, And how the death of a loved one who is a non-believer is such a worry. You really want to know you’ll see them on the other side.
