Northwoods Conservatives

4 hours ago

August 3, 2026, the 215th day of 2026 Above and Beyond is Where Rewards Come In When we do just what is required of us, being a servant of our Lord and King Jesus, we have nothing to really brag ab... View MoreAugust 3, 2026, the 215th day of 2026 Above and Beyond is Where Rewards Come In When we do just what is required of us, being a servant of our Lord and King Jesus, we have nothing to really brag about. We have done our duty. This teaching of Jesus brings it out really well. They may have been asking to have their faith increased, but they obvipusly needed to learn about their duty as well, because right after He explains that the size of faith is not the problem, so increasing the size was not the answer. It is a living faith, a seed full of potential, which He explains in other places. A seed is living and has enormous growth potential when planted. A planted pebble would not do such a thing, even larger than that tiny mustard seed. Faith in the life of a servant, needs to be in compliance with the will of their master, not their will. We need to ask ourselves if we want our faith to grow so we can be a better servant, doing more than we are commanded to? To go above and beyond what is required of a servant? Or do we want greater faith to get things we want? Commanding others and nature itself to our whims? "And the apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith.' So the Lord said, 'If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘"Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea," and it would obey you. And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, "Come at once and sit down to eat" But will he not rather say to him, "Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink". Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, "We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do."'" Luke 17:5-10 In becoming a subject in the Kingdom of God, through repentance and completely surrendering our life and our all to the Lordship, the Kingship of Jesus, Gd makes of us a new creation in that instant, not only forgiving the debt of sin against us, but giving us eternal life. If we never got another thing from God, it would be more than enough to praise Him and rejoice for all of eternity! But He wants more for us. He wants us to earn eternal rewards as well, and He gives us chances to excell in righteousness through our service. Jesus, our Master, determines what is our duty and what is above and beyond it. He obeyed God in everything required of Him, above and beyond over and over again, and He is our example. This eternal life that Jesus paid for with His suffering and death, was not our doing. We did not deserve it. We could not earn it. That was all on Jesus. All we did was accept His gift on His terms, to put it into effect. And those terms mean that He bought us and that we are His. "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you, Whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. I Corinthians 6:19-20 But in our slavery, we are freed from the hold of Satan on us. God owns us, and God does not abandon His own to the enemy! Satan is a cruel, uncaring master, who only cares for his desires. He uses his slaves to steal, kill and destroy, twisting all that is good and of the image of God in them. Satan hates and would have hatred rule the hearts of mankind. We don't really realize this until we enter into God's Kingdom through salvation, where love rules and reigns over us, even to the point of adopting us into His household and calling us His children. If we try to accept the gift of salvation on our terms, it will not take. We may call ourself a Christian, but we are doomed to hear Jesus say, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:21-23 Stay strong! First be sure of your salvation and then be sure you go above and beyond what is required of you as a servant of Jesus, if you want to earn eternal rewards. NAN

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Nelani Nettrour

August 2, 2026 6:29 pm

August 2, 2026, the 214th day of 2026 The Time Between We don't really know what day anything particular is going to happen to us or anyone in our lives.... View MoreAugust 2, 2026, the 214th day of 2026 The Time Between We don't really know what day anything particular is going to happen to us or anyone in our lives. That lull between storms in our life can last quite some time, or ne short. Bur, no matter what,r those storms can creep up on us and catch us totally off guard. Being mentally prepared does not mean worrying about what might happen, but accepting that worrying will not stop anything but the peace we have today. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matthew 6:34 Jesus does not say that we should not worry because there will be no trouble, but precisely because there will be. But we only have strength to handle today and its own troubles. Every day will have enough in it to cause us trouble. Most days it is mere inconveniences, that don't amount to much. But some will be bigger issues. And every now and then, the storm. In 2016, this day was not that memorable for me, except being a day after the 5th anniversary of my mom's death. But the day after this day, in 2016, would be another one of those storms that shifted our life around. I was unaware of it at the time, but the next day I would get a call from a friend, the wife of the man I was helping with his music, telling me that he was just taken to the hospital with what looked like a stroke, and was there anyway I could come to them there? Why do I write this here and not write about it tomorrow? Because I am writing about those normal, everyday days that we have no clue that within 24 hours our life will change. As I looked at the date before starting this post, I was reminded of how blissfully ignorant I was of the changes that were coming my way, or how it would change my family dynamic yet again. And isn't that just like life? It wasn't even my family that this happened to, but because of what God asked of me, our lives were also drastically impacted. But you know? We really do need these blissfully ignorant days, these days that seem so normal, so unhindered by extremes, because they give us rest for what is coming. To servive what comes, is basically dwelling in the presence of God, in His peace. His peace allows us these days, without even a whisper of what is coming. Making it natural to pray, instead of being anxious, gives us the preemptive help of God in the upcoming issues. It is only when we bring our requests to God, that we get His peace that is beyond our understanding. If we fret and are anxious, that peace does not come. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 Worrying about what might come, snatches away the normal joy and ignorant bliss of the day before, or the many days before. Stay strong! Don't borrow tomorrow's worries, they will have enough time of their own...tomorrow. NAN

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Nelani Nettrour

August 1, 2026 6:19 pm

August 1, 2026, the 213th day of 2026 Remembering Mom Today, is the 15th anniversary of the death of my mom and I cannot help but think of her.... View More

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Nelani Nettrour

July 31, 2026 11:48 pm

July 31, 2026, the 212th day of 2026 Life Prevails At the end of it all, life will prevail and death will be extinguished.... View More

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Nelani Nettrour

July 30, 2026 3:37 pm

July 30, 2026, the 211th day of 2026 Too Good Not to Share, but Warnings Must be Given So, yesterday I wrote about one of the reasons we preach about Jesus and salvation in Him. It is a command tha... View MoreJuly 30, 2026, the 211th day of 2026 Too Good Not to Share, but Warnings Must be Given So, yesterday I wrote about one of the reasons we preach about Jesus and salvation in Him. It is a command that Jesus gave us. I touched on the fact that we had the treasure of eternal life and because someone bothered to share that knowledge with us, we gave our life to Jesus. That is what I want to expand upon today. One of the main reasons we share the message of Jesus with others is that it is just too good not to share! Even though it is such wonderful news and we want all to come, we cannot water down the message to make it more palatable for the masses. Almost every stage of teaching deeper things to His disciples, some stopped following Jesus. Not everything is rose petals, fragrant and soft. Someday, it will be all that the righteous hope for and more, but not in this lifetime, not before Jesus returns, vanquishes evil and sets up His Kingdom on Earth. If we expect it now, we will be more than disappointed. There are a lot of thorns involved in following Jesus in this lifetime. We may not face it all, but we need to be prepared to face whatever comes, faithfully. Being unprepared for those thorns is the cause of many falling away. If they had heard the truth as Jesus proclaims it, they would know that if they choose to followed Him they must be prepared to face testing, trials, tribulation, persecution, being misunderstood, surrendering all to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, facing bearings, suffering, imprisonment, torture and death, just for the short list. Many who start their walk with Jesus, never complete it, but turn aside, because our Kingdom is not of this world and our rewards do not come now. If someone is in it for the good they can get as a Christian, but they do not surrender their entire life to Jesus, they will not know eternal life. What they have is a mockery of the real thing, it will not stand the test of time. We need to know Who Jesus is, what it could cost us, what are the benefits and when they come into play, before we can make an informed decision. Coming to Jesus with hands open to receive gifts and blessings from Him, without first repenting and bowing in complete surrender to Him, will get you nowhere nearer to salvation than you were before you started. Do not be fooled or tricked into a false conversion. It is far worse than no conversion at all, because you will not be received into God's kingdom in the end, even though you expect to be. And you will be a bad witness to what a true Christian is. But if you have true salvation in Jesus Christ, you would not exchange it for the world. Because in Jesus is life and that more abundantly! "From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, 'Do you also want to go away?' But Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'” John 6:66-69 Stay strong! Choose Jesus! Choose eternal life in Him! NAN

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Nelani Nettrour

July 29, 2026 9:59 pm

July 29, 2026, the 210th day of 2026 Why Preach? Do you ever wonder why Christians try to bring people to Jesus? Why do we care? What does it matter to us?... View MoreJuly 29, 2026, the 210th day of 2026 Why Preach? Do you ever wonder why Christians try to bring people to Jesus? Why do we care? What does it matter to us? If it were about our wants and desires, we probably wouldn't bother except for those who we truly care about. But even those are hard because we don't want to cause devision with them. So really, they may be the hardest. So why do we risk it? And when it comes to others? Why bother? It takes a lot of putting ourselves out to reach out. Often we are not only rejected and mocked, byt persecuted. Again, why bother? The answer is that Jesus says so. We are not only God's children through Jesus, but we are also His servants. Jesus is our Lord, our Master, our King. And when our King tells us to do something, we willing obey, especially in something so important. That was part of totally surrendering our life to Jesus after repenting. We follow what He tells us. Sometimes we may argue the case--as Jesus is also our Big Brother. But we know that He doesn't ask the impossible of us, or if He does, He makes the impossible, possible. These verses are called the Great Commission by most Christians. It is a pretty obvious command. "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' Amen. Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus has all authority in heaven and Earth. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He has the right to ask anything of us. There is not lot of wiggle room there. But how do we do that in our realm of this world? We let our those around us know that we are Christians. And when we have opportunity to share our testimony, ot witness to what God has done in our lives, we do. Everyone has free will. Only so many will come to Jesus, but of those who come, we need to teach them, to disciple them, not just lead them to the Lord and abandon them. There are many steps a person goes through on His way to salvation, and each step can take quite a while between, or follow swiftly. It unusually does not start and end with one person witnessing to someone and then leading them directly to the Lord. Usually there have been multiple times and people involved in the process. One person may plant the seed, God's word, and the idea of salvation, into the heart. That person may water the seed, with Bible teaching and helpful insite. Or another may take over at that point. Then another may come to finish the work and lead that one to the Lord. But it is always the drawing of God that makes salvation possible. Even that longing for God is only possible through Jesus. God knows the part we are to any individual's story. We may never know in this lifetime what our obedience accomplished. We leave that part in God's hands. We obey. Some of the most devoted followers of Jesus looked like lost causes right before they repented and surrendered to Jesus. God sees the heart and understand it. Others may need the nudge of seeing another consistently live a faithful and godly life. We are not Jesus. We cannot save anyone, and God does not expect us to. But we can do the part that Jesus gave us. The Bible gives useful information on how we can do our part. Here is just one section. "And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the Devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will." II Timothy 2:24-26 We will never argue someone into the Kingdom of God. We can never trick someone into the Kingdom of God. Jesus respects their free will. He will not accept anything of falsehood. It is on us to witness to the Lordship of Jesus in our lives. We are to answer questions from those who are seeking. We are not to get caught up in pointless arguements. "Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. II Timothy 2:14-16 We hold this treasure of eternal life within us, and the way that others must come to find it, though Jesus. To hoard it to ourselves would be wrong, even if only a few will ever claim it. Stay strong! Someone obeyed God when it came to giving you the message of salvation, do the same for another. NAN

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