Why Can't We Just See?

     Why can't we just see that every time we ignore the teachings of Jesus Christ we grow apart from each other. Our love grows cold and we separate from our brothers and sisters. Could this be an evil plan to divide us, then conquer us? Sounds like something the devil would do. It seems to me we are building more walls around us because our world is becoming more violent. The devil is trying his best to push out love by spreading fear and hate. In 1 John 4:8 it says God is love so the devil is trying to push God out of our lives.
     If we allow fear and hate to rule our lives the devil wins. God wants us to be a happy family. The devil wants us to act like Cain and kill our brother rather than to love him. We cannot ascend to a higher level as a society if we are killing each other. We must embrace doing good over evil in order to bring peace and security into our world. People must feel relaxed in their surroundings rather than to feel a need to carry a gun. Each of us has a duty if we want to live in a better world is to follow in Jesus Christ's footsteps, advocating love and forgiveness over hate and violence.
     All we have to do is read the story of Noah to see where a world full of violence get us. According to Genesis 6:13 God said to Noah that the earth was filled with violence and that he was going to destroy it. God destroyed the world with a great flood in order to cleanse it from the violence. So we should see from the story that we should not being filling our world with violence. But to the contrary, hate and violence have increased in our world. I guess will still have not learned our lesson.
     It seems to me that generation after generation are stuck in a destructive cycle rather than an up building one. Somehow we end up doing what is wrong over what is right. If only we would change our lives according to the words of Jesus Christ so that cycle of destruction can change as well. I sometimes have a hard time understanding why can't people just do what is right over what is wrong every time instead of just sometimes. Why can't people live their lives more in a righteous manner than an evil one? It is mind boggling to me at times. Oh well, I guess I will just have to wait until our Lord's arrival for a better world. But I do wonder, why can't we just see?      

Breaking the Cycle of Hate with Forgiveness

     In Matthew 5:22 Jesus said, "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to hell of fire." As we see in this verse that inward anger will manifest outwardly causing more damage to a relationship. First you are angry at someone and then it increases to a point where you hurt them mentally or physically and if your anger is left unchecked it will consume you. Your hatred will become a large part of your life and become a barrier between you and God. By not holding grudges and forgiving those who have hurt you in someway you can start to heal. You can begin to love again and have a close relationship with others and with God. Hatred blocks out our love and forgiveness becomes a doorway for love to come back into our hearts.      
     Matthew 18:21,22 "²¹Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" ²²Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times." In the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:12 Jesus tells us to pray like this, "and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." If we do not forgive our brothers or sisters who trespass against us, our anger and hatred will not be broken. And if we hate them and they hate us how will our situation change if we do nothing? Jesus tells us to take the first step and to forgive in order to heal your soul. In so doing you will show others how to live a better life. The cycle of hate can be broken if only we can start to forgive each other.                                                                   (ESV)    

We Must Not Take for Granted God's Forgiveness

      In the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35, a servant owe the king a great amount of money that he could not repay. The king wanted the servant, the servant's wife and children to be sold. He wanted everything that the servant had to be sold so to pay for the debt. The servant beg the king for his patience and give him more time to pay off the debt. The king had pity on him and release him and forgave him of his debt.
     The servant left the king and found someone who owe him money. Instead of being forgiving as the king did to him, he choke his debtor and had no mercy upon him. He had his debtor thrown into prison until he could pay off his debt. Another servant of the king saw what he had done and told the king about it. The king was very angry that the person that he had forgiven did not forgive someone else. So the king summoned that servant before him and told him since he did not give mercy to another, no mercy will not be shown to him. The king had that servant thrown into jail.
     In Matthew 18 verse 35 Jesus said to his disciples, "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."
     This parable is about our sin (our debt) against God. We could not repay it on our own. Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross paid for our sins. God had mercy on us and took our sins away. Here is where not taking God's forgiveness for granted comes in. We were all forgiven of our sins by God's grace. Now it is up to us to give mercy out to others who have trespass against us and if we do not, on the day of our judgement no mercy shall be shown to us. We will be imprisoned in a very bad place, a place you do not want to spend your eternity in.

How Valuable is the Kingdom of God to You?

     Mathew 13:44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." This verse tells me to place my service to God first and foremost in my life. It tells me God is not satisfied with partial worship but only with my total commitment.
     In Matthew the 19 chapter a man ask Jesus, what must he do to have eternal life? In verse 21 Jesus said to him,"If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." verse 22, When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." In these verses it showed a young rich man could not give his heart and soul totally to God's service for a part of him value his material possessions over his value of the kingdom of God.
     In Mark 12:41-44 tells a story of a poor widow who put two small copper coins in the offering box, while the rich put in large sums of money. Jesus said to his disciples that the poor widow put in everything that she had, all she had to live on, while the rich only donated out of their abundance. The poor widow loved God more than she loved herself. She clearly demonstrated the greatest commandment. Matthew 22:36,37 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."
     The apostle Paul show us the right attitude in serving God. In Philippians 3:8,10,11 he said, "Indeed. I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. ¹⁰that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."
     Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."
     Jesus gives us comforting words if we are feeling a lost in his service. Jesus told his disciples this in Luke 18:29,30 And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brother or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life."
     In these modern times that we live in, fame and fortune seems to be the main goal in life. We are told to buy many things and that having these things will bring us happiness. We see in God's word the Bible that this is a lie that we are told. Having true value in our life comes with serving our God with our whole heart, mind and soul. All other things in our life will disappear but God's kingdom will last forever.                                                      (ESV)
       

The Little that You do may Mean a Great Deal to Others

     When I worked in a store at one point in my life, there was this woman who looked almost exactly like my aunt shopping. I went up to her and said, "Hi, how are things going for you?". When she turn around and I saw her up close I realized she was not my aunt. I felt a little embarrass for being so familiar to a complete stranger. To my surprise, she turn around and responded in a very friendly way. She even told me how her day was going.
     Every week when she came back into the store she would say hi and start up a conversation with me. After a few weeks she said that talking to me had made her feel better. She said that her husband had a stroke. She said she was going through a bad time in her life and my little weekly talks with her helped her to get through it. At the time it was no big deal to me, it was me just being friendly to another person but to her it meant a great deal.
     After that conversation I reflected on what else I have done in which it seem was very little but it meant a lot to others. I believe God had a hand in this meeting. I mistook her to be my aunt at the same time she needed someone to talk to. God to me is a master at the domino effect (when one event effects the other). I believe at sometimes we are lead by God to do his work even if we are not aware of it at the time.

On What Foundation have We placed our Lives?

      Our views, our beliefs is what we base our life on. Those views and beliefs make up the foundation of our life. We build our life upon and around the views and beliefs we have. Upon that foundation we view and interact within our world.
     Each of us have our on unique view of the world around us base on the information we received throughout our life. The information is imperfect from imperfect people. We had to decide whether or not to believe it. Those of us with an open mind will question that information and others will think it is the absolute truth.
     I believe there is an intelligence that knows the absolute truth but with my limited mind I will only come to a partial knowledge of that truth. I can build my life on the perfect information from God but I can never come to a complete understanding of it due to my imperfect condition. So in faith I have to live my life until the day God makes my mind perfect.
     I have come to a conclusion in my life that Jesus Christ knew the absolute truth and in his compassion he shared it with us. So I choose to build my life on the foundation of his word.
     Each of us have built their life around something and each of us believe in something and our life is built on the foundation of that belief.    

What's Inside of the Box?

     It won't be long till Christmas and you will be seeing beautifully gifted wrap presents. Some will be store wrapped and others will be done by yourself. The decorative paper and ribbon will make the present look impressive. But even with all that work done on the outside we will still judge the value of the present of what is on the inside. No matter how beautiful you make the gift wrapping its whats on the inside that counts.
    Another example if we were to buy a car that caught our eye, meaning will were impressed by the outside package. Then we get inside and take it for a drive and the car breaks down on the road. What happens to our opinion of the car? We would probably hate it. Even if the car looks good to us, our value of the car would be low.
     Again here is another example. When we go shopping at a grocery store, we see many cakes, cookies and pastries that look good to us. We judge them to be delicious by what we see but it is when we actually buy them and taste them we know for sure how good they are. What we see on the outside can be deceiving.
     God also places more value on what is on the inside than the outside. In first Peter 3:3,4 Peter said, "³Do not let your adorning be external--the braiding of the hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear-- ⁴but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." First Samuel 16:7 "But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."
     God is looking past our appearance and looking inside our heart. God is not impressed with pretty wrapping but with the content within. So if our appearance is less than society's standards God will still accept us if our heart's condition is right. Who are we trying to impress anyway God or man? The one who gives eternal life or those who worship the temporary.
     What's inside of the box? We have to guess but God knows.

A Righteous Soul's Torment

     How hard it is to be a righteous man and to live in an evil world. Lot was greatly distressed while he was living in Sodom and Gomorrah. In 2 Peter 2:8 the apostle Peter talk about Lot's mental condition he said in verse 8 "(for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);"
      Living in today's world as Christians are we not also tormented by people's lawless deeds? We who work hard on improving ourselves through God's world the Bible are sometimes made depressed by those who bath themselves in sin. As we grow in Christ our conscience is made more refine. What we could live with before, we have a hard time living with it now. We want to live perfectly and to be perfect just as Jesus Christ. The people of our world have other ideas in how to live their lives usually in a sinful manner and not a righteous one.
     We endure and wait for our Lord's arrival. I hate to say it but I think that our world is slipping more into darkness than enlightenment. The programs on television seem to be more and more violent. I believe that wholesomeness in programming is a thing of the past. Where are the role models in today's society? I do not think that people are taking what Jesus Christ had to say seriously.They are living their lives the way they want to and caring not for what harm that they may do to others.
      We are many ways like Lot, living in our own Sodom and Gomorrah. We ache inside and pray for a better world. We all know how Sodom and Gomorrah ended by the judgement of God. Our world will also be judged when Jesus Christ returns. We know this to be true, where our world seems to ignore it. Lot was rescued by God and God will rescue us as well. Even though we live in a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah we will not be destroyed, God will carry us through.

Am I More than Just a Reader of God's Word?

     I have asked this question of myself. Am I more than just a reader of God's word? I do sometimes struggle with my understanding of the Bible. It's words are very wise and carries a depth of understanding, an understanding I try may best to know. Even with my best effort I still far short. I have to admit to myself I am just an imperfect man trying my best to know the perfect ways of God. It feels sometimes like I am just reading about God's words and not knowing how to really apply them. 

Messages of Hypocrites

     Jesus Christ gave good instructions to his disciples about the messages of hypocrites in Matthew 23:3 he said, "so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice." Many times I have been given advice by hypocrites. They tell you what to do but yet they do not do it themselves.
    They will overly criticize you and try to make you feel guilty for not following their advice. Their advice in which they do not follow themselves. They will tell you to do many positive things but in secret they do the opposite. They will give you their best advice on many different subjects but yet they fall short in taking their own advice. I do listen and even sometimes take their advice if it's helpful.
    I have listen to sermons by preachers who was later found out to be immoral in someway. Their preaching at the time was well researched and was according to the scriptures. They preached what was right but practiced what was wrong. Just as Jesus instructed I done what they said but I did not do as they do.

We Feed Our Mouth but not Our Spirit

     We struggle everyday trying to make a living for ourselves and for our family. Our time sometimes become so limited to do anything else. Our dedication to the material out weighs our dedication to our spiritual well being by a large margin. We become spiritually empty but materially we have many things. We strive for what we can see and touch and ignore the rest. Behold our world isn't it beautiful(on the outside only)?
     I feel a lot of the time we focus more on the icing on the cake than we do the cake itself. We make our outer appearance our main concern while our inner self waste away. I always feel I need more even though I have much. When your soul is spiritually empty no amount of food or material possessions can fill it.
     In the Bible Matthew 4:4 Jesus says, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." You see we are flesh and bone and we need material food to live but we are also spiritual beings and we need spiritual food(God's word) to live. If we only pursue the material then we are not living a full life according to God's Word. We must take care of our spirit as well as our physical body.

Jesus Represents God's Kingdom on Earth

      Right now the physical kingdom of Jesus Christ's kingdom is no part of this world. In John 18:36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world." But there will be a time in the future that it will be apart of this world. Daniel 2:44 "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,"
     The Bible speaks of a spiritual kingdom of God. Luke 17:20,21 "²⁰Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed. ²¹nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!" or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you." Jesus Christ was saying that he represented the kingdom of God and the kingdom of God is now among you.
     The apostle Paul tells us the kingdom of God is not about fleshly matters but about spiritual ones. Romans 14:17 "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."
     God is trying to change us from our fleshly ways and make us suitable for his kingdom. For if we do not change we will not be welcomed into his kingdom. Jesus spoke about this in the parable of the weeds. In Matthew 13:24,25 "²⁴He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, ²⁵but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away."In the following verses the master of the house told the servants not to try to pick out the weeds from the wheat at this early stage of growth for fear that they would pull out some of the wheat along with the weeds. And in verse 30 he said, "Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn." It is interesting that he did not pull up the weeds in the beginning. He let them grow up together maybe to see if one would influence the other, to see if some of the weeds would become the like wheat or some of the wheat would become like the weeds. In away he gave them freedom to choose how they grew up until the day of harvest in which in reality is their day of God's judgement.
                                                                                                                               (ESV)

Sometimes Our Faith is All We Have

     When everything around us comes crashing down our faith becomes our anchor. It is the one thing that can see us through our times of trouble. We do not know what the outcome will be but we have faith in God that he will guide us through it. We believe in the power of prayer and in God's power that he will sustain us and strengthen us with his Holy Spirit. Our faith tells us God will not let us down nor will he forsake us in our time of need.
     We do not know everything and we cannot explain away many of the bad things that occur. Some times only God knows why. Our faith tells us that God is in control when all we see is our world out of control. We have faith in God's future promises and that he will make them happen someday. In our faith we sometime have to throw away our whys and just believe in God and his words.
     Our faith keeps us strong when we have nothing else. Our faith maybe shaken but it will never be broken. We grew up with it and we will die with it. People may not understand why we believe in things we cannot see but inside us we know our faith is true. Our spirit touches God's spirit in an invisible way confirming to us that God is there. Our faith becomes our life preserver when we have nothing else to hold on to and holding tight to our faith we our carried to a safe shore. God is good and our faith is planted in his truth and righteousness. May our faith in God be forever and we with him. Amen

Are We Apart of a Continuing Story?

     Every story has a beginning and an end. The story of our life has a beginning and an end. We were born(a beginning) and then we die(an end); or does it? In John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live." John 5:28,29 Jesus said, "²⁸ Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice  ²⁹ and come out, those who done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgement." We see that our life's story will not stop at death it will continue on to the resurrection of life or judgement.
     Revelations 20:12,15  "¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. ¹⁵ And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." The devil was also thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:10 "and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." We see that our life is a continuing event even after we die.
    We will continue on either to the lake of fire or to live with Jesus Christ in paradise. Revelation 21:3,4  "³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." We are apart of a continuing story whether we believe it or not. Our place in eternity will be decided by God in our day of judgement.
     What we are doing in this life is being recorded. If we think the our government knows to much about us. Think about how much God knows about us. God knows everything we cannot hide anything from him. Our actions will be judged there will be no escape from that. I cannot believe how many people are turning a blind eye to it or refusing to believe in it all together.
     I hurt inside seeing so many people lost in darkness and being so thoroughly deceived by Satan. I would like to tell the people of the world to wake up and look what will be coming upon you before it is to late. We may think that this is all there is but according to the scriptures there is a lot more to life than we are seeing. We are apart of a continuing story. Our story does not end when we die. No it continues on until we end up either in the lake of fire or in paradise.
                                                                                                                                (ESV)

Hold Strong Against the Storms in Your Life

     Never let the world keep you down. Be strong and always get back up. When the storms of the world blow against you, stand firm. Despair and negativity always seems to knocking at our door. Do not let them in. We are a lot more than a shipwrecked being. On calm and peaceful waters is where we want to be. We can experience hardship for a short time but we do not have to live with it always. There is more to our life than pain and sorrow.
      The Bible gives us words of comfort against our hardships. Psalm 34: 17-19 "¹⁷When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. ¹⁸The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. ¹⁹Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all." Deuteronomy 31:8 "It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed."
     Jesus Christ said that those who hold fast to his word can stand strong against the storms in their lives. Matthew 7:24,25 Jesus said " ²⁴Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock."
     God wants us to happy and not walking around in a despair and sorrowful manner. We can ride out the storms in our lives by holding strong to our faith in God. He will deliver us out of our troubles. The evil within the world does not have to win. We can stand rock solid on God's word and win out over the world.

Being Bad is Not an Option

     Ecclesiastes 11:9 "Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgement." We see you can do as you please but in the end you will have to account for your actions in the day of your judgement. Being bad is not an option if you want God's favor on judgement day.
     Where are you now, in God's favor or disfavor? Something we need to think about because our life could be cut short at anytime and we find ourselves standing before God. Now is the time of our testing as to whether or not we enter into his kingdom. Satan will put us all to the test to see how strong we are in our faith towards God. He wants us all to lose because in his mind our lost is his win.
     Why should we care, because God is watching us. He is interested in all of our lives. If he is going to judge all of us then it stands to reason he will have to know all of us. God does not guess, he knows. Right now God is giving us time to choose our own direction just as he did for Adam and Eve. God has given us his word and it is up to each of us whether we keep it or break it. Remember Satan influenced Eve decision with lies. He put Eve to the test whether or not to believe in God's word or disbelieve it, her choice.
     Sometimes I think that the devil put us to the test just for his own entertainment and laughs at us every time he wins. Why because that is what a bully does to his victim. He tries to force someone to do what he wants and laugh at him if he does it. The person pain is his enjoyment. He acts just like the devil and enjoys doing evil to others.
     We all have to be wiser than a bully if want to make it into God's kingdom. We have to realize our actions will either free us or condemn us. 2 Corinthians 5:10 "For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil." So if we consider to doing bad as an option in life, how are we going to explain it to Jesus on our day of judgement. As long as we are still living we have time to change our life for the better. But just like the time of Noah our time of choosing will come to an end and we will find ourselves either on the ark or left on the outside.
                                                                                                                             (ESV)

The Pain of Trying to Be Accepted

      Don't you ever feel like that you are an outsider to everything around you? You never feel like that you measure up. People will not accept you as you are and you have to pretend to be happy. You feel like you are living in a cage and not free. Not free to be as God made you. Life is made hard by the judgement of others around us. No one can really measure up to their standards and if you do make it; Their expectation will change to something different. You are just chasing an unattainable goal.
     The rich and famous that are in the news are always being judge and criticized. Even if you have made it by the world's standards you are never free of others criticisms. It seems that we all are struggling with how to be accepted in our world. People will freely give out their opinions even if hurts others and they do not seem to care. We all have to a find away to cope with this and live our lives how we want to and be happy. Our pain that is cause by others seems to go unnoticed by them and worst, be enjoyed by them. We cannot let them ruin our lives. We have to start by loving ourselves and find that we can live just fine without the world's approval.
     The US President has an approval rating and if that approval rating falls to a low percent. The President does not lock himself up in his office and refuse to come out because the majority of the people disapprove. He instead bares up under the pressure and continues on in his life. He deals with the many criticisms in away that they have their opinions and I have mine and that is o.k.
     It can be hard to be around the people that matters the most in your life and not having their approval. You love them and you feel you are not getting any love back and that hurts you. You got to realize that love is gigantic. In the Bible in 1 John 4:8 says "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." This means that love is bigger than the stars, moon, sky and yes bigger than the universe itself. It is as big as God. So this means for all of us, that no one can keep us away from having love. We can say to ourselves that no one loves us, that is your opinion not love's opinion. God loves us from now to eternity, we have just become blind to it. We have some how turn our heart off to love but love is always there for the taking. No one but God has authority over love, love will be with us as long as God is alive.
     These biblical verses illustrates how no one can separates us from God's love. In Romans 8:38,39 the apostle Paul says, "³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, not things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." So open up your heart and let love in. This means you will let in the holy spirit of God and having God on your side you will always feel approved and loved.
                                                                                                                           (ESV)

God does not Want Us to Die

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
Ezekiel 18:31,32 "Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live."
1 Timothy 2:3,4 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
                                                                                                                     (ESV)

Words of Comfort

Php. 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Jer. 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Ps. 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Pr. 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord established his steps.
Ps. 37:23,24 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.
Isa. 39:29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Php. 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Rev. 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be morning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
                                                                                                                           (ESV)

Life is to Short to Waste it

     Darkness seems to be all around us. Sadness and misery prevails. Life is so short not to be happy in someway. If we are unhappy who is the winner not us. Why the unhappiness, so to die unhappy? Is that what you really want? Life is definitely to short not to live it well.
     1 Peter 5:7 "casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." Prov. 17:22 "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Prov. 15:13 "A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed." We see that having happiness is better than having sorrow. Sometimes being sad cannot be helped but we do not have to feel that way all the time. Being happy is part of the human experience as well.
     Our time here is short. James 4:14 "yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." Ps. 102:11 "My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass." 1 Peter 1:24-25 "²⁴ for "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, ²⁵ but the word of the Lord remains forever."...." So we see our life here is short so we must not waste the time we do have.
      The apostle Paul tell us why we should not lose heart. 2 Cor. 4:16-18 "¹⁶ So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. ¹⁸ as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." The apostle Paul is telling us that this life though temporary is giving us enough time to prepare for our eternal life with Jesus Christ. We are all moving from the physical to the spiritual from the seen to the unseen. Now is the time for our preparation, a time for major choices to where we want to spend our eternity.
                                                                                                                               (ESV)

The Devil's Argument to God about Us

     What is the devil saying to God about us? In Rev 12:10 "And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God." The devil accuses us of wrong doing before God. He said to God I am right about them and you are wrong. Your faith in them is misplaced. I know them better than you do. The devil is trying to show himself to be greater than God in understanding before all of heaven. In Isaiah 14:13,14 "¹³You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; ¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make like the Most High.' "
     The devil is trying to prove to God that we are more like him than we are like God. And we being more like him we would want him to rule over us and not God. He wants to ascend to God's throne and be like God. The devil wants us to worship him. After all in his eyes we are his children preferring to do his will over God's.
    The devil accused Job in front of God he said in Job 1:11 "But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." The devil see us like himself if somebody were to hurt him he would retaliate with curses. He would not still love them. In his mind Job would bite the hand that feed's him without question if he thought that God was punishing him in some way. The devil was proved wrong. In Job 1:21,22 "²¹And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." ²²In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong."
     The devil accused Job again saying in Job 2:4,5 "⁴Then Satan answered the Lord and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. ⁵But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face." Again the devil saw Job like himself someone who would hate the one was causing him trouble. He thought Job would abandon his faith in God. The devil was trying to prove his point that people like themselves more than God, but Job prove the devil wrong by remaining strong in his faith and love for his God.
     We are more than just flesh and bones we are all children of the most high God. We are spiritual beings as well as fleshly ones but our heart belongs to Our Father who created us. The devil challenge our love for our God daily. Even though he was cast down to Earth, he will not give up accusing us before God. He wants to prove God wrong by showing that we love ourselves more than we love God.
                                                                                                                              (ESV)

Our Fight Against the Evil One

     1 John 5:19 "We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." The apostle John said the whole world lies in the power of the evil one, so our enemy has a great influence in our world. We see this evil one has been influencing mankind for a long time. In 1 John 3:12 "We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous." Cain acted like the evil one and murdered his brother. It is clear who this evil one is, in the book of John 8:44 Jesus said "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Even after many centuries, this murderer and liar's influence can still been seen daily in our local news.
     The people of the world seems to think sinning is o.k. Blinded they are by the evil one. 1 John 3:8 "Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil" The children of God are different from the children of the devil. 1 John 3:10 "By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother."
     The apostle Paul tells us what we need to do and who we are really fighting against. Eph 6:11,12 "¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the comic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
     We see that our fight is not against our brothers and sisters. It is against the evil force that is influencing them to sin. We must find a way to open their eyes and their ears to the truth of God's word. We must continue to love them and to forgive them because they have lost their way. We know the truth but they have become blind to it. A blind man stumbles around in the dark and they who live in spiritual darkness are stumbling around all over the place. We see this but they do not. True freedom is freedom from evil. Our own example can be a guiding light to them.
                                                                                                                             (ESV)

Why Do I Blog?

     Why do I blog? For me it kind of like why do painters paint or singers sing? They like what they do or even love what they do. What they do is a way of expressing what they feel inside and a way to share that with others. My blog gives me a way to express the way I feel inside more importantly the way I feel about God and I can share that great feeling with others.
     Where else can you talk about God outside a church? You can easily strike up a conversation with someone about sports, music, news, politics, television shows and celebrity gossip in your everyday life. Where are you going to talk to someone about your feelings about God's word? If you are a spiritual person like me you need some kind of outlet to express yourself and blogging for me is satisfying.
     Granted I will not get a great following but this blog is a personal blog. I will not be trying to sell you anything but to share my feelings on biblical matters. Mostly sorting out my own feelings about God. If people do read this blog I feel bless to be able share my feelings with them.

Baptism: A Symbol of Dying and Resurrection

     When I was looking through some Bible scriptures I came along this one in Col 2:12 it said, "having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead." This brought to me a crystal clear image of what baptism is all about. The water that we go under represents the grave or the tomb of Christ. When we go under the water it symbolizes our body dying. When we are raised out of the water it symbolizes our resurrection.

     Romans 5:4 said the same thing it said, "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." What are we putting to death at baptism? Col 3:5-8 said, "⁵Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶ On account of these the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ In these you to once walked, when you were living in them. ⁸ But now you must put them away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth."

     What is walking in the newness of life? Col 3:12-15, "¹²Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, ¹³ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful."

     We see baptism is a public declaration that we have accepted Jesus Christ and we are following in his footsteps. We die to our fleshly ways of living and then we are raised up to a spiritual way of life. We do this by dying symbolically then rising from the dead in a symbolic manner through baptism.                                                                   (ESV)

Glory to God

     If I have nothing I still have God. People may let me down but God never does. God sustains me through everything. His spirit lifts me up when I am down. God gives me purpose for my life. His word the Bible answers my questions and gives me wisdom to use in my life. God gives me hope when I feel hopeless; Even if my body does die my spirit reaches out to God to live forever. Because of his mercy and love, I am raised up to be a heir in his kingdom. Glory be to God forever and ever. Amen.
     Psalm 86:12 "I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart and I will glorify your name forever."

   

Our Way or God's Way?

     Lets start out and call our way the fleshly way. In Gal 5:19-21 said, "¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these...." Now God's way is the spiritual way. Again in Gal 5:22,23 it said, "²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control...." We see by this that God's way is the greater way without question.
     God said in Isaiah 55:8,9 "⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. ⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
     Romans 8:7,8, "⁷ For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; it cannot. ⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." Now those who chose God's way Romans 8:14 said, "¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."
     So I say what King David said in Psalms 25:4,5 "⁴ Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. ⁵ Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long."  Amen!                                                 (ESV)

Your Body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit

     1 Cor 6:19,20  "¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own. ²⁰for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." God created us to be a temple for his Holy Spirit. He communicates to us through his spirit. He pours out his love and his gifts to us through his Holy Spirit that dwells within the temple (our body).

     This is who we are a living temple to God's Holy Spirit. Our purpose and our life's happiness depends on our understanding of that fact. Our life belongs to God who created us in his image. Our body, mind and spirit functions according to the way God made us and if we try to go against that Holy way then, we are heading for disaster. Romans 8:13 said, "For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." Jeremiah 17:10, "I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."
     A bear cannot not be a bird nor can a bird be a bear. We are according to the way we were designed. God made us his sons and daughters and within each of us a temple to his Holy Spirit. We cannot cater to our fleshly desires over our spiritual needs to do so is going against our true nature. The apostle Paul drives home that point in 1 Cor 3:16,17, he said, "¹⁶Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? ¹⁷If anyone destroy's God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple."                                                                                   (ESV)

Giving Praises to God for His Wonderful Creations

     I give praises to God for his wonderful creations; the sky above and all the wonderful birds within it. The night sky with all the stars and the moon. What about the beauty of the ocean and all the creatures below it. How awesome are the sunsets above the land and the sea. What about the beautiful landscapes and the creatures that live upon it. There is much to be thankful for. God in his infinite wisdom and love have given us much to look at and to appreciate.
     In Psalm 19:1 said, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." Psalm 8:3,4  "³When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,⁴what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?"
     We seem so small compared to everything around us. Why does God care, because he loves us. In John 3:16 it said, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Because of that love, God has given us this beautiful World to live in and when I look upon his creation I see his power and the beauty of his spirit. I am thankful for God's love and my heart is moved to give praises to God, for his wonderful creations. Psalm 150:6 sums it up in a pretty good way, it said, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!"         (ESV)

To Love and to Forgive, are Important for You to Being Happy

     If you were to stand in a crowded mall and looked around you would see many different people doing many different things. People are busy. They are occupied with doing their own things. No harm in doing that we all do it. But what happens to the one that is looking around when he or she is lacking love or feeling lost in a our world. Those people are rather sad inside and down in spirit.
     When you are rather sad and down in spirit the world looks different to you. You start to think that the people in the mall don't care about you. You feel like you are invisible to them. Yes a lot of negative things swim around in your head when you are a little depressed. You think the world hates you and doesn't care but you are wrong. Those people that you are looking at do care. They are human beings just like you and you do not know everyone's story in life.
     When you are alone and hurting you want to be loved. You want someone to care about you. But do you really want everyone in the mall to stop what they are doing and come over to give you a great big hug and maybe a little kiss on the cheek? That would be a lot of people giving you hugs and kisses. I think at some point you would be calling out to mall security for protection. ha!
    Maybe you are not seeing the whole picture in your depressed state of mind. People do love you and do care, but you do not see it that way. Remember you are standing in a cloud of darkness and you are not seeing the world clearly as you should. Your vision on things is clearly impaired. To see things clearly you must work on yourself. The change that you truly want is the change inside of yourself. You need to drive out the darkness within and replace it with a inner lightness of being. Is it hard work? Not really, it is more like everyday I cannot give up type of work. It is redundant, doing something over and over again but is it not what you are doing now with your bad thoughts?
    You must work everyday on yourself in order to have a brighter outlook on life. Here is where to love yourself comes in. Make a conscious effort to think about loving yourself. Let that thought have as much time that you can give to it everyday. You must push yourself to think about other things, starting with how to love yourself,  and you do deserve love. We have to change the way we think if we want a change in our life.
    What if you have hate inside your heart? You must try your best to push it away with forgiveness. Forgive people. Forgive everyone even strangers. Practice forgiving everyone. Extend your love to them even if you do not have much love to give. I would say even to pretend to do this until you get the real feeling of doing it. Do not wait until you have the feeling to love or wait until you have the feeling to forgive because that is what you are doing now and it is not working. Try to do something different. Try Change! Change your mind and your heart through thinking a different way.
     Do not let anyone steal your love away. Keep loving even if others are hating. Keep forgiving even if others are cursing you. Why, for your own sake, for your own peace of mind. Do not let them make you into them. Be yourself and love yourself and forgive them and be the happiest person that you can be. The power is within you to make it happen.

We Will Be Accountable to God

     Romans 14:7-12 says; " ⁷For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. ⁹For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
     ¹⁰Why do you pass judgement on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God; ¹¹for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." ¹²So then each of us will give an account of himself to God."          (ESV)

Maybe Someone else is Causing our Troubles

     It seems like the trials of life are many. When one is finished another begins. We jump over one obstacle and another is placed before us. 1 Peter 4:12-13 said, "¹²Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trail when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed." The apostle Peter also said in 1 Peter 5:8-9; "⁸Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world."
     In the book of Job, Job's integrity was put to the test by the devil. Satan took away all of Job's possessions. He killed his sons and daughters with a windstorm and put sores all over Job's body. In Matthew chapter 4 the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness. He showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and told him if he worshiped him he would give them all to him. It seems that Satan whispered in Peter's ear in Matt 16:22 so to try to stop Jesus from fulfilling his mission on Earth. Jesus said to Peter in Matt 16:23, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."
     So if you are facing hardship in your life it could be that you are being tested, to see whether or not that you turn away from God or stay with him. When you face temptation this could be another test to see if will you do the right thing? God is finding his sheep by letting the devil try to tempt us away from him. Do we love God more than ourselves? This is something we must prove to God no matter what happens to us. So if you do face hardship and run across temptation there could be someone else that is causing your troubles.

Beautiful Greeting

     In Gal 1:3-5 the apostle Paul said in his greeting; 3" Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen." Isn't that a beautiful greeting? I think so. In 2 Cor 13:14 he writes; "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of god and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." In 1 Timothy 1:2 the apostle Paul writes; "To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord." Wow, I would like someone to send me a greeting like that. The apostle John writes in his book 2 John 1:3; "Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love."
      These men of God really knew how to write a letter. Their greeting was like a blessing to you. It is gentle and loving but yet it spoke of the strength of faith and spirit that they have. In my opinion these greetings have become a rarity in our world. Gentle and loving words are not really valued in our world but as for me I love them and value them highly. I would be honored to be the recipient of such a beautiful greeting.

My Experience

     I had this experience recently. I was thinking about God and his word and in doing so I felt energized. I felt much lighter and happier as some would say I was filled with God's spirit. I wish I could feel that way all the time but I don't. The strange part was that I got sick while I was feeling lighter and happier. The higher part of me was happy and the lower part of me was sick. I felt I was divided into two parts. The sickness did not take me over completely like it usually does. The higher part of me kept it at bay. I did not feel pain or did I feel down. I was actually happy while being sick. This was the first time I felt that way. The sickness did not last long either in an half hour it was gone. I continue to feel lighter and happier afterwards and I continue with my thinking about God and his word.
     I think we are all like a car's battery we need to be energized every so often so to feel good and be happy. In being energized we resist sickness in a greater way. When I think about God and read his word I always feel better. Some people refer to God's word as liquid spirit; they are refreshed by it and so was I.

Just a Little Bit Hurts Us All

     Some people think a little bit of bad is o.k. Bad boys, bad girls preferable over the good ones. Hate over love, cruelty over compassion and violence over peace maybe just a little bit. I was thinking what if the devil got a dollar for every time we did something bad. There are 7 billion people in the world and if each of us just did a little bit of badness the devil would make 7 billion dollars everyday. Lets go further and say only half the people of the world did bad the the devil would still make 3.5 billion a day, poor devil. What I am trying to say a little bit of badness done by many can add up to a great deal. It gives someone we do not want to have power to have a great deal of power.

     Some may see doing badness as liberating to their soul but at what cost to our world. Its a donation in the money bucket for the powers of evil and nothing for powers for good. When you feed evil just a little bit it will grow and be like a cancer that takes over your soul. I am no angel myself. I have also made a donation to the wrong cause. I hate it but I have. Because I hate to do what is bad I try my best to make the devil to go without on some days and I am trying my best to make it most days. Even that I know that a little bit of bad is not o.k.my imperfection still gets in my way. It is my hope to make the devil a pauper in my lifetime.  

Do Good always without Hesitation

Darkness abounds in our world and a little light is getting through. If we do not become the light where will the light come from? If we do not embrace the light of God then who will? I find it easier to just go along with everybody else but I don't feel right inside in doing so. I feel like I let myself down. For example there was this incident where a older lady stumble and fell down at the mall that I was in. I thought to myself that somebody would help her but to my astonishment I saw two people walk over her and some others walk around her. I hesitated just for a moment then I went toward her so to help to her feet. When I went toward her many others did to. Those who were closer to her help her up but I was the first to make a gesture toward the lady then others followed. I was mad at myself for a week because I hesitated at helping her. I asked myself many times; Where did that hesitation come from? It was just a few seconds but still I hesitated at doing the right thing. I should have acted immediately without hesitation. I believe over time without you noticing anything the dark world around you slowly slips into your soul. You become more fearful, more self-serving and less giving. You say to your self let somebody else do it but in truth if you don't do it then nobody will. You have to be the first then others will follow but even if they do not follow you still feel good at doing the right thing. It feels good walking about the world with your head up high then looking down all the time. I am no saint but I do want to do as much good as I can while I am still here. I find it sometimes hard to do because many seems to be heading the the opposite direction. I will not give up on the righteousness of God's ways. I want do good over evil always without hesitation.

More to Say

     Can a christian voice truly become silent when expressing their love for their God? I think not. The wonders of God are limitless. There is always something to say. We may become distracted with everyday life but our spirit is always reaching out to God. We are always asking God why this or that has happened. We are always looking for our place upon this world. Darkness and hate may have clouded our vision and we do not speak about God as much but spiritually we are never really far from him.
     When bad times roll around. We pray to God to make our lives better or to help someone in need. When we feel all alone and hopeless something inside us reaches out to God. Something inside of us know that God is there to hear our prayers. There is always something to say to God or about him.