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.