Majority is not Always Right

      I was thinking about the times in history where the majority was so wrong. People even fought and die for a cause that they believed was true but history showed their cause to be inhumane. An example of this would be the Nazi's campaign to exterminate the Jews and also in the U.S., where in the Civil War, the south fought for slavery. Later on the nation went on to backed the segregation between it's people. In time, the majority was proved wrong and the minority was proved to be right. These were only a few examples. I know you can think of a whole lot more.
     On a smaller scale, in the circles where we hangout, we sometimes have disagreements with other people. We sometimes find ourselves in the minority and if the majority strongly disagrees with you; They may go to the extremes to make you change your mind and even harm you for believing differently from them. Holding strong against a majority of people is a hard thing to do, but if we are morally right, we will be prove to be right in the end.
     Jesus Christ was always persecuted by the majority. They thought they were right and he was wrong. They were proven to be wrong by hanging the son of God on the cross. The majority is not always right and we will have to continue to stand up for what is right even if we are only a few in numbers.

Don't Let Sin Rule Over You

     Don't let sin rule over you, you must rule over it.  God gave this advice to Cain before he even killed his brother Abel. In the story of Cain and Abel, both made an offering to God but God favored Abel's offering over Cain's. Cain was hurt by this and became angry, he wanted God to like his offering as well. God saw that Cain was angry and said to him in Genesis 4:6 "The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? and if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it?"  But did Cain take God's advice and rule over his desire to hurt his brother? No, he did not. Cain let his desire to sin take control over him and in his anger he killed his brother.
     God has given us a whole book of his divine wisdom in the form of the Bible and yet the whole world is still suffering because of the bad decisions that people have made. If we do not make the effort to resist our temptation to sin and not rule over it, it will rule over us, just as God had said to Cain from the beginning.
   
 

A Coin of Little Value

     I have look through some of the memory boxes of some people, who were close to me that passed away through the years. I wonder to myself what those little trinkets, those mementos meant to the people who passed away. I had no clue and sorry to say they had little meaning to me but I knew they meant a lot to the people who kept them.
     I to have little mementos that mean a lot to me but to anyone else they are totally meaningless. I think that is probably true for the most of us. We have little keepsakes that we value while others would think they are absolutely worthless.
     In the bible in Mark 12:41-44, it said that a widow put two small copper coins of little value in an offering that meant a lot to her. They were all she had to live on. What she highly valued wasn't much in the eyes of others. Yes, this story was about her giving all she had to God whereas others only gave out of their surplus but it also illustrates to me, the things that we value maybe not be valued by others.
    For me, I think some people would think this blog as a coin of little value. It has no monetary value. The subject matter isn't popular and I have a small readership. People would shake their heads at me and say why waste your time. I think that is what defines a coin of little value. It is important to you and maybe not to anyone else. So I will keep my coin of little value and add to it, as well as putting mementos in a box just because they are special to me.
   

My Frustration

     My frustration, why can't the the world be different? Why can't there be more love, peace, caring, and tenderness? Why can't humankind just do what is right all the time, so that we would not have fight for it? Yes, I am complaining, sometimes the frustration builds and I feel I have to let it out with a bunch of whys?
     I kind of know the answers to my whys and there lies my frustration, because I cannot do a great deal about it, only a small deal. I cannot change the world and if people do not want to change or they are not ready to change, then it is left into the hands of God to make the change. I can make the necessary changes within my self but I cannot not change others, it is their own individual choice to make.
     We have a freedom of choice that was given to us from the beginning. Genesis 2:16,17 "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." From the beginning God had given men and women a free will to do as they pleased, however he had made it clear to them there are consequences to their decisions. He said clearly to Adam, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. So in my frustration I say to myself, Why Adam, why did you do it? Again, I kind of know the answer to why.
     In Genesis chapter three it talked about a serpent who deceived Eve. Genesis 3:1 "Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?" Most of us knows how the story ended. The devil use the serpent to tempt Eve into eating the fruit, then she gave the fruit to Adam who ate it without question, and we have been plagued by death and hardship ever since.
     Why do we have to fight for what is right all the time? Revelation 12:9,13 "And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world---he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹³Therefore, rejoice, O heaven and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"
     It said that Satan is the deceiver of the whole world and he is very angry. So who is Satan's anger directed at while he is on the earth? Revelation 12:17 "Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea." So Satan is literally at war with the disciples of Jesus Christ, who try their best to keep the commandments of God.
     Now lets look at the commandments of God. Remember the Ten Commandments; the ones which said honor your father and mother, you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal or bear false witness against your neighbor. Sounds good to me but Satan absolutely hates them and anyone who keeps them because they come from God.
     Jesus Christ gave us a new commandment. John 13:34,35 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." So Satan is against love and anyone who will practice it. You can see why will we always have to fight for what is right because we are fighting against a powerful opponent who hates righteousness. He will not give us an inch and we will have to fight an upward battle all the way.
     I probably will keep on complaining and in my frustration say why? Why? Even if I know why. Just to relieve my frustration in someway. I do wish that most people with their freedom of choice would choose to do good over doing what is bad. I wish they could understand that they are being manipulated by an entity who hates God and anyone who serves him. So why? Why? Why?  

God Loves Us like a Father and Mother

     God gave birth to us like a mother. Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Deuteronomy 32:18 "You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and forgot the God who gave you birth." Like a mother, God comforts his children. Isaiah 66:13 "As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem." God compares his compassion like that of a woman for her child. Isaiah 49:15 "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you."
     God also cares for us like a father. 2 Corinthians 6:18 "and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty." God provides for us like a father. Matthew 6:31,32 "Therefore do not be anxious, saying. 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all." God protects us like a loving father caring for his children. Matthew 18:12,14 "What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? ¹⁴So it is not the will of my Father who is in the heaven that one of these little ones should perish."
     God does love us like a mother and a father because we are his children. He comforts us and show us compassion like our mother. He provides and protects us like our father. There within him are the qualities of a compassionate mother and a protective father. God's love for us is perfect in every way. God is beyond our description. We may try to describe him but we will fall short every time. I want to say to God thank you for being like a loving father and mother to me. Your tender care and love has made a great difference in my life.                                                                              (ESV)

We are More than Our Body

     As I grow older different health problems arise sometimes limiting me from doing certain things. I find I cannot do the things that I once could do. But I asked myself am I any less for it? Does my body define who I am? When I look at those with physical disabilities, deformities and those that have become limited by health conditions and old age, I can see we are more than our bodies. The person that we are inside define us and not our flesh.
     I talk to a woman that said to me she feels more younger inside than what she sees in the mirror. So I believe the mirror does not reflect back an accurate description of who we are, especially of who we are inside. The only way we can really come to know each other is talking to each other and not judging each other from a distance.
     In 2 Corinthians 4:16 it said, "So do not lost heart. Though our outer body is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day." 2 Corinthians 5:1 "For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Our outer body is wasting away and when we finally die, our eternal home in heaven awaits us. It is our inner self, our spirit that will reside there. So, our body is not all that we are, we have a spirit and that spirit within us is our true self.
     Those of us that are no longer youthful or cannot get around as much, this physical state of being will never be who we really are. People may judge us by our bodies alone but a day will come when they to will look into the mirror and say this is not my true reflection and I am more than my body's appearance.