Category: Improvement

Conditioned by Tradition? Like a Zombie?

Three nights ago, I woke up at 2 am feeling like I already slept 8-10 hours and it was time to wake up. When I saw what time it was, I tried to fall back asleep, but that didn’t work either, so I wrote down what came into my thoughts (the Title of this) and decided I’d write about it later. I didn’t want to mess up the next day by being tired all day. The last time I looked, it was 4:30 am. I fell back asleep but had a weird dream that I woke from that morning too. I guess I should have written this at 2 am!

“Conditioned by Tradition” describes what it seems we are. We are like Zombies when it comes to the way we live, what is acceptable, promoted today, just going along with the crowd, influencers, whatever is being “messaged” to us in our culture and accepting it, living it. It is concerning because it seems like some, or many, people are manipulated by it, completely unaware. The “zombie” analogy fits because it’s a figurative representation of those spiritually, walking dead, unaware of where they are headed. I think we are all in that condition, until we realize why we are here, what our purpose is and learn about the past (the beginning of earth). We’ve seen super hero movie scripts about good vs. evil, so that perpetuates the thought in us, making it easy for us to think this spiritual war is fictional, make believe, etc. But is it really?

If you read the bible, it tells us there is an unseen war that has been happening, continues today and will continue until the end of the earth: a spiritual war. And before you immediately reject what I’m saying, even if you are an atheist, you realize things you can’t see do exist. I’ll give a few examples: air, gravity, sound waves, and oxygen. Individually we are such a small part of our community, city, nation, continent, earth, and the universe. There is so much complexity, so much order, so much magnificence- this universe was not an accident . There is so much to say about that subject, but I don’t want to get side tracked.

To continue with the “conditioned by tradition,” thought, we need to accept the possibility of a spiritual warfare …so what is this war about? It’s about us and who “owns” us. Yes, that’s another concept we need to accept: we are owned by one or the other: by God or evil. If we are not with God, we are a slave to evil; Jesus explains this.

The links in the prior paragraph will explain this further (directly from the bible verses). When we comprehend this, then we see the manipulation that’s already transpired, notice it as it’s transpiring and also see those who are manipulated, thinking they are “free” but actually are “enslaved” Remember: Love is a choice; God gives us the choice; God is love. That is freedom. We choose it.

Getting back to “conditioned by tradition,” we are blind to many evil things, deception and manipulation that are now a part of our culture and tradition. For example, when was the last time you thought about the words in some nursery rhymes? Just why? Then we have Easter coming up this weekend. This is the most important Christian Holiday because this is when (we) God’s children (past, present and future) were “purchased” through Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus was the sacrifice that was accepted as “payment” for God’s children. So of course this holiday is even marred by taking the focus off Jesus and putting it on eggs, bunnies, candy and whatever. It’s interesting how some pagan traditions just casually blended in and today, it’s just normal, most of us probably never thought much about it: “conditioned by tradition”. The celebrations aren’t “bad” unless we allow them take the focus off Jesus. This day/celebration commemorates the greatest gift we’ve ever been offered, and many people don’t even comprehend this, therefore can’t appreciate this.

I hope and pray that more people begin to realize our purpose here on earth, how God is trying to reach us, how much He loves us and wants us to be a part of His Kingdom. Pay attention to the “conditioned by tradition” and don’t let it happen to you.

UPDATE: March 30, 2022 (almost a year to the date that this post was first published) so I felt compelled to update this post. I was raised Catholic and realized what is contained in this video on my own without anyone pointing it out to me; and it shocked me! This video is definitely worth watching: YouTube Video Link click here.

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What do I need to do to get to Heaven? Believe? Obey?

This is a follow up to “Heaven or Hell?” Most Christians will say all we need to do is believe in Jesus, so a bunch of people who don’t understand what “believe” means feel a false sense of relief, erroneously thinking: I can live however I want, because I believe, I have God’s grace and I will go to Heaven. (WRONG!)

But what did Jesus say? Jesus didn’t say all we have to do is believe! He said:

Believe what you want to believe, it’s your choice how your live your life, but for me, I don’t want to find out when it’s too late: I’m focusing on keeping The Commandments. So what are the commandments and where are they in the Bible? Exodus 20 (linked to Bible)

The 10 Commandments:

  1. Acknowledge there is only ONE God: God is not “whatever/whomever” modern society/culture tells us is okay to believe, all “gods” are not all the same, people do believe in different Gods. God has a personality, God is a spiritual being, God has emotions, God is living, God is our Creator, God is love, God created love, God will not be mocked, God is just, God is powerful. (bible link)
  2. Love God above all. If you want to “test” your adherence to this one, fill in the blank with what comes to mind: Who or what is most important in your life? _______ Be honest answering this question, only you will know your honest answer. If you answered anything other than God, you have a potential “idol” in your life, you are potentially worshiping something other than God and you may not even realize it! There is something else that many may not realize is breaking this commandment: if a person prays to a “saint” that person is breaking this commandment. We are supposed to go to God with everything, why would a person pray to someone less than God? Wouldn’t it make more sense to pray to the most powerful, most capable directly? It really doesn’t make sense, but it is taught in a Christian faith. There are parts of the Bible when a person falls down on their face in front of an angel who visited, and the angel often tells them: basically don’t worship me, I’m just a messenger. Other biblical people did great great things, had incredible roles given to them by God, as there are some people today doing the same, they were (or are) God’s messengers, but they were (or are) human, not God. They deserve respect, but NOT our prayers addressed to them. (bible link)
  3. Only say God’s name with respect when referring to Him. Yes, when a person cusses saying “God…” that is breaking this command. (bible link)
  4. Every week, devote a day to resting and connecting with God. If we don’t, we are breaking this commandment. As I understand, originally the Sabbath day was what we refer to as Saturday, but some religions changed it to Sunday, for what reason, I’m not sure, but this is one of those “technicalities” that may not be worth debating? It’s probably more important to identify: What’s the main point of this command: resting and making it holy (connecting with God). Get your work done the other six days, but on the 7th day, take a break, connect with God. (bible link)
  5. Realize that our natural parents were used by God for us to be here and God wants us to honor our parents. Some people have wonderful loving parents and some people don’t, but that isn’t what matters. They are human, and not perfect, just like us, so they deserve “honor” for bringing us into this world and this was important enough to God to issue a command to us regarding this. (bible link)
  6. Do not murder/kill anyone. For those who happily say: I don’t have to worry that I’ve not broken that one! Jesus put a heavier meaning on it and we all break this commandment! Jesus tells us “anger” is included in this command! Read Matthew 5: 21-25 (here) and more about fighting, paybacks, enemies Read Matthew 5: 38-48 (here) and the (bible link) to the command.
  7. Do not commit adultery. But Jesus puts a heavier meaning on this command also: looking at someone lustfully, Jesus also addresses divorce, remarriage and oaths. Read Matthew 5: 27-37 (here)
  8. Do not steal. It’s worthwhile to read the definition of “steal” because it happens a lot today in business, politics, and among people in general. (bible link)
  9. Do not lie (deceive others or make an untrue statement). (bible link)
  10. Do not desire something that belongs to someone else, whether the desire is for a material thing or a person. (bible link)

It’s interesting in the Bible when the Commandments were given to Moses by God to share with people, the people were in fear of God, but what Moses said is interesting:

20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

Fear was used by God to TEST people and keep people FROM SINNING. When Jesus talked with his disciples, he also elaborated about the commands:

We need God to make the impossible happen: Jesus made it possible for us (he was the final sacrifice). We need Jesus to get to Heaven, we couldn’t do it by being good, because we fail at that. We need the Holy Spirit’s help living our lives: wisdom, guidance, self-control, etc. Obedience to God’s commands does matter because it shows our love to God; deliberate dis-obedience shows disregard for God and what He’s asked of us; it doesn’t show love to God. So if we honestly BELIEVE this, then we will try our best to live the way God wants us to live, out of thankfulness and respect for God because of what Jesus did for us. If we mess up along the way (and we will, Jesus acknowledged that), God is the most forgiving of all, but He also won’t be mocked, and don’t forget He is omnipresent (nothing is hidden from Him) and He is just, so it does matter how we live. It is important to remember that some of the most well known figures in the Bible broke commandments: Moses killed someone out of anger, David committed adultery and killed Bathsheeba’s husband, Paul (Saul) had persecuted and killed Christians prior to his conversion but he ended up writing much of the New Testament. However, the one thing in common all these people had was love and respect towards God and Jesus’ death and resurrection was the price paid for sin. This further supports Jesus’ statement that the 2 greatest commandments are: #1 Love God and #2 Love Others.

God acknowledged Jesus when Jesus was baptized:

People in the Old Testament also acknowledged Jesus, these are just a few examples, because I’m still studying the books written by the Prophets:

Isaiah (740 BC to 681 BC): Jesus’ birth and second coming referenced (here) and (here) and (here) and (here) and (here) and (here) and (here) and (here) and so many more places that I haven’t underlined in my study bible yet.

Jeremiah (626 BC to 585 BC): Jesus (here)

Ezekiel (593 BC to 571 BC) Jesus (here)

Daniel (536 BC to 530 BC) Jesus (here)

Joel (c. 609 BC) Jesus second coming (here)

In summary, from what I’ve read, it doesn’t seem like we can ignore The Commandments and anticipate Heaven. God knows our intentions and we will be judged after we die, or if we are alive, after Jesus returns.

Jesus said we have to be “born again” to enter God’s kingdom. “Born of the Spirit” (read this)

Regarding Jesus’ return: this is something else that wasn’t focused on very much in the “religion” classes I had growing up. But it’s very interesting reading what most of the Prophets in the Bible foretold will happen prior to and when Jesus returns. That event remains in the future for all of us, as of now. I may write about that next? As I was speed reading those books looking for the references to Jesus, I was amazed how connected each Prophet’s book is regarding the future and how similar the Old Testament is to the New Testament’s Book of Revelation and also what Jesus told his followers about his return. Things that can’t be ignored.

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Heaven or Hell?

I’m back again! I started this topic through IGTV but after a day of posting and then watching a “documentary” last night about “Evangelical Christian Fanatics” I thought I better have a back up, so the videos aren’t taken out of context. Anyone who wants to “discredit” a person can easily take “snippets” of a video out of context and use it to harm them. This topic will be a sensitive topic for many people because “truth hurts”: we don’t want to see ourselves anything less than “good,” HOWEVER, despite our shortcomings, God still loves each and everyone of us in our current state and hopes that we CHOOSE to love Him back, but He doesn’t force this; it remains our choice until we die, then our choice is “sealed” for its destiny!

For me, the most critical aspect/”take away” from reading the Bible (from a selfish viewpoint, which we all have; we want to know: “what’s in it for us?”) is:

There is eternity and it’s either Heaven or Hell.

Matthew 25:46

For me, the most important aspect from reading the Bible is God’s love for us. It’s hard to find that unconditional love from anyone here on earth, that’s for sure, haha, but we have it from one source: God.

There are so many lessons, insights, wisdom and teachings from the Bible. And there are many different interpretations of the Bible from various religions. Personally, I don’t affiliate with ANY religious denomination because I don’t believe we should be divided, we should simply be Christians. I believe what is in the Bible (this also is a choice: to “believe” this) and when it comes to interpreting/understanding confusing topics, I believe we should first pray to God requesting clarity and understanding from Him. It doesn’t hurt to talk to others who are educated on the subject matter to hear their interpretation about a subject, but before we accept what they say, pray to God and ask God to show us the truth in a personal way. The most important question I wanted the answer to is:

How do I get to Heaven?

  1. We must accept, acknowledge that Jesus is the way to God, here is the supporting information from the Bible:

2. We must TAKE ACTION: Repent. (if you want to go to Heaven, those who didn’t repent were/are destroyed) here is the supporting scripture:

3. We must TAKE ACTION: Get Baptized. Even Jesus was baptized, surprisingly. Why? Because He was here to show others the way to eternal life (Heaven) and to lead others by His example. In that same way, he wants Christians to be a living example to others, but since we are not perfect, when we don’t live how God intends, we become a bad example and do more harm than good. This is a commitment that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Baptism is an outward sign to others that we have surrendered to God and choose to live as He instructed. Jesus showed us the ultimate surrender, He prayed and asked God twice if it was possible, to take away His suffering, but also in the same prayer submitted to God’s will, as the prophesized sacrifice who would “atone” for all our sins by His death on the cross and resurrection thereafter. When we sincerely intend to live this way, it is a sacrifice, a living sacrifice but God offers us help through the Holy Spirit giving power, that others do not have or receive.

4. We must TAKE ACTION: Then pray to God and for the Holy Spirit.

5. We must TAKE ACTION: Obey God’s Commands. This subject will be my next article because there is too much detail about what this means to cover here, so I’m only showing the scripture that tells us we need to obey God’s commands:

In summary and what the Bible tells us about Heaven (eternal life) here are a few quotes from scripture about eternity:

Believe what you want; it is your choice. After I read the Bible, began studying it, and continued praying; I ended up believing. It changed my prior beliefs. As I always remind people: God did not and does not force anyone to believe this, so neither should any of us (force our beliefs on others). But I do believe we have an obligation to let others know what we have learned because it may become important to them; then they can make their own choice. The relationship with God is personal anyway. Love is a choice and that’s the greatest commandment that God gave us: to love God and love others….which means allowing people to make their own choice.

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Should We Trust our Feelings?

Should we trust our feelings? My guess is anyone reading that question will have a number of reactions, such as: “YES!!!!“or “NOOO!!!!” or “I have no idea; I’m confused, help!” So what is the Truth? How do we know which answer is the correct one? These answers are provided below.

  1. Should we always trust our feelings? The Truth is NO.

2. Are there times we should trust our feelings? YES. Then, when? See below.

3. What if we are confused? How can we determine the correct answer? See below.

When Trusting your Feelings is Wrong:

Let’s be honest. Since the day we were born, we started out selfish, self-centered, right? All of us were born that way. If and when we grow and mature (emotionally, not in years), we become less self centered/selfish, but it takes intention and effort to grow and mature, it doesn’t come naturally, just like growth in anything else (such as working out, eating healthy, growing a business, relationships) : “no pain, no gain.”

So a simple question to ask ourselves is: Is my feeling motivated by self-centeredness, selfishness? If the answer to this is “yes” then trusting your feelings is wrong. Spend time being honest with yourself about the answer to this question. Don’t lie to yourself, be honest.

When Trusting your Feelings is Right:

With the same question above, we can know if trusting our feelings is right. Is my feeling motivated by selflessness, driven by loving , contributing to or helping others? If the answer to this is “yes” then trusting your feelings is right.

What if the motivation behind the feeling is selfless, driven by love, contribution or helping others but FEAR is holding me back? Fear can a blocker to something good or it can be something that protects us. If the reason behind the fear has to do with a life or death situation then trust your fear! But if not, do not let fear guide you, it is BLOCKING YOU from growth. Say you are motivated for the right reasons and you don’t submit to fear, you proceed, then something doesn’t work out as you planned? That was still the right thing to do because it is growth. We grow when we go through tough times, we come out better! As many say: if we’re not growing, we’re dying! We can’t be doing neither, think about it. Don’t let the wrong kind of fear hold you back.

When your Feelings are Confusing you:

This is the hardest one! Confusion is telling us to: WAIT, HAVE PATIENCE, but most of all PRAY! If the answer isn’t clear after reading the above testing question to know if trusting our feelings is wrong or right, then our situation is more complicated (based on the bible, confusion occurs when unrepentant sin in involved) and we need may need forgiveness and guidance from God. Waiting does not mean do nothing, it means slow down, pause, be patient but take action in prayer right away. Talk to God about it from the deepest most honest, vulnerable part of ourselves. This is between you/me and God alone, no one else. God will give us clarity eventually. But don’t “do nothing” during this time of “waiting and patience” pray about it often until clarity is received, not “a feeling,” but unquestionable clarity. Confusion is due to sin, according to the Bible. So where do we get this clarity? From God’s word, the bible. This is the coolest, most awesome thing to discover! It seriously has all the answers to the complicated questions and it is the truth.

I wasn’t taught to go to the bible for answers to questions until recently. I didn’t use it as a resource (ever) quite honestly, but once I discovered this, I am so thankful because it answers so many questions. Today, there is no excuse for not having this resource, if you have access to the internet. Some of the bible is hard to understand the first time reading. To truly know the meaning behind a quote you see, you need to read it in context so you get the full understanding. Even when you do that for the first time, there may be questions. This is where other people can help. Not necessarily by giving their interpretation of the bible, but by directing us to other passages that answer our questions. Be VERY cautious of people who interpret the Bible, don’t take their word, but ask questions, pray about it, then you will know. There are many people today who give their opinions, don’t trust “opinions” only trust facts. Facts are found by reading the bible and through prayer. Many people are misguided but can be convincing so they will give us the wrong information and lead us down a path of destruction. Sometimes people truly have good intentions, but are still not correct. Look for answers in the bible and through prayer.

I hope considering these simple questions helps. I’ve added resources and references next:

RESOURCES

A few different FREE online bible resources (check them out to see what you like best):

Selfishness “Wisdom” from the Bible:

THE “RIGHT” FEELINGS TO FOLLOW ARE MOTIVATED BY SELFLESSNESS AND LOVE- FROM THE BIBLE:

FEAR ADDRESSED IN THE BIBLE:

HOW TO DEAL WITH CONFUSION AND TIMES OF CONFUSION (CAUSED BY SIN) – FROM THE BIBLE:

FIRST SEEK GOD – FROM THE BIBLE:

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2021 is Our “Do Over” Year

2021 is our “Do Over” Year

….with that in mind we have something to celebrate:

Happy New Year: Day 1 of the year 2021!

2020 gave many of us a “ feeling” of “being defeated” during the course of that year. But we probably all learned something from the things that happened, especially those events that were “out of our control.”

Life (physically) is meant to be out of our control (God decides), but our eternal life (spiritually) is within our control. We have freedom of choice: we get to choose eternal life or reject eternal life (but rejecting eternal life, by default, means choosing eternal torment, even if we don’t want to accept this, or believe it, it is the truth and a reality we all will face). The second phase of life is way more valuable to us than the first. If you’re reading this: you and I get a “do over” starting today: Day 1 of the year 2021. That’s something to be thankful and grateful for right now!

I’m looking forward to 2021 with a new mindset based on what I learned during 2020.

I’m heading into 2021 with: A positive mindset having no fear of the future (because I’m under God’s protection), knowing there is a place of true peace in my future even when it isn’t peaceful here and now it will be (with God in eternity), knowing I’m in control of my destiny based on my decisions regarding the most important aspect of my life (eternity) no matter what happens outside my control.

NEW YEAR GOALS: With every future important decision, these are questions I will use when evaluating what is the right direction (for important matters). I never gave much thought to this before, but just now realized, the only important decisions are ones that affect God or other people! If these questions below don’t apply, then the choice probably doesn’t matter for the most important phase of my life: eternity and whatever I choose is truly okay.

2021 questions:

1. Am I making this decision out of love? Not the “feeling,” but the love that God wants us to give Him and others (our obedience to His commands: 10 Commandments) that proves we love God. As I linked the Bible scripture to the 10 Commandments, I noticed something: it’s from the 20th book through verse 21! 2021! (that’s nothing more than an easy way to remember where the 10 Commandments are located: Exodus 20: 1-21)

2. Will my decision or action do something that will create some sort of joy (for God or someone else)?

3. Will my decision lead or create peace? (Blessed are the peacemakers)

4. Am I being patient? Not forcing something for my own selfish reasons? I need to have patience.

5. Is this kind?

6. Is this good? (From God’s value system)

7. Does this show faithfulness and loyalty to God?

8. Am I handling this decision in a gentle manner if it involves someone else?

9. Am I being impulsive? Should I take more time to make the decision?

The questions above relate to characteristics regarding “the fruit” of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5: 22-23). When we have a relationship with God (which is what I choose/want), those characteristics are present, so if we want to make “the right” decisions for our life, we can use those questions to direct our actions (what we control).

Getting back to eternal life: Jesus said, the only way to eternal life is through Him/Jesus and to be born again. Being born again is a spiritual birth, a new “person,” a new way of thinking, a new mindset, it means surrendering to God by doing what is right (read the last sentence again), changing our ways to God’s ways (this is Baptism), then we are prepared to receive the Holy Spirit’s gifts. If we don’t change our ways (become a “new” born again person), we can’t receive the Holy Spirit’s gifts and if we don’t change our ways/surrender to God, that’s when we might hear from Jesus: “I never knew you.” on Judgement Day.

If we don’t obey, then we won’t receive the gifts of Holy Spirit (these gifts are provided so we can help each other/be of service to one another, the gifts are for service to others, not for our own benefit) and as Jesus said we have to ask for this. The gifts from the Holy Spirit are different for different people (not everyone receives the same gift).

To summarize, I’m starting 2021 with a new mindset: A mind set on eternity, because 2020 woke me up and made me realize I was given additional time and the opportunity to change my future in a positive direction. Happy New Year!

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Why we should never blame God:

I was not ready to get up today at 4:30 am, but this thought woke me up and it was a realization, a clarification of a question many people struggle with: Why would God let this happen? Why would God do this to such a good person?

It became clear to me this morning: if we blame God, we are wrongly blaming our Creator, who gave us life because He loves us. Think about that for a minute. God gave us life. God made us out of His love for us. Let logical thinking take over our hurt, sadness, anger, pain, etc. God does NOT do bad things to those who love Him. God does good things for those who love Him.

your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

(Jesus said this) Matthew 6:25-34

Yes, bad things do happen to good people, BUT God does NOT CAUSE that. It is normal to be angry when bad things happen to “good” people, but sometimes we direct our anger incorrectly. Why are we so quick to blame God? If we call ourselves Christians, we should know this: God does NOT do bad things to His people. The Bible is the only TRUTH, so if we look to the Bible for answers, we will find the answers, to this and much more.

Who is Good?

First of all, we need to realize, what we think is “good” is not the same as what God knows as “good.” Jesus made this point responding to someone saying: “Why do you call me good? No one is good – except God alone.” We all fall short in some way of being known as “good” to God. Our days of living on earth are part of the process of us individually preparing ourselves for eternity. (It’s like getting an education to prepare for work, only it has greater implications than a job or career: our eternity.) And we will never be “good enough” which is the reason why Jesus died for us; so that we could be in eternity with God. We are not “perfect” nor able to justify our way to heaven thinking if we are good enough we will get to heaven (we won’t get to heaven “being good enough” – from the Bible). The only way we will make it to heaven is through believing and faith in Jesus. BUT there will be consequences from our behavior.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

Who causes bad things to happen to people?

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:12

If only every person on earth would comprehend what this quote tells us, we would stop fighting with each other, we would stop blaming one another, we would unite together against the powers of the dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms that CAUSE the bad stuff we experience here on earth. If we are angry- be angry at the true source, don’t blame the innocent!

Jesus said:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Ephesians 2: 2 ……in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

The entire book of Job is another example, God did not CAUSE those bad things to happen, Satan did. But the end of the story is that God restored everything for Job.

Why does God allow bad things to happen?

We have to remember that God is just:

He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

Deuteronomy 32: 4

Sometimes bad things happen as a consequence of a choice or an action we made (we cause it). Sometimes God allows bad things to happen to test our faith (read the book of Job) to find out if we truly love Him. And sometimes “our time is up” and God is ready for us.

28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 

(Jesus said this) Matthew 10: 28

If we experience an untimely death of someone we love, we need to put this in perspective: Yes it hurts. It will always hurt. But those feelings are focused on us, if we turn our thoughts to what is better for the person who experienced the untimely death, their suffering on earth was shortened. They didn’t have to endure the pain we do. It is a time like this to remember what Jesus said:

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

(Jesus said this) John 14:2
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