Category: Improvement

Marriage doesn’t exist in God’s Kingdom

After week number one at home, for the “stay home order” in most of our communities, some people may read this and feel relief (just kidding) and others may get anxiety.

As I was reading the bible for the first time (late summer/fall 2019), I read this statement Jesus made when talking about resurrection, a detail I never heard before or thought about but when I read it, I had more questions, the statement is:

“Marriage is for people here on earth. But in the age to come, those worthy of being raised from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage.”

Luke 20:34-35 (NLT)

The questions that came to mind after reading that were:

  1. Why does marriage exist (from a biblical perspective)? What is the purpose of marriage?
  2. Why is so much emphasis placed on marriage in the Bible?
  3. If marriage is important enough to address in the Bible, then why is it not part of eternity?

I thought about writing on this subject months ago, but then changed my mind, staying away from it because of potential controversy. But when this scripture came up again (I am currently, daily, reading parts of the bible covering teachings from Jesus), and today I woke up at 2 am and this was the next one I would read. I decided maybe I should write about it? Maybe the timing is right?

Why does marriage exist (from a biblical perspective)? What is the purpose of marriage?

Biblical Answer: God created this union (what we call marriage) and the purpose was for man not be alone, to have a helper, to have children and to take care of the earth. (supporting bible verses below)

First of all, when researching this, my goal is avoiding what I’ve “learned” anywhere and only looking in the bible; not adding personal beliefs.

With that in mind, what is the definition of “marriage” from the Bible?

  • Genesis 1:27 – 28 NLT: “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
  • Genesis 2:7 NLT: “Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the main’s nostrils, and the main became a living person.”
  • Genesis 2:15 NLT: “The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.”
  • Genesis 2:18 NLT: “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”
  • Genesis 2:24 NLT version, there isn’t a marriage ceremony, but it states: “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” And after this is the first reference in the bible to “wife” and “husband.” In Genesis 3:20 NLT, the names Adam and Eve were mentioned.

What is the definition of marriage from the dictionary? Dictionary.com: “Any of the diverse forms of interpersonal union established in various parts of the world to form a familial bond that is recognized legally, religiously, or socially, granting the participating partners mutual conjugal rights and responsibilities and including, for example, opposite-sex marriage, same-sex marriage, plural marriage and arranged marriage.” (Very much of an expanded definition, but not biblically based regarding what marriage is)

Why is so much emphasis placed on marriage in the Bible?

Biblical Answer: Because marriage affects a person’s relationship with God either in a positive way or a negative way. (supporting verses from the Bible below)

Until Jesus began teaching about God, what everyone knew about God was from the Old Testament (by historically documented events, God’s chosen people and prophets – who told of things that actually happened later). In the Old Testament, through God’s chosen people, we first learn about how marriage affects a person’s relationship with God in Genesis 3: 1-19 when sin entered and hurt the relationship between God and humans so God punished them both for their sin of disobedience to God.

Throughout much of the Old Testament in the Bible, there is a reference to a “wife” but there are also servants, concubines, etc. who also had children with some of God’s chosen people. One of the first examples: Abraham’s wife was Sarah, but he also had a child (Ishmael) with Hagar (a servant, as suggested by Sarah and with permission from Sarah because Sarah was unable to have children, but in very later years God promised Sarah a son then she had Isaac). This situation caused ongoing continual problems between Sarah and Hagar, but God ended up blessing both of their sons and the bible doesn’t record anything about a punishment for anyone of them, but it does comment on Abraham’s strong relationship with God. Abraham was a prophet of God (Genesis 20:7) This is an example where God doesn’t appear to punish, or at least it wasn’t recorded. Abraham married again after Sarah died and had more children. Isaac’s son Esau had two wives and his other son Jacob had two wives also. These multiple marriages also caused numerous problems, but not directly with God.

However during the same time, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of wickedness, sin and immorality because the people were turning away from God. (So why are these treated differently?) The destruction of the cites of Sodom and Gomorrah occurred before the 10 Commandments were given to Moses (c. 1445 BC).

Regarding the commandments: the first four commandments are essentially about people making God the priority above all else. The next six commandments are essentially about how people should treat each other. In the New Testament, when Jesus was asked: “What is the most important commandment?” he stated this: first is to love God and second but equally important love each other.

King David, Jesus’ ancestor, whom God was pleased with most of the time, broke at least a couple of the commandments when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed in war. God did punish them when the first child they had died. But they had another child who later became King Solomon and God was initially pleased with him too. King Solomon was known as the wisest and built a temple for God. But even the wisest, King Solomon, was turned away from God by marrying pagan women and having multiple wives. There are numerous examples in the Old Testament where intermarriage between tribes turned good people from God destroying the relationship with God.

Also in the Book of Ezra, the Israelites made a covenant with God to divorce their pagan wives. And in the book of Nehemiah, he also made them promise they would not intermarry with pagan people.

So all of these examples show how joining with someone God doesn’t bless harms the relationship with God.

So the last question I had:

If marriage is important enough to address in the Bible, then why is it not part of eternity?

My personal conclusion based on information from the bible for this answer: It seems clear to me that God wants our attention, He wants to be the priority and focus of our lives, and rightfully so, because He created us. So who we marry matters to God because the spouse will either build our relationship with God or destroy our relationship with God. The relationship with God is what matters most to Him. Wedding vows often include “til death do us part” and this makes even more sense to me now, because there isn’t marriage in God’s Kingdom (life after death) based on what Jesus said.

Also, it seems that Jesus used the concept of marriage so people would better understand the relationship Jesus has with the church based on something familiar to them (marriage). Jesus often referenced weddings.

In the New Testament, after Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, Paul who was name was formerly known as Saul (the one who persecuted Christians) was called by God. He converted to Christianity and wrote much about love and marriage in the Bible. Most of what is taught about Christian love and marriage comes from Paul.

As I am finishing this, the conclusion almost makes marriage sound unimportant, while it does support what Jesus said in the Bible, I think it’s also important to reflect on the fact that God created this union in the beginning and everything God creates is good. As humans, and not “a god,” our sins can mess up what God created for good.

by Categories: FAITH, Improvement, Marriage, RELATIONSHIPS, SexTags: 1 Comment

I hope you read this and it makes a Difference!

I woke up early this morning with this on my mind: in the midst of “social distancing” and “isolation” caused by this rapidly spreading #coronavirus …you’re like me right now, if you don’t want to see or hear that word again, and feel “exhausted” by it, wanting to “social distance from that word!” but yet learn from experts, it’s a mental tug-of-war between the two: avoidance and seeking information to be informed.

Getting back to the thought I had this morning: “FOG”…”Emerging from the Fog” We are “in the fog” right now: things are unclear, uncertain, we can’t see what’s ahead of us, we are fumbling while trying to move forward, we aren’t quite “blind,” but are having trouble seeing ahead. There is no doubt, in my mind, that this is an unprecedented situation for something even greater than what our current focus is on.

When was the last time the ENTIRE WORLD came to a “halt” at the same time?

Pay attention to this! It’s more significant than you may realize right now. Have you ever focused so much on a detail, that you didn’t get the main point? What we are experiencing right now is exactly that: the virus is the detail, but it is not the main point. The virus will pass, just don’t miss the main point of why we are going through this now. History repeats itself; we have the same experiences in life when we don’t learn from them. This is where I may loose you….

But I hope you read this and it makes a difference:

Let me first explain, I am not a “religious” person. I’ll define that by example: I grew up with a religion, went to a faith based school, but honestly, I rejected that religion. I never felt connected, struggled with the religion, but I did have faith in God somehow. I became “affiliated” with that religion, and then defined myself to others as a “non-practicing” ….this is not something to be proud of; it’s embarrassing, but true. I tried to participate more because that was “the right thing to do,” but I failed often yet believed (what little I learned from) the Bible; this wasn’t an intentional rejection of God, but in a way it still was rejecting God, because I didn’t have God as my priority, and I didn’t realize that at the time (I was in a fog). So as I say what’s next, try to understand coming from my perspective.

I believe what is happening is a “wake up” call. Only God could manage to DISRUPT/HALT THE ENTIRE WORLD in a very short time frame (a matter of weeks). I’m NOT saying God CAUSED this; but I am saying God is USING this, turning something bad into something good for us. None of us have seen anything like it in our life time. It has global reach and is affecting each of us individually.

So how is God using this? He is using this to turn our attention to Him. Our world has (we have) become so corrupt, we don’t even realize it, we’ve begun to accept things that are completely against the Bible as normal and believe those things are “right,” “justifiable,” in our minds and we are headed on a path of destruction, but don’t even realize this. I was in a fog about this too, going in the same path; BEFORE reading the Bible for the first time recently, late summer 2019. This statement isn’t only my opinion (that God is trying to turn our attention to Him), it is biblically based. There are many historically documented times, where God used natural disasters, events, plagues, healings, miracles, angels, etc. to get people’s attention, this is His REPEATED mode of operation, documented in the Bible:

  • The flood and Noah’s Ark (growing up, I thought this was a fable to teach us something, but I realize while this was to teach us something; it isn’t a fable). There are well educated archaeologists, historians and scientists who can back up this statement; believe me, I had to find them before making a statement like this because of my initial belief!
  • The plagues in Egypt during Moses’ time in the Old Testament
  • The destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
  • Angels sent by God to warn people or inform people, messengers, protectors
  • The miracles Jesus (and the Apostles, through God performed)

I don’t think this is the end of the world; I’m not an extremist. Just like all those times thousands of years ago, it was not the end of the world, but it was a wake up call. This virus is something that will pass, in my opinion, but right now, we don’t know if someone we know will get this, or if we will get it? Will we recover? Or will God decide: “your time’s up”?

Are you prepared for this?

What we are experiencing right now is enough to cause concern in me about people who haven’t been “fortunate” enough to have some event in your life “wake you up.” Take advantage of this downtime to connect with God. This is personal between each of us and God; you will learn the significance about this, if you read the bible. It affects every person’s future.

Long Range planning? This is where our long range planning needs to be, everything else is short term planning, don’t be misled by distractions in life.

Remember: you don’t take it with you. In the end, it is just your spirit that God breathed into you when he gave you life. You get to decide where your spirit ends up; it’s your choice. If you haven’t thought about that, now is a good time.

My personal note to you: As I began to read the Bible, I started an Instagram account (link here) to save things I read that stood out to me, things I didn’t know before reading the Bible, to help me remember them, and for future reference. I thought if anyone else reads them and it helps someone else that’s even better. The only people/accounts that I follow are people who have contributed (unknowingly) to the growth of my faith. I’m hoping that if you read this and you want to learn more, maybe these accounts will be a good resource for you too? There are a variety of personalities, you may connect with some, and not others. I’ve watched these people/accounts I follow for awhile and over time they have been authentic, teach from the Bible and seem to have integrity too, and seem to be “servants” of God with good intentions. As for my account, it has now become a “responsibility”/”accountability” I gave myself: to make me read something from the Bible every day, and create a post, truly thinking about what I just read (journaling) which I never did before. I know it’s important to stay connected daily, or naturally, our priority of God will be replaced with something else. Whatever we focus on becomes our priority. The greatest commandment is to keep God as our #1 priority. When I first read the Bible, it was a “race to the end” for me to “get the main point” of it, but now I’m getting into the details. I’m relatively new to this but learning more every day from committing to daily reading. Doing this truly has transformed my beliefs/thoughts/priorities, in ways I never thought possible.

Other resources:

For Hope/Positivity: I rarely have anxiety about anything now, but occasionally if it starts, it ends quickly by listening to a YouTube video, specifically by Rick Warren on that topic and how the Bible addresses the subject matter. He has an incredible library of helpful topics to get through anything in life, based on the Bible. His stated intention is to give people hope. I’m actually reading his book right now, The Purpose Driven Life, and even though it’s been a #1 Seller that topped the Wall Street Journal’s chart, Publishers Weekly chart and was a New York Times Bestseller with 32 million copies sold in 85 languages as of 2019, for me, his videos have more personal impact and daily application of Biblical teachings, but everyone responds to different things and different people.

For Historical and Scientific support of Biblical information along with real life application: Greg Holder and the weekly YouTube online broadcast of each and every service of The Crossing is a great resource.

For the honest biblically based truth: If you have pride, or think you are “good enough,” don’t need to change, you should listen to Marcus Rogers for a wake up call. He talks raw truth about the bible, doesn’t “sugar coat” anything, doesn’t care how people react to what he says, he says things most people are afraid to say because it is not what people want to hear, isn’t
“politically correct”, afraid because they will be looked at like they are crazy (talking about the spiritual world) when this is actually in the Bible, people don’t want to accept it as truth because it makes them uncomfortable. His style is not what I grew up with, yet I appreciate what he is doing and like him because I believe he has good core intentions and he does make me think or research something, reflect on my short comings.

For reading the Bible on your own: (this app reads it to you also); you can search any topic, find reading plans based on what is applicable in your life at the time, download the YouVersion app available in ios or Android versions. This app was created by Life Church.

For questions about anything in the Bible: www.GotQuestions.Org offers an app resource which answers different questions people may have coming from different faith backgrounds into the exploration of Christian faith and provides the scripture references for questions, so you can read them for yourself and decide.

My hope is that this helps at least one person! #faithoverfear #trustGod

by Categories: Face Fear, FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Love, Make It Count, RELATIONSHIPS, WellnessTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Real Love – from the #1 source, best seller

Growing up our thoughts about love and relationships are formed based on what we see in other relationships of those we are closest to as well as our personal experiences and just like first-time parents, we may, or may not, have been given the best instruction book for success due to this. People are obviously not perfect in example or in relationships in general.

I believe everyone at some point in their life wants a real “love” relationship experience, especially after getting hurt. But many of us don’t know what “love” truly is, we think we do (again based on what we see or experience), but that could be wrong. We may end up seeking advice from from friends, from books, from music, from others; but often that advice isn’t the best because it is based on other’s personal experiences and personally drawn conclusions, so it might not be applicable to us.

So there is honestly only 1 trustworthy author, who is a guaranteed, reliable source for real love knowledge, because none of us are perfect, or act perfect all the time, so we are not the best sources on love; we are imperfect sources. But God is. God is a trustworthy, guaranteed, eternal, reliable source for love and because of the following reasons:

  • The Bible is inspired by God (through the Holy Spirit, the source of Wisdom) (2 Timothy 3:16) (Isaiah 11:2)
  • The Bible is truth, so that’s the only resource for trusted information. (John 17:17)
  • The Bible tells us: “God is Love” (1 John 4:8), so going straight to the source of Love is the best place for information.
  • According to the Guinness Book of World Records as of 1995, the Bible is the best-selling book of all time with an estimated 5 billion copies sold and distributed. The bible has sold billions of copies and is the best selling book of all time- according to World Atlas as of 2018 also.

So what does the Bible tell us about real love?

  • First God is love and loves us. (Deuteronomy 23:5, Romans 5:5, John 1:17, 1 Thessalonians 1:4, 1 John 4:9 and hundreds of more verses in the Bible) God is perfect, so love described in the Bible is the ONLY perfect, real love.
  • Secondly, Jesus told us the most important choice we can make is: Loving God and loving others (Mark 12 29:31) so we should understand what real love means because it WILL affect us.

So how do we know (recognize) real love and how do we show real love to others?

  • Love is Patient (1 Corinthians 13: 4) – someone who loves shows patience is calm, forgiving, gentle, quiet, tolerant, submissive, persistent, understanding, accommodating, composed, easy-going, even-tempered, untiring, willing to endure, lenient, mild-tempered, persevering, serene
  • Love is Kind (1 Corinthians 13:4) – someone who is kind: affectionate, amiable, charitable, compassionate, considerate, cordial, courteous, friendly, gentle, gracious, humane, kindhearted, loving, sympathetic, thoughtful, tolerant, humanitarian, understanding
  • Love is NOT jealous (1 Corinthians 13:4): it is calm, content, undoubting, unworried, confident, satisfied, trusting, unresentful
  • Love is NOT boastful (1 Corinthians 13:4): it is humble, modest, unconceited
  • Love is NOT proud (1 Corinthians 13:4); it is humble, meek, modest
  • Love is NOT rude (1 Corinthians 13:5); it is decent, gentle, nice, polite, refined, sophisticated, mannerly, respectful
  • Love does NOT demand its own way (1 Corinthians 13: 5); it is easy, flexible, nice, simple, tolerant, yielding, unchallenging
  • Love is NOT irritable (1 Corinthians 13: 5); it is happy, pleasant, cheerful, nice
  • Love keeps no record of being wronged (1 Corinthians 13:5); love forgives and doesn’t remind someone of the past
  • Love supports justice (1 Corinthians 13: 6): it is honesty, integrity, truth
  • Love never gives-up (1 Corinthians 13:7); it compliments, praises, helps, initiates, cares, maintains, continues, fights for, holds on, accepts, embraces, joins, stays, remains, pursues, encourages, grows, builds, defends, treasures, guards, protects, validates, builds up, stabilizes, strengthens, remains, waits, supports
  • Love never loses faith (1 Corinthians 13:7); love has belief, confidence, hope, loyalty, truth, allegiance, assurance, certainty, constancy, fidelity
  • Love is always hopeful (1 Corinthians 13: 7); confident, cheerful, comfortable, eager, enthusiastic, trusting, upbeat, calm, content, faithful, reassuring, forward-looking, serene, encouraging, exciting, uplifting, enlivening, inspiring
  • Love endures through every circumstance (1 Corinthians 13:7); it bears hardships and survives, it sustains, weathers, withstands, supports, is patient through circumstances, copes, hangs on, puts up with, persists, remains, stays, lasts, has no end, love lasts FOREVER

Love is NOT:

demanding, pushy, loud, rough, troubled, violent, wild, frustrated, impatient, intolerant, unwilling, aloof, antagonistic, cold, cruel, disagreeable, discourteous, hard, harsh, hateful, inattentive, inconsiderate, indifferent, inhumane, mean, merciless, nasty, rough, rude, thoughtless, uncaring, uncompassionate, unfeeling, unfriendly, unkind, unsociable, violent, bitter, jealous, anxious, apprehensive, envious, intolerant, possessive, skeptical, suspicious, doubting, grabby, guarded, mistrustful, monopolizing, possessory, questioning, boastful, arrogant, cocky, pompous, pretentious, big-headed, conceited, egotistical, hifalutin, know-it-all, hot stuff, loudmouth, self-applauding, smart-alecky, snooty, stuck-up, swanky, imposing, feeling pleasure or satisfaction over something regarded highly valuable, feeling of superiority, abusive, blunt, crude, impolite, insulting, intrusive, obscene, vulgar, abrupt, bad-mannered, discourteous, inconsiderate, savage, challenging, urgent, critical, difficult, exhausting, hard, onerous, pressing, strict, taxing, tough, troublesome, trying, nagging, wearing, bothersome, dictatorial, fussy, grievous, insistent, oppressive, annoyed, resentful, testy, cantankerous, complaining, dissatisfied, easily offended, gloomy, grouchy, grumbling, hasty, huffy, hypercritical, moody, ill-humored, oversensitive, quick-tempered, sensitive, tense, touchy, corrupt, dishonest, lawlessness, unethical, unfair, partiality, abandoning, leaving alone, quitting, dropping, deserting, backing out, avoiding, keeping from, withdrawing, leaving hanging, calling it quits, backing off, copping out, holding back, getting “cold feet,” letting go, discarding, dumping, aborting, ignoring, disloyal, dishonest, doubtful, inconsistent, uncertain, rejecting, skeptic, apathetic, depressed, disinterested, down, hopeless, pessimistic, sad, unenthusiastic, unhappy, desperate, despondent, fearful, gloomy

After reading about real love from the Bible, was it what you thought it was?

Love was defined differently than I would have described it. It was enlightening for me the first time I read it. After reading it, I don’t think any of us are born being truly loving people, it’s not natural, we are much more self-centered (think about babies) Love is something we learn overtime by practicing it and choosing it over what real love is not. Real love is a choice we make, not a feeling we feel. The “feeling” by itself is lust; it’s not love. Love is a choice of compassion.

This knowledge is helpful when evaluating “love” and evaluating ourselves in life- how loving are we? And definitely knowledge we need to comprehend before we make a life time commitment to someone; both parties deserve that.

by Categories: Dating, Entertainment, Face Fear, FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Letting Go, Love, Make It Count, MUSIC, RELATIONSHIPS, Sex, WellnessTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

2019 – Making God the Priority

2 am this morning and I wake up like it’s time to get prepared for the day, except it’s not! But a clear thought was in my head:

“All action eventually leads to a result – based on the priority we give it.”

If you review the titles of my prior blogs, you will see they are a journal of life events over the past four years (since 2016), searching for happiness and life purpose, leading to change along the way. In hindsight, the past four years went by so quickly but I’m not yet where I want to be in life. I hesitated in writing anything reflecting on 2019 because I can only describe it as one of the most challenging years of my life in almost every aspect (everything I prioritized in life was in turmoil); the positive highlights are the only things I posted on social media.

Having my priorities in life in turmoil, led me to the darkest time of my life, so dark that I was truly ready for my life to be over which further complicated my life by paralyzing my ability to accomplish anything that was a priority to me. Before I scare anyone I know reading this, I do not believe in suicide and that was never an option for me: I believe only God holds that authority to end a life; not us. A few who are closest to me suggested seeing a counselor to get through this, which I did, but was ineffective for me unfortunately. I wanted help getting through this time in my life, but it didn’t happen from the outside, so I stopped. But I knew that I needed help. It was finally at this point when I truly gave up on everything and tried one more way for help: I thought: if God created everything, He can do the impossible; then He is the only way I will get through this.

My first realization: While I was partially focused on changing my way of living, I wasn’t completely. Looking back to something I wrote years ago (2017) about Trust and Obey shows my resistance to obedience. As I’ve heard before: we keep experiencing the same results until we learn the lesson. And 2019 was living proof that it’s not enjoyable continuing the lessons, it’s easier to be obedient to God’s commands.

My second realization: I was still putting other things/sources before God; I wasn’t completely trusting God to make the significant changes in my life.

I started reading the bible, obsessed with trying to gain wisdom and understanding from the bible to get through this time because it was my only hope. While reading it, I realized I never truly “Surrendered to God” like I thought I did a couple years ago. I believed I surrendered, when I asked God to guide me, but I was still living how I wanted to live and doing everything based on my own feelings. After reading the bible, it became clear: I needed to change the way I was living. I read about peace, joy, contentment, no anxiety, no worries in all times of life, but I wasn’t experiencing that and didn’t understand why it wasn’t happening for me, when so many wrote about that experience in the bible? I needed that.

It was when I paid attention to a certain detail in the bible that I found the answer. There were people who were baptized by someone, but didn’t receive the Spirit of God. I know this is an “out there” kind of statement for many people, but it’s in the bible and I have faith. Here are the supporting verses from the bible:

“because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” Acts 8:16 NIV

“For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” Acts 1:5 NIV

“Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.‘ Acts 11:16 NIV

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28;19 NLT

John the Baptist baptized people in preparation for Jesus, this baptism was for repentance (deep sorrow for a past sin, wrongdoing, regret for past action), but the Holy Spirit is what people need for guidance, strength and true life change.

“I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ John 1:33 NLT

“As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove.” Mark 1:10 NLT

“I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am- so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Matthew 3:11 NLT

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness” Galatians 5:22 NLT

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere- in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 NLT

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NLT

“So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 1:16 NLT

“But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true- it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.” 1 John 2:27 NLT

“So how does a person become filled with the Holy Spirit?” was my next question.

“He is the Holy Spirit, who leads to all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.” John 14:17 NLT

“Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38 NLT

When we live our lives as Jesus showed by his actions and advice (turning away from sin), we are able to receive the Holy Spirit.

“Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18 NLT

“But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)” Romans 8:9 NLT

“And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30 NLT

Changing the way we live:

“With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God-truly righteous and holy. So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. ‘And don’t sin by letting anger control you.’ Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil. If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them…Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4: 17 -32

My third realization: Even though 2019 was one of my worst years ever, it brought me closer to God.

My fourth realization: This is something else that I found throughout the bible: God uses hardships to draw people closer to Him – that must be what has been happening in my life. There are numerous examples and stories in the bible about this.

My fifth realization (this morning):

“All action eventually leads to a result – based on the priority we give it.”

Seeking God daily by listening to encouraging, motivational bible derived messages that apply to every day living (click for a resource I access) (website) or reading something from the bible that’s relevant to a feeling I’m experiencing through this app (click here) appears to be making a difference for me: I truly am much more at peace with life even when it’s not easy, I have more patience, calmness, almost no anxiety, even though I should based on circumstances, I don’t have it, I trust that God will take care of it, if I do what is right. And after I started changing my ways, truly unexpected numerous good things began happening in my life.

This experience made me realize that God needs to remain THE priority in my life. This is wisdom from the bible: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:33

by Categories: Face Fear, FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Love, Make It Count, RELATIONSHIPS, WellnessTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

What is my (our) Purpose in Life?

About five years ago, this question became more important to me: “What is my purpose in life?”

(To be honest, this question was lingering in me, unrecognized as a teenager too, but I never put much thought into it. I would make decisions about my future when I felt like I was running out of time, and had to choose something, then I’d quickly make a decision, go with it, figuring out how to make it work over time.)

As time passed, I truly wanted to know the answer because I felt like there had to be more to life. I felt like I had been wasting time, and didn’t want to continue this way, so I started searching for the answer. I can remember thinking: “We can’t just be here to eat, sleep, and do whatever it is that keeps us busy during the day and night?” There should be something more important, more meaningful in life, than “existing and taking up space:” a Purpose.

I finally stumbled upon the answer to this question in the Bible:

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

So the answer is: God created each of us with a specific purpose to fulfill. But when we find an answer like this, let’s be honest: “Who is looking to do MORE work and have MORE responsibilities than we already have?” Probably not many, UNLESS the REWARD is worth it, right? So is the reward worth it? YES! For this answer to be personally true, meaningful and understood for each of us, it requires a relevant context, because without that, we are probably not interested.

So why is this information relevant to each and every person?

It is relevant because it affects our future: what happens to us and is something that only we, personally, can direct, through our daily choices. To receive the reward, we must have faith in Jesus, however we will be judged on our faith through our actions (our works and obeying the Ten Commandments). “Faith without works is dead.” James 2:14-26

So why would we trust what the Bible has to say?

The information in the Bible is from God, our creator, Who speaks only in truth, and reveals some of the mysterious aspects of our existence through the Bible about what is happening and why it is happening. The Bible is an historical book providing reasons why some events took place, giving proof of God through miraculous events, prophesies that came true and through living proof when Jesus was present on earth and teaching, died and rose from the dead. All of this was done to help us, strengthen us and for God to see what choice we will make once we find out and learn about this. (Think about this: Have you ever evaluated a relationship to see if it was worthwhile? That’s what God’s doing with us: He’s giving us a choice about a relationship with Him.)

The Bible is like an “open book test”: the answers are there, but will we seek them and then apply them to be successful? What we are experiencing in our lives right now is something more significant in process: it is a test with a significant reward (heaven/eternal life), if we are successful and horrible consequences (hell) if we fail. So this is why it is important to know what’s in the Bible and apply what we learn.

This is personal: the best way to get answers to our individual questions is by reading the Bible and praying for the understanding of what we read, because this is how God communicates with us; God will provide clarity, directly to each of us when we are looking for answers in the Bible and through prayer. Seek God first in everything. (Matthew 6:33)

So getting back to our purpose in life, I wondered: We were created to do what specific “good works”?

Doing these “good works” and obeying is evidence of our Faith, which is required to receive God’s reward and our life right now is a TEST. The day-to-day “worldly” things that we experience and worry about are truly UNIMPORTANT and INSIGNIFICANT when we understand the high level reason we were created and what we should have our focus. There is so much to focus on in life, but if we make God the priority and focus in our minds, everything else will fall into place. That’s why the Bible tells us not to worry: God provides what we need in support of His plan for us. (Side note: this also explains the reason for some unanswered prayers.) This also requires faith; we have to have faith in God to really believe that He provides, but little by little as our faith grows, we start seeing this come true, which grows our faith.

Getting back to “good works” I also found this answer:

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.” Romans 12:6

The gifts, given by God for the purpose God determined when He created us, are:

  1. Prophesying: boldly proclaiming God’s word
  2. Serving: physical and spiritual help provided to others
  3. Teaching: applying information from the Bible in a clear, accurate and understanding way to others
  4. Encouraging: motivating others to take action and fulfill their purpose
  5. Giving: providing material and financial resources to others
  6. Leading: various Leadership Roles
  7. Showing Mercy: comforting those in need

What gift is mine?

When we work using the specific gift we were created for, our actions happen with ease, we are comfortable and enjoy what we are doing, using the gift feels natural to us, personally. The specific gift we were given is also something that others will notice in us, and likely tell us we seem so “natural” in our actions when operating in that way.

Life is complicated, but the overall simple goal and purpose for us is to Love. Love God and each other.

In summary: God created each of us for a specific purpose of His, and provides us unique gifts to fulfill His plan; which also means every person is very important and is here for a reason!

by Categories: Dating, entrepreneur, Face Fear, FAITH, FAMILY, Following Passions, FRIENDSHIP, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Letting Go, Love, Make It Count, RELATIONSHIPS, WellnessTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

7 Fascinating and Important things I learned from the Bible

I was surprised to find out how much I didn’t know about what is in the Bible, even after going to a religious school from grade school through high school and attending various religion based churches throughout my life. I thought I knew all the “important parts” but what I found out was: I was missing the details; the very important details! I only knew the “big picture” mainstream biblical stories. These details from the Bible answered several questions I had:

1.  "Spiritual Warfare" (This explains why certain things happen)

I never heard of this “spiritual warfare” or understood this until reading the bible. So this topic may immediately make you think, “uh oh, she’s one of those crazy people!” That would have been my reaction too, before I read the Bible. But after reading the bible, it became clear that we are the subjects of the spiritual war: between God and Satan (a.k.a.the devil, Lucifer and other names…) We were created by God but given freedom in our choices but Satan continues to try to gain people turning us against God through sin, because sin separates us from God. (God gave Moses the 10 Commandments for us so that we could identify sin and stay away from it.) The book of Job mentions Satan being in the presence of God, telling God he was “roaming the earth”, in fact the entire book of Job is about Satan testing Job, trying to turn him from God. Peter also mentions Satan roaming the earth in a similar way. (1Peter 5-8: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”) Jesus was also tempted by Satan for 40 days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11)

Why is this happening? Satan had once been a high ranking spiritual being, but filled with excessive pride, wanted to BE God, wanted to be worshiped and was disobedient, so God cast him from heaven. Satan is described as intelligent, the father of lies, deceitful, clever, the accuser of us in God’s presence, the prince of the earth, and powerful. Also, the bible states one third of the angels were cast out with Satan and considered fallen angels, and these spirits also align with Satan’s efforts. But God/Jesus/the Holy Spirit is more powerful than Satan or anything evil.

From the beginning of the Bible until the end of the Bible there are stories of the ongoing spiritual battle: sin vs. obeying God. It is also stated that if we are not for God; we are against Him. If we do not have the Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit), we are at risk. In the bible, Jesus cast out spirits that no one else could conquer, but then his disciples and apostles also were able to do this after Jesus ascended to heaven. (This was after the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and the casting out of spirits was done in the name of Jesus, not by any other power.) But then there was this unsettling story about some Jewish people who knew of this “power” and thought they could do the same as the apostles, casting out spirits in Jesus’ name, and they were successful until one demon actually spoke to them and attacked them terribly (Acts 19: 13-16)

The spiritual war is mentioned in Ephesians 6: 10-12 (written by Paul an apostle approximately 60 AD) which states: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power…For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against…the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

2.  God uses unexpected people for His purpose (This explains how important "insignificant" people are to God)

Growing up learning about religion, I always thought the famous biblical people were special, different, good, holy people, but in reading the bible, they were not, or maybe they were good at some point, but they failed at some point also. Some examples: Moses, who delivered the 10 Commandments actually killed a man (but it was a man mistreating someone), Moses also surprisingly had no self confidence in fulfilling God’s request, but God kept pursing. Moses was chosen by God to further God’s purpose. David was also God’s chosen one but he arranged for Bathsheba’s husband to be killed so he could be with her. God punished David for that (by their first child’s death) and David accepted God’s punishment, repented and never turned from God. David and Bathsheba’s next son, Solomon, became a great leader and built a phenomenal temple to worship God, but he also had numerous wives and relationships and later worshiped idols, but he also fulfilled God’s purpose and had a significant role in the Bible. Joseph was the youngest brother and was mistreated/treated like he was insignificant by his own brothers, but God gave him the gift of interpreting dreams and put him in an important role in Egypt. Paul had persecuted Christians, but Jesus appeared to him and temporarily blinded him, calling him for God’s purpose, then Paul changed. Paul is the one who wrote most of the Letters to the people of various cities found in the New Testament. The main point is the people who were significant in the Bible, were not who we might have expected, but God chooses people for His plan and purpose and Jesus often said “the least will be the greatest” 

3.  How to get to Heaven? (Good question to know the answer to!)

I have to admit, growing up I also thought that we had to be “good” to get to heaven. But after reading the Bible, that is not how we get to heaven. We could do all sorts of good works, but still not get to heaven if we don’t have saving faith in Jesus. The only way to heaven is faith in Jesus, but faith without good works is not the saving kind of faith. If we have true faith, it will be demonstrated by our actions. (Ephesins 2: 8-10, James 2:26, 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10, Matthew 7:16-23)

4.  Believer defined (And it's not what most of us think/thought!)

This was significant to me because I, like many people I know, thought that if we say “I believe in Jesus,” we are saved. But that is not how the bible defines a “Believer.” Finding this out truly changed my mind and also made me realize, it’s not that “easy.” This is also something that I think a lot of people don’t understand: the biblical definition of a “Believer.” It makes a tremendous difference too. A “non-practicing” person is not a believer according to the Bible (Read: 1 John 1, 1 John 2, 1 John 3, 1 John 5)

A true believer:

  • has friendships with those redeemed and Jesus
  • lives as Jesus instructs
  • admits and confesses our sins (we do not think we are sinless)
  • keeps God’s commandments
  • loves God, not worldly things
  • does what is right
  • seeks to maintain a pure life
  • experiences less sin in our lives overtime; we don’t keep sinning
  • shows love to other Christians
  • “walks the walk” not just “talks the talk”
  • has a clear conscience
5.  Repentance (John 3:3, 5)  (It's necessary)

Repentance is defined as: deep sorrow or regret felt for a sin we committed, followed by deeds that demonstrate repentance (Acts 26:20) Repentance matters each and every time a sin is committed (Ezekiel 33:12) Jesus preaches repentance (Matthew 4:17) John wrote: “We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the Godly person who does his will.” (John 9:31) It sure sounds like getting right with God comes before God will consider answering a prayer we say!

6.   Obedience (It's necessary)

This is repeated over and over in the bible: follow the 10 commandments, which can be summed up as love God and love your neighbor (if you practice “love” then you will be keeping all the 10 commandments). Love is another word that is defined in the Bible and is probably more comprehensive than what we typically think “love’s” definition is. (Read: Romans 12: 9-21 and 1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

7. Our Purpose? (This was an unanswered question in my mind for years)

Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Daily reading and prayer: After reading the Bible, I realized how it can transform a person’s mind in a good way. Like anything we repeatedly pay attention to; we begin to absorb. So it’s important to me to have something “good” as a focus. The Bible is God inspired, so this is a way to begin and continue building knowledge and understanding of who God is and more. I read the Bible out of curiosity and ended up realizing there were many important things I didn’t know. As I read the Bible, I began summarizing sections, impactful statements and creating a visual that I can go back to in the future to find a quote that stood out to me, my goal is to post daily eventually, to keep me focused on reading the bible. You will see there are quite a number of posts already made from when I first started reading the Bible. (This is a link to the page.) I hope you found some of this information as beneficial as I did.

by Categories: FAITH, Improvement, Love, RELATIONSHIPSTags: , , , 1 Comment