Tag: Bible

Trust, Questions and Freedom

I was living life like a trusting child, in somewhat of a carefree way until the years 2020 and 2021 happened when I began noticing contradictions that made me question what I was hearing. You know what I’m talking about, the really obvious type of (let’s just call it what it is) LIES: when actions don’t match the words we hear. When what I observed didn’t support what I was hearing. I didn’t want to accept what I was observing; my trust was broken. This wasn’t just one aspect of my life where my trust was broken, it was in the world, in business, in relationships, and it was all happening at the same time.

When trust was broken in a majority of the areas of life that “supported” me, where did I turn? God. I turned to God even more than I ever have in my life. I prayed, read the bible and studied the bible and it distracted me from the harsh realities I was facing. I’m a curious person and I love to explore, as in travel, but also in exploring thoughts and ideas of others. So I explored. I started seeing that some things I was taught in religion didn’t line up with what I was reading in the Bible. The timing of this was ironic, because this meant another area of “trust” was broken: the religion I was taught growing up. I just wanted the TRUTH to be found SOMEWHERE! This caused me to want to separate from others and look deeper into these findings: What is the Truth? Where can it be found? I trusted God, and I still do. After reading the complete Bible, most of the questions I had were answered, and it made sense of all these nonsensical things happening in my life. I felt compelled to share what I discovered in the bible and I did.

Click here if you want to explore more about the Bible being trustworthy/true.

From the secular aspect of the world and what’s happening today, the Bible gives clarity to this too; it’s all in there. Many things happening in world events right now were foretold in the Bible. If I hadn’t studied the Bible, I wouldn’t be aware of this. Our freedom is under attack, there are those who seek power and dominance and the only way for them to achieve this is through forced control because if given the choice, not everyone will choose to submit. Many people are seeing this and becoming vocal about it, and something that I understand from the Bible comes to mind: God created each of us with a purpose: to fulfill His will. People are using their skills and talents to resist this forced control and I thank God for each and every one of you! May God be with you in this effort.

While freedom remains, to some degree, despite some censorship, all of us have the freedom of choice. Our choice comes with consequences and we individually weigh the choice and consequences when making a decision. I believe “choice” remains because God is the one who gave all people that freedom from the very beginning. I believe we are at a critical moment in time right now and while I currently have the freedom of speech, I want to share some thoughts with you, some things I hope you think about as an individual: don’t automatically believe my words, investigate this, don’t automatically believe what you’ve been taught, investigate it, then arrive at your own conclusion, because not everyone will arrive at the same conclusion and that is the way God allows it: a personal CHOICE! Freedom.

As I mentioned earlier, I found some of the things I was taught growing up that didn’t match up with the Bible and that destroyed my trust in the religion. Why did I choose what I read in the Bible over what I was taught? Because what I found in the Bible was consistent and answered questions I had. My former religion was “Christian” based so the bible was an acceptable means of seeking information and I believe the Bible to be a “God inspired” source for the truth. I chose what I believe is “God inspired” information over the information that was man made religious traditions from my former religion. But this isn’t where I stopped. I had more curiosity, I had friendships throughout my life with people who are Jewish and Muslim, and I would describe them as “good” people, from a secular viewpoint. Although I know that no one can really be labeled “good” other than God, so I use that term only to attempt to describe what most people think of as good: kind people who act in loving ways.

So my “exploring” inclination led me to “take a peak” into both faiths and see what is similar and what is different. I say “take a peak”, because I am not an expert in any religion, I was just curious. After all this broken trust happened in my life, I wanted to see what those faiths were all about and why people believed in them compared to any other belief. I think many people believe what they were taught to believe as they grew up, from those who cared for them. Caring people do have an influence on the lives of others.

The foundation of the beliefs in each faith are:

Jewish faith- source: The Torah: The Torah (law of Moses) includes the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, named: Genesis (written approximately 1446-1406 BC) , Exodus (written approximately 1440 BC), Leviticus (written approximately 1440 BC), Numbers (written approximately 1406 BC) and Deuteronomy (written approximately 1406 BC). But there are also “sacred writings”, the scripture that is part of the historical Jewish belief (The Nevi’Im, and Ketuvim).

Christian faith- source: The Bible: The five books of the Torah are incorporated into what is called the Old Testament of the Bible. The Jewish scripture found in the TaNaKh (link to a summary) are also included in the Old Testament of the Bible. So Jewish faith is the foundation of the Christian Bible and this scripture found in the Bible was written approximately starting in 1446 BC. In addition to these scriptures found in the Old Testament, the Bible adds the New Testament books which include the life of Jesus (the Gospel), teachings, the followers of Jesus and more prophesy in the book of Revelation written in the 1st century, around 90 AD (the prophecies do not contradict the prophets of the Old Testament, but provide more detail and insight regarding the events to take place).

Muslim faith – source: The Quran (a prophetic revelation and doctrine established by Muhammed written in the 7th century/600 AD) and Hadiths which became the basis for the Islamic religion.

Belief Similarities

I’ll start with belief similarities (from my research) that Christian, Jewish and Muslim people share:

  1. We all believe in the same Creator: “God” “Hashem” “Allah”
  2. We all believe that the way we live our life matters
  3. Jesus lived on earth and taught people
  4. All good things come from God
  5. There is only one God
  6. There is a Messiah who will come (but the roles of the Messiah in the beliefs are different)
  7. There is a Judgement Day when the Messiah returns

But there are differences:

  1. The Trinity: Christians believe in one God, but three persons making up that one God, or the “Godhead” as I’ve heard this referred to: God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit (called “The Trinity”) – this is definitely a challenging concept to comprehend and for me, the clearest way I came up with so far to explain this is to give an example of something material that we know for a concept to hopefully make the understanding clearer. If you’ve seen a 3-in 1 winter coat this is something can function independently yet is part of the (1) coat. For example the first layer may be a light, fleece jacket, the next layer might be a down insulated layer, and the third layer might be a waterproof outer shell. Each jacket on it’s own has a function, but together they are one. If you have trouble visualizing this here’s a video clip of a 3 in one jacket, not exactly the one I described but for concept. (Neither Jewish or Muslims believe in the Trinity) Click here if you want to explore a study on the Trinity belief.
  2. Jesus: Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God (part of the Trinity/Godhead), the Messiah, Jesus was without sin, he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born to a virgin mother (Mary), he came to earth to save people (and if someone does not believe this, they will not be in eternity with God), was crucified, died, was buried and rose from the dead, interacted with people after the resurrection, then ascended into Heaven, but sent the Holy Spirit to be present after he left the earth. Jesus will return to the earth and will be visible to everyone when he returns, arriving in the clouds (the same way he departed when he ascended into the clouds in front of witnesses). Jewish people do not believe Jesus was the Messiah because he didn’t complete all the prophecies/finish what was prophesized when he was on earth. The Jewish people are waiting for the Messiah to arrive. Muslim people believe that Jesus was a prophet and a good person, believe that his mother was a virgin, but do not believe that Jesus died on the cross. The three differing beliefs about Jesus is the greatest difference and a critical one because it has consequences for every person. So which belief is the truth? That is for you to decide, and worth investigating. Click here if you want to explore study information on the Nature of Jesus.
  3. Eternity/the Afterlife: Christians believe the only reason we will be able to enter into eternity or the after life is through Jesus who came to earth for God’s purpose. Jesus’ purpose (God’s will) was to reveal God in human form to people, teach people about the spiritual realm (things unknown to people), fulfill the prophecies about the Messiah, and to most importantly become the sacrifice required to save ALL people. Our “good works” are not enough to be as holy as needed to be in the presence of God. We are not perfect beings, nor will we ever be, but God wants us to be with Him, so he sent Jesus to bridge that gap of our imperfection. From what I’ve found, I don’t think the afterlife is very clear, certain or described in the Jewish faith. What I’ve found in the Muslim faith is that there will be an afterlife. Click here if you want to explore information on the afterlife belief.
  4. The Messiah: Christians believe the Messiah is Jesus and there will be a second coming of the Messiah in the future and judgement follows his return. Jewish people believe the Messiah has not come yet, but will come in the future. Muslims believe that Jesus will return (but don’t believe he died on the cross, instead he was rescued by God and taken up) and when Jesus returns, he will “follow” the Mahdi. Very different beliefs. Click here if you want to understand why Christians believe Jesus is the Messiah.
  5. The Anti-Christ: Christians believe there will be a deception near the end of the world (during a 7 year time period) and the Anti-Christ (along with the help of a false prophet) will deceive many people (even some Christians) and will be able to take control of them, thereby causing those people to lose the opportunity of the afterlife with God, but not only lose that, but suffer the consequences of allowing the deceivers to take control, from submitting to them instead of God and therefore will be sent to eternal hell. The Jewish people don’t acknowledge this. The Muslims believe there will be an Anti-Christ at the end also. Click here if you are curious about the AntiChrist.

For those who believe God exists, but if you are unsure about any further beliefs, it is important to pray directly to God and ask for the truth to be clear to you, ask for wisdom in regard to these various beliefs. I think all who believe in God know that God will respond if we genuinely seek him.

The belief you choose should always be your choice, no one should “force” anything on you, but it is worth your time to research what you believe. It’s never a good situation if you are forced to decide this “on the spot” and you haven’t had time to fully think through this. Take the time this winter to reflect and research.

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Viewing the Bible as Truth?

I was thinking about various beliefs and why people may have the beliefs they do. It seems that culture may be a reason: what was taught, passed down generation after generation. The belief becomes something we don’t question, we just “know” because we heard it from when we were children, so we adopt the same belief as those around us. At some point growing up we realize other people have different beliefs because of their culture. For some, that can be when the questioning starts: What is the Truth? When we start asking this question, we can be influenced by people in our lives, by the friends we make. We can be influenced by religious leaders who are well spoken, interesting and tell compelling stories, or we can be turned away from a belief by religious leaders and people who identify themselves with a certain religion if we have a bad experience with them. We can abandon every belief and claim to be “scholarly” and believe in nothing. Belief, or unbelief, is a choice we make.

People have said to me: “You can’t trust the Bible, it was made and edited to control people.” People point out “contradictions.” But every point someone has made about it, after looking into it further, the point made doesn’t stand up. Most of the people who made these comments to me hadn’t ever read the entire Bible , they were repeating something they were told that seemed to make sense to them, or they heard an excerpt from the Bible out of context. In contrast, I’ve also heard many people say that it was reading the Bible that finally made them believe it is the truth and after reading it, they began changing their life because of what they read. Reading the Bible isn’t a small task; it’s a lengthy book, and many people don’t make the time it to read it for various reasons but it will have an impact.

When we truly believe something, we are compelled and take action because of our belief. This isn’t only regarding “faith”; it’s about anything in life that we believe, we take action according to our belief.

So what is it about the Bible that made me believe it?

  • The Bible answered many “why” questions about life for me, such as: Why do we exist? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do bad things even happen? Why do people die? Why do people become addicted to harmful things? Why do people still feel empty when they have so much in life? Why are relationships so hard? Why do so many marriages end in divorce? Why do people experience fear and anxiety? Everything finally made sense to me.
  • The Christian Bible incorporates the Jewish beliefs (the Old Testament), it doesn’t deny the foundation of Christianity which is Judaism. Jewish and Christians both believe what is found in the Old Testament Books of the Bible. This was affirmation to me from another faith that added validity to what is found in the Bible. The ability today to see the original Hebrew text (www.blueletterbible.org) provides additional insight and clarity. The main difference in Christian and Jewish beliefs is who Jesus is believed to be.
  • The New Testament of the Christian Bible has similar prophecies to what I’ve read and heard is in the Quran about what happens in the world leading up to Judgement Day, about Mary the mother of Jesus being a virgin, about Jesus being a respected prophet. The main difference is the belief in who Jesus is. But the fact that there are some similarities by different faiths seems to validate those similarities as truth.
  • The Bible was written by significant historical people and the main message is consistent throughout the Bible. This message is: God’s love, compassion for people and people’s rebellion and repentance (sometimes) or rejection towards God. There are times when God punishes people for their actions (to wake them up/cause them to change for the better) and there will be a day when justice will be served to all people by God for all of mankind’s actions (Judgement Day).
  • The Bible is partially a history book which adds to its validity. The collection of books by various authors in the Bible explain life, document the history of leadership and genealogy of Jesus, the books of the prophets told of events before they happened (warning people) and the events actually happened exactly as they were predicted to occur and some remain unfulfilled, but remain expected sometime in the future (especially because these future prophecies were told by prophets thousands of year ago who told other prophecies that occurred), and document the life of Jesus and what happened with his followers after he was killed.
  • Within the Bible it tells us: it is “supernatural” information inspired by the Holy Spirit. It isn’t just one person validating the information assembled into Bible, there were hundreds to thousands of people who validated much of the content. Eye witnesses documented and others interviewed people about these “supernatural events.” This Bible continues to be read today. Think about how long this book has lasted. It’s interesting because Jesus said that Heaven and Earth will pass away, but the word of God will remain.
  • People who knew Jesus personally wrote books: Two of Jesus’ original followers: Matthew and John, each wrote a book (the gospels) in the Bible that tells us the same thing (validates the story) but also provides a unique collection of events that happened.
  • Mark, who was another author of the Bible (gospel) was an acquaintance of Peter who was one of Jesus’ original followers. Peter also contributed books to the Bible about how people should live and what will happen in the future; Peter personally knew Jesus and was taught by him.
  • Luke who was another author of the gospel and was believed to be a medical doctor which probably gave him some credibility. He interviewed people who were still living from Jesus’ time, those who had witnessed Jesus’ life to assemble the book he wrote.
  • The 4 gospels tell similar stories but have additional accounts, yet all are consistent regarding the character of and the message from Jesus.
  • The Bible also has books from two who are believed to be Jesus’ half-brothers: Jude and James – family members of Jesus’ household. Family members certainly add credibility and validity.
  • A significant portion of the Bible contribution, primarily letters written to communities by a person who was persecuting Christians, but then had a life changing conversion after a supernatural experience with Jesus. This was Paul (originally named Saul) his name was changed when his life’s direction was changed. Think about this: the most drastic life change after a supernatural experience: becoming a person who supported and grew the believers community by his preaching but before he had been on the opposing side and was targeting and persecuting those same people, until his life was changed.
  • There are a wide variety of sources, people, authors, prophets who all tell the same message repeatedly over thousands of years, after having a vision, an angel visitation or revelation from God or experiencing life in person with Jesus. Multiple sources all telling the same message is what supports this as truth.
  • I personally had experiences that reinforced my belief in the Bible. After praying and asking God questions, I opened the bible to a page or book that answered by specific question numerous times. One question was about the future and what I understood did happen. When I’ve asked about the future, I regularly end up opening to a page that talks about the end times. Believe me, I didn’t want that to keep happening, but it did and it does, so I do think we may be closer than anticipated or God is wanting people to prepare and take this future event seriously.
  • In 2020 when things started happening, I personally saw the connection to the end time prophecies and was alarmed because the Bible foretells of these things and there are so many happening at the same time: the global pandemic and its effect on people, the on-going and escalating conflict in the middle east, the persecution of Christians today, the alliances of nations that appear to be forming, the growing anger towards Israel from surrounding nations and world leaders, the desire of nations to unite into a global governance, the removal of references to God, the rise in crime, the “all inclusive, “anything is acceptable” direction of some religions, the deception and corruption, the growing acceptance and encouragement of things the Bible identifies as immoral, the growing focus on “peace and safety” when the Bible tells us there will not be peace and safety leading up to the end, but that people will say that. All these things are prophesized in the Bible. We have been warned.

I don’t want to focus on this, I would rather just go about life and experience happiness and laughter. I miss feeling “carefree” to some extent, before when I was ignorant to what appears to be happening, before my eyes were opened to the reality of these times. But I have these thoughts sometimes when I wake that I can’t seem to ignore because they don’t go away until I take action. The thought I had for a few days now that prompted this was: people need to know and comprehend what is in the Bible, explore it for themselves, seek God, pray to God, so that He reveals the truth about all of this and then decide if you believe it or you don’t. If a person doesn’t believe the Bible, the main message won’t be known or taken seriously and a person may end up eternally separated from God. When a person understands this clearly, the Bible will have a positive impact on that person’s life. I want people to know Jesus because knowing who he is, why he was here and what he said will have a significant positive effect on our lives and our future. I want people to truly comprehend this and take action, not for my benefit, but for yours.

Please consider reading the Bible, then decide for yourself. God gives us the freedom to choose to believe or not believe.

by Categories: FAITH, FRIENDSHIP, God, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Make It Count, priorities, RELATIONSHIPS, WellnessTags: , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Eyes Opened after Looking Back

The end of the year is a logical time to reflect on life: What did we learn? Do we notice a pattern? What good happened? What are we grateful for? What do we want to change? What will our goals be heading into the New Year?

If you’ve read any of my prior blogs, you will understand this: our lives have a purpose, we are where we are for a reason. Do you know your purpose? Do you know the reason your life is the way it is right now?

I went through most of my life not thinking about this until my life was “shaken” in 2015 by an untimely death. That caused me to question everything in life: purpose, reasons, etc. I had no answers, only questions. I was confused about life and wanted answers, started searching. It led me to evaluating and making significant changes in life, taking action, but without knowing my purpose or the answers to the “reason.” I was lost, but moving, aimlessly, seeking, wanting life to be better but not knowing how to make it better.

2016 was continued seeking, transitioning to a “changed life.” I began praying more than I ever did in the past and in 2017 “surrendered” my life to Jesus, wanting his guidance. I was lost, I needed guidance, I didn’t have the answers, but I knew my way of doing things wasn’t effective; it was lacking. 2017 was a year of mild turbulence: ups and downs and I was wondering why since I surrendered but I kept my trust in God. 2018 seemed to be the turning point, everything seemed to be falling in place and I was grateful. 2019 brought a noticeable “dark cloud” into my life but I still trusted in God and went to Him for answers. I was led to the Bible and read it front to back for the first time and it literally made me want to change my life even more. My eyes were opened. I realized I was not living as God wanted me to. I decided to try to live better. I was hopeful heading into 2020. (LOL) I don’t need to explain 2020 to anyone; I think we all had the same year! But that’s when I “woke up” I realized what was happening in the world. I continued to go to God for answers to my questions and He revealed the answers in the Bible. It was amazing to experience this “communication” from God through prayer and the Bible.

2021 in summary was probably the worst year I’ve experienced in life, but not in every way: God was all I had to help me through it and He did. God is truly all I needed. When the Bible says God is faithful, God provides, God protects – all that is true. Throughout these past 6 years, I’ve learned to fully trust God. I’ve learned the answers to most of my questions (through the Bible). I have a different outlook on 2022, than I have in past years. In past years I looked forward to the hope of a better year. I don’t have that outlook this time. I don’t expect a better year. I actually expect a more challenging year, but I have all I need: God.

I have a mindset very different from a few years ago. I foresee the years ahead as getting tougher, but I KNOW (not just guess) this is only a transition to the greatest years of all time ahead, and I look forward to that with much anticipation. This is a time for endurance and perseverance. I don’t yet know how many future years ahead, but my intuition is that it won’t be too far away. Stay strong, stay connected with God and we will make it through.

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God Revealing or Strange Coincidence?

“Interesting” things seem to keep happening to me and it makes me wonder, is this God revealing, communicating through scripture, or strange coincidences? I’ve been telling people close to me about these occurrences when they happen, but I may start writing about them since they seem so frequent lately and if it’s only a strange coincidence, then it’s entertaining/intriguing (at least to me, maybe to someone else?).

Earlier this week, I opened up to a random page in the Bible after praying that God “speaks to or shows” me something from the Bible when I read it. If I don’t make an immediate connection, sometimes I think it’s meant for someone else possibly? This is how I often decide what I post on my “Faith” Instagram account when I don’t have a topic on my mind as soon as I wake up in the morning. As I was reading, my dog hops onto the couch, right next to me and puts his paw on the Bible. I just thought he looked cute, so I took a picture and laughed at him, then sent the picture to a few people I’m close to, who know this dog’s funny personality and might laugh. Here’s the picture:

This was one text response I received (posted with permission):

(Message about the picture I texted)

So that was on Monday, I thought nothing of it, didn’t make a connection with anything, but read it wondering what significance it might have, if any? Tuesday was busy, I ended work at 8 pm and then caught up on “news,” which was informative, but discouraging at the same time. I found a few Instagram accounts posting current events and pointing out biblical connections when appropriate, so I followed those accounts because I’ve been noticing some of that on my own (when I was reading “prophecies” in the Bible and started seeing current world events relating to them) so this would be interesting to me to see what they find. After that, I decided I had enough for the day and went to bed; I was exhausted.

Wednesday morning after I opened to a random page and posted the scripture from it like usual, I looked through the feed on my faith account. (I only follow the accounts of people or entities that I learn something from, or who have contributed to my growth in learning more about Christianity on my faith account.) The accounts I follow are “resources” that I’ve found in alignment with what I found in the Bible, not any particular denomination, more of a variety, with the exception of the “news” sources I just recently followed. Anyway, in the Instagram feed I saw a recent discovery by Israeli archaeologists with the inscription: ‘Jerubbaal’ believed to be from about 3,100 years ago and reading further the post states “after he broke down the altar of Baal”. This triggered my memory: I just read about that: it was in the picture with my dog! So of course I had to let the person I was texting with know about this update after we had been joking/laughing about me “being shown” something while reading the Bible! (Even though this does happen; I didn’t think this was one of those times.) But this gets even more personal later…

First, here is what I saw in the feed:

So this is the scripture my dog was covering:

So that connection was worth exploring more now: the photo with my dog was in the book of Kings, not Judges, but part of the account was about the Baal Temple destruction. Then I noticed “Joash” in the title of the next chapter, Chapter 11. I wondered, how many Joash are in the Bible? Is Joash, the son of Gideon mentioned by the archaeologist the same as this Joash? So I looked that up too: here’s what I found. There certainly appears to be a connection, even though it’s not the same book from the Bible. So the person I was texting with said, I just searched Baal and this popped up: The Largest Baal Worship Service on the Planet is in America. Of course I had to read that article because when we read the Bible about stuff like this (worship of idols/false gods) we always think, that was back then, people don’t do this now! Well this article hits even more personally to me as I read it further. In reading this, I am acknowledging: this is someone’s opinion, but at the same time, this is eerie too! Here is a factual account of this event (link).

Next is how it becomes personal to me: if you’ve been following my blog, or if not, you can even go back and look at prior posts, in 2017, I decided to “Surrender to God” (which for me meant praying every day, but I didn’t really change my lifestyle too much at first). I noticed shortly after I “surrendered” all sorts of “bad” things started happening to me, then “good” things, then “bad”, then “good” again. It was like wave after wave and it was tough. Anyway, in 2017, I was in this “baby stage” as a Christian, probably our most vulnerable time, in hindsight. And I also think this was the start of God testing my faith but also revealing things too and disciplining me. If you read my posts from 5 years ago you will see this. In 2017, I was always going somewhere and one of the events I happened to go to was an art festival with music (one of my favorite hobbies): “Burbs Music and Art Festival”…here are links to the photos from my personal Instagram account taken in August 2017, the same month and year of that linked article above (scary):

UFO by Gateway Burners, local chapter of Burning Man

Gateway Burners

Burbs Music and Art Festival

Burbs Music and Art Festival 2

Burbs Music and Art Festival 3

Burbs Music and Art Festival 4

When I realized the connection to Burning Man and Baal Worship after reading the article, I initially thought: I’m going to delete those posts! But then I reconsidered: we can’t change the past, I went completely ignorant to what was talked about in that author’s opinion, I was intrigued by the art and music festival. If the festival happened again, I wouldn’t go because of that article I read, which makes me question all of it. But it also made me think about all the “subliminal” things we are exposed to unknowingly. It also made me wonder how many other people are “innocent” to this in participating and what influence, if any this has on our lives? From the bible we are told we are the subjects of “spiritual warfare” It really makes me think, maybe we shouldn’t be so naïve to this? Maybe we shouldn’t brush this off as “meaningless, unimportant, not impactful?” Do we really know? Jesus told his followers they couldn’t understand earthly things he was trying to tell them about, so how could he tell them about the spiritual world, despite the fact that his followers actually witnessed demonic possessions in their travels along with miracles and healing. Because of all of this, I tend to think there very well could be subtle spiritual deception in our lives working for a greater purpose later on. Again, I think it’s good to be aware of this, don’t be “blind” to this. There are blatant things happening in our world right now that are completely against God. How we live is a personal choice we make, and this is between God and each of us; no one should judge anyone else because we honestly don’t know everything. But we should have a clear conscience with God about how we are living our lives, if we don’t, it may be the reason for a personal change, if we choose God’s Kingdom.

Also this morning, while getting ready, I listened to Tim Keller’s Gospel in Life: The Robber’s House (another good one!) when he said: as Christians we are either “all in” or “all out” it made me think about that statement in relation to how I live my life. He’s right. Jesus had that warning to one of the churches in Revelation, about people being “lukewarm” and if they didn’t change he was about to figuratively “spit them out” or “extinguish their lampstand.” It gave me much to think about today.

So what do you think about all these events? Is God communicating or is this a strange coincidence?

by Categories: American, Entertainment, Face Fear, FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP, God, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Love, Make It Count, MUSIC, priorities, RELATIONSHIPS, Sex, WellnessTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

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!

by Categories: Face Fear, FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP, God, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Letting Go, Love, Make It Count, priorities, RELATIONSHIPS, WellnessTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment