God

Emotionally Vulnerable In the Right Hands

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Some may believe that life is about accumulating saying, “whoever dies with the most toys wins,” yet the Bible says otherwise, it’s the bold truth that never leaves your face. You can run and hide from the truth, but it always seems to catch up and find you.

The truth of the matter is that life is more than collecting tangible items, as God’s greatest commandment is in Matthew 22:36-39 KJV, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. [38] This is the first and great commandment. [39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”

For some, emotions are like a volcano waiting to explode, yet others, like the ice sitting in Antartica, frozen for millions of years slowly melting away. Being vulnerable can be scary sometimes as it can bring about two extreme opposite results. If you can’t handle the worst result, you may hold yourself back to receiving the best. But my oh my, it’s a sad thing when our emotions get attached to the wrong people or things as they are here today and gone tomorrow…or maybe just eventually. Even if someone stays in your life for so long, no one lives forever. So why attach ourselves? We are bound to love our neighbor, basically, be in communion with other beings.

However, there can be seasons where people have failed us, for some that season never ends, and so we’ve placed our faith to bring about happiness in our lives through things or other non-human beings. Although pets bring much joy, entertainment and companionship, human interaction is still a part of the livelihood of our soul.

For many without pets, money or other tangible items become the reliance for joy, like that new car, new watch or purse, but we all know, that high doesn’t last for too long. We know material items can never love us back.

Then there’s money, probably the number one on most of everyone’s list. It can be the fuel to fulfilling the emptiness inside of us with material items and if that’s not enough, mind or mood altering substances.

After toiling trying to fill that empty hole inside that seems to grow larger, we repeat the same actions, only to realize for the hundredth time that it still leaves us all the more empty.

So why keep doing it? For the many things or people we can loose, we can never loose God and He will never leave us. Which is why, above all things we can subject our own vulnerable emotions in the hands of God and who better than the one that lives forever, the incorruptible, the one who will never leave us or forsake us who’s love for us is always unconditional. He never changes.

So the next time you think you can’t live without someone or something, ask yourself, is your heart in God’s hands? That is where it will be protected. Scared of your emotions? Let God have all of it and give a small portion of it to whom the Lord chooses.

Hard Times for Preparation

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I try to recall the times I felt like life was beating me up, when times got so tough I’d try to not allow myself to stay beat down and now just getting off another roller-coaster. With Christ, I can lift up my hands and know that He has me grounded.

When times get tough, I try to remember that it’s just an obstacle course. There’s falling on your face and being humiliated and sometimes emotionally crushing, but the hand that pulls me out of it is the saying, “God is good all the time.”

If I had to climb a 70 foot mountain, days later, a 30 foot mountain would not be a big deal. I have to remember that God’s love is also allowing us to go through hardships, only to make us better fighters, being able to take on harder circumstances thrown at us.

The Bible says in Philippians 1:6 NKJV
[6] “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”

As sometimes we may walk away from where the Lord leads because we may feel we can’t, unable or may not identify ourselves with it, but to remember that there’s one that knows us more than we know ourselves, our creator. As a way to prepare you for the blessing He has for you, sometimes it requires hardship. Then & years later looking back and saying, “I get it.”

Beyond the Stars

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It has been a few months thinking about getting a telescope and other astrophotography equipment only to spend hours looking and taking photos of the stars, but I would have to go far out to see anything.

The last time I spent hours looking and taking pictures of the night sky was during my first visit to my parents house in Hawaii. Each house in the neighborhood is almost 100 feet apart from the next and 3000 feet above sea level. The first time I arrived to their house when the car lights went out, I looked up and saw colors that I’ve never seen before in the night sky. I have been to places with little light pollution where the stars were so easy to see, but I never been at a time and place where the belt of the Milky Way was so clear. I spent hours and days sitting outside on the deck at night while my parents slept. Some nights my Mom would catch me outside.

When I look at the stars, my thoughts are beyond just science and life outside of this planet, but God’s hand of creation. I cannot look at the stars without thinking about Him. What’s more amazing is how this big God loves us all and reached out to us through Jesus.

Genesis 1:1-5 NKJV
[1] In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. [2] The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. [3] Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. [4] And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. [5] God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

I think about how He set everything in place and how He knows us and thinks about all of us.

Psalm 139:17-18 NKJV
[17] How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! [18] If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.

I think about how big His love is when He sent His Son, Jesus to come to earth and reunited us with our Creator.

John 1:1-3 NKJV
[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

The Bondage of Unforgiveness

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It’s hard to face pain. It’s hard to forgive someone who hurt, corrupted, manipulated, stole…etc. from you. How rotten that person is to do such a thing! Or if it’s not a person, sometimes it’s anger toward God for allowing it to happen. Whatever the case, as much as we feel some person doesn’t deserve it, we must let go and forgive. We may not forget or let that person in our lives again, but we need to forgive. Matthew 6:15 says, “But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Bitterness or un-forgiveness is like plaque in our heart. In a similar way, bitterness is like the plaque, not so much clogging up our arteries, but when it sits in our heart and keeps storing up, it blocks up all the love inside of us. We become angry inside for so long that we begin to loose remembrance of why. Instead of thinking about how someone doesn’t deserve your forgiveness think about someone who needs to forgive you. If you want to be forgiven by that person and or by God, then you should also forgive others, even if that person does not deserve it, but do it for freedom in your heart.

If it’s too hard to forgive, pray for a miracle, that God will give you to ability to forgive that person/s. Sometimes in doing so, He will help you understand that person & things will change. I pray that anyone who’s been harboring un-forgiveness will find the strength in God to release it and be set free.

Beyond Lawlessness

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It’s been too long since the start of the protests. At first it all seemed like it stemmed from the death of G. Floyd, but after many captured moments of these protests, one starts to wonder, what the heck does burning down buildings, loitering small business, graffitiing residential neighborhoods, steeling frozen burritos from the grocery store and most of all, burning bibles have to do with #blacklivesmatter? Absolutely nothing!

I get how one can harbor hatred toward the police because of unfair treatment where justice did not prevail or other wrongful actions or accusations that would leave one bitter or raged with anger. This might lead to mistrust towards authority and wanting to destroy buildings that house police. But one must realize that not all police are as the ones that have broken the trust of the public. It’s unfair to categorize one cop with another that has violated his/her duties & this stands for everyone else, such as generalizing one person with another based on race, gender, economic standing, etc. We are all messed up human beings with issues and many of us can’t handle power. We make mistakes and need counsel to help us get back on the right path.

Beyond the whole point to protesting for #BLM, the footage captured is falling further away from its purpose. Black owned business are being looted and burned. Black cops are being shot. It’s really not about #BLM. All the riots happening around the nation is an attempt to bring about anarchy. Their goal is to get rid of the police. These rioters hate this country. They burn our Country’s flag. They graffiti historic monuments in our nations capital and take down statues that represent our history. Bad or good, it’s a part of our Country’s history & a reminder to learn from the mistakes of the past.

These anarchists are burning bibles, going naked in the streets, some convulsing and found to be on drugs when arrested. They hate #trump & one thing’s for sure, he would not allow anarchy in this country. Anarchists are lawless. Burning bibles have nothing to do with #BLM, this is an act against the Word of God. These may be satanists, humans under the control of darkness.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 NKJV says…
[9] The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, [10] and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. [11] And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, [12] that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Be careful to not be wrongfully swayed. Seek the truth. God is one of order, law, love and peace, not of lawlessness, cursing, revenge and hatred. We are never above God in righteousness or judgement, but flawed beings, always in need of a savior to take our mess and make us right before God. Jesus paid the price, we just have to receive the gift.

Romans 5:10 NKJV
[10] For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Flesh Before Soul

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I’ve been thinking much about the flesh and the soul. There’s this movie called, “God is not Dead,” where this professor turned his back on believing in God because his mother died. I’ve heard many times, people questioning, “If God exists then why did He let a specific person die,” under various circumstances.

Truth is God loves all of us. His love for human kind is unfathomable to the human mind. Our love is so conditional, based on looks and performance or maybe who someone is from the inside, their heart, mind or stature, but God can love the person that our human heart and mind thinks is the most disgusting person alive. It’s hard to grasp.

So why does He allow certain people to die and leave our lives, going further into how they die, maybe a brutal death. Life is but a square sometimes with defined boundaries, but beyond the square there’s something greater. It’s like getting so close to a huge picture, you can’t see it from up close, but when you take a few steps back, you see how it all comes together.

Earth is like a waiting room where we wait to be called. We wait for someone to call our number. Amongst billions of people on earth we all have a set number, a set time to be called. The important thing is being ready. Some of care so much about our flesh, but forget that it doesn’t last forever, like a machine that eventually stops for long years of use so our bodies retire. The sufferings of old age, pain and struggle prepare for exit. There is no warranty for the shell we live in.

On the inside, there’s our soul, immortal, everlasting, full of life. Between the flesh, something that perishes over time and the soul, that last forever, which one is more important to take care of?

We never know when our time may be, the importance is preparation. Who’s hands will your soul fall into? Where will you be when your body decides to retire, in heaven, in hell or wandering the earth?

It is known that the #1 fear is death. I truly believe as the word of God says, aka, the Bible, that when that time comes, I’ll be in heaven seeing the glory of God, not because I earned a ticket to heaven, but because God bought the ticket for me through Jesus Christ on the cross, that all my junk and issues have been washed away as I accepted His gift of salvation. * JOHN 3:16

Getting the soul prepared is a higher priority. It is not our flesh that goes to heaven, but our soul that leaves the body after we pass & that is the part of us that will be on the judgement seat, which is why the death of the flesh is not as important as the condition of the soul. So the question of why someone died is not the important part it’s whether they are in God’s presence.

Life on earth is a passing, even as Billy Graham said. There is another dimension that we have yet to see. Whatever condition this finds you in, just remember God is all around and His love reaches to the greatest depths. No one is too broken for God to fix. Nothing is hidden from Him.

Hebrews 4:13 NKJV
[13] And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

God knows everything about your past, nothing is hidden and His hand is never too far to pull you out of the pit. He is quick to forgive. Don’t leave this earth before getting right with God. He’s gone a long ways to reach you. The Lord is there when you least expect it. All you have to do is call on Him & ask Him to come into your life & show you His ways to eternity. He’s waiting for you to ask.

Importance of the Soul

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girl in pink shirt and black pants walking on gray concrete pathway
Photo by Cameron Readius on Pexels.com

I’ve been thinking much about the flesh and the soul. There’s this movie called, “God is not Dead,” where this professor turned his back on believing in God because his mother died. I’ve heard many times, people questioning, “If God exists then why did He let a specific person die,” under various circumstances.

Truth is God loves all of us. His love for human kind is unfathomable to the human mind. Our love is so conditional, based on looks and performance or maybe who someone is from the inside, their heart, mind or stature, but God can love the person that our human heart and mind thinks is the most disgusting person alive. It’s hard to grasp.

So why does He allow certain people to die and leave our lives, going further into how they die, maybe a brutal death. Life is but a square sometimes with defined boundaries, but beyond the square there’s something greater. It’s like getting so close to a huge picture, you can’t see it from up close, but when you take a few steps back, you see how it all comes together.

Earth is like a waiting room where we wait to be called. We wait for someone to call our number. Amongst billions of people on earth we all have a set number, a set time to be called. The important thing is being ready. Some of care so much about our flesh, but forget that it doesn’t last forever, like a machine that eventually stops for long years of use so our bodies retire. The sufferings of old age, pain and struggle prepare for exit. There is no warranty for the shell we live in.

On the inside, there’s our soul, immortal, everlasting, full of life. Between the flesh, something that perishes over time and the soul, that last forever, which one is more important to take care of? We never know when our time may be, the importance is preparation. Who’s hands will your soul fall into? Where will you be when your body decides to retire, in heaven, in hell or wandering the earth?

It is known that the #1 fear is death. I truly believe as the word of God says, aka, the Bible, that when that time comes, I’ll be in heaven seeing the glory of God, not because I earned a ticket to heaven, but because God bought the ticket for me through Jesus Christ on the cross, that all my junk and issues have been washed away as I accepted His gift of salvation. * JOHN 3:16

Getting the soul prepared is a higher priority. It is not our flesh that goes to heaven, but our soul that leaves the body after we pass & that is the part of us that will be on the judgement seat, which is why the death of the flesh is not as important as the condition of the soul. So the question of why someone died is not the important part it’s whether they are in God’s presence.

Life on earth is a passing, even as Billy Graham said. There is another dimension that we have yet to see. Whatever condition this finds you in, just remember God is all around and His love reaches to the greatest depths. No one is too broken for God to fix. Nothing is hidden from Him. Hebrews 4:13 says, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”

God knows everything about your past, nothing is hidden and His hand is never too far to pull you out of the pit. He is quick to forgive. Don’t leave this earth before getting right with God. He’s gone a long ways to reach you. The Lord is there when you least expect it. All you have to do is call on Him & ask Him to come into your life & show you His ways to eternity. He’s waiting for you to ask.