truth

Understanding the Bible

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Many years back, in middle school, I was handed a tiny New Testament book, which is the other half of the Bible, beginning with Jesus coming into the world and God’s message that spread like fire after the death of Jesus. Although, I must add, the other half of the Bible, the Old Testament, written before Christ was born into the world, foreshadows His birth and purpose.

I kept the New Testament in my room, not intending to read it. We had a Bible at home, which was gigantic and heavy. It seemed to just serve the purpose of decoration for the coffee table. No one ever read it, just opened it to look through, the rest of the time, it collected dust.

There was a time when I opened up the tiny New Testament sitting on top of my radio. It was a hard time for me, one of those emotionally heart aching times when It felt like things were never going to improve. It was a King James Version, the hardest version to read with the old English. After trying to understand the few versus I read, I got frustrated and just threw it, and questioned, “Why God?”

My recollection of Bible reading was just watching both of my Grandmas read it. I always thought it was something to read when one gets closer to potentially passing away. I didn’t hear a testimony from either of them about what it does for them and just assumed it was preparation for them before leaving this earth.

Many years I spent without knowing the treasure it contained, that it is like a guide for life. It has been said that the BIBLE stands for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth and that it is. It reveals who God is and answers life’s questions. Although it’s been written decades ago, the words still apply to life today.

The Bible holds the message of faith hope and love, which remains. There are many theories and philosophies about life, but the Bible holds the truth. When something it true, it can never be denied. Of all books, the Bible is the only one that actually reads the reader. It goes hand and hand with a relationship with God. I’ve heard many say that they’ve read the Bible so many times and they cannot understand it. It’s not just any book. It doesn’t matter how intelligent someone might be, the message speaks to the soul, not so much the mind.

When I first started reading it, I had others interpret it for me, but I questioned their perspective of the message behind the words. I question what sounded contradictory. I question Jonah being eaten by a fish and the donkey speaking to a man. There are many stories in the Bible of the miracles of God, but from a world that looks at a dependency on God as a weakness, pride and self-righteousness can be a blindfold to the truth.

It wasn’t until I restarted my prayer life and kept seeking God and His truth and who He is, that the Bible, the Word of God started to seek me. The situations in my life, the confusion or trouble I was facing would be eased as I opened up to the perfect verse in the Bible. When the eyes of my soul started to open up and I started to realize that God is actually speaking me through His word, it started to make sense. Over an over again, consecutively, I would open up to the few words I needed to read at that exact moment. I could no longer deny His existence. I could no longer deny that God didn’t know me by name.

It took me walking out of a totaled car, after God was telling me about it two weeks before it happened and even that morning, that I finally realized who He is. That He loves me. God loves the world as said in John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” A year later I fully surrendered my life to Him and was baptized. That day I opened up the Bible and for the first time, I could clearly understand the scriptures. Although some passages can be straightforward, there are many that can only be comprehended by the spirit and not the mind.

I pray that anyone questioning the meaning behind the scriptures will start on the path to finding the truth, to seeking out who God is and eventually come to the point of realizing that God is love and He knows your name. I would suggest finding a Bible study to join. I pray it would have a good leader strong in interpretation of the Word. The book of John is usually a good starting point, then there’s the book of Romans and Psalms. There are churches out there with small groups/Bible study groups to sign up for through their church website. May this is a a starting point for many to start walking in the truth and the light of God.

Discerning the Voice in Your Head

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In the book of Genesis, God made man on the fifth day. In the second chapter, God made a woman from man’s rib. God also told the man not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In chapter 3, the serpent came to tempt the woman to eat the fruit.

God says to Adam in Genesis 2:17, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Meaning dying inside.

But in Genesis 3:5, when the serpent tempts Eve, he tells her “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” She fell for the serpents lies and ate the fruit. Then Adam and Eve realized that they were naked and felt ashamed.

Adam and Eve were living in paradise with all the food in the garden that they can eat and weren’t allowed to eat from any but one tree and yet that wasn’t enough. The serpent knew one thing, to change their perspective of God or cause distrust, meant causing them to hide from God, in other words, breaking communication or connection to their Creator. The serpent twisted it in a way where it made God look like He was holding something good back from them. The serpent wants to establish doubt and distrust in God. He also placed in them, the intent of exhaulting themselves when he threw in, “you’ll be as gods.”

The fall of Satan who was called Lucifer in heaven, started with pride.

Ezekiel 28:17 says, “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground…” He was a beautiful angel who couldn’t handle praise, it filled him with pride and made him believe that he can take over the throne of God, his own Creator. How foolish! Thrown out of heaven and fell to earth, then becomes the opposer, the accuser, the tempter, the one that leads the weak astray. His whole goal is to bring as many people as possible to the fiery pit of hell.

The conclusion has already been set, God has the victory, but everyone has a choice on which path to follow or who’s voice to listen to or who to live for. Everyone has a choice to worship God or idolize people, tangible items, the serpent, other false gods or just themselves. Some think that somehow there’s a lack of knowledge for one that believes in God, but there’s a lack of wisdom for someone who thinks there is no Creator of living beings on this earth. There is a recipe for how living things function, a purpose. Nothing is thrown together, there is no random Big Bang, no random universe. Planets aren’t scattered everywhere, there’s a consistent pattern and each has its place in a galaxy.

There’s a song by Nicole C Mullen that I’m reminded of. In her song, my redeemer lives, she sings, “who taught the sun where to stand in the morning? And who told the ocean, you can only come this far? And who showed the moon where to hide ’til evening? Whose words alone can catch a falling star? Well, I know my Redeemer lives…All of creation testifies This life within me cries….yeah The very same God that spins things in orbit Runs to the weary, the worn and the weak And the same gentle hands that hold me when I’m broken They conquered death to bring me victory.”

As time passes walking on the path of life with God, the knowledge of Him grows and the familiarity of His voice grows that when the serpent comes, lies can be easily detected. Trust or faith in God shall leave no room for the serpent to deceive and will be powerless.

Who’s voice are you listening to and what is influencing your decisions in life? Who are you putting your trust on? Do you trust God or are you being led astray with lies entering your mind?

If you’re tired of walking on a path of emptiness, pain, hopelessness or depression and you’re ready to surrender your life to God. If you hate your life, stop living your life for yourself and start living for God.

You can pray this prayer out loud. Lord God, I’m tired of living my life for myself or others. I surrender my life to you. Take me as I am and show me your powerful love. Fill me with your peace, joy and love to overflowing. Change me inside so I can see that you are a good, loving and a faithful Father who will never leave me or forsake me, a Father that knows my name. Lead me to knowing you personally and bring people into my life that can walk this path of life with me. Thank you for your answered prayers. In Jesus name I pray. Amen!

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.

Death Inside of Us

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We can be physically killed in many ways. According to the World Heath Organization, the number one cause of death is heart disease, but what about what kills us on the inside? What kills our spirit/soul?

There are many testimonies out there from people who were dead for a period of time and came back to life. They’ve have commonly said that the worst part of hell wasn’t the heat of the fire, the horrendous stench or the constant screaming, but was the eternal separation from God.

The book of Isaiah 59:2, says “… your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.”

Sometimes we feel like we’re living hell on earth. There are cities, neighborhoods or indoor spaces that can feel hellish. Some of us have a strong sense of what has happened in a space when we walk into it or can feel a dark presence close by. Some of us have walked into places that feel like the devils party & also walked into places that feel like heaven on earth with angels all around.

There is that spirit within us that’s screaming for a touch of heaven, a moment with our Heavenly Father and being at peace in His arms of unconditional love. Some have been corrupted in a state of innocence and carry false guilt throughout life. There’s that association of heaven in all of us that can become buried or suppressed to avoid the recall of trauma. There’s also the actions that we may take that can be sinful because of the UN-fulfillment of our spirit, leaving us feeling all the more empty and the continual sin grows the hole in our soul. Then we become immune to our sin, no longer seeing the stain on our dirt-covered robe and the more sin, the further apart we get from the unconditional love from above. We separate ourselves unknowingly or unconsciously.

However, the Father above is always waiting for the prodigal son/daughter to come home. The big lie is, is that you can never go back. God has already paved a way back home through the cross. The story of the prodigal son reflects this going back to Him.

Luke 15:18-24 NKJV
[18] I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, [19] and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”‘ [20] “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. [21] And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ [22] “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. [23] And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; [24] for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

The story of the prodigal son illustrates the love, forgiveness and mercy God has for us. He awaits our return to Him. Just like the laws and rules of this country, there are such as heaven, but the punishment for our sins has already been paid for with what Jesus took on the cross. Upon believing and confessing, we can receive grace and once again be reunited with Him, feeling spiritually fulfilled once again. It’s one thing to feed our flesh, but feeding our spirit is only through our connection with God.

Matthew 4:4 says, “But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'” It is our relationship with God, the speaking to, listening and having faith in Him that keeps us alive on the inside.

I pray that the gift that God brought into this world 2000 years ago to show us how much He loves us will be clear and evident for all & they will feel His peace, joy and love this week regardless of any hard circumstances. I pray that they will hear God’s voice in their heart, heal and turn into His path, that they will know without question, with full truth and confidence that God loves them unconditionally, they are never alone, You are with them and always waiting for them to reach out to you.

Remembering the birth of our Savior from 2000+ years ago. Merry Christmas!

Liberal versus Conservative

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If you watch different news sources, like MSNBC, CNN, Fox News or other, you’ll notice there’s a steering of perspective, a bias created on each story told, focusing on specific details to fulfill a specific agenda that would influence or steer the opinion or thoughts of the viewer. This is not about Democrat or Republican, it’s about Liberal verses Conservative or sometimes called Left versus Right.

If you watch CNN & MSNBC on politics, their narrative on any story favors the liberalism, while FOX NEWS favors conservatism. Republicans are more known as conservatives, while Democrats are more known as liberals, but not to focus on the Party, but the values that liberal and conservatives hold.

Liberals are more progressive with the law, they want to change the foundations of this country, while conservatives value our constitution. God is used in our pledge of allegiance, our coins, and other founding documents. The belief in God is a part of the foundation of this country, as we’ve heard or seen many times, “God Bless America,” or “In God We Trust.” Conservatives would keep this, while Liberals want to abolish it. Liberals supported statues being torn down, while Conservatives emphasized the fact that it’s a part of the history of this nation. History should never be erased, as it can serve as a reminder of the mistakes we’ve made in the past.

Liberals support aborting, or in other words, killing a baby in the womb right before it’s born, while conservatives would not allow it & move towards defunding abortion industries. Currently a part of our tax payer dollars are going towards abortions.

Liberalism is prominent in California as the state now allow tax payers money to go toward the sex change of little children. They’ve reduced the penalty for pedophiles and made child molestation okay if the 15 or older child allows it. Kids at that age, can’t vote, they don’t make big decisions for themselves, that’s their parents job. This is what happens when you have a liberal leader.

Although liberal sounds like a word for freedom, the Liberals want to create socialist society where government controls the people. They will start by scaring the hell out of everyone. This is what Liberal MSNBC is doing, force them to isolate at home in fear. Fear plays a crucial role when it comes to control. Then no one will want to go out and business will continue to collapse. People will keep loosing their jobs and get on welfare and government healthcare. This way people will be dependent on the government and will be in perfect position to be controlled. With the government controlling the healthcare system, they can mandate everyone receive a chip in their body, which would allow for more control, tracking, and invasion of privacy. Contact tracing is actually an invasion of privacy, which Harris believes in and will want to implement. It involves people by surprise going to your home, placing a lock on your ankle should you be exposed to COVID or contagious that will allow them to track your every step.

On the other hand, the conservatives want to open up the economy, prevent people from living in fear and put drugs out there that can fight Covid. This will allow our economy to bounce back, bring back jobs, and allow people to not be dependent on the government. Conservatives want to keep private health-care, also have healthcare for those that are not working.

Lastly, the liberals want to take more taxes from large companies that are already paying so much money in taxes. The result is common sense. Business have to make a profit. They also need workers, but if it’s too expensive for them to stay here b/c they’re being taxed like crazy, they will leave for another country and we will loose so many jobs. Allowing companies to keep most of their earnings usually means more jobs, more people working, making money and spending. This is what drives our economy.

The Liberals want to focus on the climate, which is important, but their pathetic Green New Deal involves banning airplanes, getting rid of cows , tearing down and rebuilding buildings. It will cost trillions of dollars, which will increase our taxes. Next to no thought put into it for a real strategy. We need to keep our planes, we just need to find innovative solutions to reduce toxic emissions.

The last one I want to mention here and the most radical is that Liberals want to abolish the police. This is anarchy. There are anarchists burning and looting businesses that think they’re helping the country, they bring shields and guns to the streets and shoot cops. Madness! Conservatives are more for law and order so that the citizens that live in these areas are feel safe and protected.

So to lay it out more clearly, Biden & Harris are Liberal, while Trump and Pence are Conservative. I encourage everyone that is able to vote, to check the sources, not just CNN, MSNBC or ABC, but other sources out there. Watch the Republican and Democratic Convention 2020 videos and do a comparison & remember, actions speak louder than words. Being politically correct is not going to save our country, but hearty values, words put into actions, brilliance and great leadership.

Covid News Sources

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If you read though the news, you’ll find that many news sources talk about how President Trump downplayed the virus. When you’re shutting down flights into this country, that’s obviously something big, sometime actions speak louder than words, but society these days would rather have words (Biden) than action (Trump). We had a shelter in place & had to wear masks, but why are people still acting like he didn’t say enough? He didn’t need to emphasize and focus on it as done by many news channels.

Many people don’t understand this. They think he’s killing people because he didn’t emphasize how contagious is it, but why would anyone rely on Trump for that information. He’s not a doctor! He’s not the news. Dr. Fauci said enough about the virus already. If that wasn’t enough, MSNBC was already working hard to scare the hell out of everyone. Doing all they can to make everyone think they’ll die from it no matter your age or how healthy you are, as if the odds are that high. According to COvid-tracker there are about 6 million covid cases. Almost 3 million that have recovered and almost 200 thousand that have died.

I’ve heard it one too many times coming from the mouth of others that, they stopped watching the news because they didn’t want to live constantly afraid. So why do people expect the President to be a news source or Doctor to scare the hell out of everyone? Wouldn’t people want a President who’s hopeful of things getting better rather than a Doomsday President? Either way, it’s our duty to take care of ourselves.

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.