Value.

Do you feel worthless ever? Do you sometimes feel like you don't contribute much to anything, that you are kind of just living waiting for God to take us up? Don't feel valuable? Well if you are reading this blog I assume that you believe the truth of Paul's gospel. 

Now why does that matter? Big deal, you believe something that is so simple and plain that a child understands it. Yet look around. How many other people can you name off the top of your head believe that Christ was actually a success? How many do you know that believe all will be made alive, and that God will be All in all?
That God is not counting our trespasses against us?! Well? How many? 

So why do we understand this simple truth when most of the world doesn't? It is because we are chosen. Now I want you to really stop and think what this means... Seriously, don't just read these words. Stop right now and think. God, the Being who SPOKE and there was light, SPOKE and there was Earth, Sun, Moon, and Stars. SPOKE and there were plants and animals. SPOKE and there were HUMAN BEINGS. The Being who controls all of everything who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and who IS LOVE. The Being who feeds and shelters the birds. The One Who loves you and cares for you more than any bird. HE CHOSE YOU! Imagine it! God BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH.... CHOSE... YOU...

If you ever feel useless, if you ever feel un-loved, just imagine God thinking about YOU before the World even began.

License To Sin?

"Well if everyone is going to be saved, why should I even try to be good? Why don't I just go hire a prostitute to snort crack with me? Isn't saying,"Everyone will be saved eventually", just giving them a license to sin?" 

How many times do you hear this when you try to tell someone about the Salvation of All? First of let me say, that if Paul weren't teaching pure Grace and no works at all, than the people he were teaching would not have asked why they can not sin more that Grace would abound. They basically asked Paul the same thing that we get asked. Is that not then a license to sin?

So many people dance around this question because they don't want to sound like they are condoning sin. Yes, in a way it IS a license to sin. Paul said that all things are allowed us, yet not all things are beneficial. Sure you have you can rob a bank, stab a baby, and even eat all of the red Skittles leaving none for anyone else. But, what happens if you do that? You will have serious jail time and, God-willing, horrible remorse for what you have done (especially for the Skittle thing, that's just pure evil).There are very real consequences for our actions. You can not, CAN NOT, out-sin Grace. 

So you can call it a license if you want, but just remember, most drivers that die in car accidents due to wreck-less driving, had a license.

Scars

The people that do the most harm to the Gospel and to the character of God, are not the ones that curse God. They aren't the ones that question God. They are the ones that "represent" God. They make God look worse than ISIS. At least after ISIS kills you, you are dead. God however is not so merciful. He is going to fry anyone that HE HIMSELF didn't give faith to believe the Gospel. Christians are like children that want to help mommy and daddy cook. They think they are helping, but in reality, they are making things much more difficult. 

When Christ was sent to Earth to be our Savior, He had to endure many, many things that He did not deserve. He remained perfect through it all. He suffered for our sake, He was beaten for our sake, and He died for our sake. Who made Him suffer? Who beat Him? Who KILLED Him? Was it "atheists"? Was it agnostics? No. It was the religious. The religious are the reason there are things like 9-11, ISIS, The Holocaust, The Crusades, The Dark Ages, etc. etc. Christ was scarred from the nails that went through His hands. Just as we are scarred emotionally and some of us, myself included, physically and mentally. Christianity and it's horrendous doctrine of eternal conscious torment, the free-will of man, and the Trinity can cause one to go crazy just trying to make sense of them! Let alone truly picturing what "hell" is going to be like if they don't measure up to God's expectations!  We are all scarred, but one day Christ will heal these wounds. 

This world that to us looks like a jumbled mess, is actually just a fraction of the Masterpiece that Jehovah is creating for His own pleasure. One day the finished product will be revealed, and not one soul will be disappointed...

May I?

I am sure that everyone reading this is familiar with 1 Peter 5:8,"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." I have heard this over and over in Sunday School. I was always told to put on the full armor of God so that when I would be tempted to sin, I could resist the devil and therefore maintain God's good graces. But that is not the point I want to make here. The thing I want to point out is the word may in this verse. When I was in school kids would ask,"Ms. Teacher, can I go to the restroom?" And the teacher's response would be something to the effect of,"I don't know, can you?" To which the student would respond, "May I use the restroom?" And the teacher would then allow the student to excuse themselves. This got me thinking. Satan in this passage is said to seek out whom he may devour. Which, to me, implies that he has to have someone's permission. Someone more powerful than himself. Someone who, oh I don't know, operates all things in accord with the council of HIS will? There isn't much to this blog other than a small thought. The thought that Satan can do nothing without God's permission. This thought should provide comfort. Because if God is the One that chooses what Satan can and cannot do, we don't have to worry. Satan is just a child, and soon enough he will be in timeout indefinitely.

Seared Conscience?

If only I would have read this passage in context back when I was in church! I was always taught that a seared conscience meant that I no longer felt guilty or bad for either doing something I knew was wrong or not doing something that I knew was right! THAT IS WHAT I WAS TAUGHT! I was told that if I kept committing a particular sin, then eventually I would no longer feel God convicting me and trying to help me to stop sinning!

That is nearly the opposite of what the passage I am referring to is saying! Here is the passage: 

"But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.…"

(Emphasis mine.)

The ones with seared consciences here are the ones trying to still enforce the law, instead of living in grace! But what really stick out to me here is that they are the people teaching doctrines of demons!

What does it mean to have a seared conscience then? 
My thoughts on what it means are this, having a sensitive conscience means you feel for others, you care for others, you want what is best for others and you won't be satisfied until everyone is happy and safe.

It takes someone with a truly seared conscience to be OKAY WITH THE FACT, THAT GOD IS GOING TO TORTURE MOST OF HIS CREATION IN BURNING AGONY FOR ETERNITY!

Only if your conscience is seared can you accept this heinous doctrine of demons! Only someone with a seared conscience can wake up, casually drink a cup of coffee and go through out their day without a care in the world believing that 80% or more of the people they come into contact with that day will be burning in never ending torment after they die!

To take it one step further, I believe that there are people that may have no conscience left at all! People that hold to a Calvinist theology have seared their conscience so much that there is nothing left! 

Simply put: Eternal Conscious Torment is a Doctrine of Demons!

Tomorrow Doesn't Exist.

Jesus told his disciples not to worry about tomorrow. This is a very hard thing to do in the midst of this eon. With all of the stuff we see happening all around us. Ferguson is a little over an hour away from me, I never thought such chaos would ever happen near me. Regardless though, it is happening all over the world. The Middle-East being the primary source of chaos. However, this is all part of God's plan. 

A thought occurred to me while I was listening to a song called Chandelier by Sia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vjPBrBU-TM). I recommend you watch and listen to this song. Mostly to one line that really stood out to me, where she says she is going to live like tomorrow doesn't exist.

For us, tomorrow really doesn't exist. It hasn't happened and therefore can not be in existence. Do we worry that a unicorn is going to gore us on our way to work? No. Because, sadly, unicorns do not exist. Except for narwhals, those exist. But most of us don't work in the ocean, so we don't worry about that. The reason we don't worry about being killed by a unicorn is because they don't exist. We should not worry about tomorrow for that same reason. It doesn't exist yet. When it does then we can deal with it. Until then, let's focus on today. 

Help for a Soldier!

Selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself! I know that sounds funny. It's like I am saying that selflessness is the ultimate for of selfishness. Which is exactly what I am saying, only without the negative connotation that is attached to the latter word.

When you help yourself, what do you get out of it? You get whatever it is that you wanted in that moment of course. You can also get far in life by helping yourself. I am not condemning the act of helping one's self at all. There is nothing really wrong about trying to make sure you are taken care of and making sure you are putting in the effort to be independent for when no one else can be there. But, we are not independent creatures. We were made to depend on each other, and our very existence depends on the One that made us.  Each breath we take was given to us, every heartbeat, every tear, every laugh, every good thing and every bad thing were all given to us. 

So what do we get out of helping others and being selfless? Well first of all, the people that we help will be affected in more than just a physical way. Our acts of kindness will resonate with them and encourage an attitude of selflessness in them. In us, it will provide a sense of purpose and a sense of happiness. Think about the grand scheme of life. Look at how small we are and how seemingly useless we are. We will continue to feel useless, unless we start to impact others lives. 

I would like to start this movement of selflessness by donating to someone in great need of our help. If you would like to donate to help this man who has been of great influence and of great help in my life and many others, please leave a donation using the link in the top right and attach a note telling me that it is for the one in need. THIS MONEY IS NOT GOING TO ME. (If you would like to know to whom your money will be going to please message me on Facebook, the individual is unaware that I am putting this together and I am not sure he wants people to know that he is in need).

Just think, if everyone were self-less, no one would have to be selfish. Please, if you can help, do so. If not then help others in a different way. It will benefit you as well! =) Thank you guys so much for reading, and please know that the money will be furthering Paul's Gospel and the Message of Grace!

PS: If you can't figure out how to add a note, please Facebook me and I will make sure it goes to him!