I've read some interesting things lately. Things that I relate to one hundred percent. They spoke of the gloom and doom air of Christianity. The way non-believers and skeptics look at us as though we walk around in fear of breaking sets of rules. The fear of confining our lives, thoughts, actions, words, and evolution of our being. Let me elaborate.
Most Christians live very productive, spiritual, Godly lives. Nothing wrong with that, I commend them. But personally, I have realized that most of these people also confine their own souls. How so? Think about every human impulse or desire one can experience. We've been taught that any of these desires that don't align with someone else's preconceived notion of Christianity must be Satan. The paradox is that these desires come from your inner being, your soul. We've been taught that wanting to make a lot of money, sexual thoughts, or yearning the night life are all the work of the devil. That's pure nonsense. It's the nature of human impulse.
Confining yourself to only one way of thinking also confines your ability to think, enlighten, and evolve as a human. Does not being scared to embrace what others relatively deem "bad" make me love Jesus less or follow his teachings less? Absolutely not. When I say embrace, it doesn't mean I go out and partake in such things. It simply means I don't make myself feel bad or convict myself for being human. Your Christianity is not based off how often you can ignore desires to gain the approval of your fellow Christians or authority figures. If you're constantly worried about if others approve of how you live, you'll never actually live.
Now that's not to say act on every single impulse and run around sinning like a maniac. It's not a cop out to justify foolish deeds. But, to ignore your own thoughts that speak to your own individuality is tragic. God created us all different. We all have our own values, ideas, and insight just ready to come out.
We're not here to all think, talk, walk, and act the same. Being a Christian, seeking God, and listening to your soul is a different journey for everyone who looks to do so. God gave us the power and ability to think on our own, and constantly re-create ourselves in a way that we see fit. Ultimate spiritual happiness comes from your journey to be one with the Lord, not from others opinions on how to do it. I'd rather think on my own, form my own ideas, and create myself in a likeness that makes me happy instead of constantly worrying about approval from those who are not in my shoes.
I am not a halfway Christian looking to justify my shortcomings. After all, we all fall short, right? I am simply saying don't convict yourself next time you feel a desire that isn't in accordance of what you've been taught by people who are not you. You're free to think on your own, form ideas on your own, for your soul is your own. Doesn't mean I run around having sex with every girl I see, doesn't mean I am a slave to alcohol, and surely doesn't mean I don't follow Jesus any less. I'm a fan of thinking. And when you decide to confine your own thinking in favor of what others have told you is "right" and "wrong" is not Godly. If God wanted us to all be the same, the creation power he gave us would be obsolete. I urge everyone to use that power to be an individual, not a conformist.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Human Traits That Point To Being Godly
I look at the facts of the Earth and how they relate to our existence. Everything is perfect: its size, its distance from the Sun, its moon, its oceans, its temperature, its atmosphere, etc. Even genius physicist Stephen Hawking (who has always denied the existence of God) has maintained that it's a "miraculous coincidence" that life on this planet exists - and given the circumstances under which life can exist, he is right. So I ask you to consider this - is this really coincidence? Or design? In my humble opinion, this is much more likely to be design. Who designed it? I have to say that I think God did. Humans are his most precious creations, and there are a few traits humans possess that illustrate this:
Morality
Humans are the only beings in existence that naturally have a feeling of something being right or wrong. However, without an unseen and unknown higher standard, there is no way to explain why we naturally know right from wrong. It is a spiritual feeling deep within our conscience, regardless of your physical circumstances, everyone feels and knows the difference between the two. If there was no God, we would not know a higher standard, and we would not know nor care about right and wrong. We can read all we want about the subject, but that still does not explain why morality is already engrained in our conscience and spiritual makeup. The same is true for all feelings - love and hate, good and evil, joy and pain. This is the precise reason God allows evil to exist. We are allowed free will to abide by our natural moral makeup, yet the bad side of things needs to exist, otherwise we wouldn’t know the opposite. If we didn’t know evil, we wouldn’t know good. If we didn’t know pain, we wouldn’t know joy. If we didn’t know wrong, we wouldn’t know right. This is only fair, because if God manifested himself in an undeniable powerful demonstration, free will would be obsolete and everyone would be forced to follow and believe in God. It would even stifle human advancement and progress concerning intelligence and technology. Free will is a gift, and evil exists only so we can know good. It is easy to blame God for all the suffering and evil we see in the world, but these are nothing more than man’s free will choosing evil over good for, among other things, power and money.
Desire
Why do humans desire things? Think of every desire someone can have, and realize that it is attainable in the world. Sex, money, fame. Then there’s that other desire. The want and need for something more, something higher. It’s the desire of the unknown. The desire for God. If God did not exist, this desire also would not exist. Similar to morality, this desire is engrained in our makeup, and we don’t know why. That desire in the back of our minds is our calling to a higher purpose. In my eyes, it is the calling of God to find our purpose in life beyond earthly desires. Without God existing so we can know what that desire for something more feels like, then we wouldn’t have that desire.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Why I Believe in Jesus.
I've had plenty of people question my faith in God, where it came from, why I believe, and what has been the driving force behind the changes in my life. So I decided it's not only time to give them an answer, but also my friends who are believers that are skeptical of me. It's not fake or a facade anymore. It's not to impress anyone. This is real. This is a testimony. My testimony.
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and staff, they comfort me." PSALM 23:4
Not many people know that when I was born, I was three months premature. I was brought into this world by C-Section, weighed three pounds, battled pneumonia, bronchitis, and a collapsed lung in the first months of my young life. Many babies born in my condition would have died. The grandmother of one of my friends called me a "miracle" some years ago. At the time I didn't know what it meant, but that always stuck with me. When I found my faith again, I finally understand what she meant. God saved me for a reason. I could have very well died when I was born, but I lived to find my higher purpose. But throughout my tumultuous life I ignored that, and it took another awakening to remind me that I should be seeking to find Jesus and why I am really here. A couple years ago, I was involved in a car accident that could have been tragic, luckily no serious injuries occurred. Looking at the circumstances, it's almost amazing. The car I was in flipped across the road at 55 miler per hour. I was ejected out the back window and thrown more than 50 feet. I landed on my feet with barely a scratch and not one serious injury. If that replays ten times, nine out of ten something much worse happens to me. Once again, I was spared from death or serious injury. I could have been, and maybe should have been dead, twice. That's enough to know that Jesus has something special planned for me.
"Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit tormented him." 1 SAMUEL 16:14
I've had my share of dark days, but I doubt those who knows me are aware of this. I'm pretty good at smiling when I'm dying on the inside. There was a time about four or five years ago when I had so many questions. God was always in the back of my mind, but I was looking for reasons to not believe. I saw how bad the world can be, and thought "there can't possibly be a God." One night, I was alone at my apartment, and these thoughts of doubt were flooding my mind, even though I didn't want them to. I felt literally tormented, like there was a realm of despair I fell into without knowing it. As I was falling asleep, I felt a dreadful, almost evil presence. I tried to ignore it and closed my eyes. It was then the presence felt like it was right over me, suppressing me. I tried to yell, nothing came out. I tried to fight, I could barely move. In my mind I asked God to make this presence and feeling to go away. It stopped immediately thanks to Jesus' intervention. People will say I freaked myself out being alone, but that's not the truth. I know what I felt and experienced. I know that my serious doubts and cynicism about God allowed these negative spirits to invade my mind. There's a spiritual world and realm out there, and that was revealed to me even though it was a horrible experience. God was showing himself, slowly but surely.
"Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked I shall return; The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away." JOB 1:21
August of last year to March of this year may have been one of the most difficult times in my life, because I had to face my own demons and look in the mirror, rather than blaming anyone and anything else for what had occurred. God put a very special girl in my life, and requested of me one thing. That I learn to resist temptation, and put Him first in the relationship I thought I was pursuing with this girl. I looked at her being my spiritual mentor, as she helped me and taught me along my walk towards regaining faith. Ultimately, our physical temptations got the best of me, I failed to put God first in our relationship. Not to mention, I wasn't making permanent changes for her like I said I would, I was adapting to situations, but I was not changing. God saw right through my weak faith and fake attempts to fool her into thinking I was someone I wasn't. God took her out of my life for this very reason. Immediately afterwards, I almost fell back into my old ways of life, because I just wanted to forget the hurt. Then I sat and thought one night, that this is a test. Jesus wanted to know that I could come to Him on my own, without having a girl to impress. He wanted to know that I could pick myself up and gain real faith in Him. I wrestled with these thoughts for months, until one day I decided I would go back to God before I would walk right back down the wrong path. I asked Jesus to once again come into my heart and spirit and show me which way to go, I felt relieved. It's not mass hysteria. God gave her to me, and then took her away so I would learn a real lesson of faith and trust in Jesus. Once I accepted this cross to carry, we have become friends again, my faith is strong, I am telling people about Jesus, and I just feel an authentic change in my being. None of which happened until I asked Jesus to come back into my heart and guide me.
"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17
I know many people hear of the changes Jesus makes in the spirit of a person, and call it psychological. I am here to say that is not true. I tried many times to change things I was doing when I didn't have Jesus in my heart, and I failed miserably. I tried faking faith for too long, and decided it's time to get real with it. It took me to this very moment in my life to come full circle, realize the lessons God was slowly teaching me, and actually take a step to make permanent life changes. It's happening faster than I can even keep up with. My urges for the old habits and things I was doing are fading. This doesn't mean I will disown any of my friends, as a matter of fact it's my mission to bring Jesus to them. I am here to say, without a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus is real, His spirit is in us, and once you ask Him into your heart you'll feel an undeniable change. But, as I learned the hard way, you also have to pursue and live in that spirit before your eyes can be revealed to the greatness of it.
This is my testimony why I believe in Jesus Christ, welcomed His spirit into my heart, and took Him as my Lord and Savior. I will never push my beliefs upon anybody, but please respect them as you yourself would want respect. Thank you.
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and staff, they comfort me." PSALM 23:4
Not many people know that when I was born, I was three months premature. I was brought into this world by C-Section, weighed three pounds, battled pneumonia, bronchitis, and a collapsed lung in the first months of my young life. Many babies born in my condition would have died. The grandmother of one of my friends called me a "miracle" some years ago. At the time I didn't know what it meant, but that always stuck with me. When I found my faith again, I finally understand what she meant. God saved me for a reason. I could have very well died when I was born, but I lived to find my higher purpose. But throughout my tumultuous life I ignored that, and it took another awakening to remind me that I should be seeking to find Jesus and why I am really here. A couple years ago, I was involved in a car accident that could have been tragic, luckily no serious injuries occurred. Looking at the circumstances, it's almost amazing. The car I was in flipped across the road at 55 miler per hour. I was ejected out the back window and thrown more than 50 feet. I landed on my feet with barely a scratch and not one serious injury. If that replays ten times, nine out of ten something much worse happens to me. Once again, I was spared from death or serious injury. I could have been, and maybe should have been dead, twice. That's enough to know that Jesus has something special planned for me.
"Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit tormented him." 1 SAMUEL 16:14
I've had my share of dark days, but I doubt those who knows me are aware of this. I'm pretty good at smiling when I'm dying on the inside. There was a time about four or five years ago when I had so many questions. God was always in the back of my mind, but I was looking for reasons to not believe. I saw how bad the world can be, and thought "there can't possibly be a God." One night, I was alone at my apartment, and these thoughts of doubt were flooding my mind, even though I didn't want them to. I felt literally tormented, like there was a realm of despair I fell into without knowing it. As I was falling asleep, I felt a dreadful, almost evil presence. I tried to ignore it and closed my eyes. It was then the presence felt like it was right over me, suppressing me. I tried to yell, nothing came out. I tried to fight, I could barely move. In my mind I asked God to make this presence and feeling to go away. It stopped immediately thanks to Jesus' intervention. People will say I freaked myself out being alone, but that's not the truth. I know what I felt and experienced. I know that my serious doubts and cynicism about God allowed these negative spirits to invade my mind. There's a spiritual world and realm out there, and that was revealed to me even though it was a horrible experience. God was showing himself, slowly but surely.
"Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked I shall return; The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away." JOB 1:21
August of last year to March of this year may have been one of the most difficult times in my life, because I had to face my own demons and look in the mirror, rather than blaming anyone and anything else for what had occurred. God put a very special girl in my life, and requested of me one thing. That I learn to resist temptation, and put Him first in the relationship I thought I was pursuing with this girl. I looked at her being my spiritual mentor, as she helped me and taught me along my walk towards regaining faith. Ultimately, our physical temptations got the best of me, I failed to put God first in our relationship. Not to mention, I wasn't making permanent changes for her like I said I would, I was adapting to situations, but I was not changing. God saw right through my weak faith and fake attempts to fool her into thinking I was someone I wasn't. God took her out of my life for this very reason. Immediately afterwards, I almost fell back into my old ways of life, because I just wanted to forget the hurt. Then I sat and thought one night, that this is a test. Jesus wanted to know that I could come to Him on my own, without having a girl to impress. He wanted to know that I could pick myself up and gain real faith in Him. I wrestled with these thoughts for months, until one day I decided I would go back to God before I would walk right back down the wrong path. I asked Jesus to once again come into my heart and spirit and show me which way to go, I felt relieved. It's not mass hysteria. God gave her to me, and then took her away so I would learn a real lesson of faith and trust in Jesus. Once I accepted this cross to carry, we have become friends again, my faith is strong, I am telling people about Jesus, and I just feel an authentic change in my being. None of which happened until I asked Jesus to come back into my heart and guide me.
"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17
I know many people hear of the changes Jesus makes in the spirit of a person, and call it psychological. I am here to say that is not true. I tried many times to change things I was doing when I didn't have Jesus in my heart, and I failed miserably. I tried faking faith for too long, and decided it's time to get real with it. It took me to this very moment in my life to come full circle, realize the lessons God was slowly teaching me, and actually take a step to make permanent life changes. It's happening faster than I can even keep up with. My urges for the old habits and things I was doing are fading. This doesn't mean I will disown any of my friends, as a matter of fact it's my mission to bring Jesus to them. I am here to say, without a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus is real, His spirit is in us, and once you ask Him into your heart you'll feel an undeniable change. But, as I learned the hard way, you also have to pursue and live in that spirit before your eyes can be revealed to the greatness of it.
This is my testimony why I believe in Jesus Christ, welcomed His spirit into my heart, and took Him as my Lord and Savior. I will never push my beliefs upon anybody, but please respect them as you yourself would want respect. Thank you.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Come Again.
I'm praying you bless me, cause Lord I miss you. It's time for you to come again. Here I go again. 2012.
What's up everyone? Must say I did miss my folks. It's been 5 months and some change since the most important person in my life decided I was no longer worth using and made my existence feel smaller than a grain of sand. If you've been through it, you know it's not an easy thing to deal with. I don't think I'm even completely over it.
It took so long for my inspiration to return I was starting to doubt it ever would. My once strong faith was burned to ashes. And through all of that, I never once blamed God for what was happening. Even when I hit rock bottom and wanted someone to blame, I didn't blame God. He gives, and he takes away. It's the taking away that hurts most. Then I remembered that I've always said when things are the absolute worst, if you don't give up, good things will happen.
I woke up this morning with an overwhelming urge to be positive and take positive action to not only better myself, but everyone around me. It seems like some of the prayers I have been saying to just make it through hard times are starting to be answered, I can feel it in my attitude and heart. I knew Jesus didn't leave me, but man did I feel alone for quite some time. And once again, if you've ever felt that way, it sure isn't easy.
But here's to a new start for 2012. I'm here to tell you things aren't always going to be perfect, but slowly and surely things get better. Just keep your faith. My faith now rests in whatever reward He has planned for me after everything I've been put through. There has to be a point to it all, and I know something good is right around the corner. Just have to keep the faith.
Amen.
What's up everyone? Must say I did miss my folks. It's been 5 months and some change since the most important person in my life decided I was no longer worth using and made my existence feel smaller than a grain of sand. If you've been through it, you know it's not an easy thing to deal with. I don't think I'm even completely over it.
It took so long for my inspiration to return I was starting to doubt it ever would. My once strong faith was burned to ashes. And through all of that, I never once blamed God for what was happening. Even when I hit rock bottom and wanted someone to blame, I didn't blame God. He gives, and he takes away. It's the taking away that hurts most. Then I remembered that I've always said when things are the absolute worst, if you don't give up, good things will happen.
I woke up this morning with an overwhelming urge to be positive and take positive action to not only better myself, but everyone around me. It seems like some of the prayers I have been saying to just make it through hard times are starting to be answered, I can feel it in my attitude and heart. I knew Jesus didn't leave me, but man did I feel alone for quite some time. And once again, if you've ever felt that way, it sure isn't easy.
But here's to a new start for 2012. I'm here to tell you things aren't always going to be perfect, but slowly and surely things get better. Just keep your faith. My faith now rests in whatever reward He has planned for me after everything I've been put through. There has to be a point to it all, and I know something good is right around the corner. Just have to keep the faith.
Amen.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)