Long Story Short

Painting and Poem by Samarazone

Long Story Short

God created the earth and the seas.

He brought forth Adam then he made Eve.

They messed things up and now we all die.

So He sent Moses to help us see why.

He gave 10 commandments, to all of his people.

They built up churches and threw in a steeple.

They made more rules and called it religion.

God shook his head and knew he'd forgive them.

Then He sent Jesus who lived without sin.

He died on the cross, and now lives again.
Yet, there is one catch, it's a bit of a shift,

You can accept Jesus,  He is your gift.

After you do you'll be known as a Christian.

You won't be perfect, but you'll be forgiven.

A change will take place deep in your spirit.

You'll want the kingdom, it's what you inherit.

You will try to be good, helpful and kind.

People may hate you with God on your mind.

You'll still have free will, and use your own brain.

The choices you make may cause you some pain.

But when your life ends and you stand before God

Jesus will be there and towards Heaven he'll nod.

Bitterness

Bitterness is the worst kind of disability. It affects every aspect of your mind, body and spirit. When held onto long enough it will destroy you. Bitterness is also a choice. You can choose to keep it or let it go. In the end, it will say more about you than anyone else.

In Matthew 5:5-9 it states, "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God."

The Bible does not say that blessed are the angry, bitter, jealous, and vengeful. Think about that for a moment. Are you hanging onto these emotions?  It's okay to feel angry when you have been wronged or hurt, but you need to forgive and let not the sun go down on your anger as the Bible states in Ephesians 4:26. God understands the feelings we have, but he also wants us to put them aside for the sake of peace.

I've found in my life that when someone is bitter towards me, I pray for them to be blessed. This may not be what you feel like doing but, it restores peace in your spirit and gives rest.

There are times when it best just to stay away from bitter people and pray for them from a distance. God is the only one who can soften their hearts, and nothing you can say or do will change them.

It also helps to forgive one another, for Christ died so our sins may be forgiven, and it is out of respect for our Lord that we do this. Forgiveness is an incredible gift for ourselves, by the way.  Take advantage of it and heal your own heart.

One final thought I have on fighting bitterness is to chose mercy. Mercy is a beautiful word and aids in the ability to forgive. Remember, bitterness is a choice. Guard your own heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23.

To Believe or Not to Believe

Photo Copyright of Sue Lamos

Used by permission

My friend took this photo while spending time in New York. At first glance, the flower appears to be incorporated into the building, but in reality, it was stuck in the concrete. This picture is an illusion, a depiction of something that is not true.

Many people today have come to believe that the Holy Bible is untrue. When one states this, are they calling the Bible an illusion? When I think of illusion, magic is the first thing that comes to my mind. Some magic is for fun or entertainment purposes,  and is harmless, but the magicians/illusionists in the Bible were ones who gained power from the demonic, told fortunes or made predictions. So I have to wonder if those who claim the Bible is no longer true, are they stating that it is for entertainment purposes or evil?

God's book, The Bible,  provides us with some hard to pronounce names, spanning many generations, and going through various experiences. The connections within are genius.  His book contains wisdom for all the ages, until the end of time. His truth is solid, firm, and unchanging. People's ideas may change, but it doesn't mean God's do. Most invaluable, He gives us the greatest gift we could ever receive as he invites us to accept that his only son, Jesus, who died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins; past, present, and future. To accept the gift of Jesus gives us hope that one day we will be with our Father in Heaven. How much better does that sounds than to spend our eternity with the Master Illusionist; Satan.

If you are questioning whether the Bible is outdated, untrue or an illusion, do yourself a favor before making a final decision, ask the One who inspired it for His opinion.

Reasons to love being a Christian

Reasons to Love being a Christian

I love being a Christian because we can believe in what the bible says. It never changes and never will. Because it never changes we can rely on it. If it changed to satisfy us, it would be no more dependable than the daily news or our government. We may not always understand it, but it does have the answer for everything. It shows us the character of God and allows us to decipher His voice from ours, and from Satan's. We may not like what it says, but if that's the case, we are not seeing it from the heart of God's love. God's word always has our best interest at heart.

I love being a Christian because we can know how much God loves us! We can really know this! He loves us so very much even though we're so imperfect. We make so many mistakes. We do so many things wrong. We hold on to so many wrong thoughts. If I was Him I would be disgusted by all the things we have done. But He loves all his children and wants to save us from ourselves. That's why He gave us His son, Jesus. God wants to see us in Heaven! I truly believe that he leaves a whole in our heart that can only be filled up by Him.

I love being a Christian because we can know and love Jesus! He died on the cross-for us! He took all our sins with Him when he died, and He gave us the opportunity to accept his death, as our gift, as our means to get to Heaven. It's the only way to get there. And when we arrive, because we accepted Jesus gift, we will all arrive sin free!

I love being a Christian because God gave us Jesus who understands our human experience. Jesus lived in this world, but was not of this world. Some people didn't like Him, Jesus was tempted, some rejected Him, some betrayed him, some didn't understand Him, some didn't appreciate Him, some were downright cruel to Him, some wanted to see Him dead, some killed Him. Jesus understands what we go through, so I love it that as a Christian, we can all get through this life with Him.

The Holy Spirit! Oh, how I love The Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit tells our hearts when we are doing something wrong and it prompts us to do many things right. We as Christians benefit so much by listening for this voice. The Holy Spirit is powerful! The Holy Spirit gives us gifts! The Holy Spirit lifted up Jesus and transported Him up and into Heaven. The Holy Spirit is a powerful friend!

I love being a Christian because God allows bad things to happen so that we can learn good things from every bad situation. This helps strengthen our character. Being a Christian is not for the weak because you will come under Spiritual Warfare with the dark side. For anyone who thinks that only weak people believe in God, they couldn't be more wrong. Satan doesn't come against those who are already his. Satan comes after Christians. We are only weak in that we allow God to aid us in fighting Satan; in this, God becomes our strength. Jesus defeated Satan at the cross! Jesus has already won! Satan had already been conquered! Now, Satan is just a big nuisance!

I love being a Christians because there is so much to know and understand about God that it would take more than just this one lifetime to get it all. Christianity is an exciting journey of learning and growing and becoming better than we were yesterday.

I love being a Christian because God is all about Grace. Grace is God's goodness and kindness, directed at us, as undeserving people. He doesn't want us to live in condemnation. He gave us the 10 commandments to show us that none of us could keep them, on our own strength. He gave us the 10 commandments to show us why we all need Jesus. Jesus was sent to provide us with forgiveness for our sins! Jesus is the only way for us to get into Heaven! It's because of God's grace that we were given Jesus! As Christians we have the abundance of God's Grace everyday and we have the gift of righteousness through Christ blood on the cross.

I love being a Christian because I am living in this world, but I am not of this world. This can be difficult at times. It encompasses everything we encounter in this life. Each of us will have to fight our own strongholds such as addiction, anger, fear, jealousy and offense, but the Trinity is here to help us. It should be our goal to proceed in life with faith, and to become as Christ-like as we possibly can. This makes the life of a Christian exciting!

Sadly, I know many who have given up their walk with God. They felt their prayers weren't being answered during trying times and they lost faith and gave up on Him. But giving up on God is never the answer. It is never okay just to quit! Just because you quit God doesn't mean that he doesn't exist, it only means that you quit! God will see you through your tough times, but you have to keep your faith and your hopes upon Him. Don't blame God if you give up before he chooses to help you. One more day of faith could have made all the difference!