Author: Brother Brian

Brother Brian currently serves within the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Catholic School System. He is currently in his twentieth year of teaching.

Invitation to Pray – Pray For Strength

Pray For Strength

1  “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked, Nor standeth in the way of sinners, Nor sitteth in the seat of scoffers:  2 But his delight is in the law of Jehovah; And on his law doth he meditate day and night.  3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, That bringeth forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also doth not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.  4 The wicked are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.  5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.  6 For Jehovah knoweth the way of the righteous; But the way of the wicked shall perish.” ~ Psalms 1:1-6

~ Pray Silently ~

Oh’ Lord God in heaven hold my hands as they tremble, calm my mind as it struggles with doubt, bestill my heart for it will not relent, Oh’ God renew my faith.  Lord, I ask you – the one who knows all things, the one who knows my troubles and tribulations, the one who knows best the next course I should travel, Oh’ My God, My Savior, I pray that you might renew my strength. Oh’ Lord in heaven, take me past these people of wickedness, these people of selfishness, these people who are so blind with sin, Lord My God I beg you to deliver me from this place and shield me forever with your love, might, and mercy so that I might know peace.  I pray not for an easy life, but that of the will to endure this difficult path which tho has called me to travel. Oh’ my Lord give me strength.  In this I pray, Amen ~ Brian Stark (2014, Jan. 13)

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Jesus Holding the world

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Refelction 1: The Divine Spark

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” ~ Jeremiah 1:5

The Divine Spark

God declares through Jeremiah how He knew him, and in turn how God knows all of us before we are born.  God consecrates everyone of us, from Adam and Eve to you and me;  he kisses us on the  forehead and whispers the words that bind us with our everlasting souls, for it is God who ultimately gives life and blesses you.  If you look hard enough you will begin to see in the eyes of your children; especially when they are little, that blessing of Gods.  You can see the spark of life which God gave and which makes our children so happy, always putting a smile on their faces and a laughter to their voice, that my friends comes directly from God.  As a parent I witnessed this miracle, and I fought so hard to preserve these wonderful laughs, smiles, and kisses my daughter would shower my face with daily; always knowing that someday they would end as life caught up to her.  I tried to keep her innocent because as her father I was sworn by God to protect her, that and admittedly I hate change, and  there was always this threat of change on the horizon.  As a parent we watch our children grow and become smarter and then they become independent.  As painful as this process is this too comes from God.  It happened to your parents and their parents before them and so on from the first to the last parent this is the natural order of things. We are bystanders to the growth and development of our children because let’s face it, there will be things your children will learn that you did not teach nor agree with but they learned it anyway.  As a teacher I see those unwanted teachings that our children glen from other children and or from the violent video games they play, the songs they listen too,  to the very movies and T.V. shows they watch every single night.  I see some parents who become lax in their responsibilities and stop teaching God in their house and or stop attending Church, and this accumulates into some parents who actually stop teaching the  Bible as their own personal faith wains.  In those cases if as parents we stop teaching God then we inadvertently stop teaching such things as respect, honesty, and morality that is at this moment so absent in all the other modern media and thus if we don’t teach these things to our children then how can we say before God we lived up to our responsibilities in raising them?  How can we possibly expect our children to be respectful to us and others, to be honest, to be and lead a moral life?  Thus, if we cannot expect these things from our children then why would we expect others to treat us with dignity, honor, and show compassion and love? Thus, when God Himself asks each one of us on judgement day to explain how we did or did not protect our children, I pray you can give awesome examples of how you personally protected his divine spark within your offspring.

Modern Day Examples

The perfect example of how godless our society has become can be found in the United States Congress who for the past two – three years has gone after our democratically elected President, tried to end his signature law that has and will prove over time to benefit millions of Americans by trying at all costs to eliminate the Affordable Care Act.  Some even tried to “Shut Down” the Federal Government costing Americans $14861.0 billion and are prepared to try this radical tactic again! What about those States who refuse to expand Medicaid? Do they have the best interest of all Americans at heart? What about those who have passes laws to suppress the African American Vote, the Female Vote? Who’s best interest are they truly serving?   These same lawmakers claim a 20 year war on poverty but fail to count all the years from President Johnson to this day all the Republican Presidents and Representatives who tried to end those policies which hurt millions of Americans through such reckless and thoughtless actions as President Ronald Wilson Reagan’s fabled and failed, “Trickle Down Economics”, policy.  Indeed it did trickle down; for the wealthiest of Americans grew richer and the poorest of Americans grew poorer, and the fabled Middle Class disappeared!  In fact according to Zach Anderson who wrote, “Clearly we do not live in a representative democracy if the majority of people wants something and yet congressional votes portray the opposite of those desires.”, (August 8, 2012, Policy Mic), and I agree completely! I think the one comment that was made in public by North Dakota, Republican Congressman, Kevin Cramer  who voted; ” to deny food to 1.8 million low-income seniors and people in low-income working families, 170,000 veterans, 210,000 children would lose school breakfasts and lunches in 2014″, (Jason Easley, Saturday, September, 21st, 2013, 7:05 pm, Politicus USA), which sums up this humanities issue, or crises which is caused when the Bible and it’s teachings is not taught properly in the home, instead we manufacture idle representatives who misquote the Bible by saying what Mr. Cramer had the never to say in defense of his reprehensible vote, “’If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.”  This is the very passage in the Bible he is attempting to quoted,

“Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.” ~ 2 Thessalonians 3:10

Here is the full passage: 10 “For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.” 

2 Thessalonians 3: 10 if read in it’s full context is talking about idleness which is a sin.  As I have always taught on this blog to read the full passage and to also read the two passages before and after so that the passage one wants to quote is understood in it’s full context. Thus, here is the full reading as I teach it;

7 “For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, 8 and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. 9 This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. 11 For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.” ~ 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12

Thus, as an example we need to do our best and not be idle, not take for granted, not deny anyone the right to live comfortably when they are unable to provide for themselves as Jesus states very clearly as he wanted us to imitate him to the letter!

36 “I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” ~ Matthew 25:36

So I here command the Congress to heed the following:

11 “For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.” ~ 2 Thessalonians 3:11

Because if they don’t this is what will happen:

 40 “And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,  you did it to me.’41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'” ~ Matthew 25:40-43

~ The Truth Shall Set You Free ~

It makes me angry that our Representatives would misquote the Holy Book to justify their idleness, (sin),  in not doing their jobs! It makes me angry when they deny God’s children food, deny the elderly who worked all their lives and then call them lazy, it makes me angry when veterans who answered our nations call, sacrificed their life and limb and who deserve to be feed, clothed, and taken care of mental as well as physically and then have our Government call them lazy!  It makes me angry when our Representatives who are not doing the work they where elected to do in representing our best interest and then misquote the Bible taking out of context God’s message to mankind, thus sending lower-income working families further into poverty! Where is it that these people can be found to be undeserving or lazy? I say to you these people are on the right hand of God and shall be saved and those who vote in congress to dismantle this great country, misquote God’s very message, and deny the needy then you shall suffer long with Satan as you have already hardened your hearts and sold your soul!

The same can be said for those parents who do not protect your children and who do not preach or teach the values which this country was founded upon, and the rights God gave all men to know Him!  For you have deprived your children of the promise and fruits of Heaven and of God’s undeniable singular truth!

22 “Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen” ~ Romans 21: 22-25

By allowing our children to see perversions on T.V. or music award shows where Miley Ray Cyrus, (and she’s not the only one),  is exhibiting immoral behaviors, or movies where men sleep with men, and women sleep with women, to actually condone such behavior then as a parent you have stopping protecting your child or children, stopping protecting your family as well as yourself and have sold them a lie.

26 “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” ~ Romans 21: 26-32

Defiling the Divine Spark

It makes me angry that some of us would vote to change our moral teaching to suit those who work such evil!  For they twist and misrepresent the very words which would give them salvation, and instead exchange these blessings to make our children thing evil thoughts, and to practice evil deeds as they, our children, are impressionable, who need our protection and love; but whom also are looking to their parents to imitate; looking to their parents to learn how to act, how to live, how to love, how treat others, how to believe, and even how to function as a moral person.  If you do not believe that the teachings of God in under attack then you are sadly mistaken!  You only need to look at America’s divorce rate as reported by Enrichment Journal on the divorce rate in America:

  • The divorce rate in America for first marriage is 41%
  • The divorce rate in America for second marriage is 60%
  • The divorce rate in America for third marriage is 73%

If you do not believe that this spark of life that God gave freely is being defiled then you are sadly mistaken!  You only have to look at all the fatherless homes in America ,

  • 43% of US children live without their father [US Department of Census]
  • 90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes. [US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census]
  • 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes. [Criminal Justice & Behaviour, Vol 14, pp. 403-26, 1978]
  • 71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father. [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services press release, Friday, March 26, 1999]
  • 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes. [US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census]
  • 85% of children who exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes. [Center for Disease Control]

If you do not believe our very freedoms are being stripped from us then you are sadly mistaken! You only have to look at how our officials punish others for not supporting their views; you only have to look at the lies our Representatives are spewing, our Governors are vomiting, our Governments are try it’s best to sell to the masses by allowing laws to take affect that are morally wicked, and attempting to destroy those laws which give aid to the needy!

  • Traffic trouble has NJ governor Chris Christie in a jam of his own – Read more!
  • Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians. – Read More!
  • What’s wrong with letting same-sex couples legally “marry?” – Read More!

I say to you my friends then you are sadly mistaken!  The very words of God are under attack, just as our values, morality, beliefs, and that precious spark that God gave to all of us is also under attack! If you don’t believe me then look at the 2013 chart of Americans abortions;

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5 “And Jesus began to say unto them, Take heed that no man lead you astray. 6 Many shall come in my name, saying, I am he; and shall lead many astray. 7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be not troubled: these things must needs come to pass; but the end is not yet. 8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there shall be earthquakes in divers places; there shall be famines: these things are the beginning of travail. 9 But take ye heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in synagogues shall ye be beaten; and before governors and kings shall ye stand for my sake, for a testimony unto them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached unto all the nations. 11 And when they lead you to judgment, and deliver you up, be not anxious beforehand what ye shall speak: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye; for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit. 12 And brother shall deliver up brother to death, and the father his child; and children shall rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. 13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. 14 But when ye see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not (let him that readeth understand), then let them that are in Judaea flee unto the mountains: 15 and let him that is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in, to take anything out his house: 16 and let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloak. 17 But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! 18 And pray ye that it be not in the winter. 19 For those days shall be tribulation, such as there hath not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never shall be. 20 And except the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom he chose, he shortened the days. 21 And then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ; or, Lo, there; believe it not: 22 for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But take ye heed: behold, I have told you all things beforehand. 24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, 25 and the stars shall be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens shall be shaken. 26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then shall he send forth the angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. 28 Now from the fig tree learn this parable: when her branch is now become tender, and putteth forth its leaves, ye know that the summer is nigh; 29 even so ye also, when ye see these things coming to pass, know ye that he is nigh, even at the doors. 30 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, until all these things be accomplished. 31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” ~ Mark 13:5-31

Therefore, I say to you I wish no ill on anyone, but rather wish to show the truth as the truth and the light as the light so as no one shall be confused, so that everyone who wanted to be among the elect can be saved.

Amen,

If you liked this Reflection on The Divine Spark … please leave a comment. Also please “LIKE” and “SHARE” this post with others.

Brian Keith

Your invited to stay in contact with me!

EMAIL: listeningfaithfullyblog@gmail.com

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Special Posting: Facebook Year in Review 2013

7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”~ 2 Timothy 4:7

Though I am still writing, still fighting the good fight, still standing-up for those who cannot stand-up for themselves, here in this posting I celebrate with you the good fight fought this past year.  Just as Apostle Paul was reflecting back on his life, his accomplishments, I will do the same here in.  So this past year here is a list of the posts I have posted for your educational and spiritual growth.

Special Reflections:

1)     2012 in Review

2)     Special Reflection: Sin Series e-Book Release

3)     Special Prayer Request: Remembering Leslie Frankenheimer

4)     Special Posting: THANK YOU LMU!

5)     Special Easter Post 2013

6)     Special Post: Congratulations My Ascension Students!

7)     Special Post: Father’s Day

8)     Special Reflection – Prayer for Syria

9)     Special Prayer Request: Leona Liget

10)  Special Posting: 68th Birthday

11)  Special Reflection: 2014 Educational Enrichment Program (EEP) 

What You Can Expect From Life – Series

12)  Reflection I: What You Can Expect From Life: According to Anger; pt 1

13)  Reflection 2: What You Can Expect From Life: According to Belief; pt 2

14)  Reflection 3: What You Can Expect From Life: According to Charity; pt 3

15)  Reflection 4: What You Can Expect From Life: According to Death; pt 4

16)  Reflection 5: What You Can Expect From Life: According to Enemies; pt 5

17)  Reflection 6: What You Can Expect From Life: According to Faith; pt 6 

18)  Reflection 7: What You Can Expect From Life: According to GOSSIP

19)  Reflection 8: What You Can Expect From Life: According to GUILT 

20)  Reflection 9: What You Can Expect From Life: According to HONESTY

21)  Reflection 10: What You Can Expect From Life: According to JOY

22)  Reflection 11: What You Can Expect From Life: According to LAZINESS

23)  Reflection 12: What You Can Expect From Life: According to MARRIAGE

Family – Series

24)  Reflection 1: Family of God pt1

25)  What Schools Need pt 1: Things to Consider Before You Buy

26)  Reflection 2: Family of God – Broken Home, Broken Child

27)  Reflection 3: Family of God – Kingdom of God

28)  Reflection 4: Family of God – Saving Relationships 

29)  Reflection 5: Family of God – Economy of God

30)  Reflection 6: Family of God – Family of Love 

What God Is… Series

31)  Reflection 1- What God’s Love is… 

32)  Reflection 2: God’s Mindset…

33)  Reflection 3: God’s Thanksgiving…

In all there has been three major new series’s of blogs added to an extensive list spanning back to 2009.  Starting with,  “WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM LIFE SERIES”  is by far the biggest individual series I personally have written. Where as the, “FAMILY SERIES”  was short but packed with powerful tools for families to grow and to stay together and to warship God as a singular family unit. I truly hope these blog posting have enriched your life.  Ending this year was the,  “WHAT GOD IS… SERIES”,  a truly inspired series of blogs that came straight out of the mouths of children, most specifically from my students who asked me this very question in class and though I only have three Reflections written know that my own spiritual growth has been stretched in ways I could have never personally imagined and I am still doing research to bring to you and my students the best Reflections yet within this Series… so there is defiantly more to come in 2014 as it relates to  “WHAT GOD IS… SERIES”.  In addition each year I do a host of Special Reflections, which are posts that deal with specific topics not related to any of the Series I was writing at the time.  Starting with Prayer Requests, I have to say this year was the most Prayers I have been personally asked to make public to you, the Listening Faithfully Community.  I want to report that in the majority of the prayers published good things have happened for those we have prayed for.  Rounding out the year in all 33 posts published our reader base has grown to 20 devoted – repeat followers who have signed up to be notified when new posts become available, and countless others who have yet to sign up and make themselves known. I encourage everyone to sign-up and follow and interact through the various resources found here within our growing community of fans and supporters. With that said, to my two special groups of followers thank you for all your support because I write for you, I write because of you.  Listening Faithfully is Officially 4 years old… and you can now buy the T’Shirts Celebrating our 5th Year 2014-15 by clicking [HERE]!

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FACEBOOK

FACEBOOK IN REVIEW

As you can imagine Facebook is a huge part of this ministry and I will say to you it is a very effective tool in getting out the message and bringing the words of God to those who need it all around the world. Listening Faithfully Blog has been on Facebook since 2011 and each year we have grown and received more likes doubling in volume each year, in 2013 alone we received a total of 46 new likes and 26 new friends.  However, the Listening Faithfully Community is where you can get the most recent news and spiritual writing and this has grown as well. At this point I would like to invite you to our Listing Faithfully Community Page and please “LIKE and SHARE” all the content to as many people you know! Again, Listening Faithfully Community will serve as the hub for all straight forward communications to all members of Listening Faithfully moving forward. There is also a Listening Faithfully Book Store and I hope you all make use of it in the near future as this is where you can find Bibles for both Kindle, and or any e-reader you use and is also where the Listening Faithfully – The Sin Series can be purchase from Amazon for  $7.99.

Below is the links to the Fan Page and the Members sign up.

To view our Facebook page and our Listening Faithfully Community Fan Page please FOR FREE click here. [Celebrating 5 Years]

To become a follower of our fan page FOR FREE click here [ Listening Faithfully Community – Become a member now!]

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LANGUAGE ARTS

I ask you this question… “What is a ministry without a language?” The answer… a there is no ministry in the world that does not use the English Language  to some extent.  How can people communicate and spread the message of God without using Language? Simply put… you can’t.  Each year as a teacher within the Los Angeles Archdiocesan schools I see two alarming trends that is nation wide.  The first is that our inner city schools regardless of affiliation are suffering economically.  Second I have found that schools where parents are wealthy and pay high tuition their children  are the only ones being given the economic advantage.  I was recently yelled at online from a person who had read my posting asking for help in supplying Language Arts books to my students as I had linked that with what Pope Francis has said about the economic differences between the wealthy and the poor and the disappearing middle class worldwide.  All I was asking for in that post was for your financial support… Each book cost about $15.00. I want to buy 30 of these books. All money I receive from this fund raiser goes to support the English Language Curriculum at my school… Ascension Catholic School, Located in Los Angeles.  So when I make the claim I support inner city students this is the truth… I teach and have taught in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for 10 years.  Listening Faithfully is not affiliated with Ascension or the Catholic Church, rather I teach there and need these book for my students.  Now… think about this carefully…. if through this blog and this fund raiser more money than what is needed then how many more children would be served by your kindness?  I tell you hundreds as I am affiliated with many schools, with many children who need your help.  Every dollar raised will go to help my inner city children by giving them the economic advantage of the English Language!  This is something I do year round, but this is not the only thing I have done to help people in general.  2009-10 helped fund a house for a Philippine family who was living in a shack! 2005-2012 Taught and raised thousands for the Ascension Technology Team… the last three years students took home computers that had been donated and they restored. Help support Listening Faithfully Celebrate 5 years of service by buying a T’Shirt that cost $23.00 which equals 1 1/2 books per child in need.  It’s a no brainier.  As for that individual who yelled at me online for asking… “What is a ministry that never asks it’s community to pitch in and help form time to time?”  Here is a sample of our good work done within the Technology Team from a former student Ruby:

Please click the following link to support this fund raiser today! [T-shirts for Language Arts Books for Kids] I want to thank you in advance for your support!

The Cause for All Parents!

Part of Listening Faithfully’s mission is to educate, as stated above, but the second half of our mission is to spread the word of God.  Part of that mission is helping those who cannot help themselves.  There is a specific illness in our world and it is very political and controversial. I have written about it many times because I have been personally affected by it in my own personal life.  This illness is woven from greed and embraced by our Family Court System not just here in the United States but in many other countries around the world.  Because this system seeks to drain parents of their resources, to separate, and to destroy their family by creating strife, while supporting those parents who lie and cheat and manipulate the system for their own selfish wants and desires.  To this end the Court is now against God, our laws are now against God.  “What God would condone of giving one parent all the power and influence and allow that parent to alienate the other biological parent?”  This is a war on Families, on the very fabric which a biblical family is formed and which  grows.  What court should ever have the power to rip your child away from you without cause?  According to the Bible there is no court that should ever have such power over the family! I say that, I write that because God gave to both Father and Mother the responsibilities of raising their own children!  Different responsibilities – Yes – but Equal in the eyes of God!  That is what the Family Courts are against and in doing so they have defiling  God by defiling  the Families!  By robbing them of their right to be parents!  Such is the case with my friend Joseph… The court for no reason gave Joseph’s wife the right to move away to a foreign country.  How is Joseph ever going to see let alone raise his only child? Joseph is not a drug addict, he is not a drunk, he doesn’t  cheat people of their money, he doesn’t peddle anything illegal, he has never served time, and he never cheated on his wife… which is more than we can say about her.  And yet Joseph’s non-American wife got an American Judge to give her the right to legally steal Joseph’s only child from him.  How is that even possible?  Well this is not only possible but the norm in America and is what 90% of fathers are facing when going to court.  We need to stop this… As Christians we need to stop this behavior and end Alienation forever by making it illegal!  Please visit Joseph’s fundraiser and donate today…. Lets reunite him with his daughter today.

I have made a personal pledge to give Joseph $5.00 every paycheck I receive and that’s saying a lot because my ex-wife has taken 50% of my earning through child support on a child who was a year and a half away from becoming 18 at the time.  Won’t you also help Joseph bring his daughter home?

Click Here to help our brother Joseph!

Amen and God Bless,

If you liked this Special Reflection on The 2014 Educational Enrichment Program! … please leave a comment. Also please “LIKE” and “SHARE” this post with others.

Brian Keith

Your invited to stay in contact with me!

EMAIL: listeningfaithfullyblog@gmail.com

Or through:

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Follow Us on Pintrest

And don’t forget to:

HELP SUPPORT LISTENING FAITHFULLY BLOG BY MAKING ALL YOUR ONLINE PURCHASES THROUGH OUR WEB STORE!  CLICK HERE.

As a special token of appreciation please accept a free downloadable gift from me to you: FREE BIBLE

https://www.facebook.com/yearinreview/listening.faithfully

Special Reflection: 2014 Educational Enrichment Program (EEP)

17 “He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, And He will pay back what he has given.” ~ Proverbs 19:17

I want to start out today’s reflection expressing in great detail of why I am so grateful to our Lord.  As you read all I ask is for you to think of all the way you are also grateful to the Lord.  Then put yourself in the shoes of my 5th grade students who are underprivileged living in the heart of Los Angeles and many of them do not see their parents very often because they are working to makes ends meet. In a few instances some of my student’s parents have been or are in jail for various reasons, not withstanding there are also a few parents who are present and make time for their children; but needless to say those parents are very few and far between.  So when I tell you these children need every advantage I am not lying to you nor am I making any of these things up, rather I am being forthright with you and need your help this Christmas Season.  Please visit our website and buy your T’Shirt Today!  https://www.booster.com/listeningfaithfully

God Is Our Constant Companion

God has been so gracious to me personally this year, because there has been so many trials and tribulations Satan has put me through.  The first trial has been living without seeing my daughters face or hearing my daughters voice for over a year as my ex-wife won a move-away and took my daughter 800 miles north to San Francisco.  There has been no communication because my daughter and I largely because my ex-wife prohibits my daughter from making contact, so all I get is one text every holiday from my daughters iPhone.  Technically, I get visitation but have no money to travel to see my daughter, even though that was precisely the thing my ex-wife promised the judge that she would make happen by buying a monthly flight for my daughter to Los Angles to see me: as she makes 4 times the income I make as a teacher.  In addition to these things my ex-wife after 16 1/2 years filed for child support after she and I agreed to wave it back in 2003, not to mention she also stole $645.00 dollars from my Chase Bank account in 2012 which forced me to be late on rent and later because of that was forced to move from my apartment after 7 years of being on time.  It is no lie I have had to file for Bank Bankruptcy as the bills I incurred fighting for my parental rights in court which ended with the judge refusing to obey the law and order  my ex-wife to pay legal fees; end result I had no other recourse no other options available to me.  I have also suffered massive car troubles after ten years of owning my truck it finally needed over $3500.00 worth of repairs.  But through all of these things God has been with me, He has helped me endure the long cold lonely nights, and He alone files my heart with such love that my heart over flows with it and I have to write and share it in every way I can using the gifts He has bestowed upon me.  It would be easy to sit here and write and complain about these trials I have faced, but I tell you they have made me stronger, wiser, more capable, more crafty, more in-love with God, because through it all this year has been about adapting and overcoming.  God has given me the strength to know the things I can change and the wisdom to know the things I can not change, He has granted me mercy with reuniting me with a friend lost in those horrible struggles with my ex-wife which stretched from 1996-2013.  I have regained a friendship that I thought was forever gone and which I so desperately needed.  God has put angels in my path that have helped me over come those struggles with my ex-wife, my daughter, my friendships, family, contributors, and now lastly my  truck. God has given me eagles wings to sore high above all these troubles and to be able to look past the darkness of these events and move past them.  God has given me angels who have provided ways to maintain some level of lively-hood despite 1/2 of  my income now goes to my ex-wife out of her shear hatred and spite for me, which is not in our daughters best interest.  God has given to me a mother who has almost died three times within the past four years, and He has given her the strength to keep going even though her lungs no-longer produce the oxygen she needs as she struggles with COPD.  God has given to me a father who is deaf, but who finds ways to bring a smile to my face by building me various wooden objects he has pored his love into with me in his thoughts.  God has given me a sister who every day of her life has used it to help young men who are incarcerated to find their way and become a success in our unforgiving society.  God has also given unto our family a new baby who is filled with all the love a child can hold and her smiles and voice remind me of better days I had with my own daughter, and better days I will yet have. So “Yes”, God has been my constant companion! It would be easy to sit and moan about my many losses that I have suffered through this past year, but for every loss I have suffered God has opened the door  and has given unto me a magnificent victory within His love, mercy, and kindness by allowing the many angels to intercede and lift me up when Satan has knocked me down. Please visit our website and buy your T’Shirt Today!  https://www.booster.com/listeningfaithfully

25 “A generous person will prosper;  whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” ~ Proverbs 11:25

Just as I have been lifted up most of my time is spent with children who I fight for, who I love with all my heart, and who on my own I could never give them the resources they so desperately need.  My school does not have the money to purchase new Hardcover English textbooks or new work-books for the students to write in and learn from which supports the new curriculum’s the State and Federal Governments are now enforcing.  As a school we have now begun cutting back on printing out worksheets and the purchasing of ink for our various printers.  The economic times we are now facing has hit private schools extremely hard and all the families they serve, and it is our children who suffer the consequence for the few greedy people who seem to ignore this growing divide between rich and poor.  This economy is a man-made problem, and Pope Frances had it right when he, “attacked unfettered capitalism as ‘a new tyranny’, urging global leaders to fight poverty and growing inequality in the first major work he has authored alone as pontiff.” ~ Holland, Joshua, (Nov. 26, 2013), The Poverty Line: Pope Francis Calls Unfettered Capitalism ‘Tyranny’,  http://billmoyers.com. Pope Frances sees what is a sin against mankind, he has stated very clearly the problem, and the injustice of not fixing something we have created that forces millions into a different kind of slavery, that born of our own sinful economic greed!   So it is that I am reaching out with a heavy heart, but one also filled with love and hope to you today and  ask that you may find it with in your heart to become a supporter of Listening Faithfully by purchasing one T’Shirt that will show your pride in both this website, but also your support for education.  My students need their little angels this holiday season helping them just as I have been so blessed with in my own personal struggles.  Please visit our website and buy your T’Shirt Today! https://www.booster.com/listeningfaithfully

 2014 Educational Enrichment Program!:

42 “Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.” ~ Matthew 5:42

You click the following link below and purchase one T’Shirt, or as many as you would like. The money raised then goes to purchase the Sadlier; Level Blue;  Vocabulary Workshop paper-covered work books for my students.  Within two weeks of the ending of this Christmas and News Years campaign you will receive the T’Shirt and can call yourselves an official supporter of Listening Faithfully and of Education. I will also have a private page here on this website just for you as I am kicking off the Sin Serious 2014 Revisited ~ An invaluable resource that highlights the Seven Deadly Sins as they apply to us in our modern day lives.  Below is scanned copies of Unit 2 From the Sadlier Workbook that  will be purchase for the students with your help.  Again I ask you to please visit our website and buy your T’Shirt Today!https://www.booster.com/listeningfaithfully

Please Support Listening Faithfully Blog Language Arts Book Drive!

Sadlier Preview: Click Here!  http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/1fff8ae8#/1fff8ae8/10

Show your Listening Faithfully pride and help us reach our goal! Together we will raise over $10,000 to directly support inner city students with brand new Language Arts Books published by Sadleir if we sell 1000 shirts.  How awesome is that?!  What a great way to help spread the wealth of Christ while celebrating our 5th year online reflecting on the word of God!  Help show your support of Pope Frances’s which has so eloquently been outlined while also helping our students overcome this sinful poverty;  be that little angle of God today! Book Drive will end within the first week of January 2014 so please hurry and be the first to show your support. In addition your shirts will be delivered to you within 2-weeks of the campaign closing – guaranteed! Please visit our website and buy your T’Shirt Today!  https://www.booster.com/listeningfaithfully

This initiative is sponsored by the Listening Faithfully Blog 2014 (EEP) Language Arts Book Drive!

Thank you in advance to all of our supporters!

Extra Special Request: 

I have a friend, his name is Joseph. He lives in San Diego and his ex-wife seven weeks ago stole his daughter and fled the country. He asks a simple question that I would like our Justice System to answer: “What would you do if your one and only child was taken from you, without prior notice, and whisked away to a foreign country?” I would like our judges held accountable for giving one parent more rights than another based on sex or money! This false notion that children need their  mothers more than their fathers is archaic at best and  if you read the Bible at all you will find that God gave to Fathers and Mothers different but equal responsibilities to their children. I repeat…. FATHERS ARE NOT NATURES BANK! Our justice system is sick and in need of repair – reform; whatever you want to call it! But that won’t happen until every American…. every parent and non-parent stands up and forces our Federal and States Governments to stop Alienation of Affection of a Minor Child! In the mean time I ask you to help my friend Joseph by visiting his website and giving whatever you can afford. Let’s bring his daughter Dani back home!

Click Here to help our brother Joseph!

Amen and God Bless,

If you liked this Special Reflection on The 2014 Educational Enrichment Program! … please leave a comment. Also please “LIKE” and “SHARE” this post with others.

Brian Keith

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EMAIL: listeningfaithfullyblog@gmail.com

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Reflection 3: God's Thanksgiving…

The Many Things to be Thankful For!

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2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 3 For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods. ~ Psalm 95:2-3

Everything around us both in nature and in this man-made world of technology I find God within it, the true and only source, the brilliant artist which made and planned every aspect of everything we see, hear, touch, and interact with, for God is in everything.  We live such blessed lives with all our modern conveniences and toys we take for granted.  We often times look to our technology and wonder how we ever survived without it and if truth be told there will come a day when all this that we cherish shall pass away, but God will remain.  Every living person on earth today has so much to be thankful for, we have so many things which we take for granted and yet through it all God still loves us and there is still only one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ his only son.  I say these things knowing that you all know this and that you will most likely think.. ‘yeah…yeah…blah blah.’ but I hope you take time to see Thanksgiving from Gods perspective this holiday season.  See God knows the next great invention on the horizon, He is aware of our dependence upon technology and I know He smiles each time He hears a person confess how they could never live without it.  But, I also know He might just be asking all us each time we make that small confession, ‘What about me? Where do I fit in?’ I say that because it used to be a no brainier of where God fit into our lives.  It used to be an exciting experience to dress up and go to church and hear the message told in an unsuspecting heart warming way that tickled the imagination.  I remember a time when life was a lot less commercialized and the mystery of God was on the tips of everyone’s tongues as everything in nature was still an exciting mystery of awe and wonder.  Back then it was easy to relate these marvelous works to God, it was easy to bow before our creator and give him thanks, sing songs, and rejoice in his greatness as the one true God.  But I fear for our souls in this remarkable age of technology that we just might have found a way to not give glory to God, but yet start to see ourselves as the creator and begin to give homage to our things forgetting God entirely.  This I say to you because life is about so much more than things and gadgets, but rather it is and always has been about that search, that walk, that personal time spent alone with God in the silence of complete and utter communion.  So if there is anything I am grateful for it would have to be that God has never left my side, that he has always taken care of me, and He alone is still that mystery of wonder and awe.  That my friends is the true secret of life lived within the realm of God’s love.  I am so grateful that God has given to me the things that He has and that He alone has made everything in my life possible, from my family and friends who have enrich my life in the precise way they have and I can only hope I have done the same for them.   I am so grateful that God gave me life, that he gave to me the ability to write and express what is in my heart so completely.  He has taken care of ever need and taken away all my fear and hurt in the bad things which I face filling my heart with love, forgiveness, and understanding.  It is with these confessions I hold up to God, give him thanks this Thanksgiving because I know it was a want on His behalf to do these things.  I know that God was not obligated, nor had to do anything for me but He instead chose to do so.  His love is so replete with grace that His will is to spread love throughout the entire world, and if there is any singular thing we all have to be thankful for it is that pure agape love of God! So, I humble myself and acknowledge that the technology which allows me to communicate with all of you was made possible by God.  I know this because he has given to me the time to write, made available to me the many different computers I have used in all the various locations in the world I have written from, and most importantly the audience which reads and grows and shares each post.  He has given all these things to me, to share with you, for God alone made the technology possible.  In a real tangible way God gave to me, sharing His message through me much like I use the computer as a tool.  Therefore, we are all tools of the one true living God, and that is the highest honor anyone could ever have, and yes it is a reason to be thankful for, it is the main reason we all should give glory to God.

What I Own… Belongs to God!

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11″ While you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. 12 For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God,” ~ 2 Corinthians 9:11-12

Call me lazy… but I own nothing in this world, for I rent everything!  I can say that I own my car but God gave me the ability to keep it for a specific period of time and one day he will take it from me.  But in this God always gives to me something better in return.  So from this perspective none of us own anything.  To say that you own the things in your life would mean that there is nothing which could take it away from you and my friends that is simply not the truth… that is not reality.  It is only proper to say that God owns everything and allows us to hold his possessions for a period of time… in effect we all rent from God! Thus, when God gives you a tool that helps tell a story of moral significance, or a mode of transportation that will deliver you to His people, or the words to use when your mind is blank is in affect God using you as His divine tool for His divine purpose.  In every instance you have been made whole and in that service not only has your needs been meet but so has the needs of the many, all of which causes great thanksgiving to God!  For to simply to say yes is in a real way glorifying God and thus bringing you closer to your true purpose in this life. Be not dis-hardened for God also is thankful to you for your service and in this he gives to you His abundant love.  To be in the service of God is the only true service we where made for, to love God and to be loved by God.  In conclusion we don’t own anything, but yet everything belongs to God first! We are thankful to Him for His generosity, kindness, mercy, grace, and love in allowing us to be enriched by all the experiences of His stuff… i.e. technology, cars, brick houses instead of caves, and the dinner we eat, tot he family we eat that dinner with.  It all belonged to God first and He loves us so much that He has made us part of His experience.

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Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and may your Holiday Season be filled with Gods Love.

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Amen,

If you liked this Reflection on God’s Thanksgiving… please leave a comment. Also please “LIKE” and “SHARE” this post with others.

Brian Keith

Your invited to stay in contact with me!

EMAIL: listeningfaithfullyblog@gmail.com

Facebook 

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HELP SUPPORT LISTENING FAITHFULLY BLOG BY MAKING ALL YOUR ONLINE PURCHASES THROUGH OUR WEB STORE!  CLICK HERE.  As a special token of appreciation please accept a free downloadable gift from me to you: FREE BIBLE

Reflection 2: God's Mindset…

God and His Mindset

“Happy are you who are hungry now, you shall be satisfied. Fortunate are you who weep, for you shall laugh.” ~ Q10, Lost Gospel Q.

Mindset is everything.  Simple but true.  God’s mind is sharp and focused on one thing, that would be you, me, and all of humanity.  This is evident from the first page of Genesis of the Bible to the last page in Revelations, all 66 books of the standard Christian version and all 81 books of the Catholic Bible, not to mention all 82 scriptures of His son’s teaching which were recorded and passed down to us in the form of The Lost Gospel Q.  God chose to make us in His likeness, He chose to make a place that would support our every need and gave us dominion over the Earth, He chose to love us no matter the cost, and God chose to forgive us and to ultimately save us.  Since these decisions every action God has taken has been to support those specific promises all of which He was so confident in that He had it written so everyone could see for all time His devotion to us.  Because God’s mindset is so focused on us it affects our personal lives and relationship with Him.  It is the primary reason why God also stresses the need for every person to be focused upon Him and His word.  God’s heart is set upon a real lasting personal relationship with you and everyone around you spiraling out to encompass the entire planet.  God wants a relationship so as to build you up and to make you strong.  His grace is focused on your sin and the forgiveness of those sins in such a way that it makes each and everyone of us sinners worthy of God when on our own we could never be truly worthy.  God’s mindset is one of hope and love, you could say that God is the creator and chief among the optimists always seeing to good in everyone and thing always seeing the opportunities through the calamities we face.   God’s mindset is to be there with us through those calamities holding our hand, giving us the strength to make it through to the finish line.  God’s mind sees what we cannot and His spirit is eternally seeking the path that will mould us into a more perfect version of ourselves, individualized personal development plans if you will that only ends with our absolute purification of our heart, mind, and soul.   God’s mindset is set upon giving us the length of years to see the truth, to testify to it, to live by it,  to live a Godly life, and yes to ultimately return to Him and to live with Him in Heaven forever.  So it is that when we are hungry He gives us food, both to nourish our bodies and our spirit. So it is when we cry He wipes away our tears and gives us a reason to smile and laugh.  God’s miracles support His love for us, His words have never been broken, and His mind is filled with thoughts of your eternal happiness.

God’s Mindset vs Our Mindset

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” ~ Isaiah 55:8-9

First and foremost there is no comparison between God’s ability to continue to see the positive through the pain and heartache when times get hard verse our ability which is infinitesimally less than, so much so in fact we don’t even rate on the universal scale of positive thinkers or believers.  This was made completely evident in the willingness for God to send Jesus, His only son with one mission and for that mission to have only one out come, Jesus’s death!   For that to even be on the table so to speak was far and beyond anything we humans or even Satan himself could ever comprehend let alone pull off.  With that said,  I can only testify that  it is this one singular thought that converted me as a child and has played a major role in my life ever since.  How could a god, a perfect being, an entity so powerful and magnificent need and love our drama? How could God need our ungratefulness, our sneakiness, our filth of mind and soul, our lack of courage and willpower to always do the right things in life regardless the outcome, and our pride and selfishness which is the root cause to so much chaos in our world?  The short answer is that He does not need us, but rather we need Him.  When a person first realizes this one point it is a transformational thought because what happens is for the first time we become aware of our own mortality and sin.  It brings to mind our unworthiness, it makes us responsible for our sins, and it also reinforces in every-way possible of how blessed we are to have a God who loves us anyway.  Then there is the small idea that comes next, the door opens and we see how many times in our life we have given-up on God, not God giving-up on us.  Millions of years have gone by and yet every action and promise of God has been to make our life and world better day by day, hour by hour,  minute by minute, and it is us who do not have the time to notice or even to say thank you in return.  It is mankind who has often given-up on God, and still our Lord is there loving us and providing for us – despite us.  This makes God’s words real and tangible,  ever lasting,  and never changing,  because they are perfect in every application in every manner and interpretation for God has made known what and who is on His mind, the what and the why that is in His heart, and more importantly the how we fit into His master plan.  For when we apply Gods teachings into our lives we do the right things and in turn those actions glorify God, when we love others it glorifies Him, when we forgive our enemies it glorifies Him, and when we reach out to God it glorifies Him.   God made us, He alone protects us, and provides for us.  It is God who chooses to remember us and to honor us by His grace.  Because these are the truths about God then we as Christians need to filter everything in our lives and thinking through his Holy filter and through His holy words and promises.  Because there is so much immorality in our world due to our imperfect nature we need to cling to the mercy and grace of our loving all powerful God.

 God’s Mindset Equals Strength

“Look at the lilies that grow wild in the fields. They don’t weave clothes for themselves. But I tell you, even King Solomon in all his splendor was not dressed as beautifully as these flowers. If that is how God clothes the grasses, which are green today and burned in the sun tomorrow, how much more will God provide for you. How little faith you have!” ~ Q52, Lost Gospel Q.

Faith in God is at the core of our personal strength in life.  Faith is the bedrock of our actions we take, what we think, how we feel, and how we apply our new and old knowledge no matter the source.  This is proved true every time you debate others, to the side you defend, and to the manner and tone you use when debating.  If a person has no faith in God then their arguments tend to be in the negative excepting modern teachings which are contrary to the Bible and to the will of God thus their personal beliefs tend to be based upon false teachings.  Therefore,  when we compromise on the truth of God, the Bible, and the teachings of Jesus and all his disciples who uniquely owned the moral authority to preach the word of God which has been written down and spread across the world, we fall into the worlds trap of acceptance of unholy beliefs and compromise ourselves in the most unholy of ways.  In this trap we find ideas that degrade our bodies, our minds, and our soul. Within this trap we hear unholy music, unholy words, unholy sounds that invade our personal space and warp our perceptions of the very word of God.  To this end what we allow in unfiltered by the teachings of the Bible, (which are the very words of God), and unfiltered by His moral principals do we then assign ourselves to the notion that it is us who have to become accepting of the world, instead of the world changing to accept God.  The side-affect of this is seen in our societies as we assimilate these false teachings into our beliefs and thus begin to comprise the teachings of God.  It always starts very innocently with a song, or a joke, or a law passed by a government or constitutions written and then changed by governments and like a computer virus working in the background unchecked it begins to change our vocabulary and it warps the very meanings of words we once held as holy and changes them to mean something completely different and unholy.  Thereby the words that you use to placate others so as to fit in or to not offend them, which would have been against your personal beliefs and suddenly now do not reflect God in your words, then you in deed compromised  God, compromised your faith in God, and fallen short and have missed the opportunity to share as a witness for God.  Therefore, faith is a mindset you burn into your every action, into your every words, and within that you share God’s holy message in order to help inspire others to become followers, and eventually for them as they study the Bible to become the children of God as He had intended.  Faith is God’s mindset!

Take this as proof, God created Adam and the garden of Eden so as Adam would be taken care of with more than enough to eat and drink and to be happy. God loved Adam so much that He gave to Adam all the wild animals and plants of the garden so as to fill Adams mind with the love of God expressed through all he saw and heard.  God then created Eve so Adam would not be lonely and feel unloved, thus with each embrace of Eve, Adam felt alive and could feel the love of God in the most holy of ways.  Eve too shared in this experience and was Adams equal sharing in all the fruits and rewards of a life given by God.  These two people knew God in a way we could never experience,  they saw God in a way we can never replicate, and they heard the very voice of God in a manner our ears will never in this life hear.  Though they were not perfect, and made mistakes and fell from grace, God in his punishment of them never stopped loving them and never stopped believing in them nor has He ever stopped believing in us.  God’s Mindset has never attempted to placate Satan, He has never changed His beliefs to become more popular, God is not guilty of adopting a superficial life style that is more in tune with the world and modern dogma.  God did not become more  accepting to sinful acts and more willing to negotiate on holy principals, nor has God  changed the meanings of words to make them mean something completely contrary to their original meanings to suit a new belief so as to entrap us further within our sin.  God has not stopped spreading His divine message nor has He changed the facts or purposes of the events of our history so as to be more easy on our conscience.  God didn’t send Jesus to save humanity and then half way through changed His mind because it was too hard or would hurt to much. Nor did God abandon Job when Satan destroyed His life, or when King David fell to lust and had Bathsheba’s husband killed.   Therefore, we need to adopt God’s mindset and allow Him full access so that our faith in Him will grow and our spirit can bathe in the full glory of the Holy Spirit.  God so wants to dress us up with faith, with love, and arm us with the knowledge of truth so as to protect us  for ever and ever.  The world is very much like grass which is green today and burns in the sun tomorrow, but God’s mindset never changes, never tires, and never turns away or forgets His promises.  For God’s mindset is perfect, strong, and equals strength and wisdom, character, devotion, purpose, courage, and love if you accept God and adopt His word as the truth, the life, the pure and only source for all eternity.

Amen,

If you liked this Reflection on God’s Mindset… please leave a comment. Also please “LIKE” and “SHARE” this post with others.

Brian Keith

Your invited to stay in contact with me!

EMAIL: listeningfaithfullyblog@gmail.com

Facebook 

Follow Us on Pintrest

HELP SUPPORT LISTENING FAITHFULLY BLOG BY MAKING ALL YOUR ONLINE PURCHASES THROUGH OUR WEB STORE!  CLICK HERE.  As a special token of appreciation please accept a free downloadable gift from me to you: FREE BIBLE

Reflection 1- What God's Love is…

7 “The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. 10 But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.” ~ Deuteronomy 7:7-10

This Holiday Season I felt it only proper to call on history and revive some posts written last year and in years prior about love because God is love and he is our God. Let us all make God our center focus in this Holiday season especially on All Souls Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Let this season be one of deep reflection; reflecting on all of Gods goodness which will bring our attention back to God in the Highest. I invite everyone who would like to reflect with me on any post found here at Listening Faithfully Blog. Be sure to send your reflections to me via email at  listeningfaithfullyblog@gmail.com, and I promise to post your thoughts during this holiday season of 2013 in upcoming posts within the this new series of reflections: What God Is… Let’s make this a happy and fruitful holiday season!  

God Is

 God’s love is… pure, absolute, unchanging, unyielding, it does not see color of ones skin, it does not distinguish between people of different beliefs or cultures, it is always at our disposal, for God Himself is always moving among us as is His agape love.  For God’s perfect self-sacrificing love is agape love; “Agape is love which is of and from God, whose very nature is love itself.” ~ http://www.gotquestions.org/agape-love.html.  God loved the Jews so much that He made oaths and convents, He alone made good on all those things which He so promised the Jews.  On a wider scale these promises fulfilled serve as many shinning examples to all of mankind that God loves us so much that He alone made it possible for all of His children to spend the remainder of eternity with Him.  God through Jesus concurred Death, defeated Satan, cast out all the evils in Heaven, destroyed the enemies of His chosen elect, and still from start to finish God moves all around us, protecting us, guiding us, helping us, and – “Yes” – loving us despite our selfishness and sin.  God has never abandoned us, and He is a God of many chances.  Though it is important to point out, God gives back to you what you willing gave to others, be that good or ill, for God is not slow to punish the wicked and all things happen within His chosen time and of His mighty choosing.  Therefore, God never backs down, He never runs away, He never shrinks in the face of evil, and because God is and does all this if you love Him with all your heart and soul, neither should you shrink, run, give up, nor back down to any challenge God saw fit to place before you.  Remember life is a challenge, it is a race that everyone of us who believe can not only finish, but also win.

 Those Who Do Not Know God

8 “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” ~ 1 John 4:8

I have known a lot of people from all over the world, I could not pick out those who did not believe from those who did just by first meeting them, nor in the second or third meetings, but I could tell where their priorities were based upon how they dressed and what they surrounded themselves with. Likewise, when the conversation came to religion then did it become crystal clear to whom I was dealing with depending on what they had said to me. I think it is very important to understand that God knows before you are even born, He see’s you as you are and what you could become if you allow Him to mould you into that more perfect version of yourself.  God can tell if you are in doubt, and if you have questions, and He see’s if you are not open minded enough to allow your heart to believe things which are both seen and unseen.  Faith in God is the requirement, it is the singular step everyone who ever saw God had to take.  But if you allow your heart to remain empty and devoid of love then how are you ever going to be able to choose God?  How could you ever see what God has for you in your life if you fill your heart with hate?  Many people have used the words of God to rally the crowd but inside their heart they hate God, they inwardly hate His just and perfect words, and they hate His message; for it is those I pray, I pray for their salvation, I pray that they someday see the light of the most high God. I do so because without God in their life they live their life without purpose or meaning and are truly the living damned, the true walking dead. They do not know God because they choose not to know God, they fear that giving up their hatred would leave them vulnerable and exposed. They live in fear because of fear, they are the eternally fearful, thus they lash-out in anger and in hatred.  We see this very thing played out in our world politics as the worlds politicians seek selfish resolutions, (many of whom are practiced lairs), we see this played out in the Justice System who is crippled and pledged with selfish people seeking selfish judgments while disguising their arguments as being the exact opposite of what they truly are, and we see this played out in our world through our economics which has enslaved the world to living from paycheck – to – paycheck never having enough to be truly free and never seeing an end to the enslavement which lasts a lifetime.  These things are exceptional sin in the eyes of God, for it breaks the first of all commandments:  2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.” ~ Exodus 20:2-3.  In other-words putting wealth before God is a sin, it means your heart is focused on money and it replaces God as it is the only thing which you choose to warship and think about day and night.  Jesus instructed us that; “No one can serve two masters. You will either hate the first and love the second or treat one with respect and the other with scorn. You can not serve God and money.” ~ Q73, Lost Gospel Q.  Mankind has found a million ways to replace God and to warship other things, things of this world and it is to those people who also share in their fruits as being eternally damned, for Jesus also instructed us that; 15 “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” ~ 1 John 2: 15-17. Therefore, It is a choice we all have to make, to choose God or to choose not to believe in God. For those who choose not to believe they have signed their soul to Satan, to everlasting damnation, everlasting torment, they will never know happiness, forgiveness, mercy, nor shall they ever receive the grace of God for those who hate God praise themselves and Jesus instructed us; “Those who praise themselves will be humbled. Those who humble themselves will be praised.” Q67, Lost Gospel Q.  

The Simple Test of Humility

The simple test I love to give is to ask those who have hurt me or offended me in some way, or have hurt my feelings, to simply apologize for their action.  After all it should be the simplest thing in the world to do right, to apologize?  But on the contrary,  you would be surprised to how many people refuse to do so because they believe they did nothing wrong.  When in-fact apologizing is not omission of guilt but rather an act of grace and is viewed in the eyes of God as the main method, or tool of healing a damaged relationship because of the actions taken that caused the damage, whether it be intentional or not. To not apologize is to basically say, “Your relationship with me is worthless and therefore I do not need to fix the damage.”  This statement is one which does not come from God, but rather Satan. To prove this simply ask, “How can I know my actions have offended someone else?” The answer is you may not know until you are confronted, and this confrontation should be done in private, and – “Yes” – some people make it a public seen which is also a sin against God, but this does not negate the responsibility to apologize for the the first offense, nor to hold hostage the apology for the second offense to be dealt with first for; “Jesus explained to His disciples, “If a companion does something wrong to you, go to the person and point this out. But do it privately. If your friend listens and says, ‘I’m sorry,’ forgive and your bond will be strengthened.” “But how often must I forgive the same person?” asked one of his disciples. “Seven Times?” Jesus answered, “Not just seven times, but seventy-seven times.” ~ Q77, Lost Gospel Q.  To not to apologize or to forgive is also a sin against God because it goes against His moral teaching.  Thus not only has the apology not been given out of pride, (the first original sin which is manifest solely by Satan), but you are also unrepentant sinning not just once but three times before God by simply not acknowledging  your transgression against your fellow man, be it your mother, father, brother, sister, wife, husband, offspring, grandparents, neighbors, work mates, who ever it might have been.  In reality what you have done is far worse on a deeply personal and spiritual level as pride takes hold, you take a moral stance and act as if your morally right to not apologize becomes these are the main thoughts which your mind is beginning to believe to be the truth when in-fact you have begun to believe in your own lies.  To those people I ask, “How can you be morally right if you have been instructed by God to apologize, to build not destroy, to forgive, to love, to honor your fellow man, to treat others as you would have them treat you? Where is your justification before God?”  In this we teach others how to treat us, and in that viewpoint it never stops to amaze me how many people become shocked when the other person refuses to talk, or to play nice, or is unwilling to carry on the relationship at any level.  In reality by not apologizing we have destroyed not created, we have sinned not ask for forgiveness, we have become filled with pride and vanity, not bowing on our knees in humility and obedient to the will of God, rather we have done the exact opposite and try to defend an indefensible argument, because we are blinded by self-righteousness and indignation!  “Treat people as you would like them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you do good only to those who do good to you, what merit is there in that? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what rewards is there in that? Even sinners lend to sinners. Instead, love your enemies and do good, expecting nothing in return. You will have a great reward, and you will be children of your Father in heaven. He makes the sun rise on the bad and the good. He sends rain to fall on both the just and the unjust.” ~ Q16, Lost Gospel Q.  Indeed, the living dead will never apologize, they will never humble themselves, they will never accept responsibility  nor will they ever see the light of God in the Highest when Jesus returns for the final judgement. Thus, God is the Alpha and Omega, he is the creator with the divine right and sole privileges to be the perfect judge. 

Fruits of God

“What is your price?”

For in every situation there is a price to be paid, there is a positive or negative reputation to every action, to every decision you make, for there is a price to be exacted from you and everyone around you based upon what you think, feel, and what you do because of your emotional responses to those things you experience in this life.  No one escapes without being hurt, humiliated, made fun of, destroyed in some way, and it is very much like how  planet Earth renews itself from the violence of each natural disaster that happens in nature.  For God is also of nature, he is spiritual and natural in every sense of the word.  There is nothing which you cannot see that God first did not have His fingers in the creation of, this would include every human-being ever born, to every animal that ever lived. God is a creator first and foremost, for He is both the most tame and most wild, He is in every thing from the dirt of the Earth to the air we breath, God is everywhere and is in everything.  Thus, His love is the fuel which invented us, His love is the fire that moulded our bodies, mind, heart, and soul; His love gave to us everything in creation and everything in our wildest imagination, for it is the power-planet we use to solve problems or create them for ourselves.  For there is no limit to His divine and holy love, which also saved us.  God is indeed a creator and within that He is very passionate about His creations. For God alone built our world and loved all His creations within it as His first thoughts and actions, we where on His mind before the creation and will be on His mind for the rest of eternity.  God was willing to pay a heavy price for our redemption and if you think about it long enough the question we all ask as we look out into the precipice and magnitude that is the mystery of God that price we have to pay becomes so minuet in the face of His promises, and fruits, so small are we in comparison to Him and yet our price we have to pay is nothing in-comparison to the price God paid to love us, to be with us, and to have a relationship with us.  

“So what price would you pay to be with God?”

 In closer examination of this , God’s wages for sin is death, but on the other hand He also promised His children ever lasting life in His Kingdom. Death then is really nothing to God for He is both life and death, He has power over every aspect of these two opposite and equal states of being, so therefore we die but are reborn if we first believe.  So the real price we have to pay is found with the word, “belief.”  Taking this one step farther, if you believe that God has the power to resurrect or restore your soul and to forgive your sin, and in the face of this awesome creation of planet earth, the universe it sits within as a part of a wider creation that mankind cannot yet completely comprehend, I simply ask, “Is death such a small price to pay for ever lasting life and eternal life with God?”   

 “What is your price you would level against God in order to allow Him access to your heart?”

In retrospect many of us do not see God in this grand scale, we do not connect the dots so to speak nor do some of us even ask any of these questions. For it is far better to be blissfully ignorant of our sinful nature and ignore the wrong doings both we create for others and for ourselves. “We are convinced, that this sin [willful ignorance] alone causes the loss of more souls than all the other sins together, because he who is ignorant does not realize the harm he does by his sin, nor the great good he thus forfeits.” ~ St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars.  Thus, it is far better to blame other people for our bad fortune and or level the blame on God, and in doing so we exact an unfair price for God to have to pay, far and above the price He has already paid through His son Jesus Christ.  The repercussion of-course to this action is a life without the fruits of God. So what are these fruits of God anyway… you might ask?  According to Mother Theresa, “Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand. Anyone may gather it and no limit is set. Everyone can reach this love through meditation, spirit of prayer, and sacrifice, by an intense inner life.” ~ Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Love is the first of many fruits God gives to every person on earth.  Without love we have nothing, we are as stated above dead in spirit.  Joy is another fruit coming from God, for in joy we find happiness of mind, body, and soul, we find relaxation and rest in the spirit of God. Joy as a fruit is best described as, “For one pain endured with joy, we shall love the good God more forever.” ~ St. Therese of Lisieux.  Yet another fruit coming from God is peace, for it is the desire of our soul and is the reward for doing good always, thus, “Let us go forward in peace, our eyes upon heaven, the only one goal of our labors.” -St. Therese of Lisieux. Long-suffering is a fruit deriving from God for, “As iron is fashioned by fire and on the anvil, so in the fire of suffering and under the weight of trials, our souls receive that form which our Lord desires them to have.’ ~ St. Madeline Sophie Barat.  Kindness tops the list of fruits from God, as it from kindness all other goodness is made possible.  Kindness tops the list of fruits from God, as it is from kindness all other goodness is made possible, and, “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”~  Aesop Greece, (c. 620 BC – c. 560 BC). To this collection of fruits we are given again for such a small price of belief, and this belief in God there is no higher rewards in this life and the next.

22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” ~ Galatians 5:22

Amen,

 

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Brian Keith

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Reflection 5: Family of God – Economy of God

“Don’t acquire gold, silver, or copper. Carry no purse, no knapsack, no sandals. Don’t bring a second tunic or a staff. Don’t stop to greet people along the way.” Q29, Lost Gospel Q.

There are many people in today’s cynical world who write blogs, magazine articles, report various viewpoints on T.V. and radio, and even some who preach the word of God that would have you believe that God’s economy is the same as man’s economy. There are some who would tell the stories of the bible linking them to our current-fiscal crisis; the political storm which took over the United States Government and  which was successful in closing the Government partially and treating the world economy at large, all while linking these events to God. Some even use the bible to condemn rich people, the wealthy establishment, those who do not have to worry ever of where their next meal is coming from. But I tell you that money which fuels the United States Economy, and the world economy is not and has nothing to do with God’s economy for God has no use for those things of the this world for everything in this world will someday pass away. Jesus did not preach about how to collect wealth, but rather how wealth was to be used in this life to help those in need, for to transfer man’s earthly wealth to heaven cannot be done. Man’s creation or false sense of security we lovingly call our economy is just that a creation of man, not God, therefore nothing we make, build, or invent can be taken with you when you die no matter how hard one tries.  The ultimate example of man trying to take his wealth with him is found throughout the world in the great tombs of long lost Kings and Queens, most notably that of the Egyptian Pharaohs, of which great riches where buried and then later plundered.  But yet the economy of God in this posting refers to your relationship with God, his riches that which he shall bestow upon those who served him in this life and who proclaimed His name to all the Earth  in this life.  For Jesus stated quit clearly do not collect  gold, silver, copper, and in this he was telling those who believed in Him as the son of man that these Earthly things will not be of any value in the world yet to come.

The Command of “Don’t”!

“Don’t be blinded by the pursuit of food, clothing, and possessions. Stop worrying about these things. Only those who lack spirit and soul pursue them. You have a Father who knows what you need. Set your heart on God and these other things will be given to you.” Q53, Lost Gospel Q.

The word, “Don’t” is very clearly a command to “Not Do”, it is very clearly a, “Do Not”,  from the Lord!  He is guarding us from the same sin which took down Eve in the Garden of Eden, He is trying to keep us safe from the sin of Pride which Lucifer had fallen from grace over thus spawning original sin.  It is a sign-post to take exceptional note of and to obey completely and faithfully. Over and over in the Bible one can find the basic story of how mankind is corrupted by jealously, lust, and greed, all of which leads to violence and crime.  “Do Not build your wealth here on Earth”; “Do Not be blinded by money and wealth”; “Do Not acquire gold, silver, or copper”;  All are implicit commands to stay away from this most damning of temptations because those who fall to this sin will not be sharing the riches of Heaven, those people who fall to this sin are in Jesus’s words, “lacking in spirit and soul”.  So, I find it very troubling that man completely and utterly ignored this command from Jesus and instead created great wealth and through that wealth, (which continually grows for a small select few of the world’s population), that we now have great poverty thrust upon those who have not the same resources in-which to compete against a person of means. The sin is not in the act of acquiring  but rather in the larger picture of destruction it reeks upon the world at large; i.e. the rich man who does not spend his money to help the worlds hungry, or to educate the worlds illiterate, and / or the rich man who does not use his money to build homes for the homeless; all of this is in-fact the acts of the rich who are lacking in spirit and soul.  What good is there in giving to those who have while ignoring those who have not? How simple it is to keep building wealth while ignoring the abject poverty their lack of action in helping those lesser off than they creates!  Reaching further into the roots of this sin of wealth building for the sake of building wealth we find this guiding question; “What good would have come if those who are rich in economic resources had helped to build homes, schools, pantries and soup kitchens, and to care for the sick and elderly, what impact would this kindness have brought?”  But rather the sin is in the decision to willfully deny  God’s people by not sharing the wealth but rather using it to buy bigger and better homes for ones-self, to buy outlandish yachts to display ones-own wealth and personal power, to buy businesses for the sole purpose to fueling ones-own greed and to keep the money rolling into a singular coffer so as to be spend on foolish things which do not improve the world or it’s population by any degree of measure.  The sin is profoundly rooted in the question;  “What miracles could have been worked for the benefit of all mankind?”  For the repercussions of greed is rooted in the impoverishment we see worldwide, thus it is not that God hates rich people rather God hates the greed the rich are subjected too, God hates the lust for power that the massively wealth entertains daily!  God hates the politics which rich people endorse that leads to the buying of  a bigger home rather than to help in the purchasing of homes, (plural),  for the thousands who are homeless, the lack in soul which prevents and distorts that beautiful and graceful miracle of helping people of all walks of life to be feed, or educated, and / or to be cured of their life zapping illnesses. God hates the choice some of the most wealthy partake which serves ones-self, (in the singular), interest by commiserating in the blissful spending of wealth on selfish and self-serving things!

 The same is true with great nations like the United States, Great Britain, the former Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Britannia, Rome, Egypt, and the great Central American empires of the distant past. History records God’s wrath played out upon those people who refused to build better for the common good and defense of all, the sharing of resources and wealth, and who rather played the politics of man rather than to set their eyes upon God.  All these great empires with the exception of the United States lost their position because they rather set their collective sights on the power that their economics brought to them than the good they could have done with it.   Every single empire sought out war to increase their collective wealth, sacrificed millions of their own son’s to secure their dominance over their neighbors and to plunder resources which did not belong to them. The United States in some of these sins share an equal part of the over all punishment and damnation which all other nations have been burned by, and yet there is one specific sin which the United States vastly out weights every other nation on earth for, that sin is PRIDE!

The American Pride is exceptional in all the Earth, it fuels the American erogance which has brought low the economic worth of the dollar to the point which the United States Government shows off its complete and utter futility to fight against it’s self, to guard against it’s own self interest, and too in the greatest of political struggles manage to boast of how the world needs it’s security when in fact it was the security of the American Dollar that the American Government came so close to devaluing for a second time in the course of the past three years of infighting!   No other country would have allowed its currency to be devalued through it’s own governmental system or construct, for no other country is as erogant as the United States!  The American sin is illustrated in no greater way than the political hemorrhaging of the Republican Party from 2009-to  the current date due largely to an inflated ego that allows the American Federal Legislature to exhibit over confidence, the sin of wealth has produced unrivaled political brinkmanship, and all this has put on display before God and the world something which God does not tolerate, hypocrisy!  How can representatives spout that America spends to much if their own strategy spends more money in a 16 day period than the law it was trying to unfunded will spend in 10 years? How can representatives vote to destroy an economy their constituents voted them in to save? How can representatives justify putting millions out of work, keeping them from paying their bills and yet receive a pay check to do the same thing they have keep millions from doing and which by virtue of their actions prevented the nation from doing? This American hypocrisy runs so deep that it even allowed a small fraction of the House of Representatives, (The Peoples House), to take hostage the entire Federal Government, paralyzing the nation and the world, forcing millions to go without food, housing, education, medical care, and it was the sole cause of the shut down! Yet these 144 members blame the President who refused to allow them to continue playing this game, refused them from hurting more Americans, and possible the world economy!  In doing further investigations it is apparent their own hypocrisy spilleth over, for many use the government resources they fought to shut down for the masses, many of them have taken from the purse of the nation in support for their own families and constituents, while spouting the evils of big government!  It would seem that the Peoples House no longer serves all the people, it is in these deeds of man that God said to “Not Do”!

The 144 Hypocrites 

Aderholt, Amash, Amodei, Bachmann, Barr, Barton, Bentivolio, Bishop (UT), Black, Blackburn, Brady (TX), Bridenstine, Brooks (AL), Broun (GA), Bucshon, Burgess, Campbell, Carter, Cassidy, Chabot, Chaffetz, Collins (GA), Collins (NY), Conaway, Culberson, Denham, DeSantis, DesJarlais, Duffy, Duncan (SC), Duncan (TN), Ellmers, Farenthold, Fincher, Fleischmann, Fleming, Flores, Forbes, Foxx, Franks (AZ), Garrett, Gibbs, Gingrey (GA), Gohmert, Goodlatte, Gosar, Gowdy, Granger, Graves (GA), Graves (MO), Griffith (VA), Hall, Harris, Hartzler, Hensarling, Holding, Hudson, Huelskamp, Huizenga (MI), Hultgren, Hunter, Hurt, Johnson (OH) Johnson, Sam, Jones, Jordan, King (IA), Kingston, Labrador, LaMalfa, Lamborn, Lankford, Latta, Long, Lucas, Luetkemeyer, Lummis, Marchant, Marino, Massie, McCaul, McClintock, Meadows, Messer, Mica, Miller (FL), Miller (MI), Mullin, Mulvaney, Neugebauer, Noem, Nugent, Nunnelee, Olson, Palazzo, Pearce, Perry, Petri, Pitts, Poe (TX), Pompeo, Posey, Price (GA), Radel, Reed, Renacci, Rice (SC), Roby, Roe (TN), Rogers (AL), Rohrabacher, Rokita, Rooney, Ross, Rothfus, Royce, Ryan (WI), Salmon, Sanford, Scalise, Schweikert, Scott, Austin, Sensenbrenner, Sessions, Smith (MO), Smith (TX), Southerland, Stewart, Stockman, Stutzman, Thornberry, Turner, Wagner, Walberg, Walden, Walorski, Weber (TX), Wenstrup, Westmoreland, Williams, Wilson (SC), Woodall, Yoder, & Yoho

God’s Currency

“Don’t pile up your treasures here on earth. They will be destroyed by moths and rust and stolen by thieves. Store your riches in heaven where moths and rust are powerless and thieves cannot break in. Wherever your treasures is, your heart will also be.” Q 54, Lost Gospel Q.

God’s economy is vastly different than the examples of the economy of man above.  God’s economy is anchored upon principals that build faith in God.  This economy is in general one of faith, obedience, loyalty, love, forgiveness, mercy, and is secured upon the corner stone of  God’s grace.  Therefore, Jesus instructs us to not build up treasures hear on earth, rather store your riches in heaven. The riches Jesus is talking about is not currency that comes from earthly materials but rather the love and grace you bestow upon those less fortunate than yourself.  God’s currency is your obedience, your willingness to set your sights on Him alone.  Through this Jesus also uncovers a mystery of how God measures this obedience for Our Lord states quit clearly, “For wherever your treasure are, there to is your heart”, and God lives within your heart, He breaths in the same air you breath if you willing accept His presence in your life.   God promises to never let you down, to always be with you and to guide you, and most importantly to love you no matter what.  This does not mean that He agrees with everything you do, or endorses everything you endorse, but He promises to mold you into a more perfect person if you allow Him too.  Thus, the 144 Congressman who voted to keep the United States Government shut down and to ruin the economic power of the United States and to destabilize the world economy, God does not endorse their politics or political brinkmanship, but God still loves them and is open to forgiveness  even though the vast majority of Americans will not.  That in and of its-self is the best example of Gods grace in action.  In this Jesus is also adamantly expressing the totality of treasures awaiting us in heaven, for it is better to be loved by family than to have a million dollars of man’s gold, silver, platinum, or a million acres  of prosperous crops, for the real reward is rooted in the deep love of family and this love is eternal even during periods of fighting and name calling.  In this way to be called a son of God, a brother or sister of Jesus Christ is ultimately the best treasure anyone could ever hope for because this at its core means God so loves you that he sees you as one of His sons or daughters, and this implies by all of God’s promises that you shall eat from the table of the Most High God. This treasure cannot be destroyed by moths or rust, nor stolen by thieves, and God never takes back something which he has given in good faith. The attainment of Heaven is in and of it’s self the full embodiment of the victory of the cross, for even death cannot permanently take away what God has blessed you with.  The economy of God is not fickle and never will it sway in the wind.  God knows every one of your needs and he places those needs above your wants, taking good care to love you and to provide for you those things that will sustain you.  The treasure of God’s love exceeds all known currency of man, it is priceless among the measures of men, it over shadows all nations wealth and power by such an amount there is no way for man to completely comprehend what is truly gained for such a small act of faith in God.   All of this might sound lofty but the proof has already been shown within the life and times of Our Lord Jesus Christ, proof has been exhibited by the conversion of the Roman empire to Christianity by a small group of believers.  The word of God is the expenditures Our divine Lord has made on our behalf, it is the greatest of purchases for it redeemed the entire world forever and ever.   By stark contrast one cannot be a true believer if one votes to destroy something which God has granted, or to act for the benefit of a small group who wants to enrich themselves and impoverish the entire world within the same selfish act.   Jesus called these people lacking is spirit and soul, and His proof is found within His own deeds and beliefs as He took on the sin of the world.  For I shall argue that there could not have been salvation without the obedience of Jesus Christ, there could have been no salvation if Jesus had not been willing to die for it.  Likewise, Jesus was not dying to save man so that man could boast, or quibble about silly power which in and of it’s self is an illusion cast over mankind’s eyes by Satan, but rather Jesus saw the fruits of His efforts in their full and absolute entirety which is something that Satan nor man could ever do.  God’s currency freed us, helps and guides us, and is ever present in every action we take when we accept His will in our own lives, just like Jesus did.

The Importance of Being On Guard

“If the owner of a house knows when a thief is coming, he will be on guard and not let anyone break into the house. You too must be prepared -the son of man will arrive when you least expect him.” Q55, Lost Gospel Q.

The mere fact that the United States Government could be brought low by a handful of Republicans is a sign that the House of the People is not on guard, that its eyes are not set upon God!  In fact this could easily be said about every government in the world who has succumb to such faithlessness that it would allow it’s actions to bring such harm to it’s population.  The same can be said of individual people who have allowed their lives to be controlled by a radical family member, or the harlot who allows her body to be defiled every night by different men in the pursuit  of money or pleasure, or the greedy man who has allowed his heart to be hardened so that his mind can be eased by the deceitful act of murder, theft, or slander for the pursuit of personal gain. The powerful among us have available to them many pleasures, but they like the poor shall be judged by God’s perfect measure of the heart.  The faithful man or women will be ready as their house will be in order, all things in it’s proper place ready for the Son of Man.   There will be no thief that will be able to break in the house of the person devout in spirit and of soul, for there is no rule of law that could take their children away, no spouse that could take away the responsibility to always love and to forgive, and there is no child that could hate their own parents so completely they would through their parents to the wolves.   For those who practice such evils are not the children of God, but the devils belonging to Satan.  For being ready means to never give evil an foothold, to never turn the blind eye to evil deeds, and to always stand up for truth and justice even at the risk of a high personal cost or damage to personal reputation and popularity.  For surely God does not reward the unrepentant, the unloving, the unfaithful, nor will he condemn the repentant heart who openly accepts the responsibility of their own sins.  God is just in all measure and shall use your own methodology you use to judge others on yourself justly so.  For in this is a sinful heart never taken nor be unprepared and not ready for the Son of Man when he knocks at the front door.   For the wise would argue emphatically  “Yes”, and so the wise never ignore, never close and eye, never loose faith, never spreads misinformation or bolsters lies. No the wise are the children of God who are always ready to do good, never tiring, never running away, never handing out false hope, but rather giving love and spreading mercy everywhere they go.  This too is the currency of God exhibited through mankind in all the deeds God works through those who are faithful and who are on guard.

Amen

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Brian Keith

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Reflection 4: Family of God – Saving Relationships

5 “Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.” ~ 1 Timothy 5:1-2

Family is Everything

Family is everything.  Family is so important that it is the overriding topic God concerned Himself with in every inspired religious text known to man.  So if the creator of the universe viewed family as having such an important role in the lives of everyone of His creations and it plays such a heavy role to our salvation then why is there so many broken homes, broken children, broken marriages, and broken relationships?  By contrast we all should be family oriented, protecting our relationships be them, friends, family, and with God.  Our country if not the world is headed head-long into a relationship crisis, but more about that later. For now the question which underlines this reflection is extraordinarily simple, but never-the-less paramount to our role in this life as it was designed by God.  Could modern man have forgotten that our relationships are inexplicably linked to loyalty, love, and trust?

Families: a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head :Household (as defined in the Merriam Webster Dictionary – Found online @  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/family

According to the standard dictionary the first meaning of the word family or families concerns the household.  This definition is loosely linked to individuals who live under the same roof, spending day and night together through thick and thin, through hardship and pleasant times alike.  This idea of a household is defined by the head of that household, it is a reflection of the policies which are in place that all members adhere too.  In this way the head of the household carry’s tremendous weight and influence with all the other members and to some degree they are subject to the rule of the head of the house for better or for worse.  It is interesting  that when breaking this word down under such a meaning we can see how stark our own families complex and in some regard dysfunction becomes clear, and the root of the problems or boon can be traced to a singular person within the family who wheal the most influence. Often times in our humanity we fight and cause strife with that one person in order to declare dominance or to prove ones worth or specific knowledge but by-in-large all families fight among  themselves and in the family of God we are given some specific guidelines to help ease and end our inner struggles.  Chief among all commands to people at large and to families is simply;

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” ~ John 13:34-35

Here we see Jesus, the head of God’s household here on earth commands everyone to love one another, this is a direct reflection upon the kind of rule Jesus wishes to impose, and the world surly would recognise a member of Jesus’s household by how they love others.  Surely Jesus’s household then is one of peace and tranquility.  In practice fighting would be shunned, so would bulling, manipulating, and divisive tactics because people who love others could not sink to such depths for love holds us automatically to a higher standard, true love holds us accountable to our actions.  This also draws in a higher level of respect for each member of the family and all those out side the family unit or household.  In this context morality rules, the fight between good and evil is revealed, and evil is concurred.  So it goes without saying that when we submit to this command from Jesus and apply it to our lives it’s not surprising that our life is forever changed, as is our relationships within our family and household.  But Jesus did not stop there, he also commanded;

12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” ~ Matthew 7:12

Jesus in His commands for the family used an all-inclusive word when he said, “In everything”, which no fancy expensive lawyer could argue the meaning whether implied, inferred, or stated boldly.  Jesus commanded us to treat others the same way you wish to be treated in every action, word, deed, and dealings you have with other people.  The awesome part of this command is simple physiology; no one wants to be treated badly.  If every person adhered to this command there would be no fighting, no killing, no violence, no cussing, harassing,  and there would be no person who would treat another human being rudely or with disrespect because no one wants those things to be done to them.  Again we are lifted to a higher level of living and it again transforms every aspect of life.  Together, these two commands are all we need to end wars and skirmishes alike.  Not surprising these two commands also automatically endow loyalty, love, and trust. Therefore, a household ruled by these two commands found in John 13:34-35 and Matthew 7:12 is a household filled with God’s love and His divine blessing.

Above we have two extraordinary edicts that we as human-beings are to live by, they give us a way to build internal happiness and joy in our lives through the members of our household that can extend out to our external families and friends if we let it.  Likewise in the first scripture of this post we see in 1 Timothy 5:1-2 that God clearly wanted us to treat others outside the family unit with the same level of respect, love, and forgiveness. This edict also overlaps how we are to treat those members of our family which we do not see as often or spend as much time with, but again Timothy extended the reach of this by including old men, old women, young men and young women. These people do not need to be part of your family at all therefore by logic we are to treat everyone as if they where part of your family.  Because in reality we are all part of Gods family and therefore in the eyes of God we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

Families: a group of persons of common ancestry :  clan (as defined in the Merriam Webster Dictionary – Found online @  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/family

In this second definition of family we find the main focus within small groups of people who identify themselves within a specific population. This meaning can also encompass words like tribe or kin.  Most specifically the word clans deal with traditional kinship groups sharing a common surname and heritage and existing in a lineage based society prior to the 17th century, where as the word tribes are more indicative of  a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states. Many anthropologists used the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship. The common thread within this definition of family is found in the word “kinship”, which is a word that denotes a people who may or may not be members of the same family but cooperate for the benefit of all members of the group, tribe, or clan.  In these organizations men and women intermingle with a set rule or law that resembles closely to the aforementioned commands of Jesus.  The most striking aspect of this could be found within the one particular christian teaching that also finds it’s roots within the Jewish faith;

Q77 “Jesus Explained to His disciples, “If a companion does something wrong to you, go to the person and point this out. But do it privately. If your friend listens and says, ‘I’, sorry,’ forgive and your bond will be strengthened.” “But how often must I forgive the same person?” asked one of his disciples. “Not just seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Most clans and tribes had a means for two people within the tribe to settle their differences most often privately.  Indeed this made the members of the specific tribes or clans grow closer and in the harshest of times the treads of unity ran so deep that it was not uncommon for all the members to support a single person or family within the group that faced difficulty from either internal  or external forces, and all members of the clan or tribe took this struggle personally, rallying to the aid of the one standing united; not ever leaving the one family to their fate.  Like bee’s you attack one then expect the whole hive to chase you down.  However, the root cause of this closeness within the tribal culture is in how they dealt with internal conflict and forgiveness played a huge part of that internal bond.  Thus, we see if applied properly deep strife can be overcome within the family unit, as it was within tribal societies, and or clans both of which viewed themselves as a larger family extended out beyond the immediate family.  In this manner we all should protect our families, safeguard them from the outside world much like the tribes of the Americas or the Clans of Ireland.  Find ways to forgive your family members in the exact manner Jesus described in Q77 and do this as instructed in Matthew 7:12, “In everything”, you do, linked to John 13:34-35, “love one another.” The family that loves reflects the blessing of God and the family that protects it’s members is a family that God loves greatly.

Strengthening Families Spiritually

I could never write the meaning of the goal our God endows us all with in the area of strengthening our families spiritually, the responsibilities God placed at every persons feet, especially fathers and mothers alike, than that of  , Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who spoke on this topic so eloquently. See below;

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQOThK5G2NU]

Amen,

If you liked this Reflection on Families  please leave a comment. Also please “LIKE” and “SHARE” this post with others.

Brian Keith

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EMAIL: listeningfaithfullyblog@gmail.com

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God Bless,

Brian Keith

P.S. NEVER GIVE UP!