The Will of God!

The Great Surrender

5 ” Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6

The will of God is not a mystery as some would have you believe.  God is not far away on vacation, nor is His blind eye turned to us.  Rather the very opposite! God is with us, He is all around us, He is in your heart and from time to time God makes His will known whether we want to hear it or not.  The Bible is filled with dysfunctional people who God has saved but their walk to salvation did not truly start until they handed all their troubles and surrendered it to God.  I call this, “The Great Surrender”, because in every facet of your life God is present and has a plan for you that if you listen close enough you can hear Him guiding you step by step.  It’s not an easy thing to give over all facets of your life to God, it’s not a simple thing to trust in what we cannot see, in fact for most people this great surrendering is like hitting the bottom rung on the latter of life, you have only one way to go and that is up.  In this desperation people often times experience a panic, a depression, and go through a crisis that marks their journey and often times results in a complete self confession where everything is revealed, where all that we thought we knew and believed was wrong.  This confession generally follows a release and an out pouring of emotion that allows God to show you things you would otherwise not able to see.  I know this because I went through this exact surrendering process.  My “Great Surrender”, came in a time when I was emotionally led astray by the one person whom I had given everything up for and that was my ex-wife.  It came to me the realization that I had put all my hopes and dreams into a person who didn’t or could not return this out pour of love and in the process I had inadvertently alienated myself from those in my life who loved me the most.  I did so because I want to make my marriage work and I wanted to be a father to my only child who I loved with all my heart and soul; and who I still do.  I knew if I did not move away from my parents and family I would never see my daughter and she would never know who I was.  In that moment I opened my heart and cried out to God, I begged for relief or a reprieve something to end this pain and suffering that I felt in my heart and that is when I heard God speak to me.  The most interesting thing is that it wasn’t like I had never prayed before, nor was it that I had never heard God before, but this time I heard His voice so loudly that it shook me to my core and in that experience I instantly saw my error, my failings, misconceptions, and what shook me the most is how wrong I was in everything I had done for my sins sat in the seat next to me in the truck as I drove all I owned from Missouri to California in the summer of 1995.

Walking With God

17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17

To walk with God is the most honest walk you will ever have for as long as you live.  From the moment you accept God into your life you begin the process that will lead you to, “The Great Surrender”.  Each step is like a small act of trust you hand over to God and each time a hardship happens your heart is moved closer to the solution.  As your conversation with God increases your mind and belief system is changed to see what before was invisible and a world of possibilities comes into view.  God’s will slowly becomes your only real concern as your life is transformed.  It is this which I call, “Becoming New”, as the actions you would have taken before are made straight and are different from the actions you take now.  God is the constant which moves your heart as life experiences leave questions that bring you back to God time after time. Becoming new in Christ is a belief which is the absolute power a person can actually see grow incrementally over time.  In my own life experience I have seen many years where Satan challenged my ever decision and God was always standing right beside me helping me, guiding me, and consoling me. There were many years I was left alone with my own thoughts and time after time God was talking to me through my pain and heartache the world seemed to always lay at my front door step.  When I say this, it sounds crazy, but God has never let me down and He is the only constant in my life. Though I am not perfect I have the confidence to know that God is there helping me through the troubled times I face constantly molding me into a better version of me!  God wants to do this for every human being on earth both past and present. For He is the only constant in the universe.

Amen

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 Special Note

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 As we head towards the season of Thanksgiving it is important to take note of all that we have to be thankful for. Like the disciples who learned all things are possible through the love and compassion of God so to can we the many sons and daughters of Christ make miracles happen for those who are in need and thus in our own way feed the multitude. I urge you to support inner city children through the gift of education by clicking the following link.

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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

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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

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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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