Thank You to my Readers!

“A teacher takes a hand, opens a mind, and touches a heart.” ~ Author Unknown.

Each year my reader base grows thanks to you who faithfully come back and read new posts and or share the posts with others; for I am truly inspired by you the readers.  So I want to reach out and thank everyone who reads Listening Faithfully Blog every week, month, and /or year. The following is a map of the world for 2015 that shows all the countries that have found Listening Faithfully Blog online.

2015 LFB MAP

2015 Views per Country

3,209 visitors and 4,382 views

  • The United States   450
  • Philippines    27
  • The European Union    23
  • France    15
  • South Africa    15
  • Brazil    13
  • Canada    12
  • India    9
  • Germany    7
  • The United Kingdom    6
  • Singapore    6
  • Norway    5
  • Slovakia    5
  • Indonesia    5
  • Australia    4
  • Vietnam    3
  • Thailand    3
  • Malaysia    3
  • Mexico    3
  • Nigeria    2
  • Uganda    2
  • Croatia    2
  • Italy    2
  • Panama    2
  • Algeria    2
  • Venezuela    2
  • Greece    2
  • Taiwan    2
  • Israel    1
  • South Korea    1
  • Albania    1
  • U.S. Virgin Islands    1
  • The Dominican Republic    1
  • Belize1Kenya    1
  • Jamaica    1
  • Cayman Islands    1
  • Hong Kong SAR China    1
  • Vanuatu    1
  • Mozambique    1
  • Puerto Rico    1
  • Myanmar (Burma)    1
  • Ukraine    1
  • Netherlands    1
  • El Salvador    1
  • Sri Lanka    1
  • Bolivia    1
  • Colombia    1
  • Malta    1
  • Papua New Guinea    1
  • Kuwait    1
  • Hungary    1

If you come from one of these countries listed above I urge you to share Listening Faithfully Blog with everyone you know if you have not done so already.  Also please visit Listening Faithfully Facebook and Listening Faithfully Community

New Features

Finally Listening Faithfully Blog via Facebook can offer a forum page where questions about the current blog posting can be discussed by you the viewers, with me, the author – Brian Keith. To take part in our discussions please click the following link – FORUMS

I look forward to sharing the results from 2016 with all of you in 2017!

Again, thank you for taking the time to read my posts as well as for your support. –Brian Keith

FullSizeRender (1)

 

Fanatics at Large!

LOVE vs FANATISM 

27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” ~ Luke 6: 27

Love needs not the blinded zeal of a follower who demonstrates excessive enthusiasm, unreasoning fervour, or wild and extravagant notions of our God.  Rather the Lord came to us as a sheep amongst the wolves and through His undying love freed us from our sins without the lofty words that put others down while raising Himself up, no Jesus saved through the love of humility alone.  Jesus realized that there were fanatics in every religion, there are people so filled with blinded zeal for the God they choose to serve that instead they fail to emulate peace they become dangerous as they grab for power.  So, today my brothers and sisters I argue that instead of allowing ourselves to become blinded by the rules of our religion instead we need to become freed by our faith placing all confidence in our Lord and Savour in every situation for the rest of our lives filling our hearts and minds with the quiet resolve of our own salvation granted to us through the mercy of our God.  I argue we should not become so zealous for God that we ignore and otherwise become callous to others who may believe in something different, rather we need to always remain humble within our hearts and constantly ask ourselves, “How would Jesus handle this?” , thus seeking the guidance of our God in everything and in everyone.  For this is what the fanatics have forgotten as their faith is a bitter one as they choose to believe in a God of their own design, as they live in a moral Delima where faith, love, and compassion have become the shell they hide in and where their own humility and obedience to God is simply not enough. So they seek the absoluteness, the black and white rules that are written in some book which outlines their religious order, like a lawyer they prosecute anyone who does not conform to these man-made rules instead of allowing the grace of God to shine through. The fanatics are very much like a Cameleon portraying themselves as something they are truly not, and in this portrayal they thrive on the collection of things and vanity which seemingly grants them power.

THE FINGER POINTERS

“Do you indeed speak righteousness, O’ congregation? Do you judge uprightly, O’ you sons of men. 2 You, in your heart you work wickedness; you weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.” ~ Psalm 58: 1-2

Yes, God is real! Yes, God is the most powerful being in the universe! Yes, God is absolute righteousness, and Yes, God is in love with imperfect humanity!  God’s love is so great that our hearts could never contain the entire breath of His perfection and most perfect love.  But what we can do is accept the gifts given from the Holy Spirit and spread the word that God would have you spread, ignoring your own message, ignoring the temptation that would want that message from God.  For I tell you, my brothers and sisters, God’s message is completely and utterly simple; love one another, treat each other with respect and love, be tolerant in all things, give to your brothers and sisters what they need whether or not you know them or not.  God wants harmony, love, mercy, and obedience which is how we supercharge our lives.  In this none of the elements in the message of God is there any room for judgmental believers, there is no room for finger pointers who are unrighteous judges.  For who are you to judge, who are you to call someone a name, who are you to stand in objection as a false witness?  For I tell you not everyone will stay in the place where you claim to find God, not everyone will worship God in the same way but yet God still accepts them as He does your system of worship.  Not everyone is open to religious persecution nor should anyone in the days we now live should have to conform to the rules of men who dictates the rules of that religion.  For man is imperfect, we are all  lost, trapped upon a huge ark as sinners and we are all equally taking every wave that sin can throw at us!  Again, there is no room to be greedy or zealous in our faith. There is no reason to try and tout how holy we are in our own faith, for again my brothers and sisters God despises those who boast, for in this boasting is hidden the original sin; that of pride. For it was pride which brought down the greatest of all angels named Lucifer, (The Morning Star).

EGO vs HUMILITY

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord“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

According to Sigmund Freud who created the modern psychoanalytic personality theory which gave us the understanding through the three facets of human development listed as, The Id, Ego, and Super Ego.  Within this understanding, Freud explains the Super Ego as, “developing last, and is based on morals and judgments about right and wrong. Even though the superego and the ego may reach the same decision about something, the superego’s reason for that decision is more based on moral values, while the ego’s decision is based more on what others will think or what the consequences of an action could be.”  In this idea, we find God’s will for us within the values and morals the Bible teaches and to keep in check the Ego and Super Ego God introduced Humility. For I tell you my brothers and sisters humility cares not what others think, humility allows us to be calm in the face of hostility, humility allows us to exhibit restraint from the boastfulness of both the ego and superego.  I say this because your belief in something greater than man’s will is God’s will, for His thoughts are so far above ours which forces us to think deeply, to contemplate, to humble ourselves in the communion of the soul with our God as we connect in the struggle to understand and gain in His almighty wisdom.  God demands his followers to be thinkers, questioners, and a people who believe based on His words and messages.  God desires a people of wisdom and who exhibit self-control in all matters they may face.  For these qualities were shown in Jesus’s words and actions from start to finish. But the greatest example Jesus exhibited was the ability to put down sin and pickup righteousness,  to upstage evil and save the world.

Amen,

 If you enjoyed “Fanatics at Large!”, I invite you to stay in contact with me through the following ways and please do not forget to rate this posting below.

FullSizeRender (1)

Email: listeningfaithfullyblog@gmail.com

Facebook: CLICK HERE

Special Prayer Request: Our Brother Herbert Sutton

Prayer for Herbert

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” ~ Matthew 11:28

The sickness that we endure, the day-to-day hardships of life, even the stubborn illnesses that refuse to go away which we face yearly are but nothing to our Lord who heals everything, mends everyone, uplifts every person, and through these trials we are given the evidence that God is with us no matter what?  Do not assume that God is not there my brothers and sister, do not make the mistake of thinking  that God has ignored our suffering, and do not make the mistake of thinking you are alone, because you are not alone, we are never alone for God is always there molding us; making us better versions of ourselves that resemble our God in Heaven.  Yes, there are moments in life where we wrestle with God, we wrestle with the bad things that happen to us, and often we blame God when really self-reflection is in order. When we suffer remember there is always a reason, one that we may not truly understand until God reveals the purpose to us. Many times the result is a person stronger in their faith, stronger in their will to survive, and more loving, kind, and forgiving towards others. Suffering changes us all, not just the one who is burdened with the extra hardship but also the family and so they too are strengthened, molded, made more loving, kind, forgiving, and filled with Gods grace. There is nothing better than strife to make us crave hope from our Lord. There is nothing better than hope to restore and redeem our souls within the agape love of God.

Calling Everyone to Pray

635838473103778984-428642010_cup-world-large

So it is that I call everyone from everywhere to come together to pray for a man, a father, named Herbert Sutton. Beloved by his children, Herbert became ill and his illness grew into pneumonia which put him in Kaiser hospital this past Saturday, February 27, 2016.  Our brother Herbert also suffers from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema which is a chronic lung disease that makes it hard to breathe.  Many people who suffer from COPD become sick easier and often need extra oxygen. Some are anxious about traveling with oxygen tanks so they stay home instead of enjoying time away. But when our brother Herbert became sick and went to the hospital it was discovered that he also now has fluid on his lungs.  So it is with some urgency I come to you my brothers and sisters to pray for Herbert Sutton as his suffering literally takes immense effort for him to breathe in each life-giving breath.

Prayer for Herbert Sutton

Say these words as you pray for Herbert;

Dear Lord, God in heaven I know your loving grace is with us, for you see and hear our prayers for our brother Herbert Sutton. Oh’ Lord, God in Heaven I call upon you and your healing touch to take the pain away, to make each breath easier, to give hope and love to this man who has so much to live for namely his many children and grandchildren who love him as much as you love them. Dear Lord, I humbly ask you the master of all things, master of the living and the dead, savior of all who love you to show your grace upon Herbert who lay in pain and who is long suffering, and I humbly ask you to heal him allowing him to stand, walk, and talk so it may bring glory to you alone. Oh’ my God of mercy I pray to you, the only one who can grant salvation and who sent your only son to die on the cross only to be raised on the third day, to hold Herbert in your ever loving hands, to carry him for he is weak, and to redeem him filling his soul with your love calming him, giving him reassurance, and the will to live. Oh’ Lord, God in Heaven let it be so that our brother Herbert hears your voice as you say unto him,

“I came that they might have life and have it to the full.” ~ (Jn. 10:10)  As we all pray, “For

In response to the Lord – We all pray, “For the Lord is my shepherd; I shall want for nothing;
I fear no evil; for you are at my side.” ~ (Ps. 23)

Amen

Dear Brothers & Sisters, please pray this prayer to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so that our God will send his love to Herbert in abundance and allow Herbert to breathe effortlessly once more full of life.