Tag Archives: eternal life

Finding Love Beyond Religion: A Bigger Truth

13 Jul

Mention RELIGION as a means to an end and people lose their minds. The reason is quite simple because RELIGION cannot solve mankind’s problems. RELIGION is man’s attempt to control another. It’s also man’s attempt to reach a Holy God through one’s behavior and neither end well.

There are around 4200 different religions in the world today. Amazing as that is, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Roman Catholicism and Judaism make the world news more than any others. But there is a commonality amongst all religions and that is behavior modification, control, a belief in a higher power, stories, teachings, and moral and ethical instructions, and some form of worship. It all sounds pretty good, but its man’s attempt to control another and or anyone who differs with them, along with being good enough to be excepted by the Higher Power into the afterlife.

Now, is religion a good thing? It depends on one’s perspective. Within the confines of each religion the answer would be yes because it gives a society a guide on how people should live and get along within the religion. However, when one religion attempts to impose their religious views on another, angst takes root with the fallout leading to fundamental disagreements, and even volatility.

So, is there truly an answer to man’s dilemma? Sure, there is! Let’s just look at the dilemma from the premise of 4200 different god’s over 4200 different religions. What a mess! Each god vying for position to be the number one God of all religions. There would be so much confusion and debate. All these religions believe they’re the answer to the world. But the answer is not found in a religion, for all religion is based on one’s self-righteousness. The do good, get good premise. Religion in and of itself is man controlling another man through rules and vain philosophies, which takes people captive, steals, kills and eventually destroys them.

Think about your own religion for a moment. I mean really and honestly think! Does the god of your religion love you unconditionally? Does he offer you a permanent solution for your bad behavior, other than some form of punishment or even death? Is he kind, full of mercy and forgiveness? Is he compassionate? Can you say, “my god really loves me”? He loves me so much that he would give his own life for me? Would my god adopt me as one of his own and call me his child and his friend? I’m sure you could think of many more questions and if so, ask them and think on them. Then ask yourself, is there truly a god of love, is he even real? Then ask the God of Love to reveal himself to you, if and only if you are looking for truth! For you see, the God of Love is longing for you to call on Him. He wants you to know the Truth so you can be set free from religion, and He is not a God who lies!

He is a God who loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, (Jesus Christ), that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Jesus, himself said, “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly”. He also said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father (God) but through me”.

If you would like to have a personal relationship with the God of Love, you must first understand that everyone who has ever lived has been separated from him because of sin and the consequence of sin is death. However, Jesus, God’s son, died on the cross for us taking the penalty and punishment for our sin. He was then raised from the grave, from death itself on the third day, after paying our debt for our sin, so that anyone who repented of their sin and believed in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For whosever calls upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For by grace are you save through faith, it is a gift of God lest any man should boast.

Receive God’s gift of everlasting life and become a child of His, inheriting the salvation He offers and promised!

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How Your Character Shapes Your Life Success

26 Feb

Did you know that your character matters? I mean seriously, those mental and moral qualities which are distinctive to humanity, to us as individuals, truly matter. I’m not sure we realize the importance of our character. I happened to be reading from a wonderful book, one that many love and others reject, but the importance of character really made me reflect on my life, past and present. The more I reflected, the more I realized some of my thoughts and actions, let’s just say, didn’t meet the standard. Many of you reading this post, if your honest, could or would say the same. Staying true to the truth can be rather difficult. So, to remind us of the importance of our character, let’s look at an example and see what we can learn and apply in our lives.

First, there was a man named Joseph, who lived sometime around 1800 BCE, or approximately 3,600 years ago, during the times of the Pharoh’s. That’s a lot of years ago. However, the qualities of character remained the same throughout time. In Joseph case, when his character was tested, he passed with no exceptions. His loyalty to family, friends, leadership, where unmarked. He was honest, moral, patient, kind, tolerant, and forgiving. Even when he was sold into slavery by his brothers, lied about concerning moral behavior, kind to those who would forget about him or betray him, along with forgiving others, he never held a grudge. He actually blessed those who had betrayed him and was patient and tolerant when treated as a slave and imprisoned because of a lie. The benefits and outcome of passing the character test was co-ruling with the Pharoh’s for 71 years, which gave him opportunities to help those he loved and lavish all the benefits he could on those he ruled.

What about those who did not pass the character test. Those who were dishonest, full of greed, mean, petty, selfish, and disloyal. There are more who failed than have ever passed. Unfortunately, they brought disgrace to their families, destroyed people and companies, compromised themselves for selfish and greedy reasons, were only loyal to their interest and many experienced moral failures. But there’s more, like unmerciful, unforgiving, unreasonable, intolerant, and dishonest in their dealings.

You know the question really boils down to, have we missed opportunities for greatness because of the quality of our character? I think it just might be true for most of us. However, there is hope! You and I can turn from those qualities that are less than desirable and destructive to qualities of character that would pass the test:

  1. Identify those areas that are less than attractive, that cause destruction in one’s life and the life of others. Once identified do the opposite. If there is dishonesty become honest no matter the price. If your morally tempted to cheat in anyway run in the other direction. These are just a couple of examples.
  2. Identify the characteristics that add value to one’s life and others, like patients, kindness, honesty, tolerance, and loyalty. Become a person of value and like Joseph it will pay off.
  3. Never give up! If a character failure occurs forgive yourself, learn from the error and move forward. You were created for more, so go after it with the foundation of your character.

After reading this post and you realize you could use some help, let me encourage you to turn to the only one who can help you. His reign is from our beginning to the end; his character is flawless and he will help anyone who calls on him for help. He is the Almighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He gave all of his love so you could have an abundant and everlasting life. His love was His Son, Jesus Christ, who died in our place to pay the debt for our sins and take all our sins away. He was buried and resurrected from the grave on the third day. He is alive and the witnesses are many. Take the time to call out to Him. “For whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.” Go ahead call out to Jesus and you will be saved. Oh yea, and the quality of your character will change.

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