Crazy 12 Months - Life is Good!

To say it has been a crazy year would be an understatement.  This past year I was laid off from work, unemployed for 6 months, had a heart attack, got a new job, and entered heart rehab.  Even through all this I still feel blessed.  At every step of this journey, God was there for me and family.  He provided money to pay for bills.  He provided the right people in my life to get me through the heart attack.  He made sure that all things worked in perfect timing.  One example was that I received the call for my new job 15 minutes after I was taken from ICU to a regular hospital room.  I had asked if I could sit in the chair instead of laying on the bed and the nurse said sure.  I laid my cell phone on the bed beside the chair.  It rang and I paused and thought about not answering it, yet I did and it was the recruiter.  She asked if I could come to New Orleans the next couple of days for the interview.  I told her I was busy and could we schedule for the end of next week and she said that would be fine.  Here is one small example of how God takes care of those who pray and try to live a righteous life.  I'm not saying I'm righteous, but I do try and with God's help, I become closer everyday.

Most people would wonder how I could feel blessed after what has happened to me the past twelve months, but that is the only thing I feel.  There are times when I start to get down and let bad thoughts creep into my mind, but I try to immediately pray to Jesus to remove them from me.  He always comes to my help and gives me peace when I pray and ask for it. 

I'm a lot closer to peace than I have ever been in my life.  I still have a long way to go, but with God's help I will have peace in this life and after.  What I mean by peace is that in my whole life, I have always felt that I'm missing something and have always been anxious.  Never really been relaxed, never living in the moment.  I've have become more relaxed and at ease.  I have a long way to go before I would say that I'm a ease, but I do feel at ease more and have more patience.  Compared to most I would say I'm not doing very good, but compared to where I was in my life compared to now, I have made great progress.  Also, I have done nothing by myself, every good thing comes from Jesus who saved me.

I read the book "Heaven is for real" written by Todd Burpo last night.  It is about a 4 year old boy who gets to go to heaven and retells the events to his family.  This is a great read and I would suggest it to everyone.

This is just one of  a million things that God has put in my path and I'm appreciative for it.  I found this book in the library yesterday, I was looking for another book.  It helped to reinforce my faith and hope for what I have not seen, but I know is real.

What I Can't Have!

I have learned very quickly what I can't have to eat;

very little meat,
almost no salt,
very little cholesterol,
low fat,

pretty much a vegetarian diet.

Sometimes this makes me feel a little depressed as I think about what I cannot have.  Then I start to think about what I can have by eating healthy.

I can have life

I can have time with my family

I can have better health

It is easy to think about what we can't have, but we should think about what we can have.  We should think about the blessings that the good Lord has already given to each and every one of us.

Every day is a blessing and I pray that I never take a day for granted and give the blessing to where it belongs, to God.

Heart Attack - The Widow Maker

I can't believe it, on May 25, at around 6:00 p.m. I had a heart attack.  I would later find out out that my LAD was 100% blocked.  They call it the widow maker and that I'm lucky to be alive.

It still hasn't sunk in that I could have died and that my earthly life would have been over.  I know God has a reason for this and that one day I will know that reason.

I thank God that I'm alive and all the blessing that I have in my life.

Amelia Earhart Quotes

The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure , the process is its own reward. 

Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace. 

Amelia Earhart

Misery is a choice!

Resolve to be thyself; and know that who finds himself, loses his misery.” -- Matthew Arnold


"The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions, and not on our circumstances." -- Martha Washington

”In our lives, trouble is inevitable, misery is optional.”
“Doing nothing is happiness for children and misery for old men.” -- Victor Hugo

”I don't think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains.” -- Anne Frank

”I have always held firmly to the thought that each one of us can do a little to bring some portion of misery to an end.” -- Albert Schweitzer

”It is almost impossible for anyone, even the most ineffective among us, to continue to choose misery after becoming aware that it is a choice.” -- William Glasser

”When God loves a creature he wants the creature to know the highest happiness and the deepest misery. He wants him to know all that being alive can bring. That is his best gift. There is no happiness save in understanding the whole.” -- Thornton Wilder

Hosea 6:6

No matter how it is translated, it all means the samething:

Hosea 6:4-7 (MSG)

4-7 "What am I to do with you, Ephraim?
What do I make of you, Judah?
Your declarations of love last no longer
than morning mist and predawn dew.
That's why I use prophets to shake you to attention,
why my words cut you to the quick:
To wake you up to my judgment
blazing like light.
I'm after love that lasts, not more religion.
I want you to know God, not go to more prayer meetings.
You broke the covenant—just like Adam!
You broke faith with me—ungrateful wretches!

Hosea 6:6 NIV

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

Hosea 6:6 NLT

I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.

English Standard Version

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)

For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)

I want your loyalty, not your sacrifices. I want you to know me, not to give me burnt offerings.

King James Bible

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

American King James Version

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

American Standard Version

For I desire goodness, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings.

Bible in Basic English

Because my desire is for mercy and not offerings; for the knowledge of God more than for burned offerings.

Darby Bible Translation

For I delight in loving-kindness, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings.

English Revised Version

For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Webster's Bible Translation

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice: and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings.

World English Bible

For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Young's Literal Translation

For kindness I desired, and not sacrifice, And a knowledge of God above burnt-offerings.

Geneva Study Bible

For I desired {f} mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Wesley's Notes

6:6 For - I so hewed and slew them, because they did not what I most of all required; they were full of sacrifices, but either to idols, or else in formality and pride. Mercy - Compassion and charity towards men, this one principal duty of the second table put for all. In this I delight, I have found little of this among you. Not sacrifice - Rather than sacrifice. The knowledge of God - The affectionate knowledge of God, which fills the mind with reverence of his majesty, fear of his goodness, love of his holiness, trust in his promise, and submission to his will.


This passage hit me as so profound and yet so simple, as Jesus put it, love God and love your neighbor.  It is not about putting on a religious show - outward  appearances, all God wants is for us to know him intimately to live our lives with him.  To have a dialogue with him, to live our life in his presence and to be one with him.  I do not know how to do this, but I do have a better understanding of what God wants.  As Jesus so clearly stated he is the way, love is the way to God.

FREEDOM

Freedom is not where you live
Freedom is not where you work
Freedom is not who your family is
Freedom is not your body
Freedom is not money

Freedom is only found in your mind - Soul!

So, you have freedom if your Soul is free.

How do we have a free Soul?

We ask for it!

How?

Just ask Jesus Christ to free your Soul!

We can be free, just ask!

I AM

Moses was a shephard in the desert and he came to know God and God spoke to him!

Exodus 13:13-14
13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am . [b] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

John 10:34-38
34Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods'[e]? 35If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken— 36what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? 37Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. 38But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father."


Psalm 82:6


"I said, 'You are "gods"; you are all sons of the Most High.'

As Christians we are children of Christ, Jesus was God on earth, so we are children of God.  God is everywhere and in everything, so God is in us.

Mellon-Thomas Benedict

Journey Through the Light and Back


After suffering from a terminal illness, in 1982 Mellen-Thomas Benedict ‘died’ and for an hour and a half he was monitored showing no vital signs. Miraculously he returned to his body with a complete remission of the disease – and what may be the most inspirational near-death experience story known to date.

While on the “other side” Mellen journeyed through several realms of consciousness and beyond the “light at the end of the tunnel”. He was shown during his NDE, in holographic detail, Earth’s past and a beautiful vision of mankind’s future for the next 400 years. He experienced the cosmology of our soul’s connection to Mother Earth (Gaia), our role in the Universe, and was gifted with access to Universal Intelligence.

Since his near-death experience, Mellen-Thomas has maintained his direct access to Universal Intelligence, and returns to the light at will, enabling him to be a bridge between science and spirit. He has been involved in research programs on life after death experiences and has developed new technologies for health and wellness. With humility, insight, and depth of feeling he shares his experience and insights.

He brings back a message of hope and inspiration for humanity about Life After Death and Reincarnation delivered with a joy and clarity that is refreshing. His depth of feeling and passion for life is a gift to be shared.

Fear and Living - Quotes

"Ulimately we know deeply that the other side of every fear is a freedom."  Marilyn Fergusen

"Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity.  They seem to be more afraid of life than death."  James F. Bymes

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience on which you really stop to look fear in the face.  You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."  Eleanor Roosevelt

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that counts.  It's the life in your years."  Abraham Lincoln

"How we spend our days is. of course, how spend our lives"  Annie Dillard

"Dost thou love life?  Then do not squandor time, for that the stuff life is made of."  Ben Franklin

"Every man dies - Not every man lives"  William Ross Wallace

"God is love.  When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us.  This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgement Day - our standing in the world is identical with Christ's.  There is no room in love for fear.  Well-formed love banishes fear.  Since, fear is crippling , a fearful life - fear of death, fear of judgment - is one not fully formed in love."  1 John 4:17-18 MSG Emphases Added

Idol Worship

Isn't it amazing how sports can affect our moods, depending on the outcome we are either happy or sad or even mad.  It is just a sport, but I'm affected by my emotional attachments to the teams I support.  When they win it makes me feel like a winner, when they lose it makes me feel like a loser.  But the funny thing is it is only a game and whether they win or lose I will still be the same person I was before the game - A WINNER OR A LOSER - it doesn't depend on the game.

We are all winners in Jesus Christ who saved us from our sins and gave us eternal life.  Remember what really matters in life and it is not a game, it is Jesus.