A New Year

The Lord told me I was going to be a pastor and start a church.  But I'm thinking this world doesn't need another church.

I attend two very different churches, but I'm not a fan of religion because I personally know God.  I know what He wants for us and how we settle for so much less with religion.

We use ministers, rituals and traditions as a substitute for a close personal relationship with our Lord.  I find this all silly and small.

However, my new year's resolution is to be more obedient, so I agreed with Him.  And since starting a church means I will need more money, I received a check for $500 this past week to put towards it.

Dumping my negativity about church and completely opening up to the Lord's leading will truly make this next year a new one.  Thank You, Jesus, for directing my life!

Consequences Are Good

The Bible book of 2 Samuel tells about King David's life as ruler of Israel. 

Despite having multiple wives and concubines, David seduced a married woman, got her pregnant and had her husband killed in war.  Then David married her and planned on keeping all of this a secret, but God sent His Prophet Nathan to explain the consequences.

We all have secrets from the world that we do not want revealed and pretend that God does not know them.  We cannot hide from our Creator, and the more responsible we are, the more accountable we are. 

While we do not all have a prophet to explain our consequences, we all experience these results from our actions, whether we understand them or not.

With consequences from our behavior, we can learn to change and have the opportunity for improvement. 

Consequences make us understand how foolish and destructive our human thinking can be, so we will seek forgiveness and salvation from our Lord, which is just a prayer away.

Listen, Think And Become Wise

After the death of their leaders, the Israelites in the Bible book of Judges went astray with their idol worshiping.  Then God would discipline them and raise up a wise judge to lead them, either a man or woman.

Most humans need a spiritual leader to follow because they do not think for themselves or listen to God.  When people listen to the world and follow public opinion, they can find themselves moving in the wrong direction.

The biblical judges became wise because they were independent thinkers and listened to God.  With out-of-this-world wisdom available 24/7, everyone can become spiritually wise by sincerely seeking it through prayer.

Wisdom Comes From Understanding

In the Bible book of Joshua, he led the Israelites to begin their holy nation.

Joshua had started in Egypt and knew the difficulties that occurred with these problem people, so he was very obedient to God for obtaining His help.

When a person knows history, he or she can learn to not repeat it.  Wisdom comes from clearly understanding the world and its inhabitants.

Since God made everything, the more we comprehend this existence, the closer we will draw to our Creator.

And like Joshua, help is just a prayer away.

Think To Stop Mistakes

In Deuteronomy, Moses summarized the Israelites' history of not obeying God and warned against repeating these mistakes.

He wanted them to think for themselves and not blindly follow their families' traditions.

People repeat their mistakes throughout history as a nation, family or individual.  Repeating mistakes are bad habits that come from worldly programing.

To change these habits, everyone needs to stop, think, ask "why?" and decide if this is a good reason.

God wants people to think for themselves, so they can achieve spiritual growth.

Rebellious Humans

People love to have their own way and the Israelites in the Old Testament were no exception. 

In the book of Numbers, the cycle of rebellion and discipline continued no matter how many more rules were given.

When God becomes the frame of reference for wisdom, it keeps humans humble because they have a realistic understanding of their limitations.  But even this realization did not stop Moses from disobeying God out of frustration and being punished.

Unfortunately, human behavior has not improved on this planet and the same anger problems can still be seen today. 

Only through the wisdom of our Heavenly Father can this world be improved so sincerely pray for guidance and be totally open to His direction.

Rules For The Unruly

God taught the Israelites righteous living with His 613 laws in Exodus and continued in Leviticus.

The amount of laws and requirements needed to govern people directly reflects their many problem behaviors, which this group had in excess.

With rules on worship now in place, religious leaders became more accountable and responsible before God.  The worst sin humans commit is when they lead others away from the Lord, and there are many examples of this in the world today.

A spiritually barren life occurs when humans worship themselves, others or worldly gain.

Only through obedience to the Lord's wisdom can people learn to grow spiritually, so pray and ask sincerely for His help.

Trust God

Two major problems humans have with their Heavenly Father are trust and expectations. 

With God being limitless, He seems unbelievable and difficult to understand for our limited minds.  The book of Exodus shows many examples of these issues from multiple perspectives.

When God called Moses to lead the Israelites, he said, no, at first and made excuses.  Once the Israelites heard Moses, they expected their lives to become easy and rebelled against their many difficulties. 

Moses expected to be done with his mission within a year but the mistrusting Israelites caused it to become 40.

Everyone has a spiritual mission to accomplish on Earth for reaching heaven.  With help from others, Moses fulfilled his destiny and learned to trust God. 

Anyone can learn how to trust our Creator and follow his or her destiny when on a spiritual journey.

In The Beginning

Genesis, the first book of the Bible, tells the beginning of God's creation and how He loves humans.

The people that returned God's love were obedient to His Will no matter what hardships resulted.  These exceptional humans knew they needed a Father to guide and help them grow spiritually.

Noah loved and pleased God, so he obtained information for physical salvation but witnessed the world's destruction in a flood.

Abraham loved and pleased God but underwent many difficult tests along with his material rewards.

Joseph loved and pleased God but was sold into slavery at 17 until his release at age 30 for a high ranking position.

Being God's beloved children does not necessarily bring riches and comfort.  The Father disciplines and tests His children for spiritual growth with any physical rewards being secondary.

Love God by viewing the eternal picture and striving for spiritual growth!

Understand The Bible

The Bible is actually separate books compiled together to show the relationship between The Creator God and His human creation.  Since God wants people to mature spiritually and live an eternal holy life, the Bible becomes a workbook on how to accomplish this difficult task.

To deeply understand this complex book, a person must be filled with the Holy Spirit for guidance or else the information will be filtered and processed through the internal worldly programing all humans receive in this physical realm.

When I began a close relationship with God in 2009, I discovered how the Holy Spirit lives in me as a constant support, guide, comforter and companion.  Over the course of my life, I had read the Bible many times but could not comprehend it because all I had was a worldly interpretation.

Now I understand the Bible spiritually and will share some of my insights on what I have learned in a series of future blogs.

Learn Through Suffering

This physical plane of existence is like a difficult school to prepare for the next life.

While God always listens to people, He only grants their prayers if this will help them grow spiritually and not to just avoid suffering.

Since humans learn best through the pain and struggle, it is very important to pay attention and analyze what is going on or else the lesson will just repeat.

~ For more information, read my ebook, Tranquil Hearts Program For Achieving Peace, that is available at www.tranquilhearts.com

All Creation Has Salvation!

Jesus said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."

Mark 16:15

Living in Harmony

All major religions, like Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Taoism, have teachings about how we should all live in harmony. However, all these religions have also been twisted into a means for violence and profit.

Does this make religion horrible or just the people that manipulate it? To stop this, it is so important that we all learn to think for ourselves and not just follow religious teachings blindly.

No matter what someone says, no one is perfect, and all religions are full of imperfect people just like everywhere else. So people should not expect or seek perfection, but focus on the core beliefs that run through all major religions of love, acceptance, balance and harmony to find the truth.