So 8 months ago I sold everything I could and just packed up the rest which included 6 bags of clothes, a box of dvds and bluray player, tons of books, and other things and just drove across the country on an adventure.
A lot of people thought I was crazy to do it, I had no prospects job wise and really no real security of anywhere to go but I felt I had to, I felt stuck where I was and as much as I loved Madison WI with all my friends and family I had to go.
I had a lot of fun driving through states, except you Wyoming, you sucked with your 3 radio stations and snow storm that set me back...
I saw the badlands which was amazing and met some people along the way, when I got to Washington state I found myself homeless in the Tri-cities which were pretty much a slum in the desert so not fun at all.
I was down to a little money left when my parents called me about a family friend whom said I could come stay with them for a little bit and maybe find me a job.
I left for Tacoma which was 2 hours away and stayed with them for a while and started working at the same company the family friend worked at and then they kicked me out so I was homeless again for a while as I worked.
I found a place in Olympia, WA and I love it here, I eventually transferred to a closer city to work and loved the job until I quit to go work for Xerox which I know now I should have just stayed where I was at.
all in all I've learned that even though taking chances is a scary thing risk is worth taking sometimes because without it, there's no reward, you really have to take a chance to find out and have as much faith that everything will work out in the end.
Right now I laugh because everyone thought I was crazy for just up and moving across the country but I had the best winter ever since there's been little snow while my Midwest friends and family got dumped on with a huge snowfall.
I love my life right now, it's not perfect but I'm much happier than I was and am confident I did the right thing and what needed to be done for my own sake.
There will be people who will look at your actions and scoff or call you crazy for it but you shouldn't do it for them, you do it for yourself and only yourself.
You may fall, fail but in the end it is much more satisfying to fail on your own terms than live under others terms.
Always remember that.
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Monday, April 19, 2010
Diamonds and Faith
I wrote this a while back in my Facebook notes but I thought I would put it up on my blog too because I liked it.
Do you know how Diamonds are made?
Diamonds are made only one way, they start out as a ugly lump of coal, then with enough time and pressure the ugliness falls away to show the diamond in the ruff then a jeweler comes along and cuts out all the unsightly bits and when it's done it shines brighter than any other, such is that of Life and Faith.
People ask how God can make good people suffer but I don't see it as suffering so much as being shaped to be a brighter Gem, we pretend to want to change or even want to change things about us that might appear unsightly to the world.
It's something painful which we tend to forget, our lives start out with a lot of sin much like coal then we go through pressures of life and some depending on how big of diamond they will become, it will take a bit longer or more pressure to break through to the diamond inside.
When we go through getting rid of a lot of the sin in our lives there's still all the rough bits that need to be worked out so that's where our Jeweler comes in.
God comes along and starts striping away the rough parts until we're polished and brighter than not only what we were before but can show others what good can come out of what seemed to be bad situations.
Once a diamond is done it's one of the toughest substances in the world and that is what we strive to become and once that happens we can go through anything and affect life rather than us being affected by it.
Let me leave you with this Quote...
“The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond, and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear" - Daniel Defoe.
Do you know how Diamonds are made?
Diamonds are made only one way, they start out as a ugly lump of coal, then with enough time and pressure the ugliness falls away to show the diamond in the ruff then a jeweler comes along and cuts out all the unsightly bits and when it's done it shines brighter than any other, such is that of Life and Faith.
People ask how God can make good people suffer but I don't see it as suffering so much as being shaped to be a brighter Gem, we pretend to want to change or even want to change things about us that might appear unsightly to the world.
It's something painful which we tend to forget, our lives start out with a lot of sin much like coal then we go through pressures of life and some depending on how big of diamond they will become, it will take a bit longer or more pressure to break through to the diamond inside.
When we go through getting rid of a lot of the sin in our lives there's still all the rough bits that need to be worked out so that's where our Jeweler comes in.
God comes along and starts striping away the rough parts until we're polished and brighter than not only what we were before but can show others what good can come out of what seemed to be bad situations.
Once a diamond is done it's one of the toughest substances in the world and that is what we strive to become and once that happens we can go through anything and affect life rather than us being affected by it.
Let me leave you with this Quote...
“The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond, and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear" - Daniel Defoe.
Friday, April 16, 2010
The reality of God's forgiveness and Grace
Forgiveness, Everyone likes to be forgiven whether it be from a hurt friend for something that happened or God's forgiveness for our sins.
God has set a standard for everyone to live by which is to not sin and since that is impossible, God sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins as a payment so we could be forgiven for our crimes against God.
We all have sins we deal with but culture seems to have a liberal understanding of this with all sorts of Ideas outside of the Bible what God says is right in wrong.
They make excuses like "I'm a good person" in an attempt to justify their behavior in continuing their life in sin.
Then there's the other type of person who dismiss' God altogether saying that there is no such thing as sin, no right or wrong and that sin is subjective.
These notions are false, much like the Idea that there is more than one way to get to heaven.
Jesus said in John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
People think that by forming their ideas of God in their image that He'll be ok with how they live their lives even if it clearly goes against what God has said.
I've heard some people say "Well My god wouldn't send anyone to hell." but that's just it, their god wouldn't but clearly God said He would.
Matthew 13:42: "And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
Matt 25:41: "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." This passage relates to Jesus' judgment of all the world.
Mark 9:43-48: And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched." The reference to fire is repeated three more times in the passage for emphasis.
Luke 16:24: "And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." This is a plea described as coming from an inhabitant of Hell.
As a sign in Georgia puts it "Just because you don't believe in Hell don't mean you ain't goin' there."
In making God ok with whatever they want they become idolaters no different than Pagans who worship the earth or other things God created.
People have a tendency to like the title of Christian but they are so in name only, the sad fact is most don't see a reason to go to church so they don't go except observing for holiday services.
Their reasoning behind it is that there are too many Hypocrites or they don't like anyone telling them how to live their lives.
That is very spiritually immature and shows they have no interest in God and His ways or even getting close to God because if they won't listen to those God has put up to help us understand His word better.
This is not to say that all pastors are right in their theology or that there aren't Hypocrites in the church but people fail to realize a few things.
1. Pastors with wrong Theology.
This is why we need to read the Bible making sure that we know when something doesn't line up with scripture and know if someone is correct or not.
Those who are correct show us a point of view that we couldn't see and those who aren't will be exposed by those who know what the Bible states.
2. Hypocrites.
These people are the ones who are Christian in title but do not study God's word so they go out and act like the rest of the world and then go to church asking for forgiveness but never trying to change.
What people SHOULD be asking themselves why they can't be the person to be an example for others.
You might be interested to know that Matthew 7:22-23 states "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
Also Matthew 7:16 says "By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?"
These two Verses show that you will be able to tell who are real christians by plastic ones and that these people who claim to know God, He will tell them that He does not know them and that they are evil.
So as you can see the hypocrites will not go unpunished by God and their deeds will be seen because they're hearts will be open before Him.
There are reasons for Church, the first church started as home groups, breaking bread with each other and what some fail to see is that we are there to help strengthen each other in faith.
The people are the church not some building but the Idea of church no matter how big or small is based on the people being with each other.
It's easy to get lost in a big church but this is where you must pray for what church God wants you at and a church that lines up with the Bible says.
In Proverbs 27:17 it says "As iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."
Matthew 18:20 states "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
These two verses alone go to show that you cannot be by yourself and expect to keep on track, you have no one to be accountable to and your actions to stay on the straight and narrow.
This is not to say you can't read alone but it's always good to have others to confirm correct teaching.
Now having set that right let me Get back to God's forgiveness...
The whole Idea of God's forgiveness relies on the fact that we need to have real repentance which means doing a 180 from our sins.
Everyone has trouble with falling into traps of their own, we're only human after all but at least making an effort to try and turn from it is what counts.
There are some who think they can continue sinning and just ask for forgiveness, God knows your heart and knows if you're honest with wanting forgiveness or if you're trying to fool God but they're only fooling themselves into thinking that their hearts aren't revealed before God.
God's forgiveness works on Repentance, if someone is not honestly repentant then God cannot forgive them.
There are those as I stated that don't believe anything is a sin and with that they cannot be forgiven.
This is not to say people cannot be forgiven on their deathbed, the point is that your ask for forgiveness is about being honestly being sorry for what you did.
Some think they can use this as an excuse to wait until the last minute but this is faulty thinking and here's why.
1.You don't know when you'll die, anything could happen and you could die at any moment without warning.
2. You loose time...
When you're a witness to others you gain your reward in heaven through both bringing others to Christ and also through what you did in your life.
Now this is NOT to say that works alone will do it by any means, James 2:20 says that faith without works is dead and Vise Versa but you also have to look at and consider Ephesians 2:8 which says salvation is by grace through faith.
We were meant to do good works but not rely on them totally for our salvation because it has already been worked out but is only part of who we are supposed to be in Christ.
3. God knows our hearts.
Waiting for the last second is a major problem due to the fact that God knows you've been putting it off, they try to postpone living for God so they can live their own way and then when life is over they think they can fool God into thinking that they were sorry for living in sin.
The problem is that they're hearts are exposed before God, He knows when they're trying to fool Him or if they are really being honest.
I hope this has shown you a great deal and helps you understand the truth behind the grace of God.
We must be honest, Repent accept Jesus is the only way, we cannot earn our way to heaven and should not wait for the last minute because we don't know when that will be.
After reading this please do yourself a favor, if you're trying to play games and trying to fool God into forgiveness while wanting to live your own way because you're only fooling yourself and it's both a shame and a waste.
Please read or reread as many times as needed, meditate on it and pray if you still don't understand.
God has set a standard for everyone to live by which is to not sin and since that is impossible, God sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins as a payment so we could be forgiven for our crimes against God.
We all have sins we deal with but culture seems to have a liberal understanding of this with all sorts of Ideas outside of the Bible what God says is right in wrong.
They make excuses like "I'm a good person" in an attempt to justify their behavior in continuing their life in sin.
Then there's the other type of person who dismiss' God altogether saying that there is no such thing as sin, no right or wrong and that sin is subjective.
These notions are false, much like the Idea that there is more than one way to get to heaven.
Jesus said in John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
People think that by forming their ideas of God in their image that He'll be ok with how they live their lives even if it clearly goes against what God has said.
I've heard some people say "Well My god wouldn't send anyone to hell." but that's just it, their god wouldn't but clearly God said He would.
Matthew 13:42: "And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
Matt 25:41: "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." This passage relates to Jesus' judgment of all the world.
Mark 9:43-48: And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched." The reference to fire is repeated three more times in the passage for emphasis.
Luke 16:24: "And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." This is a plea described as coming from an inhabitant of Hell.
As a sign in Georgia puts it "Just because you don't believe in Hell don't mean you ain't goin' there."
In making God ok with whatever they want they become idolaters no different than Pagans who worship the earth or other things God created.
People have a tendency to like the title of Christian but they are so in name only, the sad fact is most don't see a reason to go to church so they don't go except observing for holiday services.
Their reasoning behind it is that there are too many Hypocrites or they don't like anyone telling them how to live their lives.
That is very spiritually immature and shows they have no interest in God and His ways or even getting close to God because if they won't listen to those God has put up to help us understand His word better.
This is not to say that all pastors are right in their theology or that there aren't Hypocrites in the church but people fail to realize a few things.
1. Pastors with wrong Theology.
This is why we need to read the Bible making sure that we know when something doesn't line up with scripture and know if someone is correct or not.
Those who are correct show us a point of view that we couldn't see and those who aren't will be exposed by those who know what the Bible states.
2. Hypocrites.
These people are the ones who are Christian in title but do not study God's word so they go out and act like the rest of the world and then go to church asking for forgiveness but never trying to change.
What people SHOULD be asking themselves why they can't be the person to be an example for others.
You might be interested to know that Matthew 7:22-23 states "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
Also Matthew 7:16 says "By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?"
These two Verses show that you will be able to tell who are real christians by plastic ones and that these people who claim to know God, He will tell them that He does not know them and that they are evil.
So as you can see the hypocrites will not go unpunished by God and their deeds will be seen because they're hearts will be open before Him.
There are reasons for Church, the first church started as home groups, breaking bread with each other and what some fail to see is that we are there to help strengthen each other in faith.
The people are the church not some building but the Idea of church no matter how big or small is based on the people being with each other.
It's easy to get lost in a big church but this is where you must pray for what church God wants you at and a church that lines up with the Bible says.
In Proverbs 27:17 it says "As iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."
Matthew 18:20 states "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
These two verses alone go to show that you cannot be by yourself and expect to keep on track, you have no one to be accountable to and your actions to stay on the straight and narrow.
This is not to say you can't read alone but it's always good to have others to confirm correct teaching.
Now having set that right let me Get back to God's forgiveness...
The whole Idea of God's forgiveness relies on the fact that we need to have real repentance which means doing a 180 from our sins.
Everyone has trouble with falling into traps of their own, we're only human after all but at least making an effort to try and turn from it is what counts.
There are some who think they can continue sinning and just ask for forgiveness, God knows your heart and knows if you're honest with wanting forgiveness or if you're trying to fool God but they're only fooling themselves into thinking that their hearts aren't revealed before God.
God's forgiveness works on Repentance, if someone is not honestly repentant then God cannot forgive them.
There are those as I stated that don't believe anything is a sin and with that they cannot be forgiven.
This is not to say people cannot be forgiven on their deathbed, the point is that your ask for forgiveness is about being honestly being sorry for what you did.
Some think they can use this as an excuse to wait until the last minute but this is faulty thinking and here's why.
1.You don't know when you'll die, anything could happen and you could die at any moment without warning.
2. You loose time...
When you're a witness to others you gain your reward in heaven through both bringing others to Christ and also through what you did in your life.
Now this is NOT to say that works alone will do it by any means, James 2:20 says that faith without works is dead and Vise Versa but you also have to look at and consider Ephesians 2:8 which says salvation is by grace through faith.
We were meant to do good works but not rely on them totally for our salvation because it has already been worked out but is only part of who we are supposed to be in Christ.
3. God knows our hearts.
Waiting for the last second is a major problem due to the fact that God knows you've been putting it off, they try to postpone living for God so they can live their own way and then when life is over they think they can fool God into thinking that they were sorry for living in sin.
The problem is that they're hearts are exposed before God, He knows when they're trying to fool Him or if they are really being honest.
I hope this has shown you a great deal and helps you understand the truth behind the grace of God.
We must be honest, Repent accept Jesus is the only way, we cannot earn our way to heaven and should not wait for the last minute because we don't know when that will be.
After reading this please do yourself a favor, if you're trying to play games and trying to fool God into forgiveness while wanting to live your own way because you're only fooling yourself and it's both a shame and a waste.
Please read or reread as many times as needed, meditate on it and pray if you still don't understand.
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