It’s all a matter of perspective…

Life can be hard… does anyone really dispute that? It doesn’t seem to matter whether you’re rich or famous (or both) or poor and homeless… extremes… yes… but the point is that every one of us has problems… every single one of us… no matter where we are in life or in the world… albeit some of our problems may be significantly more tragic than others… and while some may be happy today… wait 5 minutes…

There are hundreds of people who think they know the answers… they write books… how to be rich, skinny, married, divorced… whatever it is you think you need to be happy… I guarantee you there’s a book about it… Periodically someone thinks they’ve found THE answer and a new top 10 book is born… but that book gets shelved (pun intended)… life goes on… so do the problems… and the wonder-book of the moment is forgotten… ever thought… if even one of those books was right why don’t things change?…. Seems like a book that really had the answers would be in the top 10 for longer than just a couple of months… wouldn’t it?

My life’s no different from yours… I have “issues”… better translated… “problems”… I’m getting older, kids live too far away… never see enough of the grandkids… work is hard and getting harder thanks to a new boss… over weight… diabetic… hard of hearing… get the picture…. but, you know what… I have so much joy in my heart, it makes me want to shout from the roof tops… I mean I’m… “I don’t really need anything”… profoundly happy… why? I know what’s really going on here… but MORE importantly I KNOW what comes next and it’s soul-satisfyingly glorious!

It’s all a matter of perspective…. if you’re miserable… I bet you’re looking in… focusing on yourself… thinking you and you alone have to come up with the solutions… or maybe you think you have the solution, but it’s dependent on something you have to do… so maybe you buy a book….

There’s one book that beats all the others hands-down… the #1 best seller of all time that really can put it all in perspective… it’s the Bible… and it can answer all of life’s guestions. I can take any event (absolutely any… Dad’s suicide… husband’s stroke… any) and find the solution… why I have a problem to begin with, what I should do about it… all talked about in the Bible… name me any other book like that… sharper than a two edged sword… I can find any answer in that book to any question about how I should or should not behave…. Have you ever thought about what it is? It’s marvelous… It’s a love letter… from God to man… me… you!

One time David (as in King David) was having it tough… he’d lost his job, his home… everything… his son was trying to kill him, he was sleeping in a cave… in Psalms, he started to ask God, “Why me?” But, he switched perspectives and started praising God for all the good things He’d done in David’s life… before long David wasn’t sad any longer… he was singing God’s praises to the highest of heavens.

If you’re a believer and you’re unhappy… get back to basics.. pray about it, lay it at God’s feet… pick up your Bible and start reading… Romans is great.. so is John

If you’re not a believer what then… the Bible can solve your problems too… this entire thing called “life” is a process… a process of making a decision… a decision for Christ or against Him…. people choose not to believe because they do not want to be responsible to God for their actions… their pride stands in their way… they don’t want a God telling them what they can and can’t do.

But, did you know it’s really all about love? The earth and everything on it were created to be a setting for a jewel… where’s the jewel? Why, Honey, it’s you. You are the jewel!!!

The whole book is about love… love of God the Creator for you!…. John 3:16 says it so well… “For God so loved the world [that's you too] that He gave His only son…” He didn’t come for Himself… HE loves you so much, HE did everything necessary so YOU can have a relationship with HIM.

It’s a choice… your choice… go at the world alone, with only you by your side… or go at it with God by your side… the choice is totally up to you.

I’m keeping you in my prayers… God loves you so much!!! He is not willing that you should perish and be separated from Him forever!… choose GOD and you’ll find everything else falling into proper perspective.

Perfect Love

I came across this today while studying… all I can say is “Well said!”… and I wanted to share it…

A mind at perfect peace with God — O, what a word is this!
A sinner reconciled to God — This, this indeed, is peace!
By nature and by practice far — how very far — from God!
Yet now by grace brought nigh to Him.
Through faith in Jesus’ blood.
So nigh, so very nigh to God — I cannot nearer be;
For, in the person of His Son,
I am as near as He.
So dear, so very dear to God — More dear I cannot be;
The love wherewith He loves the Son — such is His love to me.
—Catesby Pacet*

But that’s just a man (human) like you and I…

Hebrews 10:14 says,

For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

*First Steps in the Christian Faith. 1957 (Revised 1984, 1993, 2004). Moody Bible Institute: Chicago, IL.

A Very Special Valentine

During the course of my life I’ve had 3 serious relationships. During the first one I tried to handle problems “my way” (as opposed to God’s way). As for the 2nd, well…. I refused to even ask God what He had to say about it, because I knew He’d say, “NO!” For the failure of those relationships I have no one to blame but myself… simply because I refused to let Christ be Lord in my life and to ask for and listen to His direction… then.. I was alone and very lonely for a long time……

I finally got to the place a few years ago where I’d only “go for” something if and only if the Lord indicated it was OK. I was very specific in my prayers… about wanting only what He would allow in my life…. and then one day…. He brought Gordon, my husband… we laid out many proverbial fleeces to be sure we were where the Lord OK’d us to be… and now…. I continually praise my Holy God for allowing me the blessing of this marriage. I certainly don’t deserve His mercies and I’m very grateful for them.

When someone treats one of my kids special, they treat me special… and in that way my husband honors my mother and father; by treating their daughter special. He honors our children too, by treating their Mom special and setting an example.

The Bible tells men to love their wives as they love themselves and it tells women to respect their husbands. For the very first time in my entire life I feel that someone loves me best. That’s how my husband makes me feel, like he loves me best. And, he loves me no matter what! Wow! What a blessing that is to me! His care and consideration of and for me seem to know no bounds. I can never be grateful enough to God for allowing Gordon into my life!

The secret to this success is doing it God’s way!

To my Darling Husband Gordon:

Thank you for yesterday,
today, and always…
For bringing me happiness right from the start
and offering me both your life and your heart –
For being so thoughtful in all that you do,
overlooking my faults, understanding me, too –
For all our tomorrows, whatever they hold,
and for sharing a love that will never grow old –
This brings all my love and a special prayer, too,
that you’ll be as happy as I am with you.

Honey, if I can give you back but only a fraction of the love you’ve given me, you’ll be completely happy; because my cup really does run over! I do respect you Darling, and want more than ever to be a good wife to you.

To my God… Thank you! from the bottom of my heart! May you receive all glory and honor for showing me what it’s like when it’s done your way!!!

Italy to decide whether Jesus Lived

I was going to come home from work tonight and write a simple, non-biblioblog… something. But, all that changed as I was scanning the news today. I could not believe my eyes….

An Italian, Luigi Cascioli is suing another gentleman (a Catholic priest) in Italy. Mr. Cascioli is accusing the priest of swindling or conning folks about the historical existance of Jesus.

In the news article Mr. Cascioli says, “In my book, The Fable of Christ, I present proof Jesus did not exist as a historic figure…”

Let’s stop here for just a second… he claims to present proof???? Isn’t it a bit pompous of Mr. Cascioli to claim he has proof? First of all, it is extremely difficult to prove a negative. Secondly, exactly what kind of so-called proof can he have 2000 years later? I do not believe there is a document from the time of Christ that says, “Oh… Jesus does not live.”

It would be hard to prove that George Washington never existed and he died only in 1799, 206 years ago. You say, “Well, of course he’s not going to prove that… after all George Washington DID exist.” But, how do you know? Did you see him? Do you have his birth certificiate?

FYI: Birth records are a modern record and do not exist prior to the first half of the 1800s. That’s it… nothing before that.

So I would guess the only way to prove George Washington didn’t exist would be to refute eye witness accounts. You say, “But wait there are paintings…” Now, do you really want me to go there? OK, probably not What about someone like Caesar? Or, what about Constantine the Great? We cannot prove these people did not exist, not because they did, but because we cannot refute all that we have that says they did. We must rely on the historical records; it’s all we have.

Back to the Jesus…. you may think the only record of Christ is in the Bible (even though the New Testament is comprised of 27 different documents that say He did live)… Scripture isn’t all, but even if it were… Did you know that on a historical basis the Bible has never been disproved in one single item. In fact, to date, archaeology has only verified the historical accuracy of the Bible.

There are several other sources though. A notable non-Christian source is Josephus a Jewish historian who in the 1st century also wrote about Jesus and he wasn’t alone. There were several people who wrote about Jesus within 20 years of his death.

There are other reasons for believing that the historical record is accurate, but I don’t want to write a book here. And, I’m sorry but it just doesn’t make sense to me that anyone who unbiasedly (is that a word) reviewed the early documents can declare that Christ did not live. No one has to believe He is God, but to say He never lived at all… well, there’s no factual basis for that.
I would love to get an English text of this book. It’s not out on Amazon yet… I checked.

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