You have to be strong to be a Christian

I find it interesting that some people perceive kindness as a sign of weakness, when it takes more strength to be kind than it does to be mean to people. Many people have the same perception about Christianity and again it takes a lot of strength to worship a god that at times seems like he is not there for us or that he doesn't even hears us. It also takes a lot of strength to be patient with people that attempt to persecute us and ridicule us for our beliefs. There is a cost for being kind and being a Christian. Some Christians think that the people that they deem as sinful are deliberately trying to show contempt for God. I know that was not my intention when I lived the life of a
"heathen." In turn the non- believers have the same view of us and we are trying to live righteous lives, not purposely trying to be hurtful to others. Sometimes love is calling out what seems unwholesome to us, but even Jesus said that we should not waste our time with people who are hostile to the message. However, the bible does say, " Love others as God loves you." and " Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Respect is a Christian value, although it is at times completely under emphasized.

Matthew 5:44
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,

Christians struggle too

Some people expect perfection out of Christians. If that is what is required of us then there would be no need for Jesus. Our works would save us if that was the case and grace would not be necessary. The only difference between people that love Jesus and those that don't is Jesus himself. We are not magically made righteous by giving our lives to Christ. Jesus is the atonement for our sins and his death covers every sin that we turn away from and stop doing and all the sinful things that we are making an effort to change about ourselves. Now someone who sins willfully and has no desire to change is not covered by grace and is not a true Christian. If you leave this Earth with sin that you have not turned from because you have not had any conviction about it or you have sin as the result of  of demonic oppression your heart covers for you just like repenting. Righteousness comes from God and is manifested by our deeds. It does not come from us; it comes from his spirit that continually renews our hearts and minds.

I will tell the truth

Sometimes I am a hypocrite. It is easy to do and even though I  tell other people that they shouldn't do something and I do it myself, I still want that for me. I really try to live as moral as I can. I love God and I want his favor in my life. I love him so much that I don't even care about what other people think about me, when I talk about him. I am getting to where that if I tell the truth and lose all my friends, I don't care. If I lose everything I have for telling the truth, I don't care. I will not allow myself to be fake. I cannot do this. Most people are afraid to take a stand. I cannot live with myself if I do not say it how it is. Truth hurts; it does not make people happy when they hear it, but it sets you free if you accept it. I am not afraid any more. I will make every attempt to tell the truth in a way that is respectful, full of love, with kindness and gentleness.

God never leaves us

I have had a very interesting month of difficulties. Things definitely got a little crazy. I've discovered that there are lot of things that I need to change about myself. Many of them are more about the fears that I have than anything else. It has been a pretty emotional time
and somehow I made it to a real calm place today. I have been working hard to change a lot of this and there was a good amount of stress. I have been noticing a lot of adversity and the forces of darkness really trying to tear me up. I have handled it in the best way I know how. I am noticing growth in my life, but I was really struggling to keep it together and I have failed a few times. I always build on what I learn, and growing can have pain that goes with it. Mistakes happen and I usually learn well from them. I have really had to meditate on the power of God to make it through this. I've had some forlorn moments, but our God is a God who saves and heals and strengthens us. He is with us through the times that we cannot handle well. Continue to keep me in your prayers. You can never pray too much.

God sees everything

I have noticed that words and the attitudes that come out of people is getting more and more extreme and malicious. The fear and anger that people have is through the roof right now. I've have never seen a time with as much vitriol. Viciousness is not the way to go about it. Words are far more powerful than we think they are and they can have a  lengthy effect on people long after they're said. I am learning to accept that the world is changing in a direction that I am less than pleased with. God will carry out justice in the way that he chooses. There is nothing that he does not see or hear. Justice does not always happen in our time frame, but justice does come and there will be a day of reckoning for those who make no attempt to walk on the straight path

The impact of compassion

It makes it hard to say nasty things about people when no one is responding. Kindness breeds kindness and compassion breeds compassion. What you give is what you get. People are more willing to compromise out of love and sacrifice if they are feeling respected. There is no weapon that is more powerful than the spirit of love. The bible say that kindness heaps coals on people's heads. I hope that there is a day that I can entirely practice what I preach. This is what I am striving for. Regardless whether I fall or not the message is the same. A hypocrite is someone who does not care about what he does, not someone who is making an honest effort to practice what he preaches to people and messes up sometimes. I do not profess to have it all together or be closer to God than anyone else. God chose people who were morally jacked up to be prophets and therefore they are not any more Holy than we are.

The messenger gets assasinated

If you feel that you have something wise or of value to say to people, keep in mind that most of the prophets, apostles. and messengers were murdered. If they did not listen to Jesus they will not listen to you. There are some people today that have the same spirit as the Pharisees and the Sadducees that attend church today.