Strait Is The Gate, Narrow Is The Way

I love reading the scriptures, over and over again.  There are so many cool treasures to find.  As one lesson is learned another appears!  

Here are some positives from Matthew 7. 

Do good to others, and good will be done to us.  

The more we fix ourselves, the better we can Help others.  

If you need help, ask, seek, knock: your Heavenly Father will help you!  

Remember the Golden Rule: this is the strait gate.  

Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads to life.  

Bring forth these good fruits.  

A house built upon this rock, shall not fall.  

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Forgiveness, A Little Deeper

If we do not forgive, then nothing will work.  It is imperative that we forgive.  

This is a little story, based on various experiences, and I pray it is understandable.  

There once was a girl, Ruby, who moved to a new town, got her feelings hurt, and cried.  She was hurt because people acted a certain way around her, a way she was not used to, and she took offence.  She thought they were making fun of her, reasoning why they acted so strangely.  Taking offence hurt Ruby's heart, and she could not let it go.  

She knew she needed to forgive.  Yet, she thought that she did forgive.  But then, if she forgave, why did she hurt?  She could not understand this concept.  

Later on, there came a time when Ruby made a friend, and on her friend's birthday, gave a gift to her.  Her new friend was delighted, which made Ruby delighted also.  

Ruby was happy to have a new friend, and confided in her of being hurt and struggling to forgive.  Her new friend asked, if Ruby would now cry, for giving the birthday gift?  

Ruby said no!  And she wondered why would someone even ask a question like that?  

Her new friend answered, because you gave a gift.  Why are you not going to cry, are you not sad?  

Ruby said, no!  She was not sad, and she could not understand the reasoning, the questioning.  

And so her new friend explained to her:  When you forgive, or when you give a person a gift, you are not sad anymore, you are happy, because you gave.  And you are happy that the person accepted that gift!  To forgive, means to give, as if you gave before they took it.  Forgive: to give before.  

And so, Ruby started to realize that maybe she had not forgiven.  She began to understand a deeper meaning of forgiveness.  

"If any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have they cloke also.  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:..." 
Matthew 5:40-45

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Merry Christmas

At this time of year, the Christian world is celebrating the birth of the Saviour.  Whether or not He was born this day does not detract from the message of those who heralded His coming, nor of the Saviour Himself. For truly we should be spreading the message of Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men, all the year long!  May we all return kindness in all situations.  May we follow the teachings of the Saviour and Love each other.  May we let go of all offence, and this day Let us honour our Saviour, and Forgive!  Let only good escape our mouths this day, and always!  May God bless you all.  .

Matthew 23 - Hypocrisy

This chapter teaches important lessons about hypocrisy, and thereby some ideas of what a good focus should be.

These are some of the things that I notice.  

The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

Some of the things that we should be avoiding:

• Saying, and not doing.
• Having others bear the burden, while not bearing the burden ourselves.
• Doing things to be seen, to be popular, famous, etc.
• Love to be called the Leader.
• Close the Kingdom of Heaven, change doctrines, tell people they cannot achieve it, etc.
• Do not go into Heaven, nor allow others into Heaven.
• Drain the widows, while pretending to be good, making long prayers, flowery, emotional talks, etc.
• Proselyte in a pretense of caring, and make the convert more evil than yourselves.
• Justify breaking covenants.
• Making things like tithing, etc., take precedence over the more important parts of the Law, like Justice, Mercy, Faith, etc.!
• Justify horrible sins in yourselves, but pick at little details in others.
• Look good on the outside, but full of sin on the inside.
• Say you would not have killed the prophets, but here you are mocking and saying evil of those sent by God.

Some of the things that we should be doing:

• Keep the Law of God.
• Bear the burdens.
• Do lots of good, do not be seen.
• Be humble, be a servant.
• Make the path strait.
• Go into Heaven, and show others how to go into Heaven.
• Care for the widows, orphans, infirm, victims, poor, etc., making sure they want for nothing!
• Proselyte, and help the converts rise further than you.
• Never break covenants!
• The important parts of the Gospel, Justice, Mercy, Faith, always come first, but we are still required to do the lesser parts of the Law as well.
• Get the sins out of ourselves, throw a cloak of charity over others.
• Clean the inside!  
• Feel, think, say, and do only good to others.  

If we are to believe the Saviour, hypocrisy is going to cause a lot of Grief.   

Best to get it out!   

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Willing To Help

Reading through the scriptures I find many instances where a calamity is about to strike, at which times, the Lord sends messengers to warn the people of impending danger and to give them advice which will protect them.  It always amazes me when the people in those events choose not to even consider the message, nor to test the message with the keys of discernment, nor to even take the message to the Lord for confirmation.  Often, those people just ignored or mistreated the messengers, and then did not prepare for the upcoming calamity, and sadly, suffered greatly.

The Lord is always willing to help.  Always willing to warn us of impending danger.  Always willing to give us good counsel to keep us safe and healthy.  And even when we did not listen the first time, the Lord has endless patience to try again to help us!

What a great God!!!  

The thing is, even though the Lord always gives us the heads up, it is up to us to stay in the Spirit often, to hear the counsel of the Lord.

It is my observation that, the messengers in the scriptures would often show up and counsel people to return to the ways of the Lord, in which state those people would then be able to hear the Spirit of the Lord, and be led to safety.

If anyone is not hearing the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord, I would counsel returning to the ways of the Lord.  The Lord gives us directions as to how to live our lives, so that we will always be able to clearly hear the Spirit of the Lord, which will direct us to safety.  

It is the desire of the Lord that, His children reach their fullest potential, based on their agency of course.

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Spirit Of The Law

How many, who are breaking the Letter of the Law, say they are justified because they keep the Spirit of the Law???  This is false doctrine.  If they kept the Spirit of the Law, they would not be breaking the Letter of the Law!  

Breaking the Letter of the Law, comes from breaking the Spirit of the Law!   

You cannot obey God and break His commandments!   

A man who breaks the Letter of the Law, does not keep the Spirit of the Law, for:   

Out of the abundance of the Heart does the mouth speak, and;   

As a man thinketh, so he does!   

Keeping the Letter of the Law is only the first step.  

Keeping the Spirit of the Law is the second step.   

To keep the Spirit of the Law, we must keep the commandments in our heart and mind also!   

How many people are under the false impression that, if they say they keep the Spirit of the Law, they are free from the guilt of breaking the Law???   

And yet, Messiah said, that those who break the Law in their Hearts and Minds, are already guilty, and in danger of judgement!   

The Letter of the Law says; if you break the commandments, you will be judged.   

The Spirit of the Law says; if you break the commandments in your thoughts, or heart, you are already guilty, and will be judged.   

To keep the Spirit of the Law, a person must keep their Heart and Mind free from even those things which would lead to the breaking of the commandments!   

So basically, if we actually keep the Spirit of the Law, we would never break the Letter of the Law!

At least we will never run out of thing to work on.  Life would be so boring, if we ran out of ways to progress! ;)

Peel another layer from me Lord!!!!    

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Advice And Counsel

It is my heart, to share the things of God, especially those things with which I am personally familiar.  I share some of my experiences on this blog, so perhaps those who are seeking the Lord, may find encouragement and strength.  Perhaps, kindred spirits may be re-united.  It is my joy, to walk with others on their journeys, to help where I can, or to just be there for a friend.  

Often though, people ask me questions, and I give my answers, which are not always received in kindness.  And sometimes, those who have asked for my advice, or counsel, get upset at my answer.  Remember please, these are my experiences to share.  They are the things I have done and experienced.  If you ask me my advice, why get upset at the answer?  It is my answer.  No one is forcing you to do, or even to try my advice.  No one is telling you that you have to follow my counsel.  If you ask for my coaching, it is still up to you, if you would like to follow my insights or not.  

The simple solution is this: If you do not like the counsel from a particular person, and you still want to ask that person for their advice, take responsibility for yourself.  You have your agency, use your agency.  Do not blame someone else for you making your own choice.  

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