Relationships Part I

       Relationships are the things that we all struggle with at least at some point in our lives. We struggle to make friends sometimes, we struggle to not create enemies, we struggle to keep our partners happy etc. The number one thing required for a good relationship is the willingness and I'll even say eagerness  of both people to be in that relationship. I've seen many cases where a relationship was made by one person working triple over time for the relationship, and the other person on cruise control. While this may work for a time, this will not survive long term, matter of fact I'll go as far to say, it will not survive the first few tests of the relationship. A relationship that is based on this will completely exhaust the person trying so hard to a point to where that person no longer cares. The dangerous thing about this type of relationship is that once that point is reached, there is almost no turning back. This is the point where nothing you say or do will make any difference because they have reached their limit. A relationship is much like a battery in the effect that if you use it too much without recharging it, soon it will be dead.  It is important that one must take the steps occasionally to recharge it. If you leave the battery dead too long, it will soon be worthless and unable to recharge. A perfect relationship actually has no one party making the most effort. A good relationship will have two people equally pulling the same direction for a common goal. Any time you have two of anything working together, you accomplish at least 3 times more work than if you had just one. Not only do you have the effort of those two people but, you also have the mental support, emotional support, and the desire to not let the other person down. Therefore, at that point, the pair does not even realize that instead of doing 1x the work or even 2x the work, the limit is only set by the desire to succeed. This is important in relationships as much as it is in anything else. The Bible says for us to not be unequally yoked. It's no surprise this analogy was made in our relationships. If two oxen are yoked unequally, they will fight each other to the point of exhaustion and then you have two worthless oxen and a load that hasn't moved. So a couple that are unequally yoked will have the same outcome. They will spend so much time fighting one another that not only will they exhaust themselves and become worthless, they will also not accomplish their goal. If you truly want a meaningful, prosperous relationship, pull with your partner, in the same direction, on the same page, with the same spirit. There will be no valley you can not climb out of and no mountain to tall to overcome.

Relationship matters

There is ONE thing all humans on planet earth have in common. At the core of the human species, one single solitary thing is priority to the sanity of mankind. Would you care to guess what it might be? Well, I'm sure many of you have looked at the title and have been clued in to what it may be. There will be many who, for the sake of arguing would disagree but, please hear me out. There just so happens to be only one thing that God did not originally create but added into creation itself. You guessed it, the woman. Women were not initially created by God, but God saw that Adam was lonely and longed for a what..... okay, so now that I have your attention, this post isn't about the importance of men to women and vice versa, this post is about relationships. The very foundation of Christianity is based on one simple thing. Our personal relationship with Jesus Christ is what will ultimately grant us eternal life or the lack of will cause our demise. The sad part is that the general population and even much of the religious organizations do not emphasize the importance of healthy strong relationships.

          We tend to overlook the complete picture in relationships, and our younger generation is not taught to value relationships. Instead, they are taught to simply replace the person rather than invest time, effort, and patience with them. The important thing here is to understand that Jesus came to earth not only to die a horrible death for our sins, not only to be an example to how we should and could live, not only to love us unconditionally but, Jesus came to this earth to show us he will literally give his life to have a relationship with us. Now, many of us have a difficult time understanding relationships and rightly so, they are not easy to understand, but well worth the effort.

        I will be doing a series on relationships, and the important aspects that we all should strive for on this. This blog is not written based on my expertise, rather it is based on what I am led to write, so please bear with me on the time frame it is posted. God sees fit to use someone as unworthy as me to deliver a message to people at random times, and if it only reaches one, it's worth all the time spent. I encourage you to invite your friends to follow this page, God is graciously using me to do his work and I could not be happier about it. 

God is Love

God is love. We all have heard this at one point or another. Most of us at one time or another have seen the inside of a church and have heard these words but apparently most of us do not grasp the concept as to how much we are loved. We are told that we cannot even fathom the concept of love without first having God in our hearts. We love to play off of the word love for commercial holidays and to persuade someone to do our bidding but we do not understand love. Even Webster does not have the true meaning of love. How many times have we seen reality shows and the like totally centered around love. The pursuit of love is endless it seems like and the world has totally missed the road to love. I have lately been struggling with people that claim to know what love is overusing the phrase and the word without the possibility of meaning what they are saying because they do not know love. Who's at fault? Is it our parents that have given us a misconception of love? Is it our tainted ideologies due to our experiences? Is it because we refuse to accept the fact that maybe we cannot grasp the overall idea? I am no philosopher by any means, but I feel we miss the mark of love by such extreme limits it is just sad.
There are those that say I know what love is, but do not understand God. It is such an unfortunate thing to only see one dimension of love. Love is much more than wanting to be around someone, Love is much more than goosebumps, Love is much more than companionship, love is much greater than life. The Bible says, great is the love that one would lay down his life for his friend. You cannot say "I love you" but refuse to commit acts of self sacrifice. You cannot honestly say "I love you" to someone then say I refuse to be pleasing to that person. Too many people are only out for convenience, To say I love you so they will get what they want. It costs nothing to SAY I love you. If you honestly love someone it will pour out of everything you do. Your constant waking thought will be to please that person, no matter what.
I realize that it seems I am rambling at this point but true love is not stressed enough, which is crazy to me since this is ultimately the very single thing everyone on this planet craves, needs, and is necessary. We cannot exist long without love, yet society is teaching us every day of the week a misconstrued version of love and what's been happening to the world? Where there is love, there cannot be greed, where there is love there cannot be selfishness, where there is love there cannot be hate, where there is love there cannot be anger, where there is love there cannot be failure. This is the very thing that Jesus died on the cross for. He died on the cross to show his love for us. Each and every one of us were given hope because of LOVE. Jesus did not endure hell just to eliminate our sins. If that were the only reason, he would not have followed through! Yet this is what is taught every day! The cross was the ultimate act of LOVE. Yet we as people walk through our miserable lives so caught up in garbage that we cannot see daylight, because we are not focused on love. Love is the ONLY thing that matters. It is the most important commandment that GOD himself mandated from his creation. Love the Lord with all your heart, your mind and your strength. PERIOD. This commandment is priority one! on all levels. why was lucifer thrown out of heaven? because he no longer loved God!. Love is the only thing that will create good.
There is so much on this subject that gets over looked its just pitiful. Christians around the world for years have been condescending to anyone that did not believe exactly the way they did. This is a sin that will send many so called christians to hell. It is not our jobs to stick our fingers in someone's face and yell you're going to hell you rotten piece of dirt. We are commissioned to love, to spread that good news that God so LOVED the world. There is a reason that this verse is the most important verse in the bible. There is a reason this is reiterated over and over.
If you claim to love your fellow man but refuse to help him, you're a liar.
If you claim to love your spouse but do not honor them, you are a liar.
If you claim to love your spouse but put yourself in front of them, your a liar.
If you claim to love Jesus, but do not submit to him, you're a sinner.
There is hope, there is a way out of suffering and pain, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it's the cross, where the greatest act of love that has ever been committed took place. It was done just for you in mind. You cannot fathom the love that GOD has for you.

Living with your choices

Usually the last thing we think about when we make decisions is will we be able to live the rest of our lives with our decisions. I have mentioned in this blog a time or two about the words we speak having power and when we put words into the universe they are always there, never to be re captured. The same is true with our choices. We make many choices on a daily basis, question is, are we willing to pay the price for them?
My life has always been trying to bring all those around me up so the world will be a better place. The problem is I have made choices in doing this, that have negatively affected other people, and those choices and the effects are sometimes too much to bear. None of us are perfect, at least I know I am not, but I try, I get up everyday and start over, everyday. I have set backs, I deal with pain, I get discouraged and broken down, but I won't quit trying to make a difference, I have just changed how I approach situations. I have been absent from the blog for a while due to attempting to do what I am supposed to do, but a calling is a calling and I will be getting back to the blog soon. I apologize to those who actually read this, all three of you.

Condemnation

            Many times we are easily distracted as humans much less as Christians in doing what we should. There are far too many avenues in which we can get lost in while trying to navigate life. Simply put "Mantenere la fede" We all have been in situations where the only thing we can think about is the thing that is slapping us in the face or trying our patience or both. It can be scary "taking the road less traveled" and these days, doing what is right even when no one is watching is a road being traveled less and less, but we should not fear or be ashamed no matter the outcome of us doing what is right. Recently, I personally have seen what happens when you "stick to your guns" and refuse to do what is popular to achieve a higher status or recognition at work. I was demoted and sent out of the office for my belief. This choice is one that I would make again with only slight difference.
          It is far too easy to take the easy road in life, or love, or anything else for that matter. A wise man once said that life is not only the destination but the journey as well. Life teaches us many lessons, and if your lessons are anything like mine, many are not fun to learn. Choices are important, and life changing. The smallest decision sometimes makes the biggest differences. So make your choices make a positive difference. We each hold great power in the words we speak and the actions we make to make the world brighter, or darker. As I have written before the battle rages everyday between good and evil, and what you do feeds either one or the other.
         So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10) make your choices with the word as a back up, for there can be no greater help but your creator. God still loves you and wants to help you even if you don't consider yourself to be a "christian". all that is important is that you understand that you have a personal relationship with God.
        For many years I was taught that a good Christian did not associate with sinners and that you stayed away from people that were not like you. I do not believe this is what God had in mind when he sent his son to the cross. The most recited verse in the bible is John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, that who so ever believed him would not perish but have everlasting life." the sad part is many churches automatically skip the very next verse which I feel is just as important John 3:17 says that God sent not his son to condemn the world, but so the world through him might be saved... If God says very plainly I do not condemn the world....how is it that many churches feel they have a right to condemn sinners for many various reasons? Why is it that we all as Christians think it is okay to look down our noses at people living in sin? I work with a guy that actually makes me sick because anyone that does not believe exactly like him is going to hell... I've got news for him and all like him. That mindset right there sends thousands of people to eternal death every day. Many simply do not have an desire to come to the father because they want no part of it.
          God is love, not condemnation. God will not condemn you, and has never desired to make anyone feel like they aren't special. This is the reason God made all people unique.