Tag: Christian

Why Do I Write About the Secrets to Life?

I went back years to help me remember why I started this blog writing about the Secrets to Life. The answer is simple. Simply because they work! I have found 7 simple Secrets to Life that by following them lead to a happier, joyful life that is more peaceful and more fulfilling. We are all searching for answers in life and I have found some simple ones. That doesn’t mean that I am perfect or my life is totally blissful every second of every day. All it means is that I have found some simple ways to live that help keep me on a straight path or back on the straight path when I take a wrong turn on occasion.

I write for you as well as for me. Writing about the Real Secrets to Life helps me remember them and truly live by them. If I can help just one other person, and that person in turn helps one or two others, then that’s even better.

LISTEN, READ, LOVE, FIGHT, BELIEVE, LIVE & PRAY. They are very simple secrets to a life that should shine. As I write over and over again, God means life to be so very simple. We are the ones who complicate our lives. We gather habits and emotions like hoarders filling a house with junk. We find it hard to let go of those things we store up in our lives that clutter and can totally inundate our lives. Light can’t shine in a life filled with junk.

I try to make Jesus my role model in life. If you look at Jesus’ life he lived it according to 7 simple little words—LISTEN, READ, LOVE, FIGHT, BELIEVE, LIVE & PRAY.  He listed for/to God the Father and understood his purpose in life. He read the scriptures and actually became the living Word. He gave us a new commandment to love and, in the strongest show of love, gave up his life for us. He fought the devil constantly and understood the presence and power of evil in the world. He taught us to believe and showed us we can do anything if we have faith and don’t let doubt get in the way. He lived a life of purpose, knowing that this life on earth was only the opening act to eternity. He taught us how to pray and was constantly going away to pray.

The 7 Secrets to Life I have found are a real roadmap for life. They keep me centered and help me when I falter, which I do all the time. I think they can help you but that’s up to you to decide.

Have a WONDERFUL week!  And keep it SIMPLE!

This Devil Thing

Yes, the devil really exists. Call it Satan, Lucifer, demon, devil, evil, or anything else. But that evil presence in the world is real. It’s not some little red devil with a pitchfork but the personification of evil. The opposite of what God is: love.

I don’t know about you but I feel that evil presence all the time. It doesn’t want to be out in front, but works most effectively behind the scenes. It doesn’t shout but whispers and sets up snares. It you look around the world it’s not hard to see that evil. And it’s growing. Why? Because we are letting it grow. We are moving away from God.

Stay close to God and evil has a tough time getting to you. Move away from God and evil fills the void. As James (4:7) says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

It’s not hard to keep the evil away if you stay close to God. Pray, Listen. Love. It’s not hard but we make it so hard. We turn from God or even push Him away. And the devil seeps right in to the void.

Not to over simplify but it is simple. Stay close to God and evil has a formidable barrier. Keep God close by your side. Reach out. He is always there.

Have an evil-free day!

The BIG Move!

After 35 years of living in the Northeast we moved to the South. BIG move in so many ways. North to South. Letting go of “stuff” to downsize. Cold to hot. Oaks to pines. And the list goes on and on. Love the move but it’s a bit of a shock. So much is different. Except God.

Thank God for God. No matter what changes in life—a move, life event, etc.— God is always there and stays the same. He is unchanging. He is a rock. He is an anchor.

Seriously, having God by my side, no matter what happens in life, is so comforting. I simply don’t know what I would do without God. He is simply always there. I may turn my back on Him and let Him down at times. But He is always there for me. Father my Creator, Jesus my Savior, and Holy Spirit my Advocate. How can I go wrong?

Thank God for God. And I do thank God every morning for everything in my life. Starting with God.

Going through any tough or challenging times? Just stop and LISTEN for and to God. He is always there, ready to hold your hand and guide you. You just have to stop and reach out. There is a reason that LISTEN is the first Secret to Life.

I’ve been away from writing for a while during the move but I’m back. Thank God for that!

Have an AWESOME week ahead!

Don’t Trip Over Your Pride

If there is one big stumbling block in my life it’s my pride. I try to keep it in the far back seat but the ego and everything that comes with pride often tries to come front and center. And then I stumble right over that pride.

There are two ways to look at life. One, is to put everything on yourself. You have gotten you where you are in life. You have the life you have because of you. Completely ego-centric. The other way is to understand that everything you have is from the grace of God. As Paul came to understand, “by the grace of God I am what I am.” (1 Corinthians 15:10)

I work really hard. I know that the hard work has paid off and gotten me to where I am today. But that hard work is all possible by the grace of God. I know that I am what I am because of His grace shining down on me. It’s me working but it’s God pointing the direction.

Yet, although I have Paul’s words etched into my memory, I trip up all the time. I get more concerned about outward appearance than inward heart. I get more concerned about what others think than what God knows. Ego trumps humility. I want to be served rather than serve.

Yet, I try to come back to and stay grounded in Paul’s words. God’s grace. That is what has gotten me here. And when I forget that it never fails that I stumble. Or on occasion take a hard fall.

Open up your eyes to what you do and what God gives. You may well be doing the work but it’s God who points the way, keeps us on course, and makes sure we are nourished.

Have a FANTASTIC week ahead and stay the course. The humble course where pride finds no foothold!

It’s Not About Me. It’s About You!

There are two ways to look at life. The simply way is to look inward and make life all about you. Me, me, me, me, and more me. The other people out there don’t count. Or at least count only when you want them to count.

The other way to live is to make it all about other people. Your feelings and wants are on the back burner to others’. It’s all about them. Not you.

Forget for a minute that God commanded us to love others. And that before He died for us, Jesus left us with the same command to sacrifice for others. To love them. Forget those commandments and just think how life would be if we just spent more time thinking about others than we do ourselves. The world would be a far, far different place. A much, much better place!

It’s not easy putting ourselves behind others. The “animal” side of us is wired for us. But the “human” side of us is wired for others. Why? Because God wired that human side. He wired us for love and love is about taking a backseat to others. It’s that simple. Hard to do, but simple.

I try to think every morning about how I could have put others in front of me the day before. And what I need to do differently today. It’s not easy. Trust me—I screw up all the time. But I try not to give up. I want my life to depend on it.

Think others! And have a FABULOUS day doing so!

There Are No Doors for Jesus!

I’m thinking about Jesus’ disciples in the locked room hiding in fear of the Jewish authorities. In walks Jesus who had no problem with any of the locked doors. We lock the doors in our life to keep people out, and even God. But God knows no locked doors. He’s always less than a heartbeat away in our lives. There is no door that can keep God out.

We turn our backs on God. We try to lock Him out of our lives. Or we simply don’t give Him the least bit of thought. That’s why the world is so very screwed up. We have done our best to shut God out of our lives. Just look around the world. It’s a mess because we have turned to ourselves rather than God. It’s called secularization.

The older I grown the more I realize that God is in control. I do my best to keep Him in my life front and center, and providing the direction in my life. And every time I manage to turn my back on God I find myself lost. Maybe the world wants to shut God out but my doors are unlocked and open to God. Not that He can’t walk through any locked doors.

If you’re having trouble making sense of this life, or your life in particular, open the door to God. Let Him in. He can walk through any door but you need to turn to Him. Listen for and to God because He is calling you in your life.

Enjoy the day and the rest of the week ahead!

Where is the World Headed?

I don’t know. But as I have written time and time again, I feel like we are the wandering tribe of Israelites in the desert looking for the Promised Land. We bicker and complain, with no vision or direction of where we are going. With the world on the verge of WWIII, we seem lost. We are lost.

To me, for me, God is light. When I walk away from Him, or even turn my back on Him, my world is a dark place. When I get back on course, I see the light.

I think God is my Promised Land. When he’s in my life, everything is light and clear. When not, dark and uncertain. This is all easier said than done because it’s easy to lose God, even though He is always less than a heart beat away. It’s easy to question God, even question His existence, when people are being brutalized, as they are in Ukraine. That’s why we are all struggling because we put God aside, or even push Him aside. You see death and destruction and it’s tough to think there is a God. How could He let this happen?

The evil forces in this world—call them devils, demons, whatever—want each of us to turn our backs on God. To question Him, to question if He is even real. That’s how they win when we get lost in the darkness in life. Just like the Israelites wandering years and years ago.

I’m doing my best to keep my eyes fixed on God. His way is the light, away from the darkness. I’m going to do my best to help shed some of that light on a world that is increasingly dark. A smile, a helping hand, a good act, a donation, whatever. It starts small but it grows.

Change happens one person at a time. Change with me. Listen for and to God. It’s one of the fundamental Secrets to Life. He will lead the way. Just let Him!

Have an EXCEPTIONAL day!!!

America’s Pampered Actors Versus The Actor Hero in Ukraine

There’s a reason why I don’t watch Hollywood award shows and don’t place over-paid, pampered actors up on a mantel. It’s just amazing to me that the morning news is dominated by one of those over-paid, pampered actors slapping another over-paid, pampered actor in the face. Meanwhile, the former actor who is now the President of Ukraine is watching his people dying and displaced. Our over-paid, pampered actors versus an actor who is a true hero.

What is wrong with us? I’ve written about this more times than I can count but we are a people lost in this country. Like the Israelites wandering the desert for 40 years for a journey that should have taken 11 days, we are lost. We have turned our backs on God, just like the Israelites. We worship false gods, just like the Israelites. We have no purpose, no future. The news is filled with war, killings, shootings, and just mean spiritedness. And actors acting like spoiled children.

There is only one path out of the desert we are wandering, and that path is God. He is there but we are not. We need to turn to Him, not away from Him. Life is really that simple.

There is evil in the world today that is more alive and at work than ever. Just look at Putin and Ukraine. Light blots out darkness. But we are letting the darkness blot out the light. Simply because we have turned our backs on God.

Change happens one person at a time. One person at a time turning to God, not away from Him. There is a Promised Land out there but we are nowhere close to it.

I’m doing my best to change and keep God in front of me. I hope you will join me.

Have an AWESOME week ahead in the light!

Go to Hell, Putin!

I mean that. Go to Hell, Putin. If you’re looking for the personification of evil in this world, it’s Putin. I won’t even dignify calling him anything else. Evil belongs in Hell and that’s where Putin is heading.

As I watch this humanitarian crisis unfold in Ukraine, it’s tough to control my anger. All the writing and praying I have done about not judging and loving all others has gone out the window. I’m angry. I want Putin dead. Though shall not kill is meaningless. I want Putin dead. One cheap life of a little man saves the lives of millions.

This is one of those times when I ask, “Why God?” How can you let this little dictator uproot an entire country? Where’s the sense in any of this? Don’t you feel the pain and suffering of your children? Why, God? Why? Why?

It’s time to pray. I know I need to pray myself out of this anger. I need to find where I can send money that it will be used to help the most. I need to settle down. I need to stay positive and try to help as much as I can.

I still want Putin in Hell. Sooner than later. Evil belongs in Hell and Putin is our generation of pure evil. Yes, it’s in Syria and elsewhere. I’ll stop here.

Pray! Pray! Pray! Stay positive, I tell myself. God’s way is not our way.

To all the people of Ukraine I offer up my prayers.

Thanks for listening to my rant!

Anti-Semitism is Anti-Christian

I have news for you. Jesus is a Jew. He has always been a Jew and always will be Jewish. Jesus is as “Jewish” as anyone you know; even more so. He was born a Jew and lived a Jewish life. If you call yourself a “Christian” you are simply a follower of Jesus the Christ. You are following someone who is and always will be Jewish. So, anyone who is anti-Semitic simply can’t be a follower of Jesus and, therefore, a Christian. In fact, if you’re anti-Semitic you are anti-Christian. You’re anti-Jesus.

As Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17) Jesus came not to overthrow his Jewish heritage and beliefs but to “fulfill” them.

As a Christian, I believe in Jesus and what He teaches, which is based on His Jewish beliefs. I believe He is the Messiah, who has come and will come again at the end of time. My beliefs are not fundamentally different than my Jewish friends. They just believe that the Messiah has not yet come. I believe He has come and will come again.

I can never be culturally Jewish because I was not born culturally Jewish, as was Jesus. But I try to live and breathe what has become known as the Judeo-Christian faith.

I heard a story on the news this morning about the rise of anti-Semitism in this country. I don’t know who those anti-Semites are but I know they are not followers of Jesus Christ. They are not Christians. You can’t be an anti-Semite and follow Jesus the Jew who is the Christ. It’s that simple.

Enjoy your week ahead following Jesus!

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