Tag: christianity

The Real Meaning of Christmas

Trees, tinsel, lights, gifts, cards, etc, etc. That’s outward “Christmas.” But what is the real meaning of Christmas? I bet you say simply the birth of Christ. But it goes way deeper than celebrating a birth over 2,000 years ago. The real meaning of Christmas is seeking to have Jesus Christ reborn in you. Each one of us.

I know I have been reborn in Jesus years ago. But Christmas is about experiencing that birth again. Of course you can be reborn in Jesus any day or time during the year. But Christmas is just that check at the end of the year to experience that rebirth, or birth for the first time, again.

There are lots of crosses being worn, especially by the politicians, to show that they are Christians. But it’s not about wearing anything externally or living Christianity on your sleeve. It’s about Jesus being reborn inside of you and living in your heart. Following Jesus—what true, real Christianity is about—is not about words and wearing things. It’s about what’s in your heart and how you live your life.

Rebirth in you. Tha’s what Christmas is truly about.

I’ll be back before the rebirth of Christmas but let the rebirth start happening!

Good Friday Every Day

Good Friday is an enigma. We call it “good” but it is this solemn day of mourning Jesus dying on the cross. I mean, what is “good” about that? And why have I titled this post to imply ever day should be a Good Friday. Here goes.

I think that Good Friday should be a day of reflection, not mourning. We should reflect on Jesus in human form taking all of our sins—past, present, and future—and pinning them to the cross he hung and died on. No wonder the “human” side of Jesus sweated blood in the garden even thinking about the enormity of that task. I don’t think the sweating blood was over the pain, suffering, and death to come. It was the daunting task of taking all that sinfulness and wiping it out.

I don’t think that we should use one day to mourn what Jesus did. I think that every single day we should reflect on what He did and give thanks for it. Not one day. Every day. That’s why I intend to keep Good Friday every day.

Forget about sins of humanity past and to come. There is so much sinfulness in the world today that just wiping those present sins out is a mind-boggling, incomprehensible task. Thank you, Jesus!

Don’t ever forget that your sins—past, present, and future—are forgotten if you reflect on them, repent, and then ask for forgiveness. That’s the message of Good Friday and the message for every day.

Have a wonderful, blessed Easter Sunday. Jesus has risen! Rise up with Him!

Rise of the Fake “christians”

This is a tough post to write. Clearly, Jesus sent a message to not judge. To look at the log in your own eye before focusing on the splinter in someone else’s eye. But I can’t help it if I am judging. Not that I’m putting myself up as perfection. Trust me, I’m the world’s best sinner. But I just have to write about all the self-professed “christians” (I won’t even dignify it with a capital “C”) out there. Wearing their “christianity” on their sleeves while acting anything like a true Christian.

Let me just be direct and to the point. Jesus made it very, very, very clear that as a follower of His—and that’s what a Christian is, a follower of Jesus—you need to LOVE. No excuses, no outs. You LOVE everyone, regardless of who they are and what they stand for. LOVE. It’s that simple.

I see and hear more people professing their “christianity” but don’t do anything close to loving. They are name callers, are vindictive, and are so far from loving that they are not even close. Jesus is shaking His head while the devil is licking his chops. Because the so called “christians” are not only anything but real Christians. They are devil followers, even if they don’t realize it.

There. I know I am judging and I’ll confess that sin. And I’m not hating the so called rising “christians” because I would be a hypocrite and not a true Christian. I’m doing my very best to LOVE them because that is what Jesus commanded.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

Can this be any clearer???

Have a great rest of the week walking in LOVE.

Jesus: Surrender and Rebirth

There is never a better time than Christmas to surrender to Jesus and share in His birth—our rebirth. Just as Jesus surrendered on the cross, and then was “reborn” in his spirit body, now is the time for us to do the same. Surrender completely to Jesus and be “reborn” with Him this Christmas.

What is surrender? Jesus had one commandment for us—to LOVE everyone.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

So, surrendering to Jesus is really simple—just LOVE one another. That means laying down any anger, hate, and any other emotion that is not LOVE. Complete surrender is complete LOVE. There are no exceptions. Do this and as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. And celebrate our “rebirth” in Jesus. It’s an amazing feeling.

I know that in this world of division, animosity, and hate it is easy to in the very least be angry with people and bear grudges. I get angry all the time at people. But anger gets in the way of surrendering—and rebirth. Surrendering is putting everything but LOVE aside. Not easy; but necessary.

I’ll be back before Christmas but wishing all the very best of this magical season.

Start Exercising Your Spirit!

If you don’t know already, you and I are made up of body, soul, and spirit. The body part is obvious. It grows and starts decaying during a lifetime. As the saying goes, “You can’t take it with you.” The soul is made up of your thoughts and emotions. Many (most?) people think it’s the soul that leaves your body when you die. But the soul is tied more to this earth and can be a “place” for dark thoughts. It’s the spirit that is the unvarnished “being” that you become wholly when you die. If you make it to heaven, the spirit is what you are and will be for eternity.

So, start exercising your spirit today. Have your spirit turn to God and block out the darkness in this world, the darkness that may be in your life. LISTEN for/to God because He is “speaking” to you. He’s less than a heartbeat away. You just have to put in the time and effort with God.

The road of life has many twists and turns, and lots of dead ends if you go down them. Tap into your spirit to navigate life and make the right turns. It’s not difficult if you let God into your life—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and keep Him in your life. The Father created your spirit, free of any earthly (bodily) physical and/or mental limitations. Your spirit was made to be perfect. Jesus died to forgive any of your sins—past-present, and future—if you just confess them. And the Holy Spirit is here to guide your spirit to heaven when the time is right.

Enjoy the week exercising and living in your spirit!

Throwing the First Stone

“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 8:7

I don’t think I have ever lived through a time like now when people are so quick to judge and throw stones at others, sometimes for what they said 40 years ago. Get real!!! News flash: I’ll say it right here and now that I have said stupid things, done stupid things in the past. I’ve made many, many, many (did I say “many” enough to make a point) dumb things in the past. But I have tried to grow and learn from my mistakes. But I still make some today.

I’m not perfect. And neither are you. And neither are the politicians and self-righteous pundits flooding our cable news airwaves. We are all born in the image and likeness of God. We are children of God. But imperfect children trying (hopefully) to move towards Godly perfection. In fact, that’s what I think our earthly stay is all about. Learning and growing. Maybe not to perfection but towards it.

When I go to cast that first stone my visual is Jesus bending over and writing in the dirt and challenging anyone without sin to cast the first stone at the woman caught being unfaithful. Says it all because I am never without sin. Although there are some who very obviously think they are perfect—without sin.

Jesus is writing up on the clouds challenging those of us without sin to throw that first stone.

Have a GREAT week!!!

Filling the Emptiness

I heard a comment that we are all born with emptiness and I think that’s so true. That’s why especially in these “COVID” times so many are searching to fill the emptiness but so many are failing. That’s because they are looking in all the wrong places—drugs, alcohol, sex, food, gambling, etc. All these vices and more seem fulfilling but they leave you empty. There is only one way to fill the emptiness. God. Father, Son, and Spirit.

I know that this is preaching and sounds like religious mumbo-jumbo. But it’s life. Simple life with a simple answer to fill what we all have as an inherent emptiness. God. Father, Son, and Spirit.

More people are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Gambling is as close as your iPhone. You can bet on anything these days. Virtual sex is also as close as your iPhone. And we are inundated with everything food. I could go on and on. Lots of all the wrong things, available more so than ever before. And in all this God gets pushed back and back. It’s no wonder our world is increasingly screwed up. Like the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years—to simply go less than a dozen miles—we are lost. Because we have lost God in our lives.

There is only one way to fill the emptiness we all are born with, whether we realize it or not. God. Father, Son, and Spirit. God is a meaningful fill that satisfies and is not fleeting. In fact, I think understanding the emptiness of life and filling it with God is what this life on earth is all about. It’s the key to an eternity of never-ending bliss.

Understand the emptiness. Open up to it. Then fill it with God. Father, Son, and Spirit.

Have an AMAZING fulfilled week ahead!

What is The Real Secrets to Life About?

I started this blog close to 10 years ago because I found what are to me The Real Secrets to Life and how to live your life by them. This site is about simplifying your life and changing it for the better forever. It is about unlocking a new life of lasting happiness, peace, and fulfillment that no person or event in your life can ever take away from you.

The messages are very simple but powerful and life changing. I am not trying to impress anyone by using big words or conveying complicated thoughts. We live in a very complicated world that grows more so by the day. That is part of the problem. We need to uncomplicate the complicated. We need to simplify our lives. God does not mean life to be so difficult. We make it difficult by complicating it. God wants us to be happy, at peace, and fulfilled. We get in our own way.

As Pogo said, “We have met the enemy and it is us.”

In living out our hectic lives today we have a tendency to overlook the obvious. We make things more complicated than they are or should be. Moreover, we have experts for every little facet of life. The experts may mean well but I think that they just help us complicate things so much so that the obvious becomes less obvious. We have a tendency to turn to experts for answers rather than looking to ourselves and to God. God, the only true expert on life, is always there ready to help us uncomplicate and simplify our lives.

I want to make you think and reflect about the real road to true, lasting happiness, peace, and fulfillment. That road leads to God. Whatever challenges you face on your life journey you can conquer. That’s because God is in you and nothing is impossible for God. You should greet every day with enthusiasm, eager to continue your journey. Once you open your life to God you want to get closer to him every day. Regardless of your circumstances, you can forge ahead if you have a clearer vision of where you are headed.

God doesn’t put any obstacles in our way—he clears them. We just have to trust him like any great football running back that knows he has to trust and follow his blockers. Follow God. He will help you get by any obstacles in your life.

There is a new you in you. Trust me. No, trust God.

I always try to challenge you to think and reflect. This stimulates thoughts that will eventually lead to answers but only if you go with the flow. Go ahead and disagree with me. However, don’t just throw out what I say without giving it an honest try. Keep a positive outlook. Don’t let negative thinking and doubt cripple you by not trying this. Again, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Sometimes, people don’t like the truth. They don’t like simplicity. They hide in complexity. Complexity becomes their safe place but a false safe place—a desert—where they aimlessly wander keeping them from finding the Promised Land in their lives. Don’t be one of those people. Life is meant to be simple. Find your own Promised Land of happiness, peace, and fulfillment.

And have a GREAT week!

The Chosen

If you haven’t watched The Chosen, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s the story of Jesus’s brief three year ministry as seen through His disciples—the chosen. It balances sticking to the Bible and seeing the disciples as human beings, infighting, jockeying for position, flawed as we humans are flawed. And with Jesus we see the same type of balance—He’s a guy you would like to hang out with while at the same time He is clearly God.

I wish that an audience beyond Christians would watch The Chosen. Especially my Jewish friends would see that Jesus and His disciples were clearly Jewish, in all respects. In fact, in a wake up call to many (most?), Jesus was as Jewish as Jewish gets. He certainly wasn’t Christian. When we follow Jesus Christ, we are Christians. But we are clearly following a Jew. The Chosen brings the Jewishness home.

I hope The Chosen runs through a scheduled seven seasons. That’s all driven by people like me—and hopefully you—paying it forward for others to see.

Watch and enjoy!!!

Listen. He’s Talking to You. Yes, You!

My first Secret to Life is simple: LISTEN. LISTEN to God because He is talking to you. Yes, to some this sounds crazy or the delusions of a religious fanatic. I can assure you I am neither. Simply, I have found that if you stop and LISTEN for/to God He is “speaking” to you. But you have to stop and really LISTEN.

Several things to understand.

First, you can’t ever possibly hear God if you don’t stop and really LISTEN for/to Him. Our lives are so busy and are a cacophony of sounds and diversions. We don’t stop for anything. We don’t have quiet time. We don’t think that God is ever talking to us. We don’t. We don’t. We simply don’t. So, how can we ever expect to hear from God?

Second, “hearing” from God is not waiting from some booming voice on high. It’s not necessarily in the ears. It’s in the heart. In the mind. In the soul. Yes, I hear God talking to me. But it’s an inner “talk.” And I only hear God when I stop and really LISTEN. Every once in a while God needs to give me a whack on the side of the head to get my attention. But I only “hear” from God when I stop and LISTEN.

Finally, If God is “talking” to me I can assure you He is talking to you. There is nothing special about me other than the fact that I am simply another child of God. We all are.

Stop your busy world. Find a quiet time and place to LISTEN for/to God. You will “hear” Him. But you have to really LISTEN. Really LISTEN.

There is a reason why LISTEN is the first Secret to Life.

LISTEN! And open up a whole new world of possibilities! You are special, unique, and have your own purpose in life.