Category: Religious

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With a new day we have a new chance to change our ways, our path and our destination.


DSCF0001Each morning we wake we are given another chance at living life. With a new day we have a new chance to change our ways, our path and our destination. Some people try to argue we do not have freewill or free choice and that we are but the product of pre-conditioning and circumstance. Well to a degree we are, but the kicker is we can choose how we react to such and we can choose to go a totally different way than the pre-conditioning and circumstances would dictate. So with the gift of another day of life we also have the gift of freewill and free choice to make that day what we chose.  We also have the ability to surrender our right to choose and to leave it to God’s will. There is also the choice not to choose and let chance and the circumstances we encounter make or day as well. Which way will you choose? Will you take the helm and take responsibility for both your good and bad choices? Will you choose to let chance and circumstance to make your day or will you leave it to the Will of God?

No matter which way you decide I urge you to remember where all your help comes from and who gave you this day and the freedom to live it as you choose.  Remember to thank God each day for the gift of life and the freedom to choose.

Ray Barbier

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Take a few moments out of each day


IMG_1387Take a few moments out of each day to tell those you love how you feel about them, let them know how special and important they are. Take a moment or two each day to be kind to friends and even strangers, be an example for others to follow and be a person you can be proud to be. Find happiness in the joy of others and help bring joy into all whom you meet along the way. When you begin to think negatively just think no over and over till the negative thought subsides and/or try to think or a more positive thought to take its place. Don’t complain about what is wrong, learn how to fix it or at least how to avoid it. Sometimes there are things you can not change, you do not have to accept them, you just have to learn to work around them.

Don’t be afraid to be yourself and embrace that silly child still within you. Do not become cynical and bitter for it will only put a wall between you and happiness.  Do not worry about grey hairs and wrinkles, they are part of aging. We are all unique in how we look, act, think and perceive this world.  To one you may look old, to another you may look young and you are good-looking to some and not to others. It is all superficial and really unimportant in the end. It is who you are inside and how you interact with this world along with how you treat others that counts. Plus to God all of us are beautiful and he loves us all for who and what we are. We should look at each other in that same way, love one another as is and know we are all beautiful and loved.

Inspire others to be kind, accepting and compassionate, teach others to love themselves and others unconditionally. Encourage others to be themselves and not just a carbon copy of the so-called popular or in crowd.

Ray Barbier

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Just like faith, Love is an important part


Corcovado jesus

Love, Love of other living things and people. The love Jesus showed and shared during his years with us. Just like faith, Love is an important part of being one of God’s children. With a world growing ever more violent and full of hate, we need to focus on the love of god and the love he wishes us to have and share. Hate is not the opposite of love as some may think it is the absence of love. Do not mistake hate for anger, anger is a reaction to a bad situation, hate is the lack of love and respect for another person, place or thing. In example look at when Jesus got angry at the temple due to all the money exchangers, etc. Jesus did not hate the money exchangers he was angry at them for turning the temple into a place of greed. Jesus still loved them all but was very disappointed in them for their lack of respect for God and his Temple. Jesus taught love in many ways such as turning of the other cheek, his healing of the sick and also his forgiveness for sins. His greatest expression of love was allowing himself to be persecuted, humiliated and crucified in order to give humanity salvation. We should learn from Jesus’s teachings and put aside our hate and minimize our anger as well. All humans are prone to make mistakes and sin for it is a part of our nature to do so. We should love one another regardless of sin or shortcoming. It is sin we are to dislike, not the sinner and we should focus on helping each other to overcome the sin. Shouting hateful words or trying to put another human being down because they sin is quite hypocritical since we all bear the weight of being sinful natured creatures.

The pointing out of each others sins is useless and unproductive, Instead we should focus on study of the scriptures and being loving and caring to one another. For there is no need for someone else to point out our sins, we are all already aware of them. So love one another and be supportive of one another.

“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? – Mathew 7:3”

God Bless
Ray Barbier

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It’s the Gifts given to us through grace


p10114Time for Thanks is every day, the blessings of giving is also something to be enjoyed each day of our lives. The holidays of the season are here to remind us to be thankful for all are blessings through out the year and our lives.  It isn’t the gifts we receive on Christmas or the food we eat on thanksgiving it’s the Gifts given to us through grace and the thankful hearts we should have.

May each and every one of you enjoy the holidays to come and may God’s love fill your hearts throughout the season and throughout your remaining days here on earth. May you never forget to be thankful for the life you have and the Grace given to us all.

God Bless

Ray Barbier

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We are to use our words to heal and to encourage.


p10058Using words as weapons is not the Christian thing to do, instead we are to use our words to heal and to encourage. Using foul language not only is offensive to others it also degrades ones character and gives a pretty negative  image of yourself for others to see. If you wag your tongue with ought any Discretion or thought to what damage may be done, then you will have to reap the seeds you have sown. Better to follow the bibles guideline and let everything you say be good and helpful. The words you say are the reflection of what is in your heart and on your mind.  Think before you speak and avoid letting out those words of anger.

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

Ephesians 4:29 NLT

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The reason for the season


p10121The holiday season is upon us and the sale ads are pouring out like a tropical storm. Time to go spend your hard-earned cash on Thanksgiving diner and Christmas presents. Just remember through out all of the spending frenzy and the sales the reason for the season. Thanksgiving is the day to give thanks for another year of survival and for the blessing of having food upon your table. Christmas of course is the celebrated day of our savior’s birth and the salvation he brought us all. Don’t get caught up in all the commercialization of the holidays and remember to focus on the family more than on the gifts you are going to give and receive.

May God bless your Holiday Season and Remember to Give thanks every day for the blessings in our life.

Happy Holidays

Ray Barbier

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There is always hope and Salvation


p10108Nobody is useless, nobody is beyond help. As long as they are alive they can improve, change be transformed and Saved by God, Jesus and the holy spirit. Even the most vile of humans can be born again and saved by the grace of Jesus. The love God has for us all he gave us his only begotten son and that son Jesus offered himself up in sacrifice for all our sins. So how can anyone truly be a lost cause or beyond help if the sacrifice of Jesus was for all of humanity? There is always hope and with acceptance of Jesus there is salvation. Don’t let that old devil try to fool you that you are not savable or that things are hopeless, he wants you to doubt the promises and power of God. He wants you to lose faith and be fruitless for God. Just remember the devil is a great deceiver and can make you think things are fact when they are fiction. Put your faith in God and Jesus and learn to put the lies and deception of the evil one behind you. Let the bible be your guide through life. Most of all pray and give thanks daily if not multiple times a day.

God bless

Raymond Barbier

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left in the hands of God and Jesus.


cross Is the Christian community living in fear or in faith? There are times I truly wonder where our hearts are at, we shouldn’t have fear, we should walk by faith not by sight. We shouldn’t allow our fear to dictate our actions and we should forgive one another along with our selves for the shortcomings we all have. I have learned in life that what is to be, shall be and there are some things you can change and others you can’t. The hardest lesson was for me to realize the differences between them all and accepting that I can’t fix everything nor control anyone or anything besides my own self. The things out of my hands are the things left in the hands of God and Jesus.

The Full serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

 Reinhold Niebuhr

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Give up your hurting heart, leave at the alter your worldly, angry, hardened and selfish heart.


wdh1010 Give up your hurting heart, leave at the alter your worldly, angry, hardened and selfish heart. Pick up that heart God and Jesus gave you, let the seed of love, compassion and understanding grow within you. I know, it is so easy to say that in such a world we live in that it is impossible to be the person God wants us to be. So easy to give in to the fear of failure and the temptation of staying in your comfort zone. Change is scary and being compassionate, loving, caring and understanding is even scarier because you put yourself in a position to be ridiculed, chastised and shunned by those who don’t believe.

p10328 Jesus suffered ridiculed, chastised and shunned by others all the way to the cross. We may have to suffer similar to follow him, that’s a risk we must take as Christians and one well worth it considering what is promised. The fear we suffer when we are trying to choose God and Jesus is just a trick of the enemy and he tries many ways to lead you away from the Love of God. Though we are to believe in faith not by sight there is many signs of God around us. The earth we live on and the life within it is statistically a long shot to exist. The ability for a species to be cognitive, sentient and self-aware is also a statistical rarity. Prayers and miracle healings happening all over the world is another sign. I have seen a few cases of miracle healings and a few people make a 180 in their life after accepting Christ.

p10188To be fair I have seen many times where prayers were not answered and people who didn’t receive healing as well. I do not claim to know why God chooses to do for one and not for another. His will is not ours to understand, it is only ours to accept and embrace. He has a plan for each of us, sometimes he doesn’t answer prayers to save us from the suffering it would bring to us, sometimes its to teach us a lesson. Some may not be healed because God wanted them to come home or they were ready to go home. Either way, there is proof to the power of prayer and there is miracles still happening in modern times and you can find them if you look hard enough.

 Choose to believe or choose not to believe, the choice is yours. Either way I pray you will be blessed and be guided by God and saved by the sacrifice of the lamb we call Christ.

Ray Barbier

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There is no guarantee we have tomorrow


jesus-christ-0206 Too many times we take those we love for granted, expect them to be there tomorrow and forget to show them how much we need, love and care about them. There is no guarantee we have tomorrow so we should show how much people mean to us today, we should never put off something as important as how we feel for one another till another day. God gave us the ability to love, care for and to help one another and we should use those gifts daily. We need to learn how to put our self and our ego’s behind us so that we can fully show our love and compassion for others.

We should live our lives, love others and be the best we can be for God and Jesus each day.

Raymond Barbier

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution By license.
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