Category: Religious

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Change our focus back on God as well as the family.


There are so many unhappy, lonely and lost people out in the world. Some have the perfect mate, job or financial situation but still they are searching for something or someone. They get caught up in the illusion something external is going to make the happy or fill the emptiness inside. The only one who can make you happy or fill that void within besides yourself is God. You have to make the choice to be happy before you can find happiness, you must choose to love yourself before anyone else can love you. You must accept the love of God and start a personal relationship with him before the void will be filled.  You can have the perfect husband or wife and still feel the loneliness and the emptiness of the void within. It isn’t that your mate isn’t the right one, It more than likely the lack of a personal relationship with God. Even people who go to church every Sabbath and read the bible each day can still need to have a personal relationship with God.

God will help those who help themselves basically says that you have to make the first move in faith and God will be right beside you helping you along the way. In this modern world we focus too much on how much money we can make, what kind of clothes, gadgets and toys we can buy for ourselves and our children. We lost the closeness of family and we need to change our focus back on God as well as the family. The stress of keeping up with the Joneses or the Smiths keeps us so distracted from God and the family. We must remember we should live our lives for God first then the family and lastly for ourselves.  When we put other things and people before God we cease to worship god and begin worshiping materialism and the self. God wants us to be happy and have things but he wants us to do so in his honor and for his glory not our own.  This is where the emptiness comes from, when we tend to put other things before God, when we do that we close the door inside our hearts and minds to God’s love. That’s the pit, the emptiness, the lack of his love within us.

God, Family then the self.  The order in which things are needed to be done.
Ray Barbier

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I am worth no more or less than any other


eye Sometimes I find I am way to sensitive and get hurt too easy, it is because how much I care about others and some of it is my desire to be accepted. Though I have come a long way in the insecurity department, I don’t rely on other people’s opinions about me or if they accept me or not as much as I used to. A lot of the reason I don’t get bothered by it as much is I have learned to accept myself as is and realize my family, friends and love of my life are the only ones that matter in the end. Not everyone will like me or accept me, but those that do I will cherish and embrace as a part of my extended family. Self confidence and self-worth have been issues I have dealt with since my teen years. Now 44 I am finally getting a grip on reality and the truth of it all. I walk in faith now instead of fear and know God accepts me and loves me and so do those I love.

I am worth no more or less than any other and I am as confident as I need to be. I can do what I need and want and that is all that matters to me now.

God’s love heals, builds character and inspires all.
Ray Barbier

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God gave us a wonderful home and we should cherish it


001With the Mayan Calendar countdown to zero pending in our minds and all the shows pushing doom and gloom there is a lot of people living in fear of the end. Fear not the end of the world it will come when it is destined to come, waste no time worrying about what can not be changed or avoided. When we get too involved with the fear of the end of our lives and the world we forget to enjoy the time we have been blessed with and to thank god for our blessings as well. Fear is a tool of the darkness to distract you from your relationship with god and away from walking in faith. If we spent as much time living in and for the glory of God as we do in fearing death or the end of the world just think how much better this world would be. Instead of embracing the fear we would be embracing God’s love and spreading his love to all human kind. If we spent more time fixing the problems of our world than we do worrying about the outcome of our mistakes we may be able to improve our world.

0992012 may be the end or the beginning of the end of the world but if that is so then there is not one thing we can do to change that fact. All we can do is focus on the here and now and live our life with love and in faith. We should take our role as stewards of this beautiful blue planet more serious than we do. Clean water, Clean Air, Woodland Preservation along with the preservation of all the living creatures including ourselves should be our main focus. God gave us a wonderful home and we should cherish it and try to preserve it for the future generations.

 

We should take our jobs as stewards of this planet serious and preserve this miracle planet for generations to come.
Ray Barbier

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God gave man power in love, hope, faith and compassion.


His Only-begotten Son and the Word of God 1885...

Love, one of the most powerful emotions and a great gift from god. We should love God first before all others especially ourselves. Then we should love the family, friends, the rest of humanity and then we must love ourselves. Loving ourselves last is a reminder not to have a prideful love or a love full of vanity for ourselves. Loving God first reminds us to give all the glory to Him and to keep our focus on him as well. Love is one of those things that has no limitations except for what you put upon it. It has no boundaries or limit in quantity and can be shared with all living things. Love is one of those gifts that keeps on giving and it has proven to be viral, the more you share love the more it spreads.

Love can cure ailments of the mind,, heart and sometimes even the body. God’s love can cure-all ailments if it accompanied with faith. Faith is the belief in God’s love and promises so in its own way faith is also love. God gave man power in love, hope, faith and compassion he gave us all his love through the life and death of his only begotten son Jesus. Forgiveness which Jesus taught is one of the many forms of love God gave us and wishes for us to practice. Love is the key, the answer and the power that we should embrace.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16 K.J.V.

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Each day is a blessing and a gift


HPIM0622My eyes open to see another day, the stress, fear and aggravation of yesterday is gone and the hope, faith and anticipation of another blessed day of life fills my heart and soul. What happened yesterday is left behind and no regrets, sadness, pain or frustration of days gone by will interfere with this gift of life for another day. I don’t live in the past nor do I live in the future, I live here and in the now. So no worries of what might be or what could have been will influence me. All I have is thankfulness for yet another chance to live, love and experience this world and its wonders. Yet another chance to make a difference, to make a mark on this world and to enjoy the day with those I care for and love.

Each day is a blessing and a gift, cherish it and give thanks to God for another chance at life.
Ray Barbier

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God gave each of us the right to believe as we wish


Symbol of the three Abrahamic religions.

The world is in darkness,the world is trying to extinguish the spark of light in all of us. Those that promote hate, prejudice and intolerance are trying to keep us from finding the light we have in this world. In this world of darkness there is a light to be found.  God created a spark of light within us all and most of us are unaware or unable to feel its presence anymore. When we were children that light was bright and made life wondrous and beautiful. We allowed the world around us to cover the candle within us and we need to uncover it. Place that candle on a candle stick for all to see and so it can force the darkness away from us all. We can not allow the distractions and road blocks the darkness throws in our path to get in the way of being the beings of light god wants us to be. He wants us to be peaceful, loving, compassionate and full of hope. Things such as greed, lust and fear stand in the way of most of us and they keep us preoccupied and distracted from happiness and peace.

Three religions that were spawned by the one true God, yet those three religions still are distracted and preoccupied by their differences instead of being tolerant of each other. A house divided against itself surely will fall and that is the case with the three religions if they do not learn to co-operate or at least tolerate each other. We all serve the same God, even though we have differences in beliefs on some subjects that are sensitive we can learn to accept one another. We are all brothers and sisters in the eyes of God and we should love one another regardless of our different beliefs.  I am a firm believer in freewill and the fact God gave each of us the right to believe as we wish. Of course if we choose the wrong beliefs there will be a price to pay. This though is the price of freewill and is something each of us should consider when choosing our religious beliefs. I will not state which belief is the right one for only god knows the answer to that question and it isn’t my place as a mere human to answer. I believe as I do and respect the religious beliefs of all others in hopes they will do the same for me.

 We all have to live on this planet together, we can do it as brothers and sisters in peace or continue to go down this road of mistrust, hatred and of war. The choice is there for each one of us to choose and hopefully most of us will choose the path of peace and of love than the one of hate and war. Let us all be adults and civilized, let us live together as a great family and as the unique human species we are together in harmony.

Raymond Barbier

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Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed.


p10186We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps. This verse tells it all, we may make all the plans we wish but in the end God’s will is absolute. God gave us freewill to choose what path of life we want to follow and how we want to live our lives. His will is still present during this time and we have the freedom to choose his will above our own. If we look at God’s will like a straight line coming from the beginning of time to the end, it never wavers or changes course. Then we can see small chaotic lines going every which way around the outside of gods will and those are the will of humans. Some merge into God’s will and others just aimlessly wander until they disappear.

p10182
Commit you actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. When you live your life for God then all the plans you make are in Christ therefore they shall be successful. All things are possible in Christ and nothing is impossible for  God.  Jesus came to help redeem the sinners and heal the sick of body and of spirit as well. He offers salvation as a gift to all who desire to receive it. To be saved is simple for all you have to do is accept Jesus into your heart and embrace the salvation he offers.

 

The choice is yours, to live a life dedicated to your creator and your Lord and savior or a life for your own lusts and selfishness. Let God help you think in a righteous way and may your heart not be hardened by this world and all its cruelties .

God Bless

Raymond Barbier

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Embrace that spirit of hope


p10329 We tend to look outwardly for our happiness, love and for acceptance. God gave us all the tools within us to be happy, love and be loved. Pretty much anything we need to be or do is within our own selves, God gave us everything within, it is only the matter of having the faith to utilize what we have been blessed with. We can not find happiness from an outside source if we can not even embrace the happiness god gave us within. It is hard to love anyone or anything if we can not embrace the love God gives us deep inside. Once we learn to have faith in and embrace the gifts god planted within our souls we then will not worry about acceptance because we know we belong to God. As long as we don’t allow the distractions on our modern lives to get in the way and we don’t fall to the spirit of fear we shall live a happy and successful life. We must embrace that spirit of hope and the sound mind God blessed us with. We can not allow those in this world who try to make us believe we are hopeless or condemned without salvation. They wish only to drag you down with them, we shouldn’t have hatred for those people for we should pray for their souls and show them the compassion we are taught by Christ‘s teachings.

Look within yourself for the blessings god blessed you with and do not fall for the traps of our modern world.
Raymond Barbier

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For the glory of God and not for favor or for self satisfaction.


p10328We are like the moon and God’s love is like the sun, we reflect gods love for all to see. The love, compassion and forgiving nature we possess is but a reflection of God’s. Just like the moon we reflect the light of God into the darkness of this world so those in darkness can see the light. We must remember we too walk in this world of darkness and that we must be careful not to allow the darkness to dim the light we reflect. Just like the real moon we also have a dark side we must deal with, this is the nature of being human and of the flesh. The flesh craves all that stimulates and that can be coveted. Our carnal nature is one of the things we must try to resist for it is the product of our selfish nature not of our loving nature or of the spirit which god gave us. Being humble and full of compassion is the nature of our hearts and is the path to being true to the light we reflect. I believe we only reflect God’s light, love and compassion because it is his glory we do the works we do and his grace that gives us the forgiveness we need. The goodness within us sprung from the seed God planted in us therefore the goodness is God’s and we are just the gardeners.

Good Works may not get you into heaven but they are the result of the goodness God planted within us.
So Good  Works are done for the glory of God and not for favor or for self-satisfaction.

Just some thoughts on a Thursday morning.
Raymond Barbier

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We must choose as well as Believe.


MP910221000The power to be happy is in our own hands, no outside force be it circumstances or another person can change how we feel unless we give it the power to do so. Too many times I have seen people who allowed the opinions of others and circumstances to effect their mood as well as negatively influence their self-image. God gave each of us a spirit of hope and not one of fear or negativity, the world is what brings fear and negativity into our lives. The good news is we can choose not to allow the negativity or fear to effect us and keep ourselves in a positive and happier mood. The words and actions of others have effected so many people negatively in life that they have no self-worth or confidence. The ability to achieve anything you desire is within us all, it is something we must choose as well as believe.

God gave us all the power to live a happy, productive and love filled life, we just have to realize that the power is within us and accept the gift as well as be thankful for it. That is what Jesus was trying to say when he was talking about the faith of a mustard seed. All things are possible in Christ and with faith, to choose to believe and have faith is the key. God wants all his children to be happy, confident and live in love with each other.

Just a few thoughts for all to ponder
Raymond Barbier.
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