Tag Archives: Christ

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When I Was Young–Random Thoughts 9-17-14

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rayraydWhen I was young I thought life was beautiful, that I was indestructible and had little to no fear of death. The faith I had in God was unshakable and my heart was always loving and forgiving as well. I recall a memory of when I had wrecked my bike into the back of a pickup truck, I split my nose in half from the impact and lip. My face was quite horrifying to see all sewn up. My brother being the little brat he was, he thought he would get me by making me look at my face in the mirror for the first time.  my mother walked in as it was happening and thought I was going to freak, she was trying to say words to calm me etc. I glanced at my face in the mirror and with not even a thought I just shrugged it off saying to my mother “I am not worried about it mom, God will take care of me. I was so unafraid of the possibilities, I knew id be ok deep within myself. That is the kind of faith we as adults should have as well. Unfortunately as we grow older having such faith becomes harder to have.

Faith is a key component to our relationship with God, we must have trust in his promises and his love.

Just some random thoughts Smile

Raymond Barbier

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Like seeds, like a virus- Random Thoughts – 8/31/2014

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The Virgin River Narrows

It seems even though humanity has advanced tremendously in the areas of science and technologies, we still seem as children when it comes to mental , spiritual and emotional growth. We still place blame and fault on external forces for the turmoil and destruction that we created ourselves. Blaming and pointing fingers never solves any issue, only enacting change in oneself and inspiring change in those around us is the only way to change the world we live in. Love, peace, understanding and compassion are like seeds, plant them they grow and then they bear fruit and seeds to spread themselves further. But things such as lust , greed and hate are similar they are like a virus, the quickly spread from person to person. The main difference is fruit nourishes the body, mind and soul when a virus corrupts and eats away at the body, mind and soul.  We can choose to embrace which ever one we desire, but we must know the cost, consequence and reward of each. Good works will not get us to heaven alone, but they are a part of the journey. They are the path towards being the people who God created us to be. But just as the Bible tells us even the wicked do good things for their loved ones and family, so we must take it further. We must be compassionate, loving and kind people towards all things that live and breathe. Be they friend, family, enemy or undesirables. No man or woman is greater or lesser than another and therefore we should love one another unconditionally and without any hesitation.

The things most seek such as wealth, social status, physical beauty are all fleeting and in time shall be as the dust we came from. So what worth should we put upon such temporary things?  On this earth there are many religions and many whom believe not in a God, the gift of freewill made this possible and it is the will of God that we have the choices to believe as we wish. So Spread the Gospel but respect the right of others not to believe or to believe different.  Be at peace with everyone , even those you see as enemies. The compassion you show others will not be forgotten.

It is time for humanity to wake up from its spiritual sleep and become the great family that God intended it to be.

Ray Barbier

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Find contentment in what you have been blessed to have

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A Blessed Abbes Receiving the Host from the Ha...

Be humble,gentle and kind. Be at peace with yourself and with all things in your life. Stop wasting time on what ifs and  self-doubt. Life is a gift , but it is one that is short.  put more effort in to loving and enjoying the company of those you have been blessed to have as friends on your life’s path. All the riches and possessions in the world can not replace the love of a family member or good friend.

 

Find contentment in what you have been blessed to have and fall not to envy or greed. Be content and thankful for what you have , for you could have far less. Always strive to better your life , but do so humbly and not for self-satisfaction.  To see yourself superior or more important than another is also saying you are above that which god has made you. For god made all of us equal, Christ through his sacrifice made us all equal in grace. Christ taught that you can only serve one master at a time, so by serving yourself you do not serve God. Reason one should be humble and  be content so not to serve yourself in order to serve God wholeheartedly.

 

Be peaceful, humble, compassionate and full of love.  Sow that which you desire to reap.

Ray Barbier

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random thoughts–1/28/2014

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HPIM0319To Love others as God loves us, this is what we were taught to do yet we seem to miss that mark so easily. Why is it so hard to accept and love one another unconditionally? What makes us want to either judge others hastily and without compassion or causes us to choose to deny others love. We all want to be loved, accepted and to be a part of a group or community, but we tend to deny ourselves these things as much as we deny it to others due to our image of what we think makes one worthy of such.

The fact is we all deserve love, acceptance and to be a part of a community. God gave us his love so we could spread his love and cause it to multiply between us all. We all belong to the great community of humankind even though some people believe otherwise. No man s greater or lesser than his brother in the eyes of God nor is any person without sin or fault. To declare or to put oneself above another is but vanity and self centeredness in its purest form.

To claim to be wise usually is a sign one is a fool, to see that you are but a fool is usually the first step towards wisdom. To know thyself with out self-delusion or self-glorification is to be humble and to see the truth of what one is. I claim not to know the answers I only claim to know some of the questions and express that which I believe and understand as theoretical ideals.  I urge you to seek your own answers in life for you are responsible for what you choose to believe and what you teach others directly or indirectly.

Live life to the fullest, but do so with compassion and a charitable heart. Forgive not only others,also learn to forgive your own self, for one must face their own shortcomings and go beyond them in order to see the grace in forgiveness. Think for your self and follow not the mainstream ideology, for the path to ruin is wide and so is the path to hell. Seek the truth and be not persuaded by wolves in sheep’s clothing, for many profess to be leaders in Christ and are but men of wealth and greed.

I am but a fool who seeks to become wise, I am but a man who tries to be a good man, nothing else.

Ray Barbier

Random Thoughts, Religious, Thought of the day

Mankind wasn’t ready for his level of love

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DSC_0337There once was a man who taught peace, forgiveness and love. He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind and even raised the dead. He did all of it in love and for his father. Mankind wasn’t ready for his level of love and mercy and many saw him as a threat to their position and or power and in the end they put him to death. There once was a man who was more than just a man who suffered torture, chastising, ridicule and in the end a horrible and painful crucifixion. He laid his life down in love to save the same people whom put him to death. He died to save the Jews and the Gentiles alike and through him we all can be saved.

Jesus was God’s love manifested in human form, sent to teach us,save us and to be the bridge between humanity and God. Love comes from God and Jesus and we are supposed to be the propagators of God’s love. We are to love one another, we are not to judge or to be as the Pharisees were.

Be thankful, forgiving, loving, caring and live your life in Christ doing as he has taught us to do.

Ray Barbier

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Time to open you eyes, time to let go of what was

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003Time to open you eyes, time to let go of what was and the things that shall never be. Most of what you want you don’t really need and probably would just bring you unhappiness in the end or just a short moment of joy that is hollow. Time to be appreciative of the things God has blessed you with, He has given you things that money, gold or Jewels could never get you. Love, Peace, Hope and last but not least his grace. He gave you a family, friends and another day for you to cherish them as well.

Time to put the fear away for faith is stronger and time to put away greed it only leads to the ruin of your life. Lust is just an perversion of love and is what has caused so many divorces, broken hearts and even some wars along the way. Selfishness is a true enemy of happiness and it stands between us and god.

 Temper your heart with the love of God, Tame your mind with the Gospel and put all of your heart, mind, body and soul into walking in faith. Do everything you do for God and not for your self.

Ray Barbier

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Yelling at an oncoming storm

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012Last night I had an interesting dream, I was standing before what seemed to be the front door of a house I lived in years ago. I noticed the wind from a storm brewing outside had opened the screen door so I went to go close it and looked at the approaching storm and said to it “I am a follower of Christ, I live in Christ, I rest in Christ, I fight on the side of Christ. Before I said these things the door was being difficult to shut but afterwards it shut easily and then the dream ended. Just one of those interesting dreams that you want to share and remember because how odd it seemed. Yelling at an oncoming storm and confirming my Christianity to it as if to let it know I was ready to face the storm.

Well I know it’s not an interesting article but it was one of those things I got a feeling to write about.

God Bless

Ray Barbier

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Just like faith, Love is an important part

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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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There is always hope and Salvation

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

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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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