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

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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No man has the right to deny another of those gifts and freedoms.


IMG_1156Every morning we wake up to a brand new chance to change our world and the path we are walking through life on. We have another day to start over and change direction along to make amends for our wrongs. We should not only forgive but we should also ask for forgiveness and display our regret for the wrongs we have committed. Once displayed then we should ask for the forgiveness and then move forward knowing we did all we could to make up for the mistake as well as showing  regret for our wrongdoing. We should then forgive ourselves for our shortcomings and begin moving forward in life. Every minute we live is another chance to choose a better path and a chance to change how we interact with the world. During the day there is a constant battle between the heart god blessed us with and the mind the world help program. The love god inspires within us battles the selfish mind for control of our destiny. The good thing is that we do have freewill and can choose to follow one or the other and even both. Of course it is better to choose one for we can only serve one master at a time.

MP900444203The world we live in is constantly bombarding us with conflicting messages and negative images along with immoral themes through modern media. If we see the negative and immoral enough we will become insensitive to it and eventually such insensitivity and tolerance leads to complete acceptance to such things. The problem is, there is no way we could stop all the negativity or immorality in our modern media, but we can make sure we do not become insensitive to it or accept it in any way. We must remind ourselves that even though it has become commonplace that it still is not acceptable and still is wrong. We must teach our young of right and wrong and how not to allow themselves to be mislead by the social acceptance of immoral and negative things. Just because everyone is doing something or says it isn’t wrong anymore doesn’t make it so. We shouldn’t judge others for accepting the wrong, we should just avoid the same traps they fell for. We should also try to get them to see the truth and help guide them away from such illusions. The one thing we must always remember is they have freewill and have the right to believe and live as they choose. God gave every one of us the choice and the right to freewill and no man has the right to deny another of those gifts and freedoms.

Our mind is a collection of ideas and beliefs that we gained through our experiences in life , those ideas and beliefs are a mix of both treasures and garbage.

Raymond Barbier

All we can do is learn from our past and work in the present to make a better future.


MP900426559Seems the person we all judge the hardest is ourselves, We hold ourselves to a higher standard and expect to achieve it. We tend to forgive and overlook other people’s faults and mistakes much easier than our own. We can have compassion for every one around us but we seem to find it hard to have compassion upon ourselves. We need to learn we are also human just like everyone else and we can’t be perfect or without flaw. We must accept ourselves for who and what we are and forgive ourselves for our shortcomings. We always have room for improvement but we must realize we are beautiful and good as we are. We should build upon what we are and not try to destroy that which makes us unique.

We definitely need  to wake up to the reality that we are who we are and that it isn’t that bad being an imperfect human.  It is quite relieving to know we are like everyone else in the fact we are imperfect and make mistakes. We just need to learn from those mistakes and improve what we don’t like in ourselves as well as embrace the light that dwells within. God made all of us the way we needed to be in order to learn the lessons of life he set before us. We can not live in the past or the future because we live in the present and we shouldn’t dwell on what was or what might be. All we can do is learn from our past and work in the present to make a better future.
MP900399589We need to love ourselves and one another in the same way God and Jesus loves us.We need to accept the grace given and give as much grace as we can to ourselves and others. God gave us the spirit of love, and of a sound mind not of anger or fear and Jesus taught forgiveness and compassion.  For the spirit of love, forgiveness and compassion is not only meant for others but also for ourselves as well. For it is hard to love, forgive or have compassion on others if you can’t even have it for yourself. The sound mind comes with loving oneself and having the compassion to forgive yourself. With a sound mind you will find that there is very little others can say or think about you that will matter much. You will only be concerned with the truth and not of opinions and/or hear say.

 Listen to the heart God blessed you with and not the mind that the world helped program.

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Raymond Barbier

Where has all the compassion, love and respect gone?


MP900427611Where has all the compassion, love and respect gone? People seem to be colder at heart and have only interest in themselves. Compassion is a key part of being human and respect is like the super lube of society. Without one or the other the world begins to become chaotic . Seems selfishness and the lack of respect for others is becoming the driving forces of the world we live in. Thing about selfishness is it is the seed to other things such as lust, greed, envy and vanity. I was brought up to respect elders, authority and have compassion for those who are less fortunate and in need. I was also taught that everyone is equal in the eyes of God and no person is greater than another. I never could see how anyone could find pleasure or some kind of satisfaction in causing physical or emotional pain to others. To help others and to make them smile or to make them laugh is the right path to follow and can be quite rewarding emotionally too.

MP900427738It seems Karma does exist in one form another, what you sow you shall reap and what you give you will get back seven fold. So when you show compassion it will be shown to you and when you give hate it will come back to you. It may take years but you always pay for both the good and bad you do in life. I just don’t understand why for some people being compassionate and carrying a heart of love is such a hard thing to do. Is it fear of being considered weak or the chance of being hurt by others? No matter how tough or how compassionate you are, you are going to be hurt from time to time in life its part of being human. It could be they have a deep wound or emotional pain blocking them from becoming what God had planned them to be. I wish everyone could be compassionate, understanding and full of kindness and we all could follow the teachings and examples god gave us through Jesus.

MP900289198There were many great prophets, philosophers and sages god gave man, he gave us great philosophies and examples to follow through them all. He just wants man to be kind, compassionate and forgiving towards each other. Far as the many branches on the tree of life and the many religions spawned on our planet, let each person choose their path and be good to one another. We all have freewill and the right to choose which religion and or faith we want to follow. We shouldn’t force our belief on others or judge them if they choose differently than ourselves. The judgment of who is right and or wrong is God’s alone, not that of man’s. We of different religions and faiths can get along and even be friends, I have many friends that are of different religions and faiths than myself and we have no hatred or distrust between us because of our differences of belief. We have respect for each others beliefs and live with each other in friendship and peace.

“ Learn from the wisdom of the old and the innocent truths of the young.”

Raymond Barbier

Keeping faith, Update on Trish’s Cancer… Possible Good news.


03.365 (02.08.2009) Faith
03.365 (02.08.2009) Faith (Photo credit: hannahclark)

update: possibly it is not a tumor, ultrasounds don’t show conclusive. Waiting on Cat scan results. Keep your fingers Crossed and Prayers coming. BTW thanks to all the support from my Friends. Trish sends her thanks too. Well the next update wont be until monday. Then we should know for sure.

Keeping the faith when all is great is easy; keeping the faith when all is falling apart is true faith.


Today I am trying to keep positive in mind and spirit, even facing the news that cancer has returned into my fiancé’s life. She had Thyroid Cancer about 10 years ago and a relapse about 7 years ago and now another relapse. They are not 100% sure so they are doing a biopsy today, though it’s more than likely cancer due to where the growth is located. I am asking all the bloggers out there and my followers to send positive thoughts and say prayers for Patricia Hamblin. I place her and the cancer into the hands of god and into the hands of those who can pray. God bless you all.

Keeping the faith when all is great is easy; keeping the faith when all is falling apart is true faith.

Raymond Barbier

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are the stewards of this world we live in


We are the stewards of this world we live in; we are responsible for the well-being of the planet and all living things on it. We are responsible for one another, be it friend, stranger and even foe. God gave us the gift of life and the gift of such a beautiful planet to call home along with the responsibility of caring for both. Somehow a lot of us forgot our responsibilities and/or our job of being stewards of this world. So much pollution is filling the air, covering the land and poisoning the water. There is too many hungry and homeless people and way too many children in poverty. When did we lose our way and how can we find our way back? How can we continue to pollute our planet and allow famine and homelessness to run rampant across our beautiful world? We can spend trillions of dollars on wars and dedicate such a large workforce to achieve victory but yet spare hardly any resources to combat the hunger and homeless in our own country and around the world. As precious as life is along with the beautiful and wondrous planet to live on we don’t seem to care that we are throwing it all away. Since there is so many of us humans on this planet we all can choose just one or two things to be responsible for in our stewardship and still make an impact. Not everyone can be in Greenpeace or be a political activist. Not everyone is cut out to be a social worker or volunteer. Choose your battle and be dedicated to its cause, be it feeding the hungry, helping the homeless, cleaning up your hometown or doing grassroots activism.

This is our planet to take care of and we should do the best we can to make it a better place. Governments only can do so much to change our world; the rest is up to us and the business sector. We need to pressure both the governments and businesses of the world into being more green minded as well as more charitable towards the less fortunate. Not so much by making laws but by our spending and voting habits as well as writing our representatives. We should educate our fellow stewards about the state of our world and how to make changes at a personal level as well as in the big picture. We as a species need to learn to accept and tolerate the differences between us as people in order to come together and make this world a better place for ourselves and our children.

The Children are the world’s greatest resource and they are our precious future.

Raymond Barbier

Have faith, Trust in god and live life Christ like as possible.


Being positive is not an easy task, but it is the most rewarding path to follow. Negativity is a path that usually leads to self-destruction and the harming of all those around you. Your attitude towards life effects everyone around you in one way or another. It may not be intentional but when your negative you bring others around you down and even cause them harm sometimes. Though there is a time for negativity but it is not something that is meant to occupy your life for any great amount of time. Positivity on the other hand rarely ever causes harm, it usually lifts up the spirits of those around you, heals the emotional scars within your self and it tends to attract positive people into your life. The hard part is realizing that happiness and/or positivity is generated within yourself and is not supplied from an outside source. God gave you the spirit of compassion, love, positivity, creativity, healing and much more. He did not give you the spirit of fear, anger, envy, lust, greed or any other negative emotion or action. The negative is something you created or accepted from the world around you. The lack of faith, low self-esteem and a poor self-image are spawned from the acceptance and embracing of the negativity in your life. If you face negativity with faith in god and with love within your heart then you can not fail.

God wants all his children to be happy, healthy and live a good life, he does not want us to suffer nor to be lost in the darkness of sin. He gives us all we need to face off any enemy and to stand in the face of any storm, he planted a seed within each of us that we must cultivate. We must plant it in good soil and feed it with that which is good or positive. The only external force that can bring you happiness and positivity is God. He can work from within you and through those around you as well. Even an enemy can be a messenger or a finger-pointing the way, God will approach you in every he can to get you to see truth and to feel his love. Jesus taught us to be non violent, to love one another, to forgive and to be compassionate. All positive emotions and actions, all part of the path of righteousness. To judge is not our part to play, and to turn any sinner away from god is a sin in its self. Be positive, Have faith, Trust in god and live life Christ like as possible.

 

Though no man or woman can be without sin, all sin can be washed by his blood except blasphemy of the spirit.

Raymond Barbier

And we should know that fear is not what God wants for his children


cross Fear, one of the greatest enemies to civilization and to our happiness is way too commonplace in the modern world. You would think with all the technology and advances in the sciences we would be a more secure and less fearful world. Fear is one of the devils favorite weapons because it creates doubt in god and his word. Though fear itself can not destroy the word of god it can make some to doubt it as well as create a lifetime of worry. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind ~ 2 Timothy 1:7 That verse sums it up, we should not give into fear for it is not the spirit that god gave us. We should surrender the fear to god and keep faith. For fear keeps one from having a sound mind and it saps their power by keeping doubt in the front of their mind. It can be a great obstacle to moving forward or doing the works god desires for you. Through fear you can become deceived, you can be led to believe you can not accomplish what either you or God has planned for you to do.

Remember the story of David and Goliath, All the grown soldiers were shaking in their boots and were surrendering to their fear and any of them would have failed to defeat Goliath. But David with his faith in god and with courage (not fear) was able to take on the giant Goliath and slay him. This proves fear in the end is both a weakening force and an obstruction to ones true potential. Face your fear with faith and give it to God, keep faith and go out and do gods will. And we should know that fear is not what God wants for his children…

God Bless
Raymond Barbier