Be courageous I ‘ve seen many depressions in…


Be courageous. I ‘ve seen many depressions in business. Always America has emerged from these stronger and more prosperous. Be brave as your fathers before you. Have faith! Go forward!

Thomas Edison

Love each moment you get in life


65242 Life is a road that will eventually come to an end when our time is up, the length of the journey  is not as important as the experiences we have along the way. We can choose to spend the whole journey looking backwards at where we have been, looking forward to what yet may come or just keep focused on the place we are at. Getting fixed on the past or on what come in the future only distracts us from the importance of the present. Seize the moment, live for today, live in the now and live each day like its your last are words of wisdom passed to us from the sages of the past. There is no other time as important as now, we must remember the past and its lessons as well as plan for the future but if we ignore the present then we miss out on life itself. Waste little energy or time on the negative emotions and focus on the positive ones so that your experiences of the now are positive for you and those around you. Forgive those whom have done you harm and seek forgiveness for your own mistakes and wrong doings. Love each moment you get in life for we have such a short time to live here in this interesting world.

Try to be a positive influence on this world and avoid feeding the ego, for the ego is self-centered and cares only for itself. Selfishness is like an infinite void that can never be filled while Selflessness is like a renewable fuel source for when you give you receive and therefore there is never a void to fill. The bible teaches us it is better to give than to receive and it also teaches us to be humble. It also teaches us to be swift to hear, slow to speak and  be slow to anger. Listen and you will learn many things, be low to speak and you may hear more as well as avoid saying things out of haste. It is always wise to be slow to become angry for many misunderstandings and quick tempers have started feuds and great wars. Life is short so live it happily and with as much compassion as you can muster. For we all have faults and none of us are without sin. It is much harder to point your finger in accusation of another when yourself are guilty of a sin that is equal in stature. For all sin is the same except for blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. So none of are greater or lesser than the other in life and non is without blemish.

 

May God will be your guide through life and his love be the foundation you build upon.

Raymond Barbier

What our definition of happiness is may differ


008 I am who and what I am, full of faults and shortcomings that I have learned to accept. I am no stud or intellectual giant but I have finer points that few ever see or notice. My uniqueness is something I treasure and will never hide from others. I used to be so concerned about what others thought of me, but I have learned that what they think about me is less important than what I think about myself. I have leaned to love me for who and what I am. Take me for what I am or do not take me at all, for I am the sum of all my experiences though life and the person I have become within. I am an ever changing and growing person and I embrace the fact I can and will make many mistakes along this path of life I walk. By accepting myself as is I also have learned to accept others for who and what they are. Not one person can be perfect nor can they be accepted and/or liked by everyone. I learned one of the greatest gifts one can give and receive (besides Love) is forgiveness. For forgiveness is one of those things that usually return to you 7 fold down the line. Just like Jesus taught us, we must love and forgive freely and not be swayed by anger or envy. Selfishness is one of the biggest enemies of being happy and living a full life. Selfishness keeps us from loving and forgiving others, it keeps our focus on ourselves and not on the world in full. We may be individuals but we are also a part of a huge family called humanity. We must learn to love and accept ourselves before we learn to love and accept those around us. Love is something that starts as a seed within and grows outward and so is all the other emotions related to it. To love yourself is not to be selfish it is to be selfless, for loving yourself leads to loving others and is a required first step towards happiness. There is always going to be someone you have a hard time liking but this does not mean you can not love them is a general sense. There have been many who I have not liked so much in my life but I still loved them as a human being.  Hate the sin not the sinner and love the person but not their faults or actions.

I am who I am and you are who you are, We are two unique people with different views but both of us want the same thing and that is to live a happy life. What our definition of happiness is may differ but we both still long for and strive towards that same goal. I pray and hope you will find that happiness as much as I hope I find mine.

Not one person is alike, yet we all desire to be happy.

Raymond Barbier

Open your eyes to see the light, open your ears to the truth


LP_product_c A man can go through his whole life feeling as is he has been walking alone. He never sees or hears the one that walks beside him. Never questioning the times he fell and he felt some one catching him and helping him up. Unaware of the many miles that he has been carried and blind to the truth before his own eyes. Looking for signs everywhere only to look past the sign right before him. Such blindness mankind suffers at times, always looking for the complicated answers when it’s the simple truth that he needs.  All his life Jesus walked beside him, many words have been spoken but not heard by him and he has been saved along with carried by Christ but unaware it was so.  Christ walks with us all and god is always with his children, it is our choice to ignore him or to embrace him. Freewill is a gift God gave us and with it we must make our own choices.

Open your eyes to see the light, open your ears to the truth and your heart to his love.

God Bless
Raymond Barbier

Letting Go , Letting God and The Magnitude of God’s Love


Jesus is considered by scholars such as Weber ...
Image via Wikipedia

I have noticed that letting go is one of the hardest actions to perform, be it letting go of your mistakes in the past or the mistakes of others. I find it so much easier to forgive others than to forgive myself for the mistakes and poor choices made in the past. Seems I am harder on my own self than on those I know and care for. Don’t get me wrong I can be a butt head sometimes to others but in general I have the live and let live attitude. Even when I am able to forgive myself for the wrongs I had committed it still takes a long time for me to forget and let it go.

Though I know my mother wasn’t the first to coin the phrase let go and let God but she is the first one that told me that. Letting God take it all is easy only if I can let it all go, I know in God’s hands I am safe but still I find letting it go hard. Slowly but surely I am learning to turn over my fears, desires, doubts and the mistakes of my past to the will and love of God. As I do the past becomes just that and it is no longer having the influence it used to over my present. The grace of God is what helps me let go of the things I can’t seem to let go of and his love and mercy helps me get through this harsh world we all live in.

We all sin, we all fall short of the glory of God, But through his son Jesus we are granted  a pardon for our sins and through such grace we are shown the magnitude of God’s love. Jesus tried to teach us to love one another, to share each others burdens and to avoid being judgmental. Compassion not only towards family and friends but even those we see as enemies. He tried to show us a more enlightened path as well as a more humane way of existence. He loved us and believed in our potential enough to die and save us from the sinful nature within us all. He set an example for us to follow both in his teachings and in how he lived his life.

May God bless you all and the Light of truth guide you on your life’s journey
Raymond Barbier 

To Be Selfless


Jesus is considered by scholars such as Weber ...The path of Righteousness, a path seldom followed and is not an easy path to travel. To be selfless, humble and full of compassion for both your friends and your enemies. To put everyone else before your own seems to be against the nature of most people. To put aside judgment of others so that you will not be judged by the same conditions as well as not seeing your possessions as your own. To seek wise counsel and avoid being deceived along the way.

“(Proverbs 3:3) Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart”

it seems so much easier to be selfish, greedy and full of loathing. It is far easier for one  To take instead of give and to hurt instead of heal. To take care of your own and let others suffer in hunger and poverty seems to be the safest route. Yes to live in lust and partake in all the pleasures is far more entertaining than to refrain from such things. To enjoy the pleasures of your spouse is good but to enjoy the pleasures of others is not. It is a betrayal of not only your spouse but of your own self and the vows you made.

Our Lord and Savior died and paid for our sins so we could be redeemed not so we could be careless and be foul. Sure no man can be without sin, It is in our very nature to sin and it is also within our power to abstain from sinning. We must do our best in avoiding sin and we must repent for the sins we commit when we fall. Teach righteousness and avoid being judgmental of sinners for you will be judged by god in the way you judge others.

 Matthew 7:1-3 Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you, for God will judge you in the same way you judge others, and he will apply to you the same rules you apply to others. Why, then, do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the log in your own eye?”

In a world so full of injustice and a world lacking in love and compassion we must live. We have a choice to either be like the world we walk in or to be like the one who saved mankind from its sinful nature. Our hope is in Jesus Christ and without it we could not have the promise of salvation or being worthy of Heaven.

“(Colossians 2:13) And you, being dead in your sins and the un-circumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.”

 

May God Bless you and yours.
Raymond Barbier

To put blind faith in a human being is not a good idea at best.


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I am not a great fan of organized religion,but I am a great supporter of religion on an individual/personal level. Organized religion gives too much power to the church over the beliefs and doctrine of individuals. Each person should have their own personal relationship with Jesus and God (or the god of their personal choice). I am a firm believer in freewill and the right to choose you own spiritual path to follow. No man should have the right to force his own beliefs upon another. This is not to say I am against spreading the word of your chosen religion, just you should respect the rights of others to believe differently.

I have seen too many times people putting faith into religious leaders who wind up leading their followers into hateful and hurtful beliefs and actions. There have been many of times that religious leaders have led their followers to mass suicide or created holy wars that caused the destruction and killing of many innocent people. To put blind faith into God is okay but to put blind faith in a human being is not a good idea at best. No man is without fault and no one man should be followed blindly. Read your scriptures and keep faith god will reveal truth to you so you may not be deceived by man or any other force out to lead you astray. Use that freewill god gave you to seek out the truth along with the right path for you to follow.

I believe freewill was a gift to us from god and he gave us the right to choose our own way to live and believe. Freewill is a great blessing but it has the cost of being wrong or making the wrong choices and having to pay the price for such. Luckily most of us live long enough to make many mistakes along the way and learn what is and isn’t the right path hopefully before our time is up.

Though I know my opinions are not always  right or popular , they are of my own choosing.

May Truth be your Guiding light
Raymond Barbier

The Shocking Pagan Origin of CHRISTMAS!


A Danish Christmas tree illuminated with burni...
Image via Wikipedia

Just an Interesting Article, The Fact Jesus was not born on Dec. 25th isn’t a secret. Regardless I still celebrate Christmas in the spirit of the blessing of Jesus Christ though its nice to know Truth.

Click this link to Read Full Article
—> The Shocking Pagan Origin of CHRISTMAS! <—

“What is the TRUE ORIGIN of Christmas? Where did it come from? Did you know Yeshua the Messiah was born nowhere NEAR December 25, but that was the “birth day” of the sun- god, “Sol Invictus” or “Mithras”? Did you know December 25 was the concluding day of the pagan winter festival called the “Saturnalia“? Where did “Santa Claus” come from? The “Christmas tree”? How did this pagan feast become connected with “Christianity”? Here is an amazing “whale of a tale”!”

Freewill, Evil and Human Nature


Gustave Doré, Depiction of Satan, the antagoni...

I have often pondered on if there is a God and he loves us then why does evil exist and suffering? The answer to each of those questions vary with whom you ask them. My thoughts are as follows, God allows evil to exist in order to allow us to enjoy the gift of freewill that he gave us. Thus the majority of the evil in this world if not all of it is solely our responsibility. Human beings are the source of evil here on earth as well as the source of goodness. If Evil exists here on earth it is due to our free choice to allow it to be a part of our lives. Unfortunately being such a large population it would be next to impossible to stamp out all evil in our society. The only way would to try and enlighten everyone and promote love, peace and understanding on a global scale. This is something I fear could never happen due to the people in power would reject and obstruct such a global movement. War one of the greater evils of mankind is the most profitable and is the thing most governments support as long as its not on their soil.

Far as suffering, it is no more than a side effect of the evil man creates. Greed and the lust for power fuels the leaders of our world either consciously or subconsciously. There may be many politicians and political leaders that are not evil by nature but fall to the wayside as a necessity to gain position or favor. So why does god allow all of this? Well its all the freewill thing, He gave us the reigns and only intercedes if asked or if necessary. Man must learn on his own that Sin, wickedness and evil are the enemy of life. Being a human myself, I face many faults within myself and fall to sin. The nature to be selfish and to be self satisfying seems to be a embedded part of human nature. To resist and to control it is a choice that one must make.

Well that’s my thoughts on the issue, right or wrong its here for all to see.

Peace and happiness to all
Raymond Barbier

Right and Wrong, The Conflict within us all.


The Resurrection from Grünewald's Isenheim Alt...The conflicts we suffer within us are there to serve us by giving us eventual direction in life. Morality versus Self Gratification is usually the main conflict that stirs within our inner selves. To know what is right and wrong comes with penalties, Every selfish and inhumane action we have tends to carry a heavy cost with it. But in turn the selfless and compassionate actions too carry a reward if not sometimes a price. Though I would rather pay the price for doing what is right than for what is wrong, usually my selfishness gets in the way at times. The internal conflicts within us are basically the battle between right and wrong.

Being human sometimes it is very hard to decipher what is right or wrong because there are so many fine lines between the two. Usually as a rule is if it causes harm to another person then it is considered wrong, If it benefits the other person or everyone then it is considered good and or right. Though there are some situations that these rules would not and could not be applied and that is when I myself just try to find the least hurtful and or damaging choice. I try to live by the ideal that if you make others happy along with helping  them to the best of your ability while avoiding doing any kind of harm then you have chosen the right path. This includes ones own self, Respect is not to be a one way street and neither is compassion.

I guess the inner conflicts within us all will continue as long as we struggle to balance the needs and wants of the self with the needs and wants of others. Right and wrong, Good and evil are concepts mankind embraced in order to find a means in which to better society and help the progression of civilization.

The creator (GOD) gave us the code of conduct known as the ten commandments to help guide mankind to a better way of life and he also sent Jesus Christ as a teacher and savior. Jesus came to not only fulfill the law but to teach mankind forgiveness, compassion and the true spirit of love. He showed all of us by example his compassion towards the sick and the sinners he came across in his time here on earth, He taught us to forgive and to turn the other cheek along with to love one another.

To be selfish and without compassion is to allow yourself  to be surrounded by those whom have little regard for you or your survival. As the old saying goes “Birds of the same feather flock together”. So you will become surrounded by others who are much like yourself and you will be treated like that which you treat others. I also belive that if you do someone harm eventualy through a chain reaction the harm will come full circle back to you. This of course works with compassion and selfless acts,they also will come around in full circle eventually. This is the concept of karma and  the only problem with Karma is sometimes its instant and sometimes it takes a lifetime, but eventually what comes around does go around. So I guess there is wisdom in the old saying " Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’".

Well enough of my Ramblings for today
May peace fill your heart and compassion be your guide.
Raymond Barbier