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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

So they do not become a stumbling block

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DSCF0002Live in the now, leave the past as a memory and take from it the wisdom you earned and learned. Leave the future to itself for it will come in its own time. Forgive yourself of the mistakes of the past and remember them only to serve as a warning not to repeat them again. Let old wounds and hurts be healed through love and forgiveness so they do not become a stumbling block between you and the plans God has for you. Cherish all things you have been blessed with and worry not of those things you do not have for God provides you with all that you need. Envy not the rich, though they have far more than they need or any person should ever want they lack the fellowship and strength of the working class and poor. Take care of your brothers and sisters by any means you have and serve god by making sure no other human wants for food or shelter. Speak kindly of others or say nothing at all for it isn’t what goes into the mouth that matters it is what comes out of your mouth which comes from your heart and can make you unclean.

Focus on fellowship, brotherhood, sisterhood and compassion for those are the traits we should embrace as a Christian. Some say think twice before speaking and doing, I say think thrice for it is good to be watchful of your own heart and the things you say and do. Bless your enemies as you should bless your friends and be peaceful and a guiding light for others. We are meant to set a good example of how to live and interact with others.

God Bless you all

Ray Barbier

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Just like faith, Love is an important part

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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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Just as Jesus taught us to do, He will do for us the same.

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English: Jesus Christ - detail from Deesis mos...

When we learn to put aside all our worries and stress we find that happiness is such an easy thing to obtain. As my mom always told me, let go and let God, thus let God handle all the stressful situations and let him be the source of your strength. Jesus taught if we see a neighbor or even a stranger carrying a heavy load that we should help that person carry the load. If they ask you to carry it a part of the way, you should carry it all the way. The compassion, fellowship and kindness in your heart should always inspire you to help others. Just as Jesus taught us to do, He will do for us the same. Jesus will help carry your load when you need it and he will counsel you when you are unable to discern which way to go.

We should practice compassion, understanding and kindness every day, for if we do not show any compassion, kindness or try to be understanding towards others how should we expect the same from God? The same goes for forgiveness, God through Jesus has forgiven us all and we should forgive others through Christ as well. If a person sins against you just remember you are a sinner as well, forgive him and pray for both his forgiveness as well as your own. Love the sinner and hate only the sin, we all have sin in us and none of us are worthy to enter the kingdom of God without Jesus. We also need to learn to forgive ourselves as well, we can not carry the weight of our sins and be forgiven at the same time. Christ died on the cross and was resurrected to wash or cover our multitude of sins. So you pray to be forgiven and truly repent then forgive yourself and forget your sin.

 All our strength, help and forgiveness comes from God through his Son Jesus Christ. We must remember this and thank God for that he has given, will give and even that which he has taken away.

Ray Barbier

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Just some Thoughts on a Friday night 9-21-12

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026Smile, be at peace with yourself, your family, your friends and even those who choose to be your enemies. For we all are human and are prone to be imperfect in thought, emotion and action. We all have problems and we all have our shortcomings as well. We should remember how hard life is for ourselves when we look at others and begin to judge. For the bible teaches how we judge others is how we too will be judged in the end time. So if you must judge do so with compassion, understanding and mercy. It is so easy to point a finger or cast blame on others especially when it keeps your own faults hidden.

Worry not about what others think about you, say about you or try to accuse you of. Just worry about your words, actions and how you treat others. For what is truth always is revealed and you will be remembered by how you treat others.

just some Thoughts on a Friday night

Ray Barbier

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Give the battle to God and Begin serving God.

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MP900321192 The Job, The Kids, your favorite TV show, even your battle with sin can be distractions from serving God. We allow ourselves to get consumed if not overwhelmed by every day life and the challenges we face each day and that makes it next to impossible to serve god. If we are devoting all of our energy, time and mental abilities to the world we leave very little to give to serving God. Of course we have to deal with everyday life and the challenges it brings, but there are a lot of things we could let go of or that we could hand off to others if not to god himself in order to make time to Serve God and help others.

jesus-christ-in-prayer_w725_h725 This world is stressful and can be quite exhausting, the enemy always tries to keep us occupied with what ever he can so we are to consumed by life to serve, worship or know God. Not only does the enemy use distraction he also tries to deceive you into believing there is no hope for you and that you can not be saved. He wants us to be lost and confused so we can not find our salvation and or serve our father and our savior. Through faith, prayer and serving God we strengthen ourselves and through reading the scripture we learn to focus on the will of God not our own.

MP900427741 (1) If you are in a battle with sin in your life stop fighting it on your own, Give the battle to God to fight. Begin serving God by helping others and being kind to others. The more you focus on doing things that are good the less you think of the things that are sinful or that you lust for. The more you dedicate yourself to serving God and doing his will the less hold on you the sinful nature will have. It is a life long battle that we must wage against our sinful natures but the war was already won upon the cross and by the blood.

 If serving God is your first and last thought of the day, then Serving God you will do throughout the day.

Ray Barbier

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God’s love is limitless and unstoppable

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MP900426559 God gave all of us some pretty good gifts, Love being one of the better ones, the ability to care about one another and to put someone else above your own self. The happiness of your mate will become your first priority and your own happiness will seem less important. When the love is shared then there is never a worry about happiness because both partners are striving to make each other happy. Sometimes love requires some work to keep and maintain, both sides have to compromise at times and work with each other. Love shouldn’t always be a chore to keep, for the most part it should be pretty simple to maintain but there will be rough patches to keep you busy from time to time.

Compassion, an expression of a brotherly/sisterly love for others, a love that is unconditional and unlimited. This is a more of a spiritual love that God blessed us with and should be one of the loves we should share freely and abundantly. We should strive to show compassion on people and all other living things. Forgiveness is also an expression of a spiritual type of love, to forgive yourself or others is to express that you love them enough to overlook their shortcomings and mistakes.  This kind of love is one of the kind of loves that God through Jesus showed us upon the cross. He loved us so much he gave his only begotten son as a sacrifice for our sins so we could be forgiven and be able to enter the kingdom of heaven.

God’s love is limitless and unstoppable, from his love is where all love springs forth from. God is the source for all the love we feel, express and give to one another. We always should remember where all of our blessings, gifts and help comes from, God is the source of all that is good. We should remember to give thanks for all that he has blessed us with and that which he will bless us with in the future.

We can choose to accept his gifts and blessings or we can choose to stand alone in this world of darkness. The choice is ours and ours alone, what we reap will be that which we have chosen to sow. Choose wisely my friends and may God bless you and guide you through the darkness of our world.

Ray Barbier

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution By license.
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Have faith, Trust in god and live life Christ like as possible.

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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

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Focus more on the light within each other instead of the shadows

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65242I have noticed that most people tend to find it easy to point out the faults and shortcomings of others. The funny part most of the time the faults they point out in others they usually have themselves. I guess as a humans we tend to hate characteristics in others that we despise or fear of having within ourselves. To be perfectly honest, I believe the only one we have the right to judge or criticize is our own selves. We are far from perfect and fall short of the glory of god as much as the next person and all sin is equal except for blaspheme of the holy spirit. So no sinner is greater or lesser than the next and all can be saved and forgiven. Point is we are all equal in having faults and shortcomings so why bother pointing out the obvious in others when we should tend to our own. If you insist on judging others just remember that the way you judge others is the way you will be judged. So judge with compassion and understanding as well as with a forgiving heart so you too will receive the same mercy. If we would only focus more on the light within each other instead of the shadows and dark spots we would be a far better species and a much happier world. I guess I am nothing but a dreamer with an optimistic view. Just one of my shortcomings I guess, but its one I tend to like within myself.

 

Do not hesitate to express your love to others and fear not rejection for it isn’t as bad as loneliness.

Raymond Barbier

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

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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 

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