What are you thinking.
I was listening to an audio drama series yesterday on my drive from Minneapolis to Chicago. The story was called “Affabel” by John Bevere. I highly recommend you check it out.
It made me think. The story is about these 5 kids, their actions and motives, and in the end, their judgement. They were good kids; kind, considerate, you know, the average person. They did normal things, made normal decisions, they were just like you and me.
Eventually, after their lives were outlined throughout the story, came judgement day. They were all taken to the throne, one by one. Their lives flashed in front of their eyes, some experiences they were proud of, and some of which they were completely ashamed.
Some tried to tell God that they were good people on earth, and that they did many good things for the community. They tried to convince Him that they deserve to rule at His right side, because they did so much better that so-and-so. They tried to weigh the good an dthe bad in their lives.
Good deeds do not outweigh the bad. No matter what you tell God when you’re bowing down before him in all of His glory, you will not change His mind, you cannot change your past, you cannot convince Him that you lived a ‘good life.’ It will not work. Your name either is or is not written in the Book of Life. He will not be making revisions on that day.
What are YOU thinking??
Recorded in your life story, is everything. Every word you spoke, every idea you thought, every action you made. Everything.It will all flash before your very eyes on that day, and many of us have events in our past that we will deeply regret, events that we are not proud of, experiences that could have happened differently, but we made no adjustments and let it happen.
Also recorded in your life story, will be the acts of kindness, generosity, and forgiveness. Decisions that you’ve made on the positive scale to affect other peoples lives. Your efforts to make a difference in people’s lives is huge.
Maybe we should start paying more close attention to our own lives..
((sorry i’m in math class, i’m a little distracted, i’ll repost later))
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Want to have some fun this CHRISTMAS? Send the ACLU a CHRISTMAS CARD this year. As they are working so very hard to get rid of the “CHRISTMAS” part of this holiday, we should all send them a nice, CHRISTIAN card to brighten up their dark, sad, little world. Make sure it says “Merry Christmas” on it.
Here’s the address, just don’t be rude or crude. (It’s not the Christian way, you know.)
ACLU
125 Broad Street 18th Floor
New York , NY 10004
Two tons of Christmas cards would freeze their operations because they wouldn’t know if any were regular mail containing contributions. So spend 44 cents and tell the ACLU to leave Christmas alone. Also tell them that there is no such thing as a ” Holiday Tree”. . . It’s always been called a CHRISTMAS TREE! And pass this on!!! We really want to communicate with the ACLU! They really DESERVE us!!
For those of you who aren’t aware of them, the ACLU, (the American Civil Liberties Union) is the one suing the U.S. Government to take God, Christmas or anything Christian away from us. They represent the atheists and others in this war.
Help put Christ back in Christmas!
Spread the [knowledge] Wealth.
I’d rather die poor and happy, satisfied with my life and all of my heartfelt accomplishments, than die rich and lonely, unsatisfied with all of my meaningless gestures.
I’d rather die for something that I believe in, instead of fight for something worthless.
I’d rather prove the quality of a righteous human being, than demonstrate the character of a judge.
Paige
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Wealth is not always conceived as money, expensive belongings, and a high paid job in an office on the 34th floor downtown. Wealth is family, friends, opportunities. God is not concerned with your bank account, or your belongings.
Wealth in money and objects — your fancy new Cadillac, your big ranch house in the hills, your name brand clothes and gucci – makes a person prideful. They begin to think highly of themselves. How happy can a person like this be? All they want is more, and more and more, and can never be satisfied.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
Family should always be a persons priority. They will always be there for you, in good times and bad. True friends are there to help you when times get rough, and you need a shoulder to cry on. Opportunity knocks once in awhile, and if you dont take it while it’s here, you may lose it forever.
How do you judge what wealth should truely look like? Well, the answer is simple. If it is material, it can be replaced at any time, any day. Money, the Cadillac, the house, the job. All of it can be replaced.
The difference with the non-material things, is that there is only one, and they cannot be replaced. A family member, a friend, an opportunity, a soul, time. None of it is replaceable.
Having a lot of money, in and of itself, is not sinful. It is the “love” of money that is considered the root of all of evil.
1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Just so you know!
Been there, done that, and I’ve definately changed since then…
1 Peter 5:8-11
Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.
TRANSLATioNS
Break it down a little, 21st century style
Every day we face decisions, make choices, and just kind of float around with the rest of society. If they fight, we fight. If they drink, we drink. If they stand on stage and tear at their clothes and expose themselves inappropriately on Live TV, then we want to stand on stage and sing gross songs and be just like them. It is human nature, and it is the most common unspoken law there is. We don’t think about this stuff intentionally, but you know how it is, your mind wanders. In the back of your head, you’re thinking, “Wow, look at them, look at all the publicity! Look at all those people at the stage floor just going screwball over these people!” And then your mind goes further into depth, “I wonder how they got there, how long did it take them to become such a huge hit!? How did they do it? I wish I could be like that. You know how much money I could be making!? I would never work a day at the office again!”
Look at that, look how easy that was. You didn’t do that on purpose, who thinks this stuff up on purpose? I’ll tell you, it’s the devil, and he plants them in your little cranium, because he knows that all these thoughts will create a whirlwind of deficiency, jealousy, wanting something you can’t have (…or shouldn’t, for that matter [sick publicity can't be good]).
The point is, since we are all too busy falling for these lies that are implanted in the back of our heads, that we are not self controlled and alert. Behind the scenes we have the devil. The Bible uses fancy words like “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Well, in other words, the devil sits at his desk down there in front of his giant fireplace, and schemes and schemes, and never stops. He comes up with the most unheard of tactics that he knows the human race will fall for. Most of it ends with publicity, or pride. And he knows who you are, he knows your weakness, and he knows which buttons to push to make you stumble and do wrong. His ultimate goal is to manipulate all of us.
Resist him, standing firm in the faith. Even though you know everyone else is gawking on about how great the party was last week, and how amazing Friday night will be, YOU know 1 Peter 5:8-9. And God knows that you were once there in that place as well. The place you couldn’t remember, where you stood confused, in the corner with a red SOLO cup filled with ice cubes, sprite, and some crazy tasting thing somebody poured in it. God saw you there. He smiled and said, boy, when she realizes what I have in store for her, she’ll never go near this phase again.
Before you know it, and like He said, it hit you like a brick. “What am I doing with my life?” And sure enough you’ll want nothing to do with any of it.
Vuella, you got yourself verse 10!
…after you have suffered a little while,
he will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.
