Proof God Loves Us

Chris Campbell asked:


Religion for me has been a bewildering and reluctant adversary. For the longest time religion meant belief in some strangers prescription for salvation. As one matures and questions their life and the role of religion in it, certain sticking points become clear. Why so many different perceptions of religion? Why so many different versions of religion? Why so much mutual exclusivity of the various religion doctrines? Belief in one religion shouldn’t automatically exclude an individual from believing or practicing in another. That’s ridiculous. The different and varying threads in the spirituality of religion have far more in common then their proponents would care to admit to. It’s almost as if their saying that you must believe in everything that I say. No picking and choosing, just believe in all, or else your out. And it’s not just the zealots, it seems to be a persuasive thread among most religions.

Unbelievably Fragile Beliefs

Tolerance and acceptance should not just be facades painted on by the practitioners of every dogmatic religious power. They are principals and values that need to be shared and instilled as the cornerstone of any religion. We all have our little quirks, just as each religion has bizarre little rules, taboos, and rituals. How can one religion insist that their leaders practice celibacy, while another promotes marriage for it’s leaders, and yet another is perfectly fine with polygamy? They can’t all be wrong, surely one of these wise old sages is right. Or, maybe their all right. They’re definitely all wrong in suggesting their way is the only proper way. No wonder their is so much confusion amongst people in this day and age of enlightenment. Sometimes, it feels like if one tiny tenant of their dogmatic domicile fails then the whole thing fails. I don’t believe that a religion or it’s people can really be that fragile.

Your Way Is The Right Way

For a period, atheism or agnosticism seemed to be the way to go. All the other competing dogmas wanted my entire mind, heart, and soul. Well, if that’s the case, then no one gets anything. Seemed like the safe way to go. Not very satisfying, and certainly not very enlightening, but definitely safe. Just another brick in the wall, close them all out. Maturity and time have a way of changing religious views and beliefs. Sometimes old age does as well, but that can be just a convenient hope to the inevitable fear of what comes after the whole mortal coil shrug. Not a real belief I think. Some where along the line it occurred to me that it just rang hollow to believe in nothing. Even the religion of little green men seemed to have a lot more going for it, then believing in nothing. So it occurred to me that there simply has to be more to life then just what we can see and understand on the third planet from the sun. There certainly is a lot more to be understood yet, then there currently is understood today. Current notions of religion try to help there, but it’s painfully old technology. I mean hey, 200 years ago they didn’t even have black and white TV. What made those guys smart enough to start a religion that answers today’s questions.

My Way

I do believe that there is something bigger, grander, smarter, more tolerant, more enlightened and compassionate then any religion we on Terra firma have come up so far. Someone, something, is waiting and watching and guiding. We just need a little more time to figure it out. In the mean time, can’t we all just get along?

Anthony Brown Sr asked:


Let’s face it. Getting laid off really *****! Why do bad things happen at the worst possible times in our lives? I know when I got laid off I started to think: My Lord how am I going to pay my bills, get gas money to look for another job, and tell my wife! Things started to look very grim at this point in my life. Financial strains are the major cause of failures in marriages and relationships today. Why is that? I think it is because we worry too much about money. I am looking back after my lay off and saying this. Going through the storm, I thought much differently.

I have made it my life’s passion since that time, to build an income and save some of it so that if this ever happens again, I will be prepared. One of the ways I do this is internet marketing. I don’t do it full time. I don’t worry about it, but the income is there. Once you learn how to market, the income will start to trickle in. The stream of income gets to flowing faster and faster. The amounts of payments get bigger and bigger. There are a lot of people out there that say that internet marketing doesn’t work. I am here to tell you that I know differently. I have made income from it. I continue to get income month after month. If it didn’t work this wouldn’t be so.

The problem most people face is training. Training is a major factor in your success doing internet marketing, making hamburgers, cleaning cars, building roads, delivering pizzas, or any other occupation that you can name. You are not a productive employee until you learn how to do the job and strive to improve yourself. Training is crucial.

In internet marketing there are a lot of people who promise you that they can teach you the latest, greatest method of getting the job done. These people most of the time have no proof because they have not even used the methods they are trying to sell you on. How many of you have had training on your first day on the new job. There is always someone who you learn better from because their teaching style agrees with your learning style. When you find this person, you excel and get better and better. This person shows you how to do the job simply and easily.

Friends, I am here to tell you that you have found that person in internet marketing. I am here to tell you about a training program for internet marketing being released by two people who actually use the methods they teach. They teach in a style that is readily learned by most everyone. They teach you real world applications. Their names are Kyle and Carson at Wealthy Affiliate. Their program is called Who Loves Money. It is in book format. What they have done is truly amazing. They have taken all of the strategies and techniques that they use for Wealthy Affiliate and other ventures and compiled them in to a training manual to help those who are struggling in their finances. Could this be you friend? This course will teach you how to create income from the internet with no money out of your own pocket. If I were you I would check it out. Take it for a test drive. See the proof. You will be glad you did. You may not even need to polish your resume ever again. We look forward to hearing from you. God Bless!

resipsaloquitor88 asked:


I have never been to the monument but I am aware that it quotes a scripture, so all I need to know is, does it say where it quotes it from?

MUHAMMAD asked:


This is the Doctrine of Atonement, which was accepted by the Church three or four centuries after Jesus left the earth. It contradicts the Bible, as the following passages show: Deuteronomy 24:16: The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.; Jeremiah 31:30: But every one shall die for his own iniquity …, Ezekiel 18:20: The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

Some might say but these are in the Old Testament.

Read what Jesus himself said in Matthew 7: 1-2.

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Read I Corinthians 3:8.

Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one; and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

So everybody is born without sin. Do you know that it was Paul who abolished the Mosaic law? Read Acts 13:39.

And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Kacy Carr asked:


We ask you God, is the bloodshed in war torn countries really necessary? We ask you God, are Tsunamis and cyclones which cause death of millions really necessary? And God what of the evil doers which without reason kill and plot to maim. God is it really necessary to continue to let them live? The list of “I ask you God” questions is never ending. Proof comes to the fore when we find ourselves in a crisis or that of facing an ordeal of which we turn to god for help - or more often than not to rest blame upon him. Why is it all Gods fault when all wrong doings are a result of our own actions?

At the time of creation the lord gave us the right to choose how we live our lives in hope it would be in peace and harmony and to love one another, not choose evil where many diseased with so much hatred gets satisfaction from others suffering. Is that saying “an act of God” reason enough to blame him yet once again for the cruel disasters? I think it is time to think before making assumptions. These merciless events we have experienced lately could they not have anything to do with interfering with nature, like that of the man made goods which affect the ozone layer, or is scientific study the cause of so much sorrow which have us question where the blame lies.

Could it be behaviour of man affecting our planet i.e. polluting the air, the seas and the disruption of ecosystems which rapidly encourages climate-related disasters which are striking populations in China, Burma and other regions? Who is guilty of the disruption and destruction of the planet.

My love for God gets stronger everyday in prayer for keeping me and those close safe. Fortunately and not wanting to tempt fate we have lived our lives unscathed from harm and live under no threat from earthquake or terrorists bombs. However if ever fate should befall upon me, I dear lord will not point the finger of suspicion in your direction but towards that of my neighbour.

Prayer is the answer for those who believe, it helps ease heartache pain and suffering. Even for those who disbelieve and in denial, prayer too can be the answer.

The death toll from last week’s earthquake in south-west China has risen to 40,075, many of which were children. Those who survived now struggle to survive to find shelter for their families. The search goes on for the tens of thousands still missing. Cyclone Nargis has run up the death toll figure in Burma to 78,000. It is said that another 56,000 people are missing. According to local estimates up to 80,000 people died alone around the delta township of Laputta - which had a population of 350,000. Another disaster which not only shocked the world but killed a great many too was the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. It was an undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC December 26th (Boxing Day) with an epicenter off the west coast of Sumatra Indonesia. A string of tsunamis followed this.

The number of people believed killed in December’s tsunami disaster in Jakarta was 294 000

Indonesia was hardest-hit by December 26th earthquake with a total loss of 240 774 people listed as dead or missing Thailand’s toll remained at 5 393 confirmed dead. A further 3 071 people were listed as missing. One of the hardest hit was Sri Lanka losing 30 957 inhabitants to the Tsunami.

God our Father

Your power brings us to birth

Your providence guides our lives

and by your command we return to dust

Lord, those who die still live in your presence

their lives change but do not end.

I pray in hope for my family, relatives and friends and for all the dead known to you alone.

In company with Christ

Who died and now lives may they rejoice in your kingdom,

where all our tears are wiped away

Unite us together again in one family

to sing your praise forever and ever

For those not close in proximity and are affected by these disasters and want to help even if it is only to give a cuddle then unfortunately and realistically this may never happen due to distance or that of the authorities denying you access. The best way is to send money to the right groups who already have organizations on the ground, working to provide lifesaving essentials to the victims. Donations can be made to a group that’s on the front lines, engaged in crucial, person-to-person rescue efforts: Tzu-Chi (tzuchi.org/global) Tzu-Chi is an organization made up mainly of volunteers. Almost 100% of donations go directly to the suffering who need food, water, medical care and somewhere to sleep.

We need to pay more attention to how we treat our planet to help prevent future “natural” disasters. Who is to blame, Yes we know cyclones, hurricanes, tsunamis have occurred on our planet long before human life started upsetting the climate, however over the last six years we have noticed an evident acceleration of climate-related disasters.

There is no doubt that man-made climate change is now altering, which we connect to floods and hurricanes. What next? these events of late are but small blips in comparison to the planetary backlash that may be on its way. The population correction that’s on its way over the next 100 years involves hunger, illness, soil crop failures and drought which could result in the loss of a billion lives. Can we prevent needless deaths, yes by making changes which include a radical change in CO2 emmissions, reduce toxic chemical use, agricultural reforms and end genetic pollution through GM crops. Our government need to take these matters seriously and make our planet safe for our kids – there kids and so on.

Safaa Abdel-Aziz asked:


The meanings of the verses 7:31-33 of the Noble Quran:

Verse 7:31says:

O Children of Adam! Don your adornment, that which covers your nakedness, at every place of worship, at prayer and at the circumambulation, and eat and drink, what you want, but do not be excessive;

Do not be prodigal; do not declare unlawful wholesome foods, meat and fat.

He truly does not love those who are excessive and wasters.

Verse 7:32says:

Say O Muhammad to the people: ‘Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah, which He has brought forth for His servants, in the way of garments, and the good things, the delicious foods, of God’s sustenance?’ i.e. the adornment which He created (for His bondmen, and the good things of His providing?

For in the pre-Islamic days they used to forbid themselves meat and fat during the days of pilgrimage, and entered the Sacred Precinct completely naked: the men during the day and the women during the night.

Allah made these practices unlawful. (Say) O Muhammad: (Such) the good things, (on the Day of Resurrection, will be only for those who believed during the life of the world in Muhammad and the Quran, while both believer and sinner will enjoy them during the life of this world.

Thus do we detail our revelations? We elucidate the Quran by explaining the lawful and the unlawful for people who have knowledge and wisdom, for people who believe it is from Allah, for they are the ones to profit from.

Verse 7:33says:

Say to them, O Muhammad: My Lord forbids only indecencies, grave sins, such as fornication, such of them as are apparent and such as are hidden, that is, the overt ones and the secret ones, and sin, the act of disobedience, and wrongful insolence, against people, namely, oppression, and that you associate with God that for which He never revealed any warrant, any definitive proof for such association, and that you say concerning God that which you do not know’, in the way of forbidding what He has not forbidden and other things.

===========================

Verses 7:31-33 in different translations

Verse 7:31

QARIB:

children of adam, take your adornment at every place of prayer. eat and drink, and do not waste. he does not love the wasteful.

SHAKIR:

o children of adam! attend to your embellishments at every time of prayer, and eat and drink and be not extravagant; surely he does not love the extravagant

PICKTHAL:

o children of adam! look to your adornment at every place of worship, and eat and drink, but be not prodigal. lo! he loveth not the prodigals.

YUSUFALI:

o children of adam! wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer: eat and drink: but waste not by excess, for Allah loveth not the wasters.

Verse 7:32

QARIB:

say: ‘who has forbidden the adornment that Allah has brought for his worshipers and the good provision? ‘ say: ‘they are in this life for those who believe, and purely theirs on the day of resurrection. ‘ as such we distinguish the verses to people who know.

SHAKIR:

say: who has prohibited the embellishment of Allah which he has brought forth for his servants and the good provisions? say: these are for the believers in the life of this world, purely (theirs) on the resurrection day; thus do we make the communications clear for a people who know

PICKTHAL:

say: who hath forbidden the adornment of Allah which he hath brought forth for his bondmen, and the good things of his providing? say: such, on the day of resurrection, will be only for those who believed during the life of the world. thus do we detail our revelations for people who have knowledge.

YUSUFALI:

say: who hath forbidden the beautiful (gifts) of Allah, which he hath produced for his servants, and the things, clean and pure, (which he hath provided) for sustenance? say: they are, in the life of this world, for those who believe, (and) purely for them on the day of judgment. thus do we explain the signs in detail for those who understand.

Verse 7:33

QARIB:

say: ‘my lord has forbidden all indecent acts whether apparent or disguised and sin, and unjust insolence, and that you associate with Allah that for which he has never sent down an authority, or to say about Allah what you do not know. ‘

SHAKIR:

say: my lord has only prohibited indecencies, those of them that are apparent as well as those that are concealed, and sin and rebellion without justice, and that you associate with Allah that for which he has not sent down any authority, and that you say against Allah what you do not know

PICKTHAL:

say: my lord forbiddeth only indecencies, such of them as are apparent and such as are within, and sin and wrongful oppression, and that ye associate with Allah that for which no warrant hath been revealed, and that ye tell concerning Allah that which ye know not.

YUSUFALI:

say: the things that my lord hath indeed forbidden are: shameful deeds, whether open or secret; sins and trespasses against truth or reason; assigning of partners to Allah, for which he hath given no authority; and saying things about Allah of which ye have no knowledge.

Kate Loving Shenk asked:


Magic Becky and Mooie Infinity, Second Life identities, joined forces again to commemorate Becky Rhone-Nowlan’s new Electronic book entitled: Secrets Of The Second Fortune.

This book is about Customer Service in the Internet business world and explains that when we nurture our customers, we are perhaps doing the greatest service of all.

MInfinity: You said recently that you were interested in the spiritual aspects of Customer Service and that would be your next project.

MBecky: Not sure where I was going with that but am still up for going forward!!

MInfinity: So for the sake of the interview we can say that you are planning to go in that direction.

MBecky: It may even shake a cobweb or two loose!!

MInfinity: We are all customer SERVANTS. What are your thoughts about that? Have you ever heard of A Course In Miracle Prayer?

MBecky: I have heard of A Course in Miracles, yes.

MInfinity: This prayer–if used with reverence in the workplace would cause all disharmony in our relationships with people to disappear.

Here’s the Prayer:

I am here only to be truly helpful I am here to represent Him Who sent me– I do not have to worry about what to say or what to do Because He who sent me will direct me– I will go wherever He sends me knowing He goes there with me– I will be healed as He teaches me how to heal

MBecky: Very nice!

MInfinity: Service to others is the highest form of service!! And if we serve with a humble spirit, our motives will be pure.

MBecky: In that way, anytime we have a customer, it is important to remember that they are the reason we are in business.

MInfinity: All people will appear precious in our vision of them. They are the most important people-how may we serve them?

MBecky: Yes, I think when dealing with people and customers we look at them through our own filters. I think to rise above that we need to remove the filters. I think that is how we get to the ideal that you are talking about.

MInfinity: This takes a tremendous dedication to self growth and self-discovery.

MBecky: Yes it does

MInfinity: As a nurse, my patients are my customers.

MBecky: It is all about the journey and we are the ones who create that.

MInfinity: But then again, I am the customer of the hospital, as an employee.

MBecky: Yes, that makes sense

MInfinity: In other words, the Customer Service Model must be upheld all the way across the board.

MBecky: And the patient is also a customer of the hospital.

MInfinity: The CS model being that we are all someone’s customer!!!

MBecky: Customer Service and dedication to service begins at the top and trickles down. What the top thinks of customers is what you will find most of the others who work there think.

MInfinity: Ideally, yes.

MBecky: That goes for lack of service too. And that isn’t ideal.

MInfinity: We have one of the best CS ratings in the country where I work, at my hospital.

MBecky: If there is an issue in how patients or customers are being treated, I submit that if you go to the top, that’s where you will find your problem and solution. How do the people at the top feel about their customers?

MInfinity: I believe the people at the top are so totally removed from the patient that in reality, this CS excellence has started from the dedicated nurses who work at the patient’s bedside.

MBecky: That is unusual in my experience. Let me ask you this: Who hires the nurses that are providing the excellent care?

MInfinity: Nurse managers who are still somewhat remotely involved with the patients.

MBecky: The reason I ask is that usually when people are hired in a company or corporation, there are certain similarities that are looked for. Those who are in service to their customers or patients even at the top levels will be looking for others who display the same skills.

MInfinity: I believe they are looking for that kind of excellence, yes.

MBecky: Which is how the trickle down effect usually works.

So it must be important to them on some level, other wise they wouldn’t recognize it when they see it.

You see what is reflected from the inner.

MInfinity: And that is how it becomes a spiritual issue.

MBecky: Yes.

MInfinity: However, I can’t say that the hospital is conscious of this. But on some level, higher forces are at play to make this a reality.

MBecky: That’s like if we are having a particularly challenging morning, rushing around, you get stuck behind the slowest cars, you spill your coffee or worse forget the coffee entirely. Then you get to work and the first customer or patient is a challenge, and you wonder why this is happening to you.

It all comes from the thoughts you think and the feelings you feel. As to the higher forces, it’s all from within. So it’s the higher selves involved with the upper echelon’s of the hospital.

MInfinity: Since I have started working at the hospital, I am now a strong believer in the angels. I remember to pray for their assistance, and the flavor of all interactions are deeper and kinder and have a flow to them than if I forget to do this. The higher echelons also respond to the angelic intervention.

MBecky: Of course, it is your higher self that is connecting to the forces and power of the angels.

MInfinity: Angelic forces are especially strong in places like a hospital or ANY place where we remember to call them in.

MBecky: That is very true. Customer Service Angels I like that. I am a Customer Service Angel. Are you?

MInfinity: We become the angels whom we call upon. I believe that.

MBecky: Of course, there is a part of us that feels pulled to be in service to people, you in your way as a healer, and me in my way as a teacher, in showing people ways that they can make their own customers feel important.

And that is in any walk of life.

MInfinity: Burn out occurs when we think we have to do it all by ourselves.

MBecky: Think about the other everyday heroes: police, fireman, doctors, mothers! Many allow ego to convince them that it is all about them.

MInfinity: Which is the cause of all human suffering.

MBecky: They become attached to what they do and get lost to the illusion.

My friend/teacher/mentor said something very powerful. I keep it on my profile so I can remember it:

“All definitions of self are poor attempts of the ego to justify our existence in the world. These poor definitions are ultimately responsible for forming our attachments in the world.

“These attachments are then empowered within the illusion of having power over us. They are the source of all human suffering. Thus attachments serve to validate our egos position as victims of our experiences of reality.”

-Virginia Levy

There is more but that is the part that means the most to me.

MInfinity: We become attached through prejudice and filters.

MBecky: I believe we create the prejudice and filters as proof to convince ourselves of the truth of the illusion.

We set up the illusion and then go about finding proof that we are correct.

And the illusion is that we are all separate from The Source, from God/ess. and that what and who we are aside from source is what is important.

MInfinity: When we think we are alone and separate, all hell breaks out.

MBecky: God/ess source (whatever one wants to call it) is always there. When we feel separate, who moved? There are many theories and systems and ideas out there- but they all come down to: 1.We are responsible for everything we create in our lives (including the customer experiences that show up) 2. we are all spiritual beings creating a human experience 3. the experience we create is meant for each of us to further us along on our own journey. We tend to forget those things and I think that’s when we begin to get lost on our journey.

MInfinity: I think that as we carry on to developing our Portable Empires, we must keep these thoughts in mind.

MBecky: Yes, because that will determine the sort of empire we create.

MInfinity: That we are One With Spirit, and that we are never alone–and that we are Servants to Our Customers!!!

And to everyone else, And to ourselves, A balance to be sure.

Patrick Roberts asked:


Anyone who accepts good things from God, must accept them as free, undeserved gifts. It is only by His grace that we have any good thing.

Consequently, we can only have good things according to God’s gracious terms. We have joy, for example, either His Way or no way.

For some incomprehensible reason, sinful men would spend their lives striving vainly on their own terms rather than surrender to Christ and freely receive every good and heavenly gift in Him. Natural people are so infatuated with the illusion of control that they’ll cling to the stone that sinks them for the sole reason that it’s the rock they chose.

However, to know Christ is the beginning and the end of joy and every other blessing from heaven. To draw near to Him is heaven on earth, just as He explicitly promised.

There is every desirable, heavenly asset in Christ, such as freedom, joy, grace, mercy, contentment, salvation, Godliness and love. Every heavenly gift takes root and is best expressed in Christ Himself.

But in order to accept one part of Christ, we have to accept all the rest of Him as well. This requires complete surrender, which sounds scary to fleshly men, but spiritual men know that surrender is a divinely excellent thing.

Heavenly assets must exist beyond our mortal control or else they would cease to be heavenly. And all good things are miraculously good things, because they result from God’s miraculous grace.

Therefore, when we think that we have obtained some good thing by ourselves so that there seems to be no greater miracle than our own strength, we deceive ourselves, cheapen the gift and cheat the Giver.

The nature of true joy is similar to other Godly gifts, in that it comes whenever God’s Spirit allocates it, however He makes a person able to accept it. Joy is similar to other heavenly qualities because it can only be understood and embraced by a Spirit-anointed heart. So devastatingly thorough is the consumption of God’s people in His Spirit that they may or may not get anything from this world and yet this won’t affect their joyful outlooks.

Tainted hearts, on the other hand, look with dismay upon God’s people, who have found reasons apart from this world for being joyful. It is confusing to fleshly men that another person, also living in a similar shell of flesh, remains joyful regardless of adverse circumstances, even despite an utter lack of shell-comforting devices.

Unassuming innocence is best equipped to embrace God’s gifts in general, a fact which is especially obvious in regards to joy. The person whose heart is as pure as the very founts of heaven is probably well-acquainted with a heavenly quality of joy.

However regular people cannot help but spoil the most blatantly joyful scenarios because their own hearts, which are their inward points of reference, are still thoroughly infected by sin. So also the jaundiced eye, which is yellow with infection, looks out and sees everything with a yellow tinge (thank you Alexander Pope).

Natural people store up within themselves an infinitude of factors that prevent them from either enjoying God or accepting any free gift from Him. Such is the tragedy and insanity of sin.

However, Godly joy serves as an unmistakable signature of God’s workmanship in the Christ-follower. Such a heart sings out naturally with this divine proof of transformation.

Another surprising aspect of Godly joy is that it consists of letting go of all self-centered concern. Good things such as emotional health and contentedness do not come from seeking these things as ends in themselves.

In this way Godly treasure requires an alarming amount of vulnerability before God. And Godly joy in Christ requires an immensely courageous, self-neglecting leap.

We will enjoy a heavenly fullness in Christ in this life when we give up our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This is Spirit-dependent truth.

In return for giving up literally everything, we receive Christ Himself. When we give all of ourselves we get all of Him. And, if we get Christ, then we get Him who embodies all the treasure and precious value of heaven for those who believe in Him. Therefore we still live in this world and yet we have an otherworldly, tenacious joy because Christ teaches us to die to this world.

The dumbfounding secret to embracing joy as well as every heavenly gift is to completely let go and let Christ. The sooner we stop striving by familiar, manly means to obtain joy or contentment or any other Spirit-dependent gift, the closer we will be to every aspect of full, obedient, Godly living.

God only requires this very small thing from us, which is to surrender every last trace of ourselves in favor of gaining Christ instead. Such is the nature of this Living Water, that He cannot resist filling every last space in His people, even to the point of overflowing us. Mere men cannot secure any good thing for themselves, therefore Christ takes it upon Himself to secure Himself in His people’s hearts.

The joy of knowing God in Christ is unconditional, no matter how much this word, “unconditional,” remains mysterious or even distasteful to most people.

However, the freed, otherworldly quality of God’s gifts makes irresistible sense to the soul who is purified in Christ. Not only does Christ freely give, He also teaches us how to restfully accept what He is freely giving so that we don’t get more worn out than necessary trying to earn what we could not have earned on our own in any case.

Godly, joyful people are reasonable in God’s eyes for taking whatever joy He offers in whatever time that He offers it.

There is also an unreasonable quality in God’s joyful people, in that no amount of worldly prodding can convince them to seek a more difficult way to joy. They are a people whose taste for worldly imitation has been spoiled by tasting the Real Thing Himself. Anyone who is innocent enough to accept God’s real joy won’t waste time questioning or complicating the joy that is already right in front of them. This seems unreasonable to the world, but it is reasonable to Almighty God.

And, as Christ’s people watch the world self-destruct around them, they have continual confirmation and they are increasingly thrilled to embrace His otherworldly gifts whenever and however He may give them. It becomes obvious to anyone who spends time with Christ that this decaying world hasn’t a clue about heavenly riches (such as Godly contentment or a Spirit-cleansed conscience). Emptiness is self-evident to people who know fullness. This is not to any Christ-follower’s credit but all to God’s credit.

So it goes that God’s people naturally plead and reason with a world thirsting for substantial joy. The mere existence of Christ’s church shines a revealing light on counterfeit joys. As we continue to walk after Christ, we will naturally expose the futility of imitation joys, which amount to wandering away from Him who is the exclusive Source of all genuinely good things.

by Patrick Roberts

This is an excerpt from To the Church of the West, Scattered Throughout the World. Find this book and similar articles at www.BooksByPatrick.com

Emeka Esogbue asked:


Marriage has been defined as a union between two people of opposite ***. The most sacred institution ordained by God. People may want to enter into marriage for different reasons. Some because they feel they have attained marriageable age, others for a reason having to do with procreation. There are still some who see marriage necessary because they need helpers. Help may come in different ways.

At least in Africa, we have seen men engaging in polygamy simply because they need assistance in their farmlands, these numerous wives could therefore be of help to them. For whatever reason, a woman remains important in the life of a man. Life of celibacy is fast declining which is a proof of necessity of women in today’s home.

Women they say are plentiful but wives are few. Wherever you go, you commonly find women as much as coca cola but what makes women virtuous are often hidden or almost not there. Most people may want to pick up their wives for different reasons quite different from those described above. This is where the quality of a woman sets in. What quality in a woman could attract you faster?

Experiences continue to show everyday that most promises made by men to women are done in beds while such women are their arms. Why? Granted that beauty remains the first and best weapon that draws women to men at first sight but there just could be more than this beauty. I just hope I am right in my thinking?

As for me, all my life, I have always dreamt of marrying a beautiful white lady. This may come as a surprise, humorous and even unimaginable considering that I am at the moment single, residing in Africa, and have never left the shores of this country except for Benin Republic, and I am a Blackman.

My love and desire to marry a white lady knows no bound and it arises out of several things I have heard of them. I understand them as to be very emotional to the extent that there is no pretence where it concerns love compared to Blacks, loving, caring and beaming with smiles at all times something we really do not know how to do here very well.

It just does not matter where my yet to be found wife comes from provided she is a white, north, south, east or west. I just need a beautiful slim white lady for a wife. Only this will calm my soul troubled for marriage. White Ladies where are you all?

lordofthenet111 asked:


Looking for Christian quotes/scriptures on self-help, success, positive thinking and happiness. Thanks