Take the time to smile...No matter if, at the exact moment, you are hurting deep inside. No matter if you feel as though you are alone and have no one. Smile...Watch something funny. Listen to a funny song. Read a funny poem. Recall a funny memory. Write something funny and ridiculous that you know will bring a smile on your face. Just take the time to smile.
If someone has hurt you, forgive them. If you have witnessed loss, grieve. But do not let your whole world be consumed to these things. Give your problems to God. Lay your burdens down before Him and He will take them up and deal with them. He will comfort you and give you rest. He will give you the strength to move mountains.
Just do not forget to smile...A part of knowing that we are humans is that we know that grieving indicates that we are alive. Our emotions: anger and sorrow are always there to remind us that we do those things because we are alive...but happiness also does the same thing. So smile. Laugh. Let your soul sing with laughter as you embrace the smile on your face. When you smile, all of the pain and sorrow...all of the problems that you may be going through...they all cease away. Even if it is just for a minute, they vanish! So smile...
I really love this particular sermon by S.M. Lockridge. The actual sermon is great, but this particular clip (of the audio) is the part that is commonly known of around the Christian community. There are many videos that present this message, and they are all great. Some are brilliant, with the texts and effects and choices of music added to the audio. However, I felt that this video version is more intimate with the precise message of the sermon. In truth, it doesn't need flashy graphics or effects, and edgy songs. The truth is in the message, and that is all that matters!
GOD: Who Is He? By R.Andrew A question that has graced the minds of many is, "Who is God?" There always have been many theories from the human mind, all leading in several different directions, but to know who God really is is to read through His Holy Word, the Bible. Reading the Bible is like reading through God's personal journal. Through it, we are shown a glimpse of who this mysterious, mighty, Creator is really like. God is loving, (1 John 4:8). God is graceful. He is merciful. God is forgiving, and most of all, God is faithful (1 Corinthians 1:9). According to the Bible, God decided to create a world that would be pleasing to Him. Above all of God's creations, His most special creation was Man, ADAM. God specifically designed the human life with a loving intention that we would be His children. God had His angels and His animals of all kinds, but He wanted to be a parent, which is why He created us specifically in His own image (Genesis 1:27). Early on in the beginning, one of God's high ranked angels, Lucifer, grew power-hungry and wanted to be God. God then ejected Satan (Lucifer) out of Heaven and onto the earth. Angry and vicious, Satan decided to hit God where it hurt the most, by going after God's special creation, Man. At the time, it was just two people on earth, our ancestors, Adam and Eve. Among many trees in the Garden of Eden there were two most famous ones, the first one being the tree of life, and the second one being the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God warned both Adam and Eve not to eat from the second tree, because if they did, they would die (both spiritually and later physically). The two humans failed when Satan tricked Eve by enticing her with fruit of the second tree. She then shared some with her husband, Adam, who willingly ate it. From then on, sin entered the world through the human race, and created a wedge between God and Man. Though sin had separated God and Man spiritually, He still loved those who continued to worship and follow Him, and who did not follow the sinful, terrible world that it had become. He protected those whom He knew loved and followed Him. He made covenants that would allow a way for people to be spiritually redeemed enough that God could fellowship with them—but He knew that those ways were not strong enough to fully repair the damage that Satan had created in the Garden of Eden. Prophecy, going all the way back to the Old Testament, foretold of God sending a Messiah to fully restore the spiritual damage that was created in the Garden, and eventually God did as He promised, He sent the promised Messiah to restore what had been broken: "See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel , which is translated "God is with us (Matthew 1:23, Holman Christian Standard Bible [HCSB])." "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men." (John 1:1-4, HCSB). "The Word became flesh, and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14, HCSB)." Simply put, God came down from Heaven in the form of the Son, Jesus Christ, so that He could make a permanent way of rebuilding the spiritual bond between God and people. He especially had a mission to free those who loved Him, and wanted to follow Him, from the eternal sin that surrounded over them. Christ dying on the cross and resurrecting in three days was God's plan of redemption for the human race from sin. No more animal sacrifices were needed anymore to cleanse people. Jesus Christ became the living sacrifice that would finally create a way to bring Man and God together again, permanently. What Satan tried to destroy, God repaired. No longer did people have to stay spiritually dead, they were given the choice for eternal life in Heaven through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and Reigning King. Though God made a way for a person to be saved from eternal death, He left it up to the person to choose his or her own fate. As John 3:16 says, the loving Father loved us so much, that He gave up His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us, for our sins, so that we can have everlasting life. Even though He loved us enough to pay the ultimate sacrifice, He will not force us to choose Him. What is the consequence in not choosing Him though? Eternal life of being consumed by burning flame in the Lake of Fire. Another reason God sent Christ to die for our sins was that though the animal sacrifices were an alternative, they were not strong enough to save us from the path to Hell. If it were not for Christ's ultimate sacrifice on the cross, we'd all be heading towards the eternal burning fire, where we'd burn forever. Receiving Christ as our savior and calling upon Him to deliver us from sin is the only way to escape. No other alternative can rescue us, except Jesus Christ. But, as I said, though God created a way for us to be saved from Hell, He will not force us to choose His way. He leaves it up to us to make that important decision. God is a loving, heavenly parent who loves every one of us. He is the only God alive (Isaiah 44:8). He is merciful and ready to forgive our sins (Psalm 86:5). God even promises to be there for us, give us strength when we desperately need it. He will comfort us in the hard times. He will even make a way for us to escape our pains and addictions that we could never let go before. All we have to do is call upon the name of Jesus Christ and He will be there. He is a wonderous God; a loving, caring Father who wants to be reunited with His people, with His children (all of us—Jew and Gentile). One more thing, John 4:24 says that God is a spirit, and to worship in Him, we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. How do we do this? Through prayer. Pray to God in the name of Jesus Christ, and God will hear your prayers that come straight from your heart.
Bible used: Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Brisk was old Santa as he set out to deliver his gifts to all the good little children who believed in him. The trip was rather difficult this year; he battled his way through wet stormy skies and thick snowy blizzards, flying in caution for fear of lightening strikes and frostbite. “Santa,” cried one of his accompanying elves, “let’s abandon the mission and try again next year!”
Santa turned to shout “NO! What will the children think once they awake to find no gifts wrapped under their tree?” Suddenly, a forceful gust of wind came from the west and detached the reigns of his eight tiny reindeer. Santa called out to them, “Dasher! Dancer! Prancer! Vixen! Comet! Cupid! Donner! Blitzen,” but the wind was so strong that none voluntarily came back. Down the sleigh fell from the dark windy sky as the elves worked nonstop to keep staying up high. Their attention was focused on staying airborne that they did not see Santa bump his forehead. Grasping for something to hold on tight, Santa made a mistake and fall out into the night. Landing with a bump onto Perchwood Lane, Santa opened his eyes to discover a new scene. There, before him, stood the neighborhood cathedral, full of its members all gathered together.
Santa, bewildered, grabbed his sore head, and said, “I do not know why I am dressed completely in red.” Santa did not know what to do, so he opened the church door and listened to the carols sung, and to the priest’s solemn benediction too. As dear Santa sat, he wondered, “This Christ, how exceptional is he? Why, His gift of life is greater than any gift the eye can see!” As he left the church, still rubbing his head, he staggered into the street with dread. All of a sudden, there crashed his shiny sleigh, including his elves, followed by his reindeer.
“Santa,” the elves bellowed, “we’re going to be late!”
“Santa?” he said, all confused forlorn. In that moment, snowflakes began to fall from the sky. One happened to land on old Santa’s nose, and as soon as it hit him he said, “Ho, ho, ho.” The memories returned, he remembered everything. Most of all, he remembered his new epiphany. He returned to the sleigh as the elves whistled for the reindeer, and he glimpsed once more at the tall, ancient cathedral and said, “Elves, let’s go home. There is no need to continue with the gifts tonight. Above all the gifts I have given, not even the gifts I still have in my bag, can ever amount to the gift that was given by a man who resides up in Heaven.”
I really love this music video. There will be times when life seems so hard, or when obstacles in our life seem so tough that we just want to give up and abandon everything. That is why we need to be uplifted during these moments, and remind ourselves that we are not alone, that there is someone who is there for us, and cares for us even during dark times.
"While I'm Waiting" by John Waller Source: Youtube's ReunionRecords channel
So, this is intended to be a blog meant to share things revolving around my faith, but it is also designed to share anything that I find to be uplifting and worth sharing with others, in hopes of improving their day.
