I’M DOING IT MY WAY

I'm Doing it MY Way !
courtesy free clip art

 

This has been the clarion call of none other than Satan himself.  His invitation to come follow me has netted him billions of followers over the years.  They are as outspoken as their master in proclaiming in word and deed their freedom from GOD’S laws.

 

For many their lives are like a boat without a tiller and just go where the winds drive it.

 

This isn’t anything new for what started in the Garden of Eden became in full bloom in the time that followed the expulsion from the garden.

 

Genesis 6:5

The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.


If you think things are bad today, in Noah’s day it was as bad or worse. One reason for giving Noah’s day a second look is found in

 

Matthew 24:37 "When the Son of Man comes again, it will be exactly like the days of Noah. The key issue in the days of Noah was the masses rejected GOD’S leadership and did it their way.

 

A similar thing occurred in Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.


Can anyone deny that this is the place we have come to today?

 

A poem by William Ernest Henley;

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

 

The poem seems to be a cry for dependence on no one, not even GOD. The popular words “I did it my way” requires my “doing it my way” on a daily basis.

 

While this is a noble thought most often it is not realized for we are part of a crowd being led by the uninitiated.  Trying to break away from the crowd is a hope seldom accomplished.

 

In a world where all is not well we dare not be foolish enough to try to eliminate God from the equation called life, for to do so leaves us depending on the unstable arm of flesh.

 

GOD’S SELF IMPROVEMENT COURSE

It's In God's Book
courtesy photobucket

 

The Lord knows his people need some improvement therefore he sent his Oracles with his remedy for our soul problem (mind, will, and emotions).

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service,

We were created in the image of GOD but the cause and effect of being kicked out of the garden marred that image and needs to be restored.

The new birth effectively restores man spiritually but that is only phase one.

Phase two:  The renewing process:

Romans 12:1-2   I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what the will of God— what is good and acceptable and perfect

Ephesians 4:22-25

You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

In other words through study, preaching and prayer we become “Knower’s” or we know what the right path is.

To paraphrase Isaiah 30:21 when it comes to doing right the renewed mind (conscience) will guide you if you will allow it to.

T
he greatest weapon that is used against us by the foe of righteousness is Lust.  Lust at its worse will destroy us and at it’s best will render us useless for the kingdom of GOD.

 

In its blatant forms it is easily recognized but there are subtle forms that affect even the most sophisticated Christian.

It has been said, “It is the second look that get’s us.”

Eve undoubtedly had seen every tree in the garden but when she gave the tree of knowledge a prolong look - - lust was conceived in her heart.

Wives accuse husbands of giving other women a second (prolonged) look and chastise them for it.  For it is there where the threshold of lust is being conceived.

I
t was when David the king gave Bathsheba that second look that led him into sinning.  Being able to repel Lust when it attacks you is the path to success as a Christian.  The senses input fuel for activating Lust.

The five senses are hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching, which leads to wanting either right or wrong.

Jesus said take heed to what you hear. 

 

In hearing is the motivation to do right or wrong.

Seeing can cause us to seek the wrong.

Smelling can lead us to eat the wrong.

Tasting can fail to warn us of the wrong.

Touching can encourage us to want the wrong.

We are in perilous state when we fail to balance our knowledge with wisdom for without wisdom knowledge will lead us astray.

 

 

The wisest of all said;

“Get wisdom, get understanding;

Do not forget my words or turn away from them.

Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;

Love her, and she will watch over you”.

Our hope is “Introspection with the goal of perfecting ourselves”.

Matthew 5:48

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

 

SONG BY MGMT

(ATYPICAL OF ME WITHOUT GOD)

Glowing in the shadows

Twisted in confusion

Grazing in the meadows

Voices in profusion

Colors, thoughts, emotions

Are trapped within the heart

Feeling no emotions

End without a start

 

[Chorus]

Introspection, what am I really like inside?

Introspection, why have all the prophets lied?
 

There's a season when I will find out where I am

And there's a reason, and I will someday find the plan

Striving for perfection

And hiding when it comes

Seeing its reflection

And the fire it becomes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXPtxTAMkP4

 

AFTER THOUGHTS

Mama's Fur Coat
courtesy photobucket.com

Have you ever had an “after thought?”  You wonder; “Maybe I shouldn't have bought that because,” - - and then you make a list of all the reasons you shouldn't have?  Some call it buyer’s remorse. In any case it’s “what do, I do now time?”

One fine day, my mother took me with her to buy a fur coat.  She decided on one that was gray in color. In the store it looked great, of course that was with a lot of encouragement from the sales man.

Once we got the coat home, something had changed.  My mother decided that the coat that was so fine in the store now looked more like a possum skin coat. To me it appeared the same as in the store, but there was no consoling her.  She insisted that, it had to go back.

The problem was the store wouldn't take it back.  After a lot of whining, and begging it was decided, that it was a done deal, and the kind of done deal, that wouldn't be undone.

Asking my mother what do possums eat, didn’t help to relieve the situation either. Something I didn't mention was she always took me with her on these shopping trips. 

I hated the hours spent waiting, while she tried on most every dress in her size. Now she was adamant about getting a different coat, because she wasn't going to wear something that a dog might want to chase.

So once again, we set out; I carrying the possum look alike coat, and we hit all the coat stores. Now I didn't embarrass easily, but every time I had to pull out that coat, I could feel my face start to redden.

Finally, at last, mercy was ours; a salesman agreed to take the coat in exchanged for another, with a few hundred dollars additionally. She found a brown fur she liked, and paid the extra, and after several miserable hours, I was home at last. I would like to tell you she had learn her lesson, but she didn't.  It seemed to me that the reason she bought things, was so she could take them back as an “after thought.”

While thinking about this, I began to wonder if GOD ever had “after thoughts.” What about when GOD created Adam, and there was no provision for reproduction - - or was there?  It was only after GOD decided that it wasn't good for him to be alone that Adam was given the counterpart he needed for reproduction.

There is in nature a provision for certain reproduction called asexual reproduction. It is a do it yourself method of reproducing yourself; a partner is not required.  This includes starfish and sea anemones for example, they reproduce by asexual reproduction.  There are many invertebrates also, that do the same.

Whether Adam was originally set up to reproduce by himself or not, GOD (seemingly had an after thought,) decided to take part of Adam, and make a counterpart for him.

 

From Adam, the bible says God took a rib, well ok, but that must not have been an ordinary rib, it must have had something extra attach to it, such as the feminine side of Adam. I'm not saying that GOD didn't think things through enough, and as an after thought he created Eve, whatever the case was, in the end God got it right and I am soooo glad!
 

I may be messing with someone’s theology so I better quit.

 

WHAT TO DO WHEN TIRED AND BORED

Tired and Bored
courtesy pixa-bay

Now for some words of wisdom from someone!

"Boredom is a finicky creature, never around when you need it, and always popping up when you want it the least."

"Boredom is a sign of satisfied ignorance, blunted apprehension, crass sympathies, dull understanding, feeble powers of attention, and irreclaimable weakness of character."

I fell asleep reading a dull book and dreamed I kept on reading, so I awoke from sheer boredom.

"Boredom is the highest mental state."  Boredom: the desire for desires.

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.

Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don't let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity.

In love there are no vacations No such thing. Love has to be lived fully with its boredom and all that.

God's people have no assurances that the dark experiences of life will be held at bay, much less that God will provide some sort of running commentary on the meaning of each day's allotment of confusion, boredom, pain, or achievement.

They say that death kills you, But death doesn't kill you. Boredom and indifference kill you.

Boredom is a vital problem for the moralist, since at least half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it.

On your decent into oblivion know that the next step after boredom is apathy; Scientists announced today that they have discovered a cure for apathy. However, they claim no one has shown the slightest interest in it.

The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life but that it bothers him less and less.   Apathy is a sort of living oblivion.

Indifference is an excellent substitute for patience and Indifference creates an artificial peace.

Persecution was at least a sign of personal interest. Tolerance is composed of nine parts apathy to one of brotherly love.

I suppose credit is due to these want-a-be wise people but I'm too bored and apathetic to do so. While you are thinking about this subject look at;

http://www.biblestudyguide.org/articles/salvation/if-youre-bored-question-your-salvation.htm

 

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE GARDEN?

 

The following passage was chosen for it best illustrates how we can be manipulated even though we are Christians.

Genesis 3:1-6 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?

And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat:  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.



Power of Words

Some quotes herein are from the book; "Mind Control Language Patterns."

Eve had no intention of going against GOD'S command.  Satan knew the power of words, and how to use them.

"The operator often describes a process; and in order for the subject listening to understand what you're saying they have to go through the process in their mind, and end up convincing themselves."

This has been also called the power of suggestion

This is precisely what Eve did, she convinced herself that it was okay to eat the fruit.

"Language patterns are entirely interactive, and require both party's participation."

"Language patterns work for many reasons, a primary one being that they bring about an emotional state and then suggest an action to accompany the emotion.

The truth is that someone can be talked - - Into bed, into a business partnership, or sold a product or service just with words."

Language patterns are merely the outer game of mind control and persuasion.

The advertisement agencies are the masters of stimulating the emotions for we (almost) never act without first having the emotions stimulated by either speech or visual prompting.

Of course the smell of a hamburger cooking can jog memories of how nice it would to have one be if you were hungry. 

 

There are occasions when the touch can also stir the emotions.

You have heard the word charisma.  Satan is the most charismatic creature in this world.  His thoughts have the most attraction of any you will ever encounter.

Eve had never known such emotional stimulation and she like a lamb was led to the slaughter and she died spiritually.

When Satan tempts you he knows exactly where he wants you to end up.  He untiringly replays the Eve scenario with each temptation or a variation of it.

Most times it is a series of temptations each one leading you a little farther toward his desired goal.

Samson is a perfect example of this.  He lost his strength by degrees, check it out in the 16 chapter of Judges.

Let me just say this; you will not arrive where Satan wants you in one giant step but will take many small steps before you have satisfied him.

1Peter 5:8-9 Control yourselves and be careful! The devil is your enemy, and he goes around like a roaring lion looking for someone to attack and devour.

Refuse to follow the devil. Stand strong in your faith.

You know that your brothers and sisters all over the world are having the same sufferings that you have.

 

 

SONGS

Really Love a Woman
courtesy photobucket

Songs come and go. 

Some say nothing while others at least touch you for a while.

Most are little more than a vapor that disappears before your eyes.  But there are those which endure.  The music carries the lyrics so long as one doesn’t fail the other which is sad indeed.

True songs of romance are getting harder to discover for as truth in love becomes less cherished the need for love’s expression fails to inspire the minstrel of Eros.

The pathway to true love teaches one of their capacity for desire and the fiery urgency to discover the one object worthy of your full release of passion.

The one and only for a lifetime.  The question have you ever loved a woman must needs be answered by all men.

Lyrics- Have you ever really loved a woman

To really love a woman, to understand her

You gotta know her deep inside

Hear every thought, see every dream

And give her wings when she wants to fly

Then when you find yourself lying helpless in her arms

You know you really love a woman

When you love a woman,

Tell her that she's really wanted

When you love a woman, tell her that she's the one

'Cause she needs somebody to tell her

That it's gonna last forever

So tell me have you ever really

Really really ever loved a woman?

To really love a woman

Let her hold you,

'Til you know how she needs to be touched

You've gotta breathe her, really taste her

'Til you can feel her in your blood

And when you can see your unborn children in her eyes

You know you really love a woman

 

When you love a woman,

Tell her that she's really wanted

When you love a woman, tell her that she's the one

She needs somebody to tell her

That you'll always be together

So tell me have you ever really,

Really really ever loved a woman?

You got to give her some faith, hold her tight

A little tenderness, gotta treat her right

She will be there for you, takin' good care of you

You really gotta love your woman...

Then when you find yourself lyin' helpless in her arms

 

You know you really love a woman

When you love a woman, tell her

That she's really wanted

When you love a woman tell her that she's the one

She needs somebody to tell her

That it's gonna last forever

So tell me have you ever really,

Really really ever loved a woman?

Just tell me have you ever really,

Really, really, ever loved a woman?

Just tell me have you ever really,

Really, really, ever loved a woman?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2ReqwUFhrI

 

I’M NOT GETTING MINE

I'm Not Getting Mine !!

Those words still echo in my mind after fifty years.

A man told me this; “You are getting yours, she is getting hers, but I’m not getting mine.”

I didn’t have a clue as to what he was talking about.  He went on to explain more fully to explain what he was talking about.

For a little background let me say he had recently became a Christian and somehow he got the idea that “everything” would be palatable if not perfect after accepting Christ as Savior.

He decided that I should be his mentor/problem solver.  Every time he saw me he would bring his list of things that needed fixing and lay them on me.

I kept him buoyed up the best I could until it came to an affair of the heart.

He decided a certain woman should be his wife or girl friend.  His theory was being a Christian should guarantee that would come to pass.

I tried to explain that being a Christian didn’t promise him a rose garden experience but he persisted in that line of thinking.

He felt because of Galatians 6:2  “Take on yourselves one another's troubles, and so keep the law of Christ,” I should agree with him and “hook him up” so to speak.

I tried to show him Galatians 6:5 "For every one shall bear his own burden," and it wasn’t up to me to solve his love life.  I did tell him that as far as I could see the lady in question had absolutely no interest in him and God wasn’t going to force her against her will to accept him as a lover.

This wasn’t acceptable to him and his prayers weren’t answered to his pleasure. After I wouldn’t agree with his assessment of how Christianity should work he dropped me as his mentor.

Of course he “Didn’t get his,” in this matter for the lady had another friend she was interested in.

Some Christians need a personality adjustment; this man needed a personality transplant as far as I could tell.  He was borderline weird and the church has abundance such cases.

Some come seeking help, all are needing help and while they are a work in progress the world outside wrongly judges the very essence of Christianity as being less that it is.  It decries the true nature of Christ and judges it by its weakest link.

Christianity is a call to righteousness.  First God gives to man right standing before God, and then follows walking uprightly before the world.

Therein lays every man’s struggle where some are more successful than others.  Before one says” I’m not getting mine,” they should be sure what theirs is.

Prayer is the means to an end but it isn’t magic. 

 

There isn’t any hocus pocus in Christ.

 

IS YOUR ALL ON THE ALTAR OF SACRIFICE LAID?

 

Some of the old hymns challenge us to think over our position in Christ and the value of our salvation.   One such hymn is; “Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?”

In those days the study of the sacrificial system was well known from the study of the tabernacle.  We learned how it was the precursor of that which was to be fulfilled in Christ’s life and sacrifice. 

JESUS Our Sacrifice

We read in Hebrews 10:5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 

Hebrews 10:10 By that pleasure we have been made holy, by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for ever.

Sacrifice is the heart and soul of Christianity, by GOD in sending his son, in Jesus dying for our sins and now in the sacrifices of His followers.

Until you become serious about becoming a servant of GOD the thought of laying yourself on an altar of sacrifice is far from your agenda.

 
Read and think about the words of this Old Hymn “Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?”

•You have longed for sweet peace,

and for faith to increase,

  And have earnestly, fervently prayed;

But you cannot have rest, or be perfectly blest,

  Until all on the altar is laid.

 •Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?

  Your heart, does the Spirit control?

You can only be blest and have peace and sweet rest,

    As you yield Him your body and soul.

 •Would you walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,

  And have peace and contentment always;

You must do His sweet will to be free from all ill;

  On the altar your all you must lay.

 •Oh, we never can know what the Lord will bestow

  Of the blessings for which we have prayed,

Till our body and soul He doth fully control,

  And our all on the altar is laid.

 •Who can tell all the love He will send from above!

  Oh, how happy our heart will be made!

Oh, what fellowship sweet we shall share at His feet,

  When our all on the altar is laid!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUK5WvpVbDM&feature=related 

QUESTION OF THE DAY

 

The question for today is; “Should the military be unionized?”

Many say no, they are just “cannon fodder.”  All the rights they deserve are to be used and abuse for they are sub-humans.

Some would say, ‘That’s not what I believe for I honor them when they are brought back in a box.”

They have no standing except to be sent to their death by some nut case in the White House for indefensible reasons.

Case in point is Afghanistan.  Read the News paper tomorrow and see if some expendable went to his death.

Who is worthy of being unionized?  Most all of the government workers except the military.

The teachers, firemen, policemen, and virtually everyone else.

Yes but you say; the police put their lives on the line and the firemen face dangers to the point of being injured on the job.

That being said we think everyone is better than the men and women in the service and they shouldn’t have any representation.

Why shouldn’t they have someone to represent them when they are told to go and die for some idiot’s nonsensical idea?

The reason is obvious.  If they had a right to choose whether to die or not the big shots in Washington couldn’t screw them over like they are doing as I write.

Let these bold leaders lead from the front instead from a bunker in Washington.  They are so easily replaced

 

And It Was Nevermore

Raven courtesy photobucket

 

But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.

Nothing further then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—
Till I scarcely more than muttered, “other friends have flown before—

On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.”
Then the bird said, “Nevermore”.

 Times were hard and comforts sparse, still, a serene state was around all.

Those who were blessed with radio waves were satisfied with audio fare.

 Hand me downs were the coveted dress,

While those in rags bore distress.

Day by day, year by year, seemingly never to end

With nothing in the pocket to squeeze or spend.

Then the day that changed the world,

with knife and gun in hand W W 2 began,

and then it was “nevermore”

So much dying, so much crying,

joy departed to the lonely place and lay undisturbed for a season.

The years passed, the conflict ended, too many never saw that day.

 They gave it all and then faded away

Scarcely a memory, unknown sacrifice by men of valor

 departed to the land of “nevermore”.

 There are many sides to “nevermore” some are happy and others are sad.

The past of sorrows, the loss of kin.

None are exempt neither women nor men.

 

The sigh of prayer “never again, please”

The brokenness of hope, nevermore again.

The strength of faith, it all transcends “Evermore”

Phoenix

Out of my ashes will rise a new phoenix.

A soaring being returning from death
proving once again that life is eternal.

I live forever because the spirit never dies.

I will return in another body
in another time, but it is me.

The me who is me now will always be.

As long as I live, I learn.
And I live F o r e v e r

For I am in him

 http://www.enotes.com/raven-text/the-raven

 

DON'T NEED TO READ THE INSTRUCTIONS

Manual courtesy photobucket

Being born and raised when the world was a far simpler age I found most things didn't need a manual.

It was the days when the "Shade tree mechanic" was where we took our car to get it fixed if we were too lazy to do it ourselves.

If we wanted to dig, the pick and shovel were not too complicated.

Our horse power came with four legs and bridle reins.

Then comes this age of confusion where everything was powered by gas or electricity and a flood tide of new inventions came on the scene.

Now why did we need a machine to wash and dry our clothes?  We had a wash tub, a rub board and a clothes line.  After all these years the end result is just the same, clean clothes.  

As soon as we were shamed into buying the washer and dryer all kinds of problems rose up.  Where to put them, the power and water and sewer hook ups which cost a pretty penny and to top it of we didn't know how to turn them on.

I went down to the store where we bought them and talked to the salesman and he said I should read the manual.

When I asked him what that was he looked at me as if I was crazy.  After three months of just looking at them machines, my wife finally kept reading those manuals till she figured out to operate them.

Actually after reading them over and over she invited a neighbor show her how they worked.

After reading those books once I vowed never to read another one for though I could read most of the words I didn't know what they meant and the pictures didn't help.

Now you may make fun of me but some people do the same thing when it comes to living their lives.  They think they don't need to read 'The Book of Life" to find out how they should live.

They think they can figure it out as they go along or friends will help them. Talk about the blind leading the blind.

Today I try to figure out how new stuff works without reading the instruction for several reasons; some of it is confusion and I have to study it.

Another is I'm too busy or I'm just too lazy and to do so is an insult to my intelligence.

When I look at how some people live I can tell they haven't read the how to live book for they have put things together wrong.

Seems they are too smart to be dumb enough to get it right or they don't realize that they need the instructions plainly laid out in "The Book"

Click HERE to Check out an article written in the Cleveland Daily Banner