From My Perspective

I've recently been spiritually reawakened and with that comes doing things and saying things to people, particularly unbelievers, with an eternal perspective attitude.

I'm not ranting or raving or writing with an ounce of negativity here. These are just some of my ideas expressed in a completely neutral and respectful tone filled with notes of genuine care and sincerity.

I realize that some people do not believe in God. I respect people's belief and their freewill but that's not going to stop me from voicing out mine. It's not something I'm actively choosing to do; it's what I have to do. Not because I want to or feel comfortable doing so but it's what God wants. Now, don't get me wrong, I want to tell people but sometimes the uncomfort feeling gets overwhelming. It doesn't matter though because I know that these people will understand someday, be it good or bad. They will either be extremely grateful or filled with the worst regret ever. Say you didn't believe and go about your life. What if you're wrong? It's not something you can be wrong about. You just can't. It's like my one quote: people insure their cars, they insure their homes, they even insure their own lives, but they don't take the time to insure their souls. The one thing that matters.

You have to understand that I'm not just going to let you sit there when I see you making the wrong decision. The worst one of your life. It's what anyone would do on this earth. You see someone drowning, jump in and save them. See someone choking, perform heimlich. For any earthly troublesome encounter, the human spirit is to help. So why is that any different when it comes to the soul? If someone saved me from drowning I would be thankful toward them. The difference is that with the spirit, the process is drawn out. You have to wait longer to experience the results of the other person's helpfulness. On earth, it's easier to be grateful for someone saving your life because they save you while you are in the process of dying. With the spirit, it's harder to be as grateful because you are saved before you are actually dying.
You see, you can't afford to get this whole believing thing wrong. It's hit or miss. It might seem like this stuff is being forced upon you if you don't believe. But is it really? I think that yeah, some people do go about it the wrong way and shove stuff down people's throat. That's not what I do or what I intend to do. I simply tell people the plain truth. You have to distinguish between the two: shoving and telling. So many times I think people think that they're being shoved upon when really that's just what they themselves feel. They feel it because it's something new and not necessarily because the person said it in a shoving manner. You get what I'm saying? Everything appears different on the outside looking in. But like I said, I'm not going to just sit back... I'm going to tell.

Just imagine being sent to hell, a place of torture and pain forever, knowing that you could of had a way out. You know it's your own fault that you are here because you remember the warnings of your friends. Now imagine being sent to hell but, even though you felt God's tug at your heart to accept Him and know deep down you made a conscious choice not to believe, still, no one bothered to tell you how to avoid this place. You were never told. They obviously knew how to stay away from this awful prison, because they're not here. They knew the way out but they didn't share it with you. I guess they didn't see the importance of telling you. I guess they didn't care strongly enough about you to voice their concern and now every minute is filled with despair and agony that you will never escape from. They knew full well of your beliefs and where you were heading but they for some petty reason didn't point it out. They were content in letting you be wrong. Why couldn't they of at least mentioned it, that way i would've been informed, you think to yourself. Maybe God and their concern would of been enough to convince me. What i would now give if they had only said something.
I DON'T WANT ANYONE I KNOW TO FEEL LIKE THAT.

You know, I think so many people are turned off by God because they link Him with religion. All these crazy extremists fighting holy wars and killing people. The truth is, God didn't create religion, we did. God didn't require you to go to church...just to be unified in Him. Does that make you see God any differently? It does for me. Believe me, I was at the front of the line for people who was fed up with God and these "holy wars"and whatnot. I didn't know what to believe. How could God really claim to be a loving God. I actually cursed to God and accused Him of things. I admit, it wasn't pretty at all so believe me when i say I know where people, perhaps you, are coming from. But then something amazing happened. I caught myself and realized I might be getting ahead of myself and assuming some things and so I asked God [desperately even pleadingly] for the truth. And within a short time I discovered it and realized a lesson that can only be learned once you're a believer: that things are so much different when you're on the inside looking out. And how much of a snare misunderstanding can be. That's one of Satan's #1 goals: to turn people away from God anyway he can.

Another thing people don't realize is that paying for your sins is a natural law. Just like the law of gravity is a law of nature; well so is paying for your sins. In the Old Testament, paying for your sins meant killing an innocent animal with sacrifice. For that's the price of sin: death. A death of an innocent to be more direct. We have it so easy. Say you are at the grocery store about to pay for a lot of groceries, say $300 worth. But just as you're about to pay someone else steps in and pays it for you. All you have to do is accept and say okay. You thank the person and you walk out together and get to talking and knowing each other over time. You find that they really are the nicest person you've ever met.

This is not much different than what we have to do. You see, everything is paid for. We just have to say yes and all our sins will be paid. You will see by getting to know this person that they really are the nicest person with the truest sincerity. The difference with us is that a part of saying yes is to agree to turn toward this person for assistance and to recognize them for being the only One who was willing to pay for you. A part of saying yes, is to go out and do your own act of kindness that resembles this one. Instead of paying the bill for someone, you have to give them a voucher with instructions that says how they can redeem their "free groceries".

It's a law for sins to be paid and if yours isn't than consequences have to be met just like if you neglect your loan payments. The consequence in this case comes in the form of a punishment. This punishment is death for that is the price of unpaid sin. Wait, I said above that the price of sin had to be an innocent death. You're not innocent so what gives? Death of an innocent is how you pay sin. Death in the form of eternal torment is how you repay sin. Repay, as in never paid, as in making a "late" payment. Or you can look at it like this: the price for sin changes once you die. You can either take the "on sale" price or the actual price. You have to pay one or the other. You can only buy "on sale" when you're alive, once you die you are locked in for the actual price if you didn't already get it on sale.
I don't know how much more lazier we can get. Christ already paid this sin for us, all we have to do is accept it and recognize it and get busy handing out those vouchers. How can you not like someone for doing/paying all that? It's amazing when you really think about it.

That's all I'm doing. I'm handing out these "vouchers" because that's part of what I said yes to. When you see an act of kindness, you want to imitate it with your own because that's how kindness spreads.
Dear Friend, this was and is always my intent.....

The Ant and the Contact Lens

http://www.jokesnjokes.net
By: Author Unknown
Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although she was scared to death, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff.
In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took a hold on the rope, and started up the face of that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens. Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there. Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it.
When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."
Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lost a contact lens?" Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it.
Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When he told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."
I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, "God, I don't know why you want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But if you want me to carry it, I will." God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

His Poem

Thank You for always being there

Even the times i accused You of being unfair
That was in the beginning when i hardly knew You
Before i spread my wings into skies of blue
I was just a young eagle learning to fly
All i needed was Your gentle push to soar so very high
I've never been the type with that many friends
Something that always made my spirit descend
But now it doesn't bother me
For now i see
You're the perfect kind of friend
The One on which i can truly depend
I eagerly wait for the day to be where i belong
Going home and praising You in worship song
I'll do my job while I'm here on earth
Helping others to share in this wonderful rebirth
Thank You for always being there
For teaching me with the deepest level of care

Pushing Against the Rock

By: Author Unknown

There was a man who was asleep one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Savior appeared. The Lord told the man He had a work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. This the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture placing thoughts into the man's mind such as; "You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn't budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it? etc."

Thus, giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure.

These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man even more. "Why kill myself over this?" he thought. "I'll just put in my time, giving just the minimum of effort and that will be good enough." And that he planned to do until one day he decided to make it a matter of Prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord.

"Lord" he said, "I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock a half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?"

To this the Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when long ago I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me, your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard.

Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven't moved the rock.

BUT YOUR CALLING WAS TO BE OBEDIENT, TO PUSH AND TO EXERCISE YOUR FAITH AND TRUST IN MY WISDOM. This you have done. I, my friend, I will now move the rock."

I think this is a good moral of the story message. Often times we derive our own meaning in what God wants for us. We think we don't measure up because to ourselves we don't. Although if we just stick with God's plan then we WILL measure up and we have to trust in that. Sometimes it's hard; say you're talking to an atheist. You try so hard to win him over but neither one of you budges from your viewpoint. In fact, you believe even more in what you're saying and have more conviction. Maybe that's the point. You did what you could and planted that seed. You may not get to see it grow but all you can do is trust God to water it and make it grow into something.

Your deepest fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
-Marianne Williamson

Life is an audition

If you study philosophy you learn interesting philosophical perspectives on life. One of them is that in life, the practice IS the game and the rehearsal to life IS life itself; you only have one shot at it.

Life doesn't really, truly begin until you die. This life is simply an audition for what role you're gonna play. The thing is, is that there are only two parts to audition for: heaven or hell. What you do now affects you for the rest of your life; for rest of eternity.

The amazing part in the whole thing is that you don't have to be the best actor to get the best part. You don't have to compete with anyone else to get it either. There are multiple roles to be cast; the more the better. All you have to do is genuinely try and do your best and believe and you will get the part. That's pretty amazing to me!

Keep Your Fork

There was a woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and was given 3 months to live. As she began getting her things 'in order', she called her pastor and asked for him to come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she wanted read, and what dress she wanted to be buried in. She also requested to be buried with her favorite Bible in her left hand. Everything was in order and as the pastor was preparing to leave, the woman suddenly remembered one final request that was very important to her. "Please Pastor, just one more thing," she said excitedly. "Sure, what is it?" came the pastor's reply. "This is very important to me," the woman continued ... "I want to be buried holding a fork in my right hand." The pastor gazed at the woman, at a loss for words.

"That surprises you, doesn't it?" the woman asked. The pastor replied "Well to be quite honest, I am puzzled by the request".

The woman explained. "You see, Pastor, in all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I remember that when the dishes were being cleared after the main course, someone would inevitably lean over to me and say, 'Keep your fork' ... it was my favorite part of the meal because I knew that something better was coming, like velvety chocolate cake or deep dish apple pie. Something wonderful to end the meal!"

The pastor listened intently and a smile came upon his face. The woman continued, "So, I just want people to see me there with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder ... 'What's with the fork'... then I want you to tell them: "Keep your Fork ... the best is yet to come".

The pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman good-bye. He knew that this would be one of the last times that he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the woman had a better grasp of Heaven than he did.

She knew and trusted that the best was yet to come. At the funeral, every one that walked by the woman's casket saw her wearing a beautiful dress with her favorite Bible held in her left hand and a fork held in her right hand.

Over and over the pastor heard people ask the question, "Why is she holding a fork?" and his smile began to get larger and brighter each time. During his message, the pastor told the people about the conversation that he had with the woman shortly before she died. He explained the fork and what it symbolized to her. The Pastor told everyone how he could not stop thinking about the fork and how he hoped that they would not be able to stop thinking about it either.

So the next time you reach for your fork, let it remind you, oh so gently, that the best is yet to come ........

http://www.jokesnjokes.net/inspirational/stories.poems.htm

Trees That Wood

http://www.inspirationalstories.com/cgi-bin/printer.pl?1630

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty."

Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."

Finally the third tree said, "I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me."

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter" ... and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree a woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, "I don't need anything special from my tree so I'll take this one", and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark. The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.

Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time. Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said "Peace" and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.