The Rest of the Story - The Truth Will Set You Free, Jesus IS That Truth

Here's the thought for the day: How much do you REALLY love your family, friends, 
parents, kids, spouse, etc? Enough that you are concerned about their souls? Have you 
shared Jesus with them? Do you care if they split hell wide open?


and here's my answer.... I love each and every one of you enough to tell you the truth. The
 truth is... If you don't get your life right and get a real personal relationship with God and
 seek Him and His approval rather than man's (or woman's), you will miss the Kingdom of 
God and living throughout eternity. That thought may not bother some people but it's 
where you will spend eternity that is the problem. A relationship with Jesus is not just a 
word here and there. It's not yelling, "Oh Jesus" when a car almost sideswipes you, it's not 
being sick or having a loved one that is sick and praying for healing one day and forgetting
WHO healed as soon as you/they are well. When you are in a true relationship with God,
 you strive to live according to HIS will. You stay away from evil and "all appearance" of 
evil. You follow HIS laws. Some people think that because they don't kill they haven't sinned or that telling "a little white lie" isn't as bad as killing or stealing, well from what I read in the Bible, SIN IS SIN, there is NO big sin, little sin. Yes I love you and yes I care about your soul. Please get your life right with God and then strive daily to keep it that way. We aren't perfect any of us, it's a daily walk not just a one time thing.

The first thing you have to do is accept Jesus into your life.  Accept that HE IS the Son of God and HE DID come to die for all of our sins.  Then you must confess your sins to God, and yes HE does already know them but true repentance comes when you yourself acknowledge them as sins.  The Bible says if you will ask for forgiveness HE will grant it, doesn't say might or maybe but that HE will.  

1 John 1:9(NASB)

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Many people today think the Bible is "just a good book of morals".  It is a good book of morals to live by but it is so much more than that.  It is the living breathing Word of the Most High God.  The instructions laid out in the Bible are not just "good words to live by", they are the life of a Child of God.  You can't pick and choose what you want from it.  When Jesus died on the cross He completed all the man made laws in the Bible, but HE did NOT do away with God's laws.  Those laws being the 10 Commandments.  Even Jesus followed those.  He said, "if you love me, keep my commandments".  He added two commandments that people today think override God's 10 but they don't, they add to.  

My point is that not only do you need to confess Jesus and confess your sins to God but you need to read and study your Bible to learn the ways of God and what He wants and expects.  The Bible tells us that sin cannot enter into God's Kingdom.  The Bible goes on to tell us what sin is, not just with the 10 commandments but in other verses too.  Sin and unrighteousness are the same thing.  

Read this: Proverbs 6:16-19, 16 There are six things which the Lord hates,Yes, seven which are an abomination [i]to Him:

17 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,And hands that shed innocent blood,
18 18 A heart that devises wicked plans,Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 19 A false witness who utters lies,And one who [j]spreads strife among brothers.

Broken down this means pride, lying, killing, trouble making, looking for evil.  

There are other things the Lord hates, adultery, idolatry, fornication, drunkenness, stealing, coveting, fighting.  Most of these don't need explanations but some people try to justify what they do.  (Example:  my husband/wife doesn't give me what I want/need, I love them but I'm not satisfied so I go elsewhere, but I always come home to them.- That is adultery.  Example 2:  NOTHING, I mean NOTHING gets in the way of my football game, or my exercise class, or my soap opera, etc. etc. - that is idolatry; Example 3:  We can have sex, it isn't adultery because we aren't married. - that is fornication.  Drunkenness, stealing, lying, fighting I think needs no explanation.  Coveting - I want to keep up with the Jones, Rockefellers, etc.  I want that car that he has or that dress she has or that husband, that job etc.)  Sin = unrighteousness.  

The Bible says we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory but it doesn't say we are hopeless.  It is a daily walk.  We stumble, we fall but we need to get up and move forward, never looking back.  Ask forgiveness as often as we realize we have sinned.  Ask forgiveness again during prayer even if we aren't sure.  Talk to God all the time, not just when we need something.  What family member or best friend would stick around if we only talked to them once or twice a year or when we needed something and especially if we never came back and said thank you.  

Being a Child of God isn't hard, you don't give up anything, you gain everything.  

Do you love your family, your friends, etc?  This is only a part of the truth you MUST share with them, you must care about where they will spend eternity. You must care about their soul.  You must love them, even if you don't always like them.  You are responsible for what you tell them AND what you DON'T tell them AND what they see you do.  YOU will answer to God one day.  When HE says, what did you do with MY Son?  What will you say? When HE says what did you do for those you love to help them make it into the Kingdom and into Heaven? How did you show your love? What will you say?

As Jesus told Peter, "If you love me, feed my sheep". 

John 21:17(NASB)

17 He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you [a]love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you[b]love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I [c]love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend My sheep.

John 21:17 (KJV)

17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
If you love HIM, feed HIS sheep, if you love them, feed them. HE doesn't mean physical food, HE means Spiritual.
Love you all.  

I truly love you.  If you are committing any of the above sins, you WILL NOT make it into Heaven.  I truly love you, if you do not confess your sins, accept Jesus and live your life for God, you WILL NOT make it into Heaven.  I truly love you, if you continue to live in sin, you will die in sin and you WILL NOT make it into Heaven.  
I truly love you, I want us both to walk this walk and talk this talk for the Lord and make it into not only Heaven but the Kingdom of God that is coming.  I'm not perfect by any means, it is a daily walk and sometimes a daily struggle but the key is to keep on keeping on.  

Matthew 24:13(NASB)

13 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 

Walking on Egg Shells

We've all had to do it at one time or another. You have a boss, a friend, a co-worker, or maybe even a family member that you have to watch everything you say or do around them for fear of facing their wrath or hurting their feelings. Walking on eggshells gets tiring doesn't it? Sometimes you would just like to say, "look, this is how I feel or this is what I think", and just let the chips fall. But then what happens? What can they do? Kill you, eat you? I think that's against the law. While we should never be tempted to bring someone to wrath or cause them to stumble (hurt their feelings), we have feelings too. Is that person worth your time? What are the consequences of NOT walking on eggshells? Is it worth your mental well-being? Who suffers the most from you walking on egg shells? I'm not a psychiatrist, however, from personal experience I can tell you that you are the one that suffers the most. In my experience, most of "those" kinds of people have the type of attitude that they can say what they want but if you react in like manner, they get mad or get their feelings hurt, not considering your feelings to start with. (See my earlier blog about narcissistic personalities). In some cases as your boss or co-worker there might be an easier way to deal with the problems if you have time to think before you speak. What happens though when it's family or friends, people you really don't want to lose, people you love and who supposedly love you. They avoid you, they talk to other family or friends about you. Somehow you come out the bad guy. THAT is what causes us to walk on egg shells. Our own fear of repercussions. But now, what do we do about it.

You should always strive to keep peace and harmony but never at the risk of your own mental health and well-being. If you are having to walk on egg shells around someone YOU need to realize that it is THEIR problem. If you crack the shell and say something that does upset them, keep in mind that it is their personality, their problems, their perceptions that caused it. No one should have to walk on egg shells. You should guard the words of your mouth according to the Bible and not deliberately provoke or hurt, but that is different than having to guard every word that comes out of your mouth because of fear. I use fear because it is a fear, it's a fear of making that person mad at you. Generally when you have to walk on egg shells around a particular person it is more because of their temper than hurt feelings.

The Bible says the tongue is a mighty member in James 3:8, "But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison". That is a totally different matter. That applies also to the person you are talking to. The tongue is a two edged sword, it can lift you up or it can tear you down. Don't let it tear you down. Remember having to walk on eggshells is not YOUR choice, it is not because of something you have done, it is because of the person you are dealing with and their problems and perceptions. Which brings me to the next thing I would like to mention.

When you are walking on egg shells, do you have to stray from the truth to please that person? You should never ever have to lie to appease another person. There are times that you can say nothing at all or direct the conversation in another way or even reword what you might want to say so it doesn't sound harsh or cause problems. But again I repeat, you should never have to lie. The Bible says in Proverbs 12:22, "Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight". Don't ever compromise YOUR walk with God no matter who you are dealing with.

I'm probably mostly talking to us women here because most men don't worry about walking on eggshells lol. But I'm going to use a few minor examples: if a friend asks you how you like their hair, if you don't like it, don't tell them its beautiful! Why? Because no matter how small , a lie is a lie. You can, however, still answer that question without hurting their feelings. Example: I really really like it the way you wore it yesterday (if you did of course) or its so flattering on you when you wear it the other way etc etc. You see what I'm getting at. Don't deliberately hurt someone's feelings but don't compromise yourself. I told you it would be a minor example.

Back to walking on eggshells, you should respectfully state your mind, don't be crude or cruel to the person you are talking to but God does not intend us to live in fear of any kind. Walking on egg shells is a sense of walking in fear. Keep God in your heart, then let the words from your mouth come from your heart. Rely on God to take care of the rest. And most of all, pray for the person you are dealing with.