Tag Archives: Jesus Christ

by | September 18, 2012 · 9:21 am

Faith plays such a important part

Hagia Sophia ; Empress Zoë mosaic : Christ Pan...

Faith, Why is it so important? Does Faith really make a difference in getting prayers answered and does it help one through their daily lives? Well faith is defined as belief or trust in something, so having faith is to trust in God and also believing in him and his promises. How I understand it is that faith plays such an important part in enriching our lives and getting prayers answered is that by believing and putting our trust in God we open up the door for God to work in our lives. Of course God can help us with or without faith involved but I believe he wishes for us to come to him trustingly and in full belief so that we can have a personal relationship with him. The more we trust and believe in God the more we seem to be able to see his works around us and also the more our eyes are open to the gifts he has already laid around us that we have overlooked or could not see before.

I believe he answers all our prayers, just sometimes we are too blind or deaf to see or hear his answers. Then there are times his silence or inaction is the answer to the prayer.  The thing we must remember is God will give us all that we need if we ask, but he is rarely concerned with our unnecessary wants or desires. He desires the happiness of his children and the upkeep of the physical, mental and spiritual health of his children. He wants all of us to love one another unconditionally, to be as the children of God he designed us to be.  He put the challenges of different colors, languages, culture and even religious beliefs between us in order to teach us how to love one another in an unconditional manner. Without challenges for the human spirit there is no growth or change, he wishes for us to grow both mentally and spiritually. One of the biggest challenges I believe God set before his children is dealing with the Ego or the self, he teaches us that we should be submissive to his will and we have the natural desire to be selfish which makes that a great challenge for us to overcome.

Ray Barbier

 

A few Bible Verses about Faith

Matthew 17:20

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. “

Matthew 21:21

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.

1 Peter 1:5-9

who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,  for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

1 Corinthians 13:2

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

 

Ephesians 2:8

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–

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by | September 1, 2012 · 11:10 am

Never turn away a brother or sister

Our Lord Jesus Christ

By helping those in need we help our own selves as well, acts of kindness towards others builds a gentle spirit within. By learning to have compassion for all living things we also learn to be more understanding towards our own shortcomings and negative attributes. Love, kindness and compassion are like muscles, the more you exercise them the stronger they become. The greatest reward one can receive in return for being compassionate, loving and kindhearted is to see those you help smile and to be happy. Seeing happiness in others always spawns happiness within myself, to know I was apart of helping someone to be happy is such a great honor and inspires me to help even more people. I find happiness in the happiness and joyousness of those around me, to put the happiness of others before my own is the way I choose to live. It isn’t neglecting my own happiness, it is seeing the welfare of others as a higher priority than my selfish wants. I have learned in my lifetime that everybody has problems, demons and crosses to bear in life. To walk alone through life facing all those things is a very hard road to travel, but to receive help from others lightens both your load and theirs. To help each other through life is the right way to live your life. It is a sign of strength and wisdom when a person is willing to accept help from others, to believe you are an island or rock is an illusion that will keep you from becoming the great person you are destined to become. Friends, Family and the people who love you are the things that makes you strong, without them you are alone and easy prey for the enemy. Fellowship is a key component to a good Christian life, through fellowship God’s will and power is amplified. Through fellowship we can achieve so much more than when we walk alone serving God and together we can stand so much stronger for we have the help of each other to rely upon.

Being humble, selfless and focused upon the welfare of others is what a Christian should be, by serving the community, other human beings we serve God. By doing such things for the least in the world you are doing such things for God. We are supposed to as Christians help those who are weak, defenseless, needy and unable to help themselves. Why so many get wrapped up or trapped into the persecution of sinners and non believers while neglecting their needs and helping to spread the kindness, love and compassion of God is beyond me. We are not here to be Judges, we are here to be servants and messengers of God along with being helpers of all humanity. We are to dislike the sin but love the sinner, for if we can not love someone else who sins and forgive them, then how is God supposed to do the same for us? All sin is forgivable except for blasphemy of the holy spirit, so why some focus on one of the forgivable sins and push the idea that by doing it you will burn in hell but not focusing on the others is basically a biased doctrine. If you are going to start a war upon sin you must do so on all sin not just the one that you find the most repulsive or unacceptable. For there is no difference between a liar, thief, adulterer, fornicator or any other sinner. They are all sins and they all lead to damnation with out the salvation God offers through our Lord Jesus Christ. Most sinners know they are sinning and do not need to be reminded of such or of the consequences of the sin, they need to hear the good news that they can turn from sin and be saved through Jesus Christ. By knowing God and Jesus loves them and is always with them and that they are forgiven they will be more likely to accept the salvation and seek to overcome their sins. If they accept Jesus or not is a personal choice God has given them and everyone else, we are to respect their choice along with God’s will to allow them that choice. We only can offer them the scripture and the way to salvation, if they refuse it we should pray for them and let them know the door is always open for them to come to God through Jesus Christ. Never turn away a brother or sister no matter what sin they fall to, they are still God’s children and we should treat them as such.

 

The Sinful and the Saved are both children of God, We should treat all of our brothers and sister as such. We should remember we all were sinners before we accepted the salvation God gave us through his only begotten son Jesus.

Ray Barbier

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by | August 4, 2012 · 11:30 am

Sword in hand or Fishing for Souls?

yellingI have watched so many people being angry and hateful towards sinners, the sinner can not help whom they are for it is the sin within them that makes them do wrong. Since the garden of Eden we have been plagued with sin within our blood. Those who fall to sin are not really bad people per se they are just victims of sin.. Many of sinners are great people they just have sins that they are weak to and many are trying to battle it on their own and do not realize the only way to beat sin is through the grace and salvation of Jesus Christ. When you face sin alone you are going to fail, but if you face sin through Christ you will prevail. Faith is all that is required to defeat our sinful nature. To have anger or hate towards a sinner is a sin in its self, for Jesus taught us to be forgiving and have compassion on our brothers and sisters. Instead of condemning a sinner we are supposed to be supportive of a sinner and help him or her find the right path to salvation and / or redemption. Even the most pious of people have fallen to sin at one time or another and probably will a few more times in their life. The more faith a person has the less they are tempted and the stronger they are against the sin within themselves. We should also remember to be forgiving of our own sins for through Jesus we can forgive ourselves and others of all sins besides the one.

angel-prayers_w453_h725The goal is to rid our desire to sin, we may still stumble from time to time but we must do our best to resist the desire to be sinful. Repentance is a must in the process for if we are not genuinely sorry for our sins then we will not be forgiven. God wants to forgive us and give us salvation and that is why he sent his only begotten son to live among us, die on the cross and to be resurrected in order to give us freedom from our sins and to provide salvation. He wants us to be forgiving, compassionate, understanding and wise people not judgmental, angry and hurtful as some seem to show others they believe by their actions. What gain can you or a sinner have by being bitter, angry, hurtful or judgmental. You can not bring sinners into the grace of god or to the salvation Jesus brought us through such negative means. You can not force someone to believe or to have faith, they must choose and welcome such within their own heart and mind by their own will. Forced belief is not true belief, it is only a fake belief done out of fear of retribution.

p10056Jesus did not go around with a sword in hand forcing people to follow him, instead he used the technique of fishing for their souls and hearts. He put forth the truth and the good news of Gods love before the people and they followed by their own choice. Ignite someone’s mind or heart and they will follow you willingly and until the ends of the earth. Force them to believe or to follow and they will betray you or abandon you at the first opportunity they can. They will never truly believe or commit themselves to your teachings. So spouting out how they are evildoers or how they have no hope of salvation and they are bound for hell is not the right way to bring them into the Salvation that Christ offered all of humanity.

Offer a stranger your coat and you will warm not only their body but their heart. Offer a stranger nothing and then their body and heart will only know the coldness of the world.

Ray Barbier

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution By license.
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by | June 21, 2012 · 2:59 pm

The war was won from the first hint of faith and spark of hope

Corcovado jesus

Look in the mirror and all I see is a reflection of the outer me. Look within my heart, mind and soul then I see the me that no one truly knows. The battle between the real me and what this world tells me to be is a constant war for which will prevail. The inner me wont surrender but the world is bigger and comes at me from every direction. The battle was won and was lost all in the instant I came aware of my existence. I do not stand alone, I do not fight this war for just my own self. There is one who stands by me and every woman, man and child who calls upon him.

If you stand against insurmountable odds and an enemy whom you can not defeat remember the words “He that is in me is greater than thee”.

 

The war was won from the first hint of faith and spark of hope, the war was one by the grace of our lord Jesus Christ.
Ray Barbier

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by | May 21, 2012 · 5:05 pm

Self Compassion: The act of having compassion on ones self.

MP900427738   We tend to forget we should show compassion not only to others but to ourselves as well. For compassion starts with one’s self and radiates outward just like love. Though it is possible to be compassionate towards others and not yourself though it tends to exhaust your energies . When you learn to have compassion for yourself and how to love yourself you have more love and compassion to share with others and it becomes like a second nature to you. We all need compassion and love in our lives if we want to admit it or not, no one person is an island upon themselves. We are social creatures by design and require some interaction with each other and support from each other as well. Trying to stand alone and face this world with no help at all is a self-defeating act and surely will fail in the end. Yes you can succeed for quite some time going it alone but in the end it will overwhelm even the most empowered individual. Our strength comes from family, friends and colleagues that God blessed us with.

bnf0424 To have compassion upon yourself is to forgive yourself for your shortcomings and the wrongs you may have committed in your past. It is also the realization that you are but human and are incapable of being perfect be it physically,mentally or morally. We are both physical / Animal and spiritual therefore we have the instincts simular that of the animals. The spiritual side of us is what strives to overcome those primal instincts but as long as we are in flesh we must fight against them. No matter how hard you try you will fall to one or another of the animal instincts within us, all we can do is pray for forgiveness and go back to fighting the good fight. This is where we must have self compassion for if we can not be compassionate upon our own selves for the sins we fall to then how can we have compassion or forgiveness for the shortcomings and sins of others.

RBM001122 The fight against our flesh is a loosing battle if we do it alone, but with the compassion, love and helping hand of God we can have the strength to resist the flesh. Though God will never fail us it is our own nature to sin so there is always a chance we may fall or back slide. That is when repentance and prayer comes into play and is the answer to those times. There is no one who can be perfect or overcome all temptations , for we are creatures born in sin. One of my favorite quotes from the words of Jesus is when he spoke out to the crowd who was going to stone a woman accused of adultery to death. “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. ”. No person is without sin so none of us have right to judge or to execute another person over sins committed. This not only applies to other people but to our own selves, we don’t have the right to judge ourselves or persecute ourselves for sins we committed. We only have the right to pray for forgiveness and to do our best to avoid committing the sin again.

We must practice repentance, compassion, prayer and the be willing to accept our salvation from Jesus Christ.

Raymond Barbier

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by | June 30, 2011 · 9:03 am

To Be Selfless

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The path of Righteousness, a path seldom followed and is not an easy path to travel. To be selfless, humble and full of compassion for both your friends and your enemies. To put everyone else before your own seems to be against the nature of most people. To put aside judgment of others so that you will not be judged by the same conditions as well as not seeing your possessions as your own. To seek wise counsel and avoid being deceived along the way.

“(Proverbs 3:3) Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart”

  it seems so much easier to be selfish, greedy and full of loathing. It is far easier for one  To take instead of give and to hurt instead of heal. To take care of your own and let others suffer in hunger and poverty seems to be the safest route. Yes to live in lust and partake in all the pleasures is far more entertaining than to refrain from such things. To enjoy the pleasures of your spouse is good but to enjoy the pleasures of others is not. It is a betrayal of not only your spouse but of your own self and the vows you made.

Our Lord and Savior died and paid for our sins so we could be redeemed not so we could be careless and be foul. Sure no man can be without sin, It is in our very nature to sin and it is also within our power to abstain from sinning. We must do our best in avoiding sin and we must repent for the sins we commit when we fall. Teach righteousness and avoid being judgmental of sinners for you will be judged by god in the way you judge others.

 “Matthew 7:1-3 Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you, for God will judge you in the same way you judge others, and he will apply to you the same rules you apply to others. Why, then, do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the log in your own eye?”

In a world so full of injustice and a world lacking in love and compassion we must live. We have a choice to either be like the world we walk in or to be like the one who saved mankind from its sinful nature. Our hope is in Jesus Christ and without it we could not have the promise of salvation or being worthy of Heaven.

“(Colossians 2:13) And you, being dead in your sins and the un-circumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.”

 

May God Bless you and yours.
Raymond Barbier

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by | December 20, 2010 · 5:33 pm

The Holiday season is upon us

HPIM0012bThe Holiday season is upon us, Thanksgiving has passed but Christmas is just around the corner. We gave thanks for the physical things we have on thanksgiving now Christmas is for us to give thanks for the spiritual salvation and for the grace we have received. It is also a time of celebrating family and friends. Those we love and a sometimes we take for granted are shown love and appreciation on Christmas. We should always celebrate the gifts of love, compassion, companionship and family on Christmas along with the gift of our savior and his message.

Though through the years Christmas has mainly became a materialistic and commercially dominated holiday it still is the church appointed day to celebrate the birth and gift of Jesus Christ. Jesus taught forgiveness, unconditional love and compassion along with the way of peace. He brought those messages along with the message of salvation to Jew,Gentile,Rich,Poor,Powerful,weak, meek and every living soul on gods green earth.

So Love without condition, forgive without hesitation and follow a path of peace.

Merry Christmas to all

Ray Barbier

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by | October 26, 2010 · 6:45 am

Right and Wrong, The Conflict within us all.

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The conflicts we suffer within us are there to serve us by giving us eventual direction in life. Morality versus Self Gratification is usually the main conflict that stirs within our inner selves. To know what is right and wrong comes with penalties, Every selfish and inhumane action we have tends to carry a heavy cost with it. But in turn the selfless and compassionate actions too carry a reward if not sometimes a price. Though I would rather pay the price for doing what is right than for what is wrong, usually my selfishness gets in the way at times. The internal conflicts within us are basically the battle between right and wrong.

  Being human sometimes it is very hard to decipher what is right or wrong because there are so many fine lines between the two. Usually as a rule is if it causes harm to another person then it is considered wrong, If it benefits the other person or everyone then it is considered good and or right. Though there are some situations that these rules would not and could not be applied and that is when I myself just try to find the least hurtful and or damaging choice. I try to live by the ideal that if you make others happy along with helping  them to the best of your ability while avoiding doing any kind of harm then you have chosen the right path. This includes ones own self, Respect is not to be a one way street and neither is compassion.

I guess the inner conflicts within us all will continue as long as we struggle to balance the needs and wants of the self with the needs and wants of others. Right and wrong, Good and evil are concepts mankind embraced in order to find a means in which to better society and help the progression of civilization.

  The creator (GOD) gave us the code of conduct known as the ten commandments to help guide mankind to a better way of life and he also sent Jesus Christ as a teacher and savior. Jesus came to not only fulfill the law but to teach mankind forgiveness, compassion and the true spirit of love. He showed all of us by example his compassion towards the sick and the sinners he came across in his time here on earth, He taught us to forgive and to turn the other cheek along with to love one another.

  To be selfish and without compassion is to allow yourself  to be surrounded by those whom have little regard for you or your survival. As the old saying goes “Birds of the same feather flock together”. So you will become surrounded by others who are much like yourself and you will be treated like that which you treat others. I also belive that if you do someone harm eventualy through a chain reaction the harm will come full circle back to you. This of course works with compassion and selfless acts,they also will come around in full circle eventually. This is the concept of karma and  the only problem with Karma is sometimes its instant and sometimes it takes a lifetime, but eventually what comes around does go around. So I guess there is wisdom in the old saying “ Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’”.

Well enough of my Ramblings for today
May peace fill your heart and compassion be your guide.
Raymond Barbier

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