Tag Archives: Sin

by | January 18, 2013 · 6:22 am

Try to do the right thing if possible

IMG_1254To love one another, to be as brothers and sisters wanting nothing but each others company and friendship. This is how we are supposed to be and some of us do value such and try to live in such a manner. The problem is the self/id/ego tends to get in the way, we value our individuality so much we tend to forget the unity we are meant to have with one another. A person may stand alone, but when that person falls there is no one there to help them up or try to catch them. We should be caring, compassionate and loving towards ourselves and others regardless of the differences we have as a species. God commands us to love one another and that is not limited to fellow Christians but also to all other humans regardless of religious beliefs or lack of belief. We may not have to love their choices or their sins, but we are to love them. For their choices and sins are between them and God not between us and them. Leave the Judging, condemnation and punishments to God who is the only true Judge and be forgiving, understanding and full of the love God gave you.

Don’t let your personal desires, feelings and convictions affect anyone besides your own self. Try to avoid letting anger or self interests to control your actions and try to do the right thing if possible. For we all are sinners and have sinned therefore none of us are worthy of the kingdom of god without his loving grace. No person is greater or lesser than another, no one is without fault or sin. So love one another as equals, love one another as family and give thanks for the grace we all have received.

Look within your own mind and heart and see the sins and transgressions you have committed before you go pointing fingers at your brothers and sisters shortcomings. Remember we are all in this together and not one of us stands above or below another. Bless one another and be good to one another

Ray Barbier

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by | January 14, 2013 · 5:58 am

We are to serve God, not our own selves

Why is it we have such a hard time trying to be brotherly/sisterly to one another? As children of God we are supposed to be compassionate, caring, loving and not judgmental. We seem to cling on to the fleshly desire of serving ourselves and following our own will than serving God an his will. Out lusts, greed and our drive to be successful in the world seems to come before our spiritual needs. We are to serve God, not our own selves and when we do something we are to do it as if we are doing it for God himself. We are to forgive and bless not only our friends or family but even enemies and those who we call strangers.

This world is set up to keep you trapped in a consumer minded maze of living hand to mouth with little money to save nor time to enjoy with friends and family. We focus too much on what we can buy for our loved ones and even for ourselves and less on the fellowship and companionship we should be enjoying. We lost the sense of what loving each other as spiritual brothers and sisters is all about. We need to focus on God’s will and the love he wants us to share with one another.

Concern yourself not of the sins of others, for their sins are something that is between them and God. Forgive those who need forgiving and bless not only friends and family, but enemies and strangers as well. We are to love and be supportive of one another.

Ray Barbier

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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 27, 2012 · 5:11 am

Give the battle to God and Begin serving God.

MP900321192 The Job, The Kids, your favorite TV show, even your battle with sin can be distractions from serving God. We allow ourselves to get consumed if not overwhelmed by every day life and the challenges we face each day and that makes it next to impossible to serve god. If we are devoting all of our energy, time and mental abilities to the world we leave very little to give to serving God. Of course we have to deal with everyday life and the challenges it brings, but there are a lot of things we could let go of or that we could hand off to others if not to god himself in order to make time to Serve God and help others.

jesus-christ-in-prayer_w725_h725 This world is stressful and can be quite exhausting, the enemy always tries to keep us occupied with what ever he can so we are to consumed by life to serve, worship or know God. Not only does the enemy use distraction he also tries to deceive you into believing there is no hope for you and that you can not be saved. He wants us to be lost and confused so we can not find our salvation and or serve our father and our savior. Through faith, prayer and serving God we strengthen ourselves and through reading the scripture we learn to focus on the will of God not our own.

MP900427741 (1) If you are in a battle with sin in your life stop fighting it on your own, Give the battle to God to fight. Begin serving God by helping others and being kind to others. The more you focus on doing things that are good the less you think of the things that are sinful or that you lust for. The more you dedicate yourself to serving God and doing his will the less hold on you the sinful nature will have. It is a life long battle that we must wage against our sinful natures but the war was already won upon the cross and by the blood.

 If serving God is your first and last thought of the day, then Serving God you will do throughout the day.

Ray Barbier

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by | August 17, 2012 · 10:12 pm

Through Christ we are worth more than we could ever understand

English: Resurrection of Christ

Self Worth, a lot of people have low self-esteem and self-worth. They believe they are worthless, inadequate or lacking is some was and they don’t belong to society. The good news is they are worth more than they could ever imagine. God loved them so much he gave them his only begotten son to save them from the sinful life they live. Every one of us loved and accepted by God and he thinks we are worth saving, loving  and to him we all belong. The devil wants us to believe we are worthless, not savable, that we are irredeemable and unable to change. He tries to undermine our true potential and rob us of the gifts god blessed us with. He wants to separate us from God and his love, he doesn’t want to see us being close to god and to accept our salvation.

You are worth saving in God’s eyes and he proved that by his son Jesus, we may be sinful and we may fail to live a perfect life but Jesus paid for our shortcomings and sins upon the cross with his blood. Through Christ we are worth more than we could ever understand and we belong to God and Jesus. What else would any person ever want or need.

When you surrender to God’s will and accept Jesus as your savior you worry none about the opinions of others because God is all that matters.

Ray Barbier

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by | August 11, 2012 · 3:25 pm

Guilt, Shame and sin (They all have been paid for on the cross)

Cross & Clouds

The guilt and shame we hold on to from past mistakes and or sins has been paid for on the cross. Therefore to hold on to the guilt and shame of those mistakes / sins is unnecessary and is a roadblock to our happiness as well as our ability to live a happy life. So repent for those past mistakes / sins and give up the shame and guilt to God, be free of the burdens of the past so you can live in the here and now. Be free to become the person God has planned for you to be.

Do not worry about the future or when the end time will come, for it will come as a thief in the night. So leave the future to itself and leave the past behind you, live in the now and serve God by being the best person you can be in the time you have. The only time we need to be concerned of is the time we are presently living, God will deal with what was and what yet will be.

The bible should be the first place and the last that you go to understand and to know the truth. Let no man nor doctrine lead you astray from the Word of  God. For none of us are without fault and each of us can be mislead into believing or seeing things wrongly. So always go back to the source to confirm what you believe, see or hear is the truth. For their will be many wolves in sheep’s clothing in this world and many who unknowingly mislead.

Ray Barbier

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by | August 8, 2012 · 4:44 pm

They are not even there,It is not any of our business (Turning a Blind Eye)

MP900427740Lately I have thought about how much we turn a blind eye to things in life. How we walk by so many people in need and act as if they are not even there. How many times we see a wrong being committed and we are too willing to believe it is not any of our business. According to the Bible those that are weak, those in need and those who can not take care of themselves are our responsibility. God tells us whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. The hungry you didn’t feed, the homeless you didn’t help, the person needing help you turned a blind eye to was one of God’s children and what you do or don’t do for them is what you do or don’t do for God himself. This goes for all of his children but the weak and the defenseless are the ones we should help the most.

We are also taught we could at anytime be entertaining an angel of God and not be aware of it, so we should always be on our best behavior and should live in Christ and walk in love as well as faith. Compassion, Love and being humble are just some of the attributes of a being a Good Christian.To be Christian is to be Christ like, to follow in his example and live life as close as we can to how he lived his. We should be kind, humble, compassionate and full of forgiveness like he was. We are not to have hate for any person on this planet for that isn’t our place or purpose in life. We are caretakers of this world and all that lives within it. The hardest part of being a Christian to some is letting go of their own ego and will in order to allow the will of god to guide them in life. The self is selfish by nature if not design so it isn’t easy to put it aside for the will of god or for the well-being of others. This is the reason being humble is an essential part of being a Christian, for if we are humble then the self is put in the back while those whom we need to help will become our main focus. Besides that when humble we also put God first in our life because there isn’t any distractions created by the self and its selfishness to interfere.

Are Christians Sin Free? No. We are with sin like everyone else, we fall and we are tempted. Christians strive to overcome temptation and put aside sin as we repent and by the mercy and grace extended to us by Christ we are forgiven. Though we have our salvation we still have to abstain from sin and truly repent for those sins we fall to.

Be compassionate and peaceful with all your brothers and sisters, be aware that you could see an angel of God’s and not even know it.

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

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by | August 3, 2012 · 5:50 am

Thank you God

026Thank you God for another wonderful day of life, thank you for yet another chance for me to be redeemed and saved from my weak flesh. Give me the strength to overcome temptation and guide me away from that which will tempt me.  Give me the wisdom to understand which things I can change and which ones I can not. Bless me with the knowledge of what your will is and the strength to do your bidding. Bless my friends and bless my enemies two-fold and teach me patience with both. Help me to forgive others and help me learn to forgive myself. Forgive me for I have sinned and show me the path you have set for me to walk. Teach me how to have unconditional love, compassion and the understanding needed to apply them in everyday life. Please strengthen my faith so I can make it through this day without worry, fear or anger. Thank you God for listening to my prayers and for giving me this new day to better myself and the world I live in. Thank you God for everything and everyone you have blessed me with in my life.

Amen

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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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