Perfectly done, thank you. Re 'God wants continual praise and reverence', I think it is more that He wants us to be continually grateful, 'in everything give thanks'. This includes gratitude towards all His children.
That is, in every situation good or bad as we understand it we find the gratitude. To be or not to be, that is the question. Thank you heavenly Father for being.
P.S. Gratitude is an anagram of 'attired gu'. Be clad in gratitude then whether you are tired or not!
Thanks for reading Baldmichael! Gratitude. So true. I'm trying to learn to be thankful for every little thing - even the bad things since I know it all turns out for good in the end. Everything is as it should be - Jesus told me that once and I try not to forget that, even though it's hard most days.
Life is hard. I struggle with my energy due to the sodium nitrite issues I had, plus the other things from the NHS. But if I had not gone through it all I would not understand all the beautiful truth I now do. Everything makes sense at last in a seemingly insane world.
P.S. I am a bit slow. When you said "So true." I realised that 'true' is in the word 'gratitude'.
'i.d. tag true' is an anagram for example. As Jesus is the Word we see His truth in even the supposedly ordinary words.
A couple of days ago I was just thinking about how I don't praise God enough. I am lazy and it is easier for me to do nothing than to take the time to pray and praise God for the good things he has given me in my life. As Charlotte said "love is a deep subject matter" that is rarely spoken about. Sure people speak about being "in love" or "loving someone/something" but love for oneself/neighbors/God is pretty much a dead topic for humankind.
I too have always been a misanthrope, and *that* is probably not a good thing in God's eyes. I have been trying to learn empathy as it relates to other humans, thinking maybe that will help me to "love thy neighbor." Hard, hard, hard in today's narcissistic, evil world. I have lots of excuses for why I cannot love my neighbor, but that is just me taking the easy way out and being lazy.
Interestingly misanthrope anagrams to 'atrophies mn'. So it causes a wasting away.
'ah empty' is an anagram of 'empathy'.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.…
I bet when Jesus talked about love, he got a lot of eye rolls and sighs from His Apostles and other people. But if I love people, feel empathy, forgive, I'll be a doormat! Don't make me do it! Love is such hard subject to talk about.
The human ego and love do not work hand in hand. They are seemingly polar opposites. Removal of some of the human ego, perhaps a result of going through a "dark night of the soul," can lead one to the love Jesus spoke of. That's my theory anyway.
Demons and satan love the human ego, they are constantly gnawing at the human ego with lies, hate and evil thoughts. Strong human egos cause most of the destruction and mental illness on earth. What I do not understand is how many (if not most) supposed Christians/Catholics who say they believe in Jesus, will come out and say demons and even satan do not exist.
You can't believe in Jesus but not believe in demons/satan. Jesus exorcised demons and was tempted by satan. Are these Christians who do not believe in demons/satan calling Jesus a liar and charlatan? As long as humans ignore the damage demons do on earth, chaos and evil will continue until Jesus comes back for the final time. Which I guess is what God's plan is anyway.
Love is deep subject matter and I think you have described it very well. I have been struggling with love all my life too. I felt so unloved as a child that I kept an old suitcase under my bed in case I needed to escape to the woods that was very close to our farm. Then when I grew up I got married to a man that never loved or wanted me and our three sons. I was only able to hang on because of the love of God and that belief that I was indeed his child. The older I get the more I understand that our experience on this earth is to learn to love God, ourselves and others. It's a daunting process and I have heard that it will be worth the struggle.
Hi Charlotte. You always have such insightful comments. Love is a deep subject matter and I am still utterly clueless about it. Funny that the world pretends that love is all that matters but nobody really talks about it. I'm sorry to hear about your feeling unloved. For me I have always felt like I couldn't love anybody, especially myself. That changed after I stopped hating God. If you don't mind me asking - are you still married to that man? I only asked because I too married someone who I now see never really loved anybody, including himself. He still is that way. As long as both of us were incapable of loving ourselves, others and God, we stayed married. Once I came back to God, the marriage fell apart. I salute you if you stay married. I should have tried harder to make it work.
Napoleon, thanks for your kind words. One of the problems in my marriage was that my husband didn't want to be engaged in parenthood and so he was not home very much or found something else to do. When he was home he was causing mayhem and was abusive to our sons and myself. We tried marriage counseling but that didn't seem to help and quite frankly after 20 years of marriage problems I just waned peace and safety for my sons. Plus we had some very difficult financial situations like living in a triving town next to military installations and they are shut down so our buisness and many others were not able to sustain the closure. So we had to move and start all over but the going got more difficult. Adversity can make or break and sometimes problems can't be fixed no matter what you try. To make a long story short, my sons have grown up, started careers, got married, had children of their own and now we all live in a twenty mile radius from each other. I remarried 20 years ago to my high school sweetheart who went off to the Vietnam war when he was in college, because his birthday was picked by the lottery. So I thought I would never see him again but God knows our hearts and minds and what we stand in need of. So you get the picture of a 70 year old woman who has lived a few lifetimes and has plenty of experience with life in general and couldn't have survived without God's grace,love, forgiveness and direction.
Thanks Charlotte for telling me your story. We all have crosses to bear. But as you say without God's direction things are much harder. As you say, I have learned that one person can't keep a relationship going. I'm so happy things worked out for you in the end. It gives me hope for myself in the future.
Thanks for letting me tell my story in your space. I know you have had adversity as well and perhaps if life was easier we wouldn't have been drawn to God and his Son, Jesus Christ and listened to the Still small voice of the Holy Spirit. There is so much to learn in this earth life through mistakes and troubles. I am trying to work on being more joyful and less negative about life in general. It's just difficult these days to stay upbeat. I will pray for you and your family that you will be blessed with what you all stand in need of. I look forward to you and your sister's writings and art.
Perfectly done, thank you. Re 'God wants continual praise and reverence', I think it is more that He wants us to be continually grateful, 'in everything give thanks'. This includes gratitude towards all His children.
That is, in every situation good or bad as we understand it we find the gratitude. To be or not to be, that is the question. Thank you heavenly Father for being.
P.S. Gratitude is an anagram of 'attired gu'. Be clad in gratitude then whether you are tired or not!
Thanks for reading Baldmichael! Gratitude. So true. I'm trying to learn to be thankful for every little thing - even the bad things since I know it all turns out for good in the end. Everything is as it should be - Jesus told me that once and I try not to forget that, even though it's hard most days.
Life is hard. I struggle with my energy due to the sodium nitrite issues I had, plus the other things from the NHS. But if I had not gone through it all I would not understand all the beautiful truth I now do. Everything makes sense at last in a seemingly insane world.
P.S. I am a bit slow. When you said "So true." I realised that 'true' is in the word 'gratitude'.
'i.d. tag true' is an anagram for example. As Jesus is the Word we see His truth in even the supposedly ordinary words.
A couple of days ago I was just thinking about how I don't praise God enough. I am lazy and it is easier for me to do nothing than to take the time to pray and praise God for the good things he has given me in my life. As Charlotte said "love is a deep subject matter" that is rarely spoken about. Sure people speak about being "in love" or "loving someone/something" but love for oneself/neighbors/God is pretty much a dead topic for humankind.
I too have always been a misanthrope, and *that* is probably not a good thing in God's eyes. I have been trying to learn empathy as it relates to other humans, thinking maybe that will help me to "love thy neighbor." Hard, hard, hard in today's narcissistic, evil world. I have lots of excuses for why I cannot love my neighbor, but that is just me taking the easy way out and being lazy.
Interestingly misanthrope anagrams to 'atrophies mn'. So it causes a wasting away.
'ah empty' is an anagram of 'empathy'.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.…
I bet when Jesus talked about love, he got a lot of eye rolls and sighs from His Apostles and other people. But if I love people, feel empathy, forgive, I'll be a doormat! Don't make me do it! Love is such hard subject to talk about.
The human ego and love do not work hand in hand. They are seemingly polar opposites. Removal of some of the human ego, perhaps a result of going through a "dark night of the soul," can lead one to the love Jesus spoke of. That's my theory anyway.
Demons and satan love the human ego, they are constantly gnawing at the human ego with lies, hate and evil thoughts. Strong human egos cause most of the destruction and mental illness on earth. What I do not understand is how many (if not most) supposed Christians/Catholics who say they believe in Jesus, will come out and say demons and even satan do not exist.
You can't believe in Jesus but not believe in demons/satan. Jesus exorcised demons and was tempted by satan. Are these Christians who do not believe in demons/satan calling Jesus a liar and charlatan? As long as humans ignore the damage demons do on earth, chaos and evil will continue until Jesus comes back for the final time. Which I guess is what God's plan is anyway.
Love is deep subject matter and I think you have described it very well. I have been struggling with love all my life too. I felt so unloved as a child that I kept an old suitcase under my bed in case I needed to escape to the woods that was very close to our farm. Then when I grew up I got married to a man that never loved or wanted me and our three sons. I was only able to hang on because of the love of God and that belief that I was indeed his child. The older I get the more I understand that our experience on this earth is to learn to love God, ourselves and others. It's a daunting process and I have heard that it will be worth the struggle.
Hi Charlotte. You always have such insightful comments. Love is a deep subject matter and I am still utterly clueless about it. Funny that the world pretends that love is all that matters but nobody really talks about it. I'm sorry to hear about your feeling unloved. For me I have always felt like I couldn't love anybody, especially myself. That changed after I stopped hating God. If you don't mind me asking - are you still married to that man? I only asked because I too married someone who I now see never really loved anybody, including himself. He still is that way. As long as both of us were incapable of loving ourselves, others and God, we stayed married. Once I came back to God, the marriage fell apart. I salute you if you stay married. I should have tried harder to make it work.
Napoleon, thanks for your kind words. One of the problems in my marriage was that my husband didn't want to be engaged in parenthood and so he was not home very much or found something else to do. When he was home he was causing mayhem and was abusive to our sons and myself. We tried marriage counseling but that didn't seem to help and quite frankly after 20 years of marriage problems I just waned peace and safety for my sons. Plus we had some very difficult financial situations like living in a triving town next to military installations and they are shut down so our buisness and many others were not able to sustain the closure. So we had to move and start all over but the going got more difficult. Adversity can make or break and sometimes problems can't be fixed no matter what you try. To make a long story short, my sons have grown up, started careers, got married, had children of their own and now we all live in a twenty mile radius from each other. I remarried 20 years ago to my high school sweetheart who went off to the Vietnam war when he was in college, because his birthday was picked by the lottery. So I thought I would never see him again but God knows our hearts and minds and what we stand in need of. So you get the picture of a 70 year old woman who has lived a few lifetimes and has plenty of experience with life in general and couldn't have survived without God's grace,love, forgiveness and direction.
Thanks Charlotte for telling me your story. We all have crosses to bear. But as you say without God's direction things are much harder. As you say, I have learned that one person can't keep a relationship going. I'm so happy things worked out for you in the end. It gives me hope for myself in the future.
Thanks for letting me tell my story in your space. I know you have had adversity as well and perhaps if life was easier we wouldn't have been drawn to God and his Son, Jesus Christ and listened to the Still small voice of the Holy Spirit. There is so much to learn in this earth life through mistakes and troubles. I am trying to work on being more joyful and less negative about life in general. It's just difficult these days to stay upbeat. I will pray for you and your family that you will be blessed with what you all stand in need of. I look forward to you and your sister's writings and art.