God's Perfect Will

  Hello all,
  Today I am going to talk about what I would consider to be a pretty controversial subject: God's will for our lives; or as some like to call it: our destiny. Many believe that our lives are predetermined for us and that whether or not something works out was just "meant to be". I personally do not believe this way and will explain why later on in this post.

  Let me start out with a heavy statement: I think it is safe to say, judging by how this world is, that God is not here directly controlling the world as He once was with the Israelites. Looking through the history of the Bible, God has changed His workings with man. When the ascended Jesus rose up, the new dispensation of the grace of God was ushered in. Before this, an animal sacrifice had to be made to cleanse sin. Then it was baptism, and now, salvation is obtained through trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, believing on His name and making Him the Lord of your life by repenting of your sins. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
  Now of course, God is still with us after Jesus ascended, but we were given the Holy Spirit to dwell within us to guide us instead of the physical body of Christ.

  I said all that to get to my point...
  Many will argue that God must have a perfect will for us and that all of our decisions are made because they were what God had planned for us. Do you really think that God would plan for someone to become a drug addict, for them to abuse their family, to cheat on their spouse, or to be a homosexual? I highly doubt it. If God had our lives planned out for us, each and every single soul in this world would not perish. All would be saved.
And let's not forget to mention the fact that we all have a free will -- a free will to make our own decisions. God left us the Bible to show us how He wants us to live our lives. The Bible is His perfect will for us. Within its pages is God's plan for His children.
  If you want to know how to live a life that's pleasing to God, you have to pick up His Word and read it.  God's will is His word.

  Thank you for stopping in and may God bless you all,

A Gift from God

  I know my blog doesn't really reflect the personal bits of my everyday life; still, I couldn't help but share this joyous news:

 

  On April 6th at 6:17 a.m. my beautiful, little girl, Emilia Rose, was born. She weighed a healthy 7 pounds, 8 ounces and measured in at 19 inches long.

  Becoming a father has made me feel like a whole new man. God has blessed my wife and I with an overwhelming gift, and we couldn't be more grateful.

Thankfulness

  Today I'd like to touch on the topic of thankfulness.
  In the hustle and bustle of today's world we seem to forget to thank God for the things He has blessed us with. It seems like so many people today find it hard to be thankful because they are always focusing on what they don't have or how hard they are struggling. Ask someone how they are and you'll get the never-ending story of how they could be better; but ask them what they are thankful for and you can hear the sound of crickets resonating in the background. Now of course, I am exaggerating.

  I am far from perfect, and sometimes I tend to forget to thank God for the many things that I have been blessed with in this life. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I take things for granted. However, when it really comes down to it, I have much to be thankful for. I have been blessed in so many ways, and that goes for all of us. As long as we are still breathing, we have much to be thankful for.

  "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." - Ephesians 5:20
  "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."  - 1 Thessalonians 5:18

  As Christians we need to take the above verses to heart; giving thanks for all that we have and stop fretting over the things that we don't. We need to learn to stop counting our bruises and start counting our blessings. To be as the Apostle Paul was - content in any state. 
 
  Have a great day and may God bless you,

The Instruction Manual

  Welcome all, I'd like to start today off with a few questions for you all.

1. Would you like your quality of life to improve? Even your physical health?
2. Would you like to see your marriage improve?

  If you answered yes to either of the above questions, I encourage you to continue reading. If you said no, I ask that you continue anyway and pray that I can change your mind.
 The simple answer to all of them is simply the Bible. I cannot make it any clearer. If you want to know how to live a life that's God-honoring you have to read your Bible. Especially if we are claiming to be followers of Christ. We should be delving into God's Word on a daily basis.
 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." - 2 Timothy 2:15

   Let me begin by saying that diet and Christianity go hand in hand. How is this so? Well first off, both your physical and spiritual well-being are a huge part of your over-all health. It also comes down to discipline; generally if you are disciplined in faith it will be easier to be so in the health aspects of your life as well. What does the Bible actually say about diet? Well, let's look at the Jewish diet in the Old Testament. My favorite example is that they were not allowed to eat pork, for it was unclean or 'not kosher'.
 "And the swine[Pork], though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you." - Leviticus 11:7,8
  The World Health Organization has actually come out and said now that eating pork causes cancer. How is this possible? Well, pigs do not sweat; hence, why they wallow in the mud. Well, due to this fact they do not release the toxins from their body as we do (yes people, it's healthy to sweat). Thus when we eat pork the toxins are transferred to our body. There is more to it than that but it's too lengthy of a topic to get into right now. As a Christian man, I do make an effort to practice what I preach. My diet is disciplined and I have chosen to not eat pork to benefit myself and my family. And believe me, I feel better than I ever have.

  I'll touch briefly on marriage, as I have already done posts on this topic which I highly encourage you to view.
  Marriage was designed by God for one man and one woman. A marriage that is founded on Christ shall not fail.  Now this doesn't mean that there will not be trials in your marriage. However, it does mean that two evenly yoked people founded on Christ will easily be able to over come such hardships. No marriage is perfect, seeing as there is always room for improvement. Even in my own marriage. And yes, my wife agrees with me.


  Long story short, we need to read the Bible. We need to be delving into God's "Instruction Manual" on an every day basis. It is by doing this that we can discover all the aspects in our life that need change and growth.


  Thank you for stopping by and may God bless you all,