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Archives for August 2020

Respecting Freewill

August 28, 2020 by Justin Leave a Comment

Nevertheless he that standeth stedfast in his heart, having no necessity, but hath power over his own will, and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin, doeth well.

1 Corinthians 7:37

God created each person on earth in His image, in His likeness. Part of that image is having a freewill. God has a freewill to where He could choose to do evil, but He never will do that. God loves righteousness and holiness and love. His perfect, infinite understanding of all things tells Him to exercise His will to the good of mankind, angels and even Himself. All things work together for good to those that love God, because God is working all things together for good. He’s a good God and created us in His image that we might know and understand Him. He gave us freewill so that we would be free to do good, to do holiness and righteousness, to manifest love.

The Scripture says that this man has power over his will. If he does, then all people do as well. Part of being a human being is that we have the power to originate choices and carry them out in our lives. God works in our lives by influence of love, not by forcing or causing people to do things. That’s why I respect God so much, is that He, in His perfect wisdom, has freely given us freewill. He wants us to know the joy of love, the joy of giving, the joy of laying down our lives for God and mankind. God has given us a free gift when He made us in His image. God will never violate our freewill. He will work to influence us to do good, but the choice is up to us. This is a choice that carries a heavy weight, because a wrong use of our wills will result in us being cast away forever in the lake of fire. God is working every day to prevent that from happening. He wants us to live forever with Him, in a love relationship of keeping His commandments of love.

I love being free to choose my destiny. God truly is good to put such power in our hands. Our eternity depends on what we choose in this life. God has given commandments to love Him and mankind. This is a reasonable, logical service He requires of us. To choose our own joy over the joy of God and others is selfishness, which is sin. Sin is an abuse of freewill. Sadly, most of the world has chosen to go the way of selfish sin. Yet, God is merciful to our iniquities and doesn’t immediately throw us away. He longsuffers with us, choosing to influence us to do the right thing.

God doesn’t beat people over the head with His commandments and we shouldn’t either. When I evangelize I share the good news of Christ with the world. If someone is adamant that they don’t want to hear it, then I move on to someone else. I’m working with God to influence through love and the Word of God. It’s not my place to try to live someone else’s life for them. We each have power over our own will. I hope my influence in Christ will inspire many others to go the way of love. That’s my prayer. After all, love should appeal to something deep down inside of all of us. It’s how we were created to live. Love is natural, sin is a violation of our nature. That’s why we feel guilty when we sin. Let’s all go forth, keeping God’s commandments which shows our love for Him! Let’s respect others freewill choices but yet strive to influence them with love and good works. One day soon Christ will judge the whole world in righteousness, asking if they used their God-given freewill for love. Most will be rejected, but to those few that love God, they will be rewarded with eternal life. Choose you this day who you will serve.

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Contentment

August 22, 2020 by Justin 2 Comments

But godliness with contentment is great gain.

1 Timothy 6:6

I am content with life in Jesus Christ. It is enough to seek the Lord daily by prayer and His Word, the Bible, and to listen for His still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. This is a life of faith, without which it is impossible to please God. I see Him at work in my life, perfecting me and calling me deeper into holiness in Jesus. He’s started a good work in me and He’s faithful to complete it. It is enough to know that I belong to God and He belongs to me. I have a personal relationship with God. I can call on Him for anything and He will hear my cry and answer me in due season. It is a good life I have. Simple, peaceful and blessed. Everyone should know the goodness of God.

So lately I’ve been trying to lose weight. I’ve been making fresh juice and smoothies. I supplement that with some protein, tuna fish! I’ve loved tuna fish for as long as I can remember. I’ve always eaten 2 cans at a time, but recently I questioned that. Do I really need 2 cans of tuna? So since then I’ve been eating 1 can of tuna at a time and it has been satisfying me. I’ve discovered that I can be content with less, much less than society says one needs to be happy. My peace comes from knowing God through His Son, Jesus Christ. I don’t need things to be happy. I don’t need TV. I don’t need lust for food or other things. Just give me Jesus.

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What a Minimalist Owns (71 Things)

August 21, 2020 by Justin Leave a Comment

And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Luke 12:15

The past few years I’ve been living as a minimalist. Not because it’s a trendy thing to do, but because it deeply resonates with what I believe in Christ and the man I want to be. Since I’ve gone through the decluttering process and given away or sold or thrown away things I don’t need, it’s almost as if I’m floating on air in this area of my life. I love the freedom that being a minimalist brings. I’m not a slave to consumerism. I rarely buy things other than food and necessities. My life is not found in stuff or things, but in the Word of God, my rock and my fortress.

Someday soon I will die or Christ will return. I don’t want to be foolish in how I live. I want to die to myself and follow Christ. Christ was a minimalist when He was on earth. He was too busy living for God to be concerned with accumulating physical possessions on earth. That’s how I wish to live my life, being heavenly minded and in love with God and people. May God grant me my heart’s desire as I seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.

So, I made a list of what I physically own. This list is a bit arbitrary in how I count my things, but it will give you a ballpark idea of what I own. Some people own less than this, some own more. I’m a single man so I don’t have the needs a family might. I post this list, not to brag about how minimal I am, but to hopefully inspire people to do away with stuff in their lives. I believe there is much gain in living this way. It’s a mindset to clear oneself of all distractions so that he may focus on what really matters in life, Jesus and His Word.

KJV Bible
USB Webcam
Sansa MP3 player with USB cable
Headphones
Dell Latitude E4200 laptop with Windows 7 and power cord
Panasonic home phone
Vonage box
Digital Clock
Power strip
Wireless router/modem (rented)
Breville Juicer
Homgeek Blender
Chair (Recliner that no longer reclines)
Lawn chair
Queen sized bed
Brother printer
2004 Pontiac Aztek (car)
Fork
Spoon
Filet Knife
Bowl
Cup
Can Opener
Hair Trimmer
Small Hair Trimmer
Deodorant
Comb
Scissors
African Cell Phone with charger
Fingernail clippers
Shampoo
Body Wash
Plunger
2 baseball caps
10 T-Shirts
5 pairs underwear
1 pair brown socks
Red sweatshirt
Green sweatshirt
purple sweater
icebreaker moreno wool black long sleeved shirt with stripes
black dress pants
pajama pants
2 collared dress shirts
Black backpack
2 suitcases
small container with old documents
Adidas fitfoam sandals
Italian dress shoes (black)
Pen
Laundry Basket
Large grocery bag reuseable
Tire pump for car
Book – The Fasting Prayer by Franklin Hall
DVD Collection – 5 Kendrick Brothers Christian movies

So that’s it. I may have missed a few things, but I’m not seeking to be exhaustive. Try living light in natural things and you may find yourself becoming more spiritual. As you focus on God and His Word may you devote yourself wholly to Him. Glory to God!

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