Who's right?

I don't understand why it is that everyone believes that their religion is the "True Religion" I was watching a documentary about different religions and Bill Maher was interviewing people of different faiths. He asked them why they believed what they believed and they we're all so committed to there beliefs. I thought to myself  "they all can't be right!" I mean...how does this work? You have the christian who believes that the only way one can get into heaven is to confess Jesus as Lord. Then there are other religions who don't believe that's necessary at all. You have so many religions with different  rules, truth is we are all human beings with a sinful nature, with which we have a really hard time keeping in check. I just find it hard to believe that a loving God who made us human beings with all the imperfections that comes along with this sinful nature of ours would punish us by throwing us in an eternal fire called "Hell." That's like telling a tiger not to act like a tiger, we all know the nature of the beast. How can you punish a tiger for acting on it's natural instinct? Same with us, now as humans we should at least try to exercise some self control, but if the real truth were to be told we're not even able to live without sinful thoughts let alone sinful actions! Tell me.. how this is possible? Religious people are taught to die to themselves, to deny the flesh-in other words fight their human nature. Again telling the tiger not to act like a tiger. I believe that God knows our condition, He knows us-all about us and thank goodness contrary to what many may believe-I believe he sees straight to our hearts and He judges based on our intentions and not so much our actions. I said all this to say we are only human, we'll never be without sin so may I suggest that you simply treat others the way you want to be treated.

What do we really believe?

I called an old friend yesterday (a member of my former church.) We greeted one another, she asked how I was doing I told her I was doing great and immediately was turned off by her response. She went on to say how God looks out for us (Christians) that's why we always do well and everyone else struggles. She said we're His own-He's ours, we're special to Him and on and on and on. Funny thing is...as I was listening to her I was having my own inner dialogue. I remember thinking, wow she really believes this! Then I thought to myself, "I used to believe this!" This was a very weird experience! I asked myself  how did I manage to get sucked into that kind of thinking? There are all of these people in the world around us who don't believe in or serve the God that we do, yet they breath the same air, and have access to all the things that we do. How in the world does one group of people manage to think they're more special to God than everyone else? I'll tell you...by hearing exactly what they want to hear. The bible says "For God so loved the WORLD that he gave his only begotten son."  It is that simple, it  doesn't specify a certain group of people. I now believe that the relationship for those of us who believes in God is a very private one,  it's a very personal one on one relationship between  God Himself and the individual. No matter what religion we 're apart of  He has created everyone and He knows every single thing about us inside and out. He knows what He does and does not  mean to us and He totally understands our condition.  What do I mean by our condition? Our sinful nature, God knows what we battle with and our desire to conquer it. He also know that this flesh of ours is weak, that's why He gives us  His grace and mercy and lots of it!  There's no group of people /religion who are better than or more loved than any other, if that were true then everyone wouldn't experience the same circumstances such as sickness, sorrow, loss or what have you. Bottom line...God loves us all, whoever- whatever-however we may be He knows all about us and still....His love for us is 100% unconditional. That my friend is good-very good to know.

Blessings,
Selah 

Let Go.....and Just Go With The Flow

Hello it's been a while...I've been so busy riding this huge wave that I call "LIFE". This thing can certainly throw some wicked curves! If someone had told me I'd be here this time last year I would have rebuked them with my little religious self(giggles). Wow, we reeeeeeaaaaaalllly don't know what all is in us until the pressure begins to mount, this statement is so very true. We'd like to think we know ourselves well, of course we do to a certain degree but who are we really??? When we want something or someone even that we can not have? When we have to wait much longer than we anticipated? When we've always tried our very best to play fair and treat others the way we wish to be treated and still experience hurt, betrayal and deception. Hhhuuuummm....who are we really? We are who we've always been-that's who. I believe that when we experience these trying times every good quality that we thought was in us is still there, we just get the oppotunity to become aquainted with the less appealing of ourselves. I say the "real you" the very essence of who you are never changes it only grows. Oprah said something profound that I absolutely love. She said when you do something wrong or bad "It's what you did-not who you are." My God! That is so freeing! So many of us get stuck in that very place where we fall short because we fail to realize this wonderful truth "It's what I did...it's not who I am." If everyone were able to do this we'd reach our fullest potential! If you have done something you're not so proud of, if you've been carrying shame whatever it is that's causing you to be stagnate...remember "It's not who you are beloved-it's what you did." If you offer a sincere apology, ask for forgiveness from whomever you feel you may need it and they're not ready to accept it then leave it with them because at this point you've done your part. Turn around, walk away, allow yourself to rise above it and get on with this gift of life that we're blessed with making the most of every moment.

In His Love,
Selah

What's Going ON with the CHURCH???

I'm sorry to say...I have become disenchanted with the church. I really don't want to be a part of any organization that use manipulation or mind control in the name of our Lord. For example, when we believe in and serve God it's supposed to be by faith. It's by faith only that we trust that God does exist, obviously because we've never seen him. Unfortunately faith in God begins with faith in man first and I'm sorry to say because of that many many people have been led astray. I thought it worked like this...when we're spiritually immature we go to church and a message is being preached by a pastor who's supposed to have gone before God in prayer to receive a sermon from (God)to deliver to His people. The purpose of the sermon is to strengthen our faith encourage us to live holy and give us direction from God (not man). In between sermons we are supposed to read the bible for ourselves and look for what we were told during service to actually see for ourselves whether it is written in the word or not. Another reason for reading the bible on our own is to get wisdom so that we can independently apply the word of God to our daily lives. God knows everything about us, our beginning all the way to the end and everything in between. It's my understanding that the spirit of the Lord conveys these messages of hope to the preachers for us as we walk with Christ so that we are able to stay in the will of God trying our best to be obedient(not perfect!)as we go through this life long process. Unfortunately this is not how it's being done, some pastors are watering down the word of God and adding their personal opinions. They're putting words in God's mouth, they're sending the members on guilt trips and using scare tactics to get money from them and some. I say they should have all the faith that they tell us to have, believe God as they instruct us to and stop playing mind games on the people of God to raise offerings. They say things like if you don't tithe you're house isn't covered, I even heard a preacher say he survived a car accident because God remembered his tithe. So how do you explain non-tithers surviving car accidents!?! Come on now! People wake up! 2ND Cor.8:11-14 says give according to whats in your heart, it also says not to give where it'll make things harder for yourselves and easier for others. I don't believe for a second that God wants this! Besides the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, God is well able to work with any amount given with pure motives. Many preachers have taken advantage of their member's love and trust for them. Although people do start to worship pastors instead of God, it's their responsibility to redirect the people, to remind the people that God is the only one to be worshiped NOT MAN! Though my faith in God hasn't diminished my faith in man certainly has. This is not a good place to be, I get so confused at times sorting through what God says verses what man says. Which teachings to hold to and which to let go of. Of course I know to hold on to the word based teachings, but it can get very blurry! Still I try to stick to the scriptures and pray for understanding which is extremely hard to do when I have sooooo many wrong teachings so deeply embedded within my soul. However God IS GREATER! There's not one problem that He does not have a solution for. So I will keep trusting my Heavenly Father, that I know is safe.

God Bless You

Are You Only Sorry You Got Caught?

"I'm sorry" is extremely hard for some of us to say but it can be even harder for some of us to display. And how does one show that they are sorry anyway? Who decides whether there is a right or wrong way to do this? I don't think there's a right or wrong way personally but if someone has to tell you than perhaps you're not truly sorry, maybe you're only sorry for getting caught. I think that a person who is truly remorseful is willing to do whatever it takes(within reason)to show the person that they've hurt or offended just how sorry they are. I say within reason because I've heard people makes some ridiculous request, someone told me their offender should be willing to take a lie detector test and jump through hoops to prove their sincerity, I do not condone this madness. Someone like this will never be satisfied-ever! They will always have that question mark in the back of their minds. Let's talk about the person who is sorry for what they've done, this person is first and foremost willing to right any wrongs if it's possible for them to do. They're willing to come clean about the lies that they've told, they don't plan on lying anymore because they realize the damage that they've caused and they want to be trusted again. A person who is still lying and refuses to admit what they've done plans on lying again and again. Then you have someone who's sorry but to prideful to say it, so they lose the people dearest to them because of their pride. Bottom line we're all wired differently so you have to accept which ever apology that works for you, however if there's still little thoughts gnawing at you once you've accepted an apology don't discard it! It's an alarm-your own personal built in alarm system that's telling you some thing's not quite right, don't ignore it or you'll be sorry.

What's Going On?!!!

Lately I find myself at a lost for words, seems to me that just about everything that I pray for the opposite happens! Wow... this can be extremely disheartening, the worse part is no one really has the answer for why these things happen. I know eventually things are made clear but in the meanwhile it can be a very unpleasant process. I've learned that during this type of experience we have to be most careful when we talk to others about what we're going through, I used to think that talking to unbelievers was the last thing you'd want to do, but I've had a change of heart. If we only talked to those who believe what we believe we wouldn't be able to see just where we are in our walk with Christ.

Recently something I'd been praying wouldn't happen happened! This prayer was according to the word of God, it wasn't a selfish prayer as I said it was according to God's will. However the will of someone else was involved, by the way this is the second time this exact thing has happened. So by this time I'm thinking why bother to pray at all? I spoke with somebody I trust about this but I wasn't satisfied, in fact I'm still struggling with this! Bottom line, while I'm waiting for an answer from the Lord I still have to find the strength to go on. I still have to pray and trust God in spite of my disappointments and this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do because my faith as well as my confidence in prayer has been shaken. That thing that I prayed for can not be reversed, it's already happened; it would be like trying to unring a bell! So it's not like I'm being impatient or I gave up, the thing that I was believing God for just didn't happen. I know there are people out there who feels or have felt this way, so I would love for you to share your experience with us if you've had a positive outcome for something like this.
I look forward to hearing from you!

God Bless You,
Selah

Finding My Way

There are so many of us who consider ourselves to be "full grown adults" who're truly lost! We don't have a clue about what we're supposed to do with our lives, we're ashamed to admit it but we know this to be true. And guess what? It's totally okay...as long as we ARE trying to find our place/purpose in this world. Have you ever heard the term late bloomer? Now I'm not talking about people who aren't trying to do absolutely anything, by anything I mean you're not even talking about it and you really don't like thinking much about it either. I understand that it can be very overwhelming, feeling stuck, unable to go forward even in the confounds of your mind. How do we get out of this place? We must first start with prayer; we can talk to our heavenly Father, just as we would our most trusted confidant... yes it's going to take more than prayer but this is the best start. No one understands us the way He does, it is He who has created us, He's placed every gift and talent as well as our passion for them within us. Who better to talk to about you than the one who created you? He knows exactly all the what's, when's, where's, who's', why's and how's there are to know when it comes to His children. God is never surprised about anything, He's not sitting around playing it by ear! He's decided long ago who we would be (Ecclesiastes 6:10.) Although some of us find our purpose in life earlier or later than others this doesn't mean we're off schedule, don't forget who made the schedule! When we allow the doubt in our minds and the opinions of others to speak louder to us than our maker we're headed for a long drawn out journey full of disappointments and frustration. Think about it this way...God has made a specific plan for each of our lives, He's placed something inside everyone to offer this world and at the set time He will release us to do what He has planned for us. If you're feeling useless ask yourself why? Are you feeling this way because of the schedule society has set? Do you think you know your purpose and you're just not sure about how to walk in it? Or are you just ready to go and just start doing something? Again ask yourself that question, I don't think God will give us this feeling of urgency without showing us where to go and how to get there. He wants the absolute best for us so He's not going to have us go into anything without some sort of direction. He is a God of decency and order, He will always show us what path to take and when to take it. When we're seeking Him and we don't have clarity we should be still, and wait for direction. Every time there has been a transition in my life I find there has always been this subtle preparation that I wasn't aware of at the time. I would began to have this strong feeling of dissatisfaction, things that didn't usually bother me started to, I would feel unfulfilled and to be honest kind of miserable. Now that I look back feeling this way is what would cause me to pray fervently and frequently. It was God using these things to make me uncomfortable to get my attention so that I would turn to Him and pray more. Prayer involves more than talking to God it requires some listening as well. You ever notice how different your prayers are when your in a comfortable state of being opposed to uncomfortable? He wants to lead us to our destiny that He's planned for us but sometimes we lose sight of that and somehow began to think that we're on our own. Thank God that's not the case! He's promised to never leave or forsake us, so if you've been asking; "GOD WHERE ARE YOU?" Remember we may not always feel like we know where He is but He always knows just where we are and where He's taking us next.

God Bless You