November 2010 Truth Nuggets.

• The same key that unlocks the door to your house and gives you the freedom to enter is the same key that locks the door to your house and keeps entering out of bounds. The truth is that the Bible points toward the WORD of TRUTH, the key to freedom. The Bible, through misunderstanding or misinterpretation of its truth leads to deception and bondage. It is TRUTH that will set you FREE! It is the misapplication and misinterpretation of TRUTH that will keep you in BONDAGE!
  

• Religion, offers God as the “CAPTAIN”, Jesus as the “ANCHOR” and the Holy Spirit as the “EMPOWER-ER”, the problem is, denominational belief is the water the Captain has to sail in to the port of DOCTRINAL BONDAGE. On the other hand, a relational relationship with God means that “God” is our FATHER, “Jesus” is our BROTHER and the “Holy Spirit” is our TEACHER. The amazing thing is, God’s LOVE and GRACE is the water we sail in. Set your course to sail in the waters of God’s LOVE and GRACE to the port of FREEDOM IN CHRIST!

• A disagreement or an argument is making some "thing" more important than your relationship with some "person"! You cannot have a loving relationship unless the one you love is free to be themselves. If you truly love, that freedom will not be taken advantage of because your only desire is to give of who you are to the other member or members of the relationship.

• TRUE LOVE is the fuel that provides strength and power to work with God in accomplishing His purpose. It is TRUE LOVE that unites us with God and with people. If what we have is TRUE LOVE it is a UNITIVE FORCE not a DIVISIVE FORCE!

• RELATIONSHIP is about RELATING not DEBATING or SEGREGATING due to DIFFERING UNDERSTANDING because of TRANSLATING methodology! RELATING is about LOVING not CONDEMNING because of BELIEVING. It is possible to be LOVING, ACCOMMODATING and UNDERSTANDING even though DIFFERING in our BELIEVING! Be careful not to cement what you are BELIEVING in stone because what you are BELIEVING may be DECEIVING!
  

• I wonder...how would we perceive other people if we concentrated on what is missing in our self rather than concentrating on what is missing in other people? When you look for the good in others you will discover the best in yourself!
  
  
• The most valuable thing in this world you can hold is not diamonds or gold...the most valuable thing you can hold is family members, a friend, a stranger and yes, even an enemy, just hold each other!

• I ponder....if eulogies were given to people before they die would it not be more beneficial to them? Would it not cheer and uplift them to hear how much people respect and love them, rather than it falling on the deaf ears of the dead? "Give me the flowers while I live, trying to cheer me on, useless the flowers that are given after the soul has gone."

• If as believers we have not garnered the attention of the polluted world system that is spawned by selfishness, chances are we are inconsequential to the system or we are working in agreement with it. When religion gets into bed with the world system, religion becomes the nation’s whore! It seems that politics and religion are scratching each others back and both will fall into the ditch because it is the blind leading the blind.
  

• Do not compare yourself with those who commend themselves by perceiving themselves better than others among themselves, because those measuring themselves by people among themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are inflating themselves, making themselves unwise. It is far more meaningful to leave the commending of yourself to others rather than commending yourself!

• The gospel is the ocean of God’s GRACE in which the call goes out for everyone to swim in. All who swim therein cannot help but be infected with His LOVE. Therefore if you are in GRACE you are in LOVE, if you are in LOVE you will be LOVING and people will be influenced towards God by your LOVING LOVE!

• God made you unique, you are one of a kind, do not put yourself into bondage by falling into the COMPARISON TRAP! Stop comparing yourself to others. It is time to BREAK the YOKE of COMPARISON that BINDS you and enter the FREEDOM available through CHRIST! There is no virtue in striving to become like other people, the virtue is in becoming like Christ in this life!
  

• In a LIBERATED believer the power and the reality of the grace-full grace life of God is demonstrated in grace-full relationships demonstrated by LOVE for people.
  

• Sad but true, when it comes to the LOVE test of PERSEVERANCE many “christians” fail the test! When disagreements or differences arise “christians” distance themselves and disassociate from the hurting person. In marriage or religion, when a relationship cannot take the heat of adversity TRUE LOVE was never a part of the relationship! TRUE LOVE has STICKABILITY and will not come unglued in the storm of adversity!

• LOVE is not LOVE unless it is authenticated to be TRUE! Most attributes we associate with LOVE can be forged to look like the real thing. Kindness, compassion, empathy, patience, even trust can be faked. TRUE LOVE cannot be authentically authenticated unless it is tested through fire. If LOVE can, persevere through the fire without melting and still survive, thrive and grow then it is TRUE!
  

• The misunderstanding thus, the misrepresentation of TRUE LOVE in the secular world and most of the religious world in establishing our belief system has had devastating results with far reaching consequences, to where society and religion are ignorant as to the meaning of and living out TRUE LOVE as is indicated by their preaching, teaching, acting and doing!

• HOPE is not HOPE unless it is anchored in TRUTH! If HOPE is placed in anything other than TRUTH it leads us down a path of disappointment to emptiness and anguish. When however, HOPE is anchored in TRUTH it will pull us through any adverse circumstance that we are called to go through. There is nothing we cannot ENDURE if our HOPE is SECURE and anchored in TRUTH! My HOPE is built on nothing less than TRUTH, (JESUS)!
  

• When I take the focus off myself and my inabilities or abilities and abide in Jesus I move beyond my limitations into His limitlessness, allowing His ability to accomplish what He chooses through me; not what I demand Him to do through me! If my will is in tune with His will then I will want only what He wants! “Not my will Father but thine be done.”

• We are one body fitted and jointed together to complete the body of Christ (the Church), granted we are all different but all needed. You may not think like I do but think kindly, you may not act like I do but act friendly, you may not care like I do but care deeply, you may not share like I do but share willingly, you may not love like I do but love unconditionally and you may not live like I do but live relationally.
  

• Meekness and gentleness are the strongest form of strength, therefore being strong means being meek and gentle!

• If you want peace of mind ensure that your mind is not focused on demeaning others, but simply centered on kindness towards on others.

• BIRTHDAYS are something we looked forward to when we were young, but the older we get the more we tend to look at birthdays as DEADLINES because each one brings us closer to our departure from this earth. We should be looking at BIRTHDAYS as LIFELINES because it is not a day that simply reminds us we are growing older, it is a day for reflection to determine if we are maintaining and growing deeper in our relationship with God. If we are, the closer we get to the end of the DEADLINE the closer we get to the beginning of the LIFELINE into a life supernal and eternal!
  

• When we experience good times our friends act like they know us...When we experience difficult times it is then we know our true FRIENDS! True friends provide a healthy and fulfilling relationship in the bad times as well as the good times...and a HEALTHY and FULFILLING relationship my FRIEND, is a FORETASTE of HEAVEN!

• People, do want a BLESSED day? If you make this day a kind-to-someone-day, you will indeed have a blessed day! And you know what....even in your off-days if you made it a kind-to-someone-day, even your off-days will be BLESSED days!

• What you choose to ignore in life may attribute to you being a more friendly, lovable and happy person than what you choose not to ignore. Don’t dwell on your misfortunes, dwell on your fortunes!

• The words you articulate and the attitude you wear show the color of your heart and how much you care! What color are you showing your heart to be, by the the things you do that others see?

• You and others may be proud of you ability to sing, preach or teach but know this; it is not great talents that God desires and blesses, so much as it is a great likeness to Jesus!

• True LOVE is not born from the things you see, feel or touch. True LOVE is born on the inside of you. You must release LOVE from within so it will be felt by others without, then it will return within and you will never be with out LOVE to share.

• I have come to the conclusion that some people who deem themselves to be religiously healthy are plagued with the DISEASE of RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE!

• Are you so opinionated that you deem your opinion to be the right opinion all the time? Well...I guess you are entitled to your own opinion even if it may be the wrong opinion! Hold to your opinion lightly because your opinion may not be the correct opinion! Once you preach and teach your opinion for so long it becomes doctrine to you and even though it may be false you deem it to be right!

• The greatest demonstration of insecurity is; discrimination, intolerance, malice, and un-forgiveness shown to people because they may not believe or agree with us on certain issues!

• One of the greatest threats to human existence is human indifference! One of the greatest threats to humans living in harmony with all of God's creation is human indifference! The greatest threat to Christ's prayer of unity being accomplished is religious intolerance spawned by human indifference! We need to ponder the question thoughtfully, "WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE?"

• What religious people need to stand against is not the criticism of people on the outside looking in nor the criticism of people on the inside looking out. Rather they need to focus on the mind-boggling degree of religion’s failure to follow the teachings of Jesus and live in a love relationship with Him and with people thus, unable to manifest the love of God to a needy people who are desperately seeking His love!

• Most religions while not openly violent in their ACTIONS any more, are openly violent in their ATTITUDE of INTOLERANCE and UN-ACCEPTANCE of those outside of their particular brand of religion! Sadder still, some are INTOLERANT in ACCEPTING people in their own camp if they DISAGREE with their philosophy. Please understand, ALL RELIGION is man-made, man-ordained and man-controlled therefore, none are perfect or have the monopoly on truth, even though some may say they do!
  

• Religious people confuse ACCEPTANCE with AGREEMENT, because of that premise people believe when disagreement occurs, rejection and condemnation is valid. This action is a trait practiced in all religions. ACCEPTANCE and AGREEMENT are not one and the same! You may LOVE and still NOT AGREE with a person, but you cannot LOVE and REJECT a person! TRUE LOVE will not always AGREE with a person, but TRUE LOVE will always ACCEPT a person

• Friend take heart, you do not have to know Hebrew, Greek or attend years of seminary training to know spiritual truth, it is not some deep well of knowledge that is available only to denominational preachers taught by denominational professors in denominational colleges. Truth is not some denomination’s interpretation of scripture. Jesus is TRUTH therefore TRUTH is in your heart! “When He, the spirit of TRUTH is come, He will teach you all things.”

• A sure path to restoration of a fractured relationship is love, understanding and forgiveness! A sure path to keeping a relationship from being fractured is love, understanding and forgiveness! Begin and live in a relationship with LOVE, UNDERSTANDING, and FORGIVENESS and to that relationship there will be no end!

• Remember folks, what people may present to you as fact may turn out not to be a fact! All truth is fact but what you deem to be fact may not be truth! The fact is, even if what was told you is a true fact, out of love, respect and kindness to whom the fact is about, it may be best to keep the fact on the back of your tongue!
  

• Instead of harping on your friend or spouse’s weakness, show them their strengths. Instead of harping on your friend or spouse’s impossibilities emphasize their possibilities! Instead of harping on your friend or spouse’s fears fortify their faith! That would be a demonstration of TRUE LOVE in action!
  
  

• Circumstances in life may become a tangled web in an instant that could take a lifetime to untangle because of the reaction to them. React in a manner that will cause you positive life learning experiences even from negative circumstances.

• The most precious, valuable, and warming wrap that will ever be wrapped around you are the arms of your LOVED ONES! The most important thing you will ever see is their smile and look of love you see in their face’s expression. The most comforting words that you will ever hear are the words “I love you” formed in your loved one’s heart, articulated through their mouth

• What comes out of our mouth in the form of words reveals what is in our heart, provided what we say is demonstrated by our actions! If you say you love, the proof of the pudding is doing loving deeds LOVINGLY!
  

• There is no depression so deep that God’s understanding cannot reach you! There is no sorrow so wide that God cannot wrap His arms of comfort around you! There is no mountain so high that God’s love cannot scale to rescue you! The road that you need to stay on to keep your hope secure is the highway of TRUST and CONFIDENCE because God is WELL ABLE!

• God is about giving and FORGIVING. Religion is about GETTING and FORGETTING.

• The scriptures say that “our battle is not against flesh and blood”. Why do people think that God battles with people by punishing or afflicting them to whip them in line? Yes God says “Vengeance is mine” but God’s vengeance is never against people, its against the devil and evil! Be assured God is NOT out to get you! He LOVES you!