The nature of the beast

Hi Folks,

We are simply beasts, after all. Without the presense of God in our lives, we are simply a compendium of assorted chemicals, salts, minerals, and cellular constructs. Without the presense of God in our lives, our lives are simply made up of competition with one another, the amassing of material possesions, and a slavish need to satisfy our primal drives. Without the presense of God in our lives, we are in the final analysis...simply beasts.

I choose to NOT become what is the worst in our nature, and by following the leadership of our Saviour Jesus Christ to lift up the inner goodness which God has endowed each of us with. We are "greater than", only because God has desired it to be so. We must first acknowlege our sinful nature, and recognize it for the base instinct which it is before we can hope to see the Glory and Greatness of the potential of our lives...the presense of God. We are blessed beyond measure to have the opportunity to not only have Him in our lives, as a daily presense, but blessed even MORE to be able to witness this fact to those around us. Don't allow your friends and neighbors, and family members, to wallow in a life full of disappointment and sin. Witness the greatness, and glory of God to them! Let your friends, and neighbors and family in on the greatest "open secret" in existence. Allow your friends and neighbors and family members to share the keys to heaven with us. Give your friends and neighbors, and family members the GOOD NEWS, that Jesus Christ has taken on the sin of the world, and died to destroy it; that Jesus Christ has arisen, and lives today as a solid and central presense in YOUR life, and that He can do the same in theirs.

Share the opportunity of salvation, with those around you and help them to become a better person, through Jesus Christ. His is the Power and the Glory, forever!

God Bless,

Richard

crossroads

Hi Folks,

 

     We all reach multiple crossroads in our lives.  Economic, physical, Spiritual ones, and emotional crossroads from time to time steal their way into our separate realities.  No matter how we attempt to order our lives, we just can not control the inputs into our existence.  We seek out and find avenues of peace, and harmony and tranquility in our lives, down which we can walk.  These "avenues", or places of rest in our existence, should be cherished for what they are...little blips of calmness in our chaotic worlds, and lives. 

 

     The "trick" is to recognize when you've arrived at one of these high-water marks in our lives, isn't it?  To realize that there is a turning point which is presenting itself to us, and to act in a fashion which benefits our lives, and the lives of our families.  We must CHOOSE to NOT drift, through these currents and eddies over lifes shoals.  It is important to recognize the new pathways, and roads, to our ongoing existence.  We have to recognize them, or we WILL drift through, into the path of least resistance.  The path of least resistance is not often the path that will benefit our lives, or our families lives.  We human beings, created in the likeness of our father God, crave acceptance amongst our peers.  Social interaction is difficult because people are so very different from one another.  It is not a cliche' to say that each person truly IS an individual, this is common knowledge and accepted fact.  As we each chart our pathway through the thousands of opportunities presented to us throughout our lives...try to see the signs.  Watch for the wisdom of our forebears, even our ancient ancestors, and learn to sense their hard learned lessons in yourself.  Read the book, the Bible, to understand how important the learned lessons of our ancestors can be in our lives.  Read the book, the Bible, to grasp the concepts of "good and evil", and how to deal with the crossroads which this societal construct engenders.  (Carolyn always tells me I always use "funny words", I guess she is right....engenders).  Read the book, the Bible, to understand how to recognize the signs of an upcoming crossroads in your life...before the decision of which path to take is upon you, and you find you have drifted right on through it...without giving the decision the proper respect for the impact it may have on you, and your family.  Read the book, the Bible, for the sake of your family and your own life.

 

      Recognizing these crossroads, and choosing the proper path is something that CAN be learned.  We are NOT doomed to repeat the mistakes of our past.  Choose an enlightened viewpoint, one which gives respect and reverance to the wisdom of our ancient forefathers, read the Bible for understanding, and enlightenment.  It is all there. 

 

God bless!

 

Richard Becton

Casa de Servicio

International Missionary Aviation

Church of God project number: 065-0497

 

flight@flash.net

www.casadeservicio.org

 

 

    

sensitivity

Hi Folks,

 

     From the moment we are born, we learn to be sensitive to our bodies.  Each nerve ending is finely tuned to detect the presense of pain, discomfort, or physical pleasure.  When we have something as simple as a small blister, we are constantly aware of it, and in every waking moment we attempt to deal with it...with a bandaid, or a dressing, or a less tight pair of shoes.  What a marvel of engineering our bodies truly are!  We concentrate on our bodies needs, on a daily, and even moment to moment basis.  When we feel hunger, we go in search of food.  When we need sleep, we close our eyes and rest.  All of our aches and pains get immediate attention from us, and if we are not sufficient alone, we will search out others to attend our physical needs.  A visit to a doctor for illness, a hotel room for sleep when we travel, and a bandaid for a blistered foot.  How much of our time each day is spent in furthering the physical necessities of our bodies I wonder?

 

     Just imagine how busy we would be if our bodies had the apparatus to physically recognize and sense our Spiritual needs as well! 

 

     Our bodies seem to lack the necessary sensory elements to detect our Spiritual needs.  When we suffer an emotional loss and need God's Holy presense, our bodies do not cry out for Spiritual solace.  We often cry out for help, without even realizing that our help must come from Him.  We recognize our loss, but don't cry out for the Saviour for solace many times.  Jesus holds the key, as we know.  I wish our physical bodies could recognize when we are in a state of sin, and motivate us more positively to escape sins clutches.  What if an occurance of sin in our lives felt like a blister, something in constant need of attention and monitoring?  Our society would be blessed to have a physical mechanism to identify sin in our bodies, and our lives, for then we would learn from birth to cry out for Him. 

 

     Recognize with me now that it is our maturity and growth as human beings that allow us to detect manifestations of sin in our lives.  It is our desire to become better human beings that motivate each of us to recognize wrongness in our lives.  This detection is not a physical set of nerve endings.  This "detection apparatus", if you will allow me to call it that, is one which must be cultivated in our lives.  We should nurture this ability to be aware of our Spiritual state, from birth.

 

     Please bring your children to church, and attend each service you have the opportunity to attend...do not let this skill, this wonderful detection apparatus, to atrophy due to misuse.  Please join me in being in a constant state of alert to our lives Spiritual necessities, through prayer, and fasting, and counsel with our elders and pastor.  Seek out the fellowship of believers, and reinforce and tune this skill.  In the name of Christ.

 

God bless you!

 

Richard Becton

flight@flash.net

www.casadeservicio.org