Time May Be Short Are You Ready?

Between the news and some other reading I have been doing it isn't looking good out there is it?  There are alot of prophecies calling for some pretty dire times ahead particularly if you are a christian.  There are those who say we are in the end times...I believe we are, however how long that time will last only the One knows.

The end times could last 50 years, a hundred years, a thousand years....no one knows.  We must be ready... Our end time could be tonight, tomorrow, next week... we don't know.  We must be ready.

I personally believe now from what I am reading on ancient and not so ancient prophecies that we are getting ready to enter into a time that the world has not experienced before. A time that will cause past events to pale in nature. Some of these say 3/4 of humanity will be destroyed.  Some say that evil will appear to win and at the very last good will actually win but with huge causalities. They say nature will be unleashed against a sinful humanity and that evil men will rule with violence. Then when all seems lost a great Monarch will rise from France as will a saintly Pope to lead the world to peace. That a long period of peace will come upon the earth after that which will then be followed by the Man of Evil and then the final end.

When I first read some of this I got scared and then it hit me that it is actually a message of hope! The world has gone beserk! We have as a whole turned to evil ways and God has had enough. He must per His justice purge the earth. But then good will return to the earth! And those who perish because of believing in Him will be in Heaven for forever and ever....What wonder is that? It is an incredible thing. So for me I think the best thing to do is to accept that we were born in the time in history that God ordained. We must live our own personal life as best we can according to His Will. We must live in this world but not of this world. We must live as if we were already home! When we focus on Home/Heaven things of this earth become as ash in our mouth, tasteless. We long for Heaven, we long for home...Patiently we must wait till our time comes. Perhaps we will be called to die for believing in Him, or perhaps we will die from natural causes or a car accident, who knows...no matter, dying is the only way to get to heaven. We must all pass through that door in order to enter the other. The important thing is to stay focused on Him! Live each day with Him at the forefront, making all decisions based on how you know He would want you to choose. Then when your time comes it will be easier, and when you meet Him you will not be a stranger... He will welcome you with open arms. You will finally be home...

So my final word is that no matter what the future holds for all of us be strong, focus on Heaven and its wonders then no matter how difficult times may become you will remain faithful and at peace with a hope that this world cannot give.  Know that anyone who reads this is being lifted up in prayer...May we all meet one day in that blessed place and finally be able to rest our weary souls/bodies for forever.

Peace,
GG

Children In Exile...

We are children of a KING....do you ever think of that? We are royal children, we are valued, we are loved and treasured.  And yet we are exiled here on earth. Our first parents goofed really bad and now we all suffer for it...There is hope though, we can find our way home. The road map is there for each of us. For some it may involve slightly different paths than others but they all lead home if we will just follow the map we each have been given. I was just thinking how this life can get so wearisome and difficult kind of like when the prodigal son hit bottom...He started thinking about home and his fathers house. We must also do that, think of home...Think of the wonderful things that exist there. Focus on finding our way back there to HIM, to those loving, waiting arms... Our Father the King is waiting for us with open, outstretched arms...Can you imagine the joy on His face when we finally get there? We think we are going to be so happy to finally be done with all the pain, the suffering, the trials, all of our needs met, so wonderful to finally be there...But I bet His joy will be even greater than our own! He loves us so much more than we can humanly imagine and He is so carefully waiting, almost holding His breath just to see if we actually make it home...Imagine the extreme disappointment He also feels when His children turn away and are forever lost...So fellow siblings, lets all focus on the joys of making it HOME to our Dad...The one who loves us sooooo much that He even gave His only Son for us to live... As the father of the prodigal son did I know that He will have a wonderful party to celebrate our arrival...One that will last an eternity!

GG

What does God look like?

I don't know...I often wonder what we will "see" when we are in heaven.  I know some things we will see like angels, and familiar faces if they chose to go there...I believe I will also see lost pets.  I believe Jesus in His human resurrected form will be there too. All the good characters from the Bible will be there...I also believe that the sights will be unbelievably incredible beautiful, beautiful pristine nature and stunning beautiful other worldly cities....But what about GOD, mainly speaking of God the Father? Will I see an beautiful older than time man with flowing white hair and beard that shines with an otherworldly light? I don't know....Sometimes though this image keeps coming to my mind. It has come several times off and on for a couple of years now...Its this image of a a clear fluid almost bubble like substance and yet not round, that is moving almost pulsing yet stationery. It is not approachable. It reminds me of a bubble you get when you blow them from the little bottles you had as a child.  This one emits a white light and is covered with rainbow like colors that also move as the bubble like form moves and pulsates.  There is also this incredible love, knowledge and sense of being unapproachable due to being so superior to everything that seems to radiate from it as well... There is this sense of awe... And yet I feel drawn from a distance to dwell on this image, this God thing I see... I wonder if maybe that is what I will see? Will GOD have a form? Can He have a form? Of course He can, He can do whatever HE wants...But will He? And if he does what form will He take?  I am drawn to this image that comes to mind on occasion because it's not human, its other worldly and yet its mysterious and powerful. Its unpredictable as its nothing I am familiar with...It emits power, love, knowledge and so much more. It has my attention and respect and there is a fear too, a fear of "wow, this is bigger than me and anything else I am familiar with and yet I am not frightened.... I wonder if that is what I will see when I finally get there....Only time will tell... Wish I could say I'll let you know but I can't. The only way you will know for sure WHAT God looks like is to go there yourself.... I can tell you fairly certainly what the other guy will look like but hopefully you won't need that info...

GG

(my) Secret to Happiness

Well folks I finally did it! Discovered (my) secret to happiness... Took a long, long time, many years in fact but it has finally happened. Not sure what brought it all together but no matter that is a thought for another day.

Guessing your thinking be quiet already and share...ok I will....

Its quite simple actually and the word SIMPLE is important here. Its all about SIMPLICITY! Yes, that's correct.  Let me explain further.

First off for me: Being at peace with God.

Very important! If I am at peace with God then that lays the foundation for me to be able to ACCEPT the other elements of my happiness. If I am at peace with God then "all is right" in my world no matter what that world may consist of. Yes, I have chosen my words very carefully so think about them.

Second of all: Reduce the "clutter" in your life. Think about that one too...Ponder what that might mean to you. For me it was more than I realized. Being forced by circumstance to "declutter" my life more than I wanted I was actually "freed" from more than I realized held me in bondage.  I am still "decluttering" almost daily. I actually pray and ask God to show me what else I can get rid of....He is slowly showing me more and more things to get rid of, some things I didn't think I could let go of. But I did.   I have had my life reduced down to what some would find impossible, no TV been 7 years anyway-don't miss it,  I am living in a very small home-rather like that which doesn't allow for alot of things unless we want to live in "box city", no thanks! So I have been giving away so many
things for others to enjoy. Others that don't know my secret yet so they are more than willing to take stuff from me...that makes it easier for me to share it because I don't have to toss it when its good stuff and seeing someone else enjoy them is nice. Sometimes clutter is not something you can put your physical hands on.it might be TV, internet, cell phone, regular phone, it might be working too much, too many hours, it might be other things that take away your time, your peace... Stuff can drain us of our energy, it can and does distract us to the point we don't even realize how "busy" our lives are.  Not meaning only physical busy here either folks! Are we ever still enough to (think quietly) and enjoy it?

The next thing on my list is well most will find this boring but its not actually, taking the time to enjoy the SIMPLE things in life and to GIVE THANKS for them also! Wow that was a mouthful. Not something I ever thought about before or really took the time to do regularly either.  Without close friends, no TV, find surfing the web rather dull after so long without that chance except when needed, we have discovered books from the local library which are free and plentiful. We have discovered movies from the library too for when we just feel the desire to see one.  We have discovered raking leaves together for a common cause, giving our dogs someplace to romp without mud, we have had leaf fights! We like to just sit outside and enjoy nature or go for a walk. We talk sometimes just because. We eat simple meals and enjoy the fact that we have decent food to eat that doesn't even taste too bad!  We are grateful for the clothing we have that fits and isn't the latest fashion... We enjoy WHAT we have without desiring more. We don't envy others for what they have and we don't. We certainly have something most do not, peace. We just enjoy each day for what it is without stressing over the next day. We are ALIVE today and we are finally noticing that in a positive way by being grateful. We are not rushing to get to tomorrow hence missing out on today. We are living a slower paced life and its soothing.  I never really noticed the little things before like I do now. I never really gave thanks for those same little things before like I do now...It has made ALL the difference for me. And when I am calmer those around me are also calmer...

I have finally learned that I don't need ANYTHING in particular to make me happy, just being at peace with MY GOD, appreciating ALL the little gifts He sends my way everyday. Trusting in Him to continue to love and protect me and those I'm responsible for. Being in the moment no matter how slow that moment may seem to some, being aware of that moment and acknowledging things around me during that time like a soft breeze, the sunlight, a bird singing, a feeling of satisfaction and peace, savoring it all.  Having dreams for the future that aren't set in stone but fluid just in case something better presents itself. If I get set in my ways and dreams must be a certain way I am rigid and dreams can change and expand. Learning to be more fluid has been a gift as well. Life is to be lived by moments...This my friends is my version of true happiness.  IF ever something happens that takes my peace away I am learning to pray and ask God to restore my peace because the disruption is not from Him.  So far He keeps answering that prayer. On my own I am weak but united to Him nothing is impossible!

My prayer for you is that someone, somewhere will read this and perhaps it will give them a road map to help them find their version of true peace...I suspect if they do it won't be that far off from the one I've found for myself...

Peace.

GG













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