Peace of Advice
Peace of Advice – Guidance and Protection
It is necessary to know God first before knowing who you are. When we apply for employment, filling up a car loan, house mortgage, and any loan is only part of how much we know ourselves. Your relationships with your family, relatives, neighbors, and co-workers can define who you are and what you are to them. Our relationship with God will shine upon us; His tender, loving care, integrity, kindness, mercy, and grace will also be our foundation. Knowing God is knowing ourselves. When you take time to know yourself and pay attention to your action and reactions, you may know yourself better. God made us in His image and likeness. Knowing yourself allows you to live a meaningful and purposeful, godly life.
Aiming high does not mean that when you fail, the harder you fall. Aiming high is your focus to meet the standard of God and not to go beyond what God intended us to be. No one can surpass God’s thoughts and ways. When the angels rebel against and want to be equal to God, they fall and deny the joy of heaven. Widen our imagination but narrow our focus has more chance of achieving success. It is easier to conquer a city than a country. Many aimed high and failed but never gave up, and when they refocused and restarted, they started halfway.
Moving forward after failing to do things right has more chance of never falling backward again. Living in the past will never see a beautiful forward. The present time gives us a better life to see the future, and with the experience of the past unsuccessful attempt at a better life, we can use it as a reference not to make the same mistakes again. God gave us the morning to enjoy life to start the day, but human nature consistently drives us to sin. God saw the night was good and kept it so we could use it to rest after a long day and allow us to ask forgiveness at bedtime for the sin we made for the day. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” We should also ask forgiveness when we offend someone, which shows humility. It is God’s delight for us to live in peace.
We only have one true judge, and that is God the Almighty. Being judgmental is not the pleasure of God when He created man in His image and likeness. The book’s beauty is by its content and not by the attractiveness of its cover. This makes us think that beauty always has an excuse for its being. The imperfections of humans are how the mind thinks, and the hardness of the heart makes the mouth speak fearlessly. We must love in every effort we make daily to improve and develop a world with the love that gives and takes.
When we practice love, we become cautious about acting and reacting to something we lack knowledge about. We can judge someone that makes mistakes by not punishing them but by educating them to apply the proper behavior, character, and attitude. All in all, to apply moral values.
Patience is a virtue. Patience can lead to true love, happiness, and sweet success. We can live in luxury using the methods of corruption influenced by the evildoers and authored by the prince of the air. What would you expect to happen to your soul after short live happiness? Regret! God that gives eternal and rejected will receive judgment and be rewarded a space where fire and brimstone never extinguish. Blessed are those who struggle in life and remain faithful and live a life with their loved ones always. Patience is the only way to fight a good fight of faith and win the crown of righteousness. Short live happiness is not worth giving up a life of godliness (god-likeness).
Do not do something that will harm others, and avoid the harm that may come back to you a hundredfold. Some people take advantage of the generosity of others, and yet, they do not give that same generosity to others. These people take and take and never give back. These people can gain a city and lose a country. Greediness has no room in God’s heart, and their names cannot be found in the Book of Life. To practice a godly living and the capability given to us to help the poor in Spirit and the flesh by the Father that is in heaven who looks in our hearts and sees how we administer the stewardship He entrusted to us. When we do walk and talk in God’s way, the people we help will feel the presence of the goodness of God and May acknowledge God’s existence and consider God to be their all in all. This is another truth that what you plant is what you harvest. When this truth opens their eyes with acceptance, this truth will close their eyes with a smile.
Gambling is a game of luck, but what happens when you lose? You can shrug your shoulder and say out of luck! Alternatively, you will say not to gamble again. In many instances, luck is attached to unexpected outcomes of events, successful transactions, winning of all sorts, like having a Midas touch, and anything that comes with happiness. I am lucky today! Wish me luck, give me that lucky smile, and many more. These kinds of people, without judging them, do not know that there is a more powerful word besides luck, including God, our great provider. You do not call the name of God to ask for luck; God, do not do that! “Blessed are those who call on the name of the LORD” God bless people! Hard work can produce material wealth, luck can acquire wealth by chance, and being blessed is receiving God’s providence. Blessing is mainly used spiritually, while luck is more natural. There is no conflict between the two. When God blesses your hard work, and you ask for it, and you have it, that is the acquisition of wealth through being blessed. When you bless someone to succeed, God will bless you too.
Many people need love and care, but not enough people can be found with a heart for people in need. Some are willing to help people in need, but it shows off their deeds to people present so that they can witness their generosity at that fake moment. What does it tell you? Is that real, or is it just a show? As mentioned in the Bible, churchgoers were praying and giving by standing so that others would notice them. This shows that it is not appealing to new church members to see a holy gathering with this distraction. The present situation of the church attendees is getting smaller due to many factors. One of them is the leaders enriching themselves while the promise of prosperity is not happening. We work hard to bring people back to God when the harvest is overwhelming and the joy in our hearts is overflowing, only to be destroyed by a few bad seeds in the leadership. Some converts walked away from the faith while some stopped going to church, and some did their worship in their house, which is also biblical. The curtain is going down, and the Earth is just waiting to self-destruct—time to call the name of the one true God to extend human life on Earth, but random or non-existent; you will hear that from Church leaders because of doctrinal views.
Some sensitive people in the church can easily get hurt and sometimes react with violent words without giving a chance to clarify the things that trigger the reaction. When dealing with sensitive people, the right choice of words is significant; they are more generous and compassionate, and attentive to the emotions of others. Though they can easily get upset, they can also quickly calm down. They do not want to impress others and get a rejection. They cannot handle criticism. James, the brother of Jesus, has a word for all believers; “let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”
We must follow three things to learn new knowledge: stop, look, and listen. Stop whatever we are doing to give us time to prepare ourselves to absorb what we will hear fully. Look to find out the author or what version of the Bible is being used and references or the sources of information. It is not new to us that many, if not all, articles, sermons, and exhortations used today are opinions of writers before us. We must listen to our hearts and how it affects our established understanding of what we hear and the wisdom that our hearts feed our minds. We can learn, and that is a gift from God. We need to be good listeners to be good influencers. If we cannot share the truth literally, how well can we claim that our hearers understand what has been shared?
God is good, His goodness gives life, and He does not play favoritism. He is fair in His judgment and wants us to enjoy life in His presence. Our unhappiness moments are not because of Him but us. We made mistakes in our decisions by not using our free will rightly. God will not interfere with our free will unless we ask God first. God is merciful and gracious to give us a chance when we turn our back and walk away from Him, His Spirit that dwells within us remains to be with us. Unless we continue our wicked ways and refuse the chance to be a repentant child asking for forgiveness coming from the heart and not from the mouth. Our obedience gives us the right to be Jesus’ brothers, sisters, and mothers. Jesus said that we have to follow the will of the Father.
Our joy differs from those who lack knowledge and understanding of our Father, the Almighty, and the one true God. Even the chosen Son, Jesus, acknowledged that the Father is mightier than he is. He is the one that sent him to save the sinners that resulted in us being saved from the sins brought to us by the first man Adam, the Father of humankind. God hates the pride who thinks he is above anyone and loves the humble who always seek Him. When we sin and ask for forgiveness, he never turns us down. We owe Him our success; He is pleased when we acknowledge it. We receive His blessing every morning, and our bodies are renewed when we ask for forgiveness before bedtime.
We can only sometimes get what we want but never fails to get what we need. If you work hard to get the body’s desire, you may have it but with a little or short live joy. What we want can give us excitement temporarily, but when we get what we need, it could be a joy for a lifetime. Money can buy many things our body wants, e.g., cars, houses, luxury goods, and much more, but will the happiness last, or do you want another one after a few months? That is what our wants can give—a short live satisfaction. Needs can go a long way; needs has a better value than wants. Needs can satisfy our bodies for a long time, sustain life, and provide a better gift to share with people in need. Wants are temporal, and needs are for the lifetime.
Always expect that our action can get a reaction. A decision is an act that, when we decide out of tune, we can get a reaction or protest. Still, when the decision is favorable, the reaction is expected to be supportive or appreciative. Do not ever decide on pressures. Action may speak louder than words, but when our words overlap our actions, it hurts our inner self more than our body’s outermost part. Our emotion speaks. When our actions speak for themselves, they can show who we are; our actions and reaction could be acceptable, or they could also be rejected. Whatever we do with feelings or without, when we let our hearts speak, the mouth delivers an acceptable message. The expression of the heart has its excellent outcome – the truth within us. Whatever is in our heart, the mouth speaks. As stated in the gospel of Matthew: “How can you speak well, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.”
Negative or positive behavior could be a reaction to what they feel in a given situation. It is how someone reacts in response to what it feels. A behavioral response depends on their mental well-being; it could be born with it, the upbringing or influence by the people around them, e.g., the community, friends, or relatives. A behavior is not about the character of a person. Character is more on personality. Lacking self-control or self-discipline are more revealing. Character defines our moral behavior and proper conduct. Sometimes people judge us by our character. Good manners attract people to trust you. To be friends with you and to associate with you. They will treat you as warm as the ruby and pure as the pearl, a bar of 24-carat gold, and a diamond that lasts forever. A priceless human being to be with. Honesty and integrity with principles to be respected. What more can we add to it when we have more than enough to mention? However, the question is, do we have such a person as perfect as that after the fall in the garden? That is a big, impossible dream that may not become a reality. Why not stay where the rays of the sun can shine upon you? In addition, let the moon’s light brightens your night so they can see you as a walking advertisement of contentment.
Let the Spirit of a beautiful life be upon us; let the light continue to shower us with purposeful life; let our perfect imperfections be acceptable instead of our mistakes; let us respect everyone with value; let the rich guide the poor in Spirit; let the health comes first before wealth, let the Holy Spirit dwell in our bodies so we can let our Spirit submit to the Spirit of God, and be what God wants us to be; let the peace on Earth be the usual way of life, respecting one another with honor and dignity. For God so loved the world that He wants us to be with Him, and it will only be achieved through the unity of the Spirit. Our Spirit, with His Spirit, through submission and obedience, gives us a new life.
Though we are the by-product of the sin brought by desperate moves by the prince of the air, we are treated as rebellious in his kingdom because we chose to be on God’s side. The Father of lies has various names, such as the Serpent in the Garden of Eden, the Dragon in the Book of Revelation, Lucifer (Son Of The Morning Star) and Satan (also known as the Devil), the Tempter (Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness), Leviathan- Psalm 74:14, the Anointed Cherub- Ezekiel 28:14, Ruler of Demons(Mark 3:20-35), Beelzebub- (2 Kings 1:2–3, 6, 16). The rule of thumb is that when you do not want to do anything for something, especially the salvation of your soul, accept what the world has offered. However, you still have to do some work to encourage the rebel of this kingdom to be on your dark side, ruled by the Father of all lies. Who tried to be equal to God and now waiting for his final judgment. Men of honor and women of integrity are the characters of people of God that live in decency. A lack of moral and ethical character and tending to behave a dishonest life, pride, and prejudice are followers of the prince of the air. The Bible’s advice- “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good, pleasing, and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2.
You know yourself better than anyone else. Your parents may know you better than they may know anyone they know. God is the only one that can claim that He knows everything about you because He is an all-knowing the God of all creation. God tells Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” This means God knew Jeremiah even before he was born and be known by anyone else—the same as the psalmists and all living creatures on Earth. We cannot boast about our accomplishments alone; we need one another to serve and spread the commandments of love. Jesus selflessly laid his life with selfless love and wants us to serve others instead of ourselves. We need the love and care of others as much as others need us. “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.”-Proverb 19:18. “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Hebrews 13:16
We can use failures and struggles in life in our favor by treating them as an opportunity and not as a hindrance to pursue a new potential beginning and charge it to experience. We should never give up on continuing our desire to be successful in life and try not to submit to our previous failures without looking for a new avenue to try. When a door of opportunity opens again, we must evaluate whether it is for us as a new venture or just another opportunity waiting to fail again. Experience teaches us to be more cautious in making decisions. Failure encouraged us to find new possibilities, not put us down for a lifetime. Failure should not be the end but the new beginning of a new journey. God watches us every day, both in our successes and failures, some almost forget God when they are overwhelmed by success, and some turn to be a narcissist; on the other hand, some failed ventures blame God. Is that how we repay God for His goodness? Did you ask God that you would invest in a business, or you just decided on your own?
What path will we choose when given a choice to have a joyful life? An open and wider road is an easy life without struggle, no opposition, and you can quickly get whatever you want. Is this the life you prefer, and never mind the second choice, and you want to avoid hearing more choices? It will be unfair if we are not going to hear the second choice, which is a narrow road that includes hard work; so we can have food on the table, clothes to cover our bodies, make sacrifices for ourselves and others, doing the right thing which is not an easy task, if we are going to finish and hear the last part of both these choices you still have the chance the recant your choice. It would be best to think about it before making the decision. “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” a wider road does not mean convenience in reaching your destination.
Dreaming is a gift and part of our imagination, so why not use it to our benefit? Dreaming is part of planning. Before going on, let us figure out what we are discussing. There are two faces of dreams; one is when we are fully awake or conscious, and the other is suspended consciousness most of the time; this happens when we are sound asleep and sometimes involves the so-called vivid dreams. This kind of dream sometimes produces nightmares, recalls unfinished business, and sometimes gives you joyful feelings when you wake up. Dreaming in the state of wakefulness gives us many opportunities to play around. The most common call is daydreams which you can dream all you want anytime in awareness. This is something you want to have or something you want to be. It is more connected to imagination and related to our wishful thinking. It is more beneficial if we involve God with our dreams since He is a great provider and can provide the beneficial wants to us, as He knows what is good for us. A dream can come true when you put effort into it or wait until it happens. God will provide our needs, which is a given. All we need to do is believe and wait.
Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you. It is considered the golden rule or simply a rule of thumb to do things right. Recorded both in Luke 6:31 and Matthew 7:12. “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” Matthew 7:12. About the Mosaic law -“Whatever is hurtful to you, do not do to any other person.” When someone knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him, it is a sin. Christianity is not a privilege but a responsibility. Enormous responsibility to help people in need, to do the will of the Father, and to acknowledge Jesus the Son sent by the Father, raised by the Father, and now seated at the right of the Father.
When we share the word of God and the teachings of Jesus Christ with the unbelievers, and they do not accept it, it is not for us to judge regarding their salvation, for when we judge them, they will judge us the same. This could lead to arguments. Jesus said that if they don’t accept us move forward. “If the home is worthy, let your peace rest on it; if not, let it return to you.” “And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.… Matthew 10: 13-15 -Berean Standard Bible
When you fail backward, the next step is to quit, but when you fail forward, there is a tendency that you can recover and continue to pursue the assigned task. To quit a good fight even before it begins will never see a chance of winning. Losers this way cannot defend their fortress and will surely go down with shame. If you trust the power of God, your confidence will overshadow the fear in your head. Faith without work is dead. We have to exert effort to win the battle of the mind. If you trust God with all your heart, he will strengthen your weaknesses, ease your hardship, and encourage you to push for a win. When God is for us, no one will be against us. Whoever wants to harm you, they cannot even get closer to doing it. If we have all the time and advantages of not being in trouble, we will always be able to defend the truth.
Trust not your instinct but trust God with all your heart and lean not to the understanding of man. Feelings or impulses can influence our understanding of how to trust our safety in times of danger. Our instinct can also be manipulated by the knowledge developed while still in our mother’s womb. We cry after birth, we cry when hungry, we stop crying and fall asleep in our mother’s chest, and we stop crying when we are lullabying. A feeling significantly impacts our instinct and all the senses knitted when we are formed. Gut feelings are instinctive emotional actions and reactions to certain situations that could lead to resolving long-standing issues regarding our lack of understanding.
Physical, miracle, and spiritual healing — are effective when it comes to believing and trusting people and God. Fear, Anxiety, Anger, Frustration, Depression, Loneliness, Guilt, behavioral instinct, pride, greediness, inferior or shyness, superior and self-preservative instinct, pro-active instinct, outgoing, friendly, skill or talent, curiosity, affection, sexual, gracious, compassion or sympathy, love, jealousy and envy or hatred, competition or survival, humility, and decency is a modesty instinct, self-righteousness glorifying self instead of God-“glorify God in your body, and your spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). World English Bible – Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, and whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, and whatever things are of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
God set our lives to end one day, and that ends our dreams, pain and suffering, and the drama of life. If we remain even with a bit of faith when that time comes, a greater hope that life in eternity is more accurate than a fantasy. This is not about the doubt that came to our mind but the truth that something would have happened with sadness for not believing the truth about God the Almighty. While some with joy for the last moment that there should be no sorrow, life eternal is glorious and full of gladness that we made it that high. Every morning is a new day, and waking up in a new heaven is the reward for acknowledging God’s existence running our lives on this violent Earth made by humans.
Humans self-destruct their dwelling place, and God who created it timed it to end when people continue to sin and reject to call His name. We abuse our free will and prefer to do wrong than be good as God wants us to be. God created the Earth not to experiment with the flesh but to give grace that inhabited it first. We have to learn to call the name of the LORD every day when there is a new day. New Living Translation – Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. Recommended reading: Lamentation 3:22-33, Psalm 30, and 2 Corinthians 8 -22. The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never end.
Sometimes we use our acquired knowledge to take advantage of unknowledgeable people and act as if we are the original author and make them believe that we understand what it means when we only rob the articles and expect to gain something from lying. What does it profit us to gain attention but foolishness deceiving ours? What is more valuable our deception to gain the world or losing our souls? Instead of thinking about what is profitable and valuable, think about how we can make it with a heavy load on our backs; the world of sins is heavy to make it the gates of heaven while more accessible and welcoming the open gate of everlasting fire and brimstone. Starts saving good treasures in heaven with life challenges and hardships that will be earned the key to the gate of heaven at the end, then live a life of luxury that the world offers which guarantees life everlasting in an un-extinguishable fire with brimstone for added heat.
Material possessions can be stolen and devalued quickly because it is not made with God’s proof material. God extends both spiritual and material blessings to those who follow Him. It is better to enjoy the value of your possession now than save it for tomorrow when it might be gone, but the assurance of having good possession is its protected value that can be enjoyed for a long time. Which do you prefer, your souls to be condemned in the fire without end for not giving up your corrupt practices and material possession that can be stolen and rotten or to eternal life full of joy with God? “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on Earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.”
Believe in God before believing in yourself. You may be surprised not to know yourselves that much and get lost in this world of lies, deceptions, and temptations. Knowing yourself seems like a piece of cake, but you do not know how far you can take the sweetness it gives to your health. If you bake it yourself, you have control over how sweet you want it to be; you bought it in a bakery shop and let others control your life. The way you want to see yourself in this demonstration is the sweetness of life that you do not want to waste by letting someone rule over you. If you treat yourself well, it will give you a happy and healthy life. God wants what is best for us. Psalm 37:3-4 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Finding delight in the LORD is our obedience, humility, submission, and righteousness above all things. Trusting the LORD is giving up all we have and following Him wherever He wants us to go! Like Abraham, he did not know where he was going. He trusted that God would not send him to a place where he could not take good care of his family and his people. He trusted that God would lead him according to His plan and fulfill His promises. He just believed and followed Him.
Why will you let someone take over you when they do not know you better than your parents? Moreover, the way you follow them, you will look like them. Give respect and treat yourself the way God treats you; Trust God first and let Him rule over you; you will never be wrong. You will be the way He wants you to be; with honor and dignity, passion for His wholeness and richness, and compassion for men, you will feel what you become. Sometimes we get powerful advice, but we must take it seriously and remember it. If interest is not in you, it may interest others. It’s more honorable to pass it on and not look back when the recipient of your generosity turned his life after he applied the advice that changed their life, and they are happier than before.