Tag: God is light

Stay Lit…

On By Papa TonyIn Thought2 Comments

visuals-000261330935-AoWJX2-t1240x260All people have difficulties, problems, setbacks. All people have been subjected to sickness, to chronic health issues, to pain. All people find themselves mentally challenged at times, lost, confused, bewildered and afraid. Yet despite all of the negatives we face in life, some folks find solutions, find answers, and overcome. Some people have learned how to tap into a power greater than themselves. There is nothing that will ever come your way in life that is greater than God and His ability to deliver you. The challenge does not reside solely in the issues you face, but rather in what you choose to do with your mind in the middle of the challenge. In order to win you have to remain in the light. You have to stay lit…

Every single negative aspect of life is engendered by darkness. Every heartache, every headache, every trouble, every illness, every problem, every conflict, every apparently insurmountable obstacle begins in darkness then plays out in our lives. Darkness works behind the scenes plotting, scheming and engineering circumstances designed to drive our focus to the darkness. As long as our focus resides in the darkness, we cannot win. Problems dwelt upon and rehearsed, issue in more and more problems. Even prayers, no matter how sincerely they are delivered, if uttered in fear and desperation have little impact. God hears the prayers, every one of them, but is hindered in helping by the mindset and expectation of the one praying. You cannot pray in the dark and expect an answer in the light. Prayers are answered when the one praying comes to the light where God is. Stay lit.

Evil most certainly can be overcome in this life. No matter how terrible or desperate a situation appears to be, God always has an answer, a solution if we could but hear it. Oftentimes we do not hear it because the evidence that has been placed before our eyes says it cannot be. Our senses minds, severely limited in scope and understanding, cannot apprehend it. In order to break free from the chains of darkness we have to be able to look at something greater than the darkness; greater than the portrayal we are witnessing; greater than the mounting evidence to the contrary. Darkness, the author of fear, is always an illusion. It is successful because we believe the lie. We believe the facts instead of considering the truth. We go by what men say instead of what God says. The problem with other men is that they are stuck in the same trap from which we wish to escape. Jesus healed every one that came to him irrespective of the various facts involved. It’s impossible for a man born blind to be able to see, but Jesus healed him anyway. It is impossible for a man with a withered hand to stretch it forth, but Peter told him to stretch it forth and he did. Healing is not dependent upon the severity or lack of severity of the problem, but rather on the belief of the one that has the need. There is no fact, no circumstance, no medical condition chronic or otherwise, no diagnosis, no mental condition long in the making or recently developed, no so called impossibility, that cannot be overcome when the light is introduced. Stay lit.

God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. God dwells in the light. If you want to find God, though He is everywhere present, you have to get yourself to the light. You get to the light by changing your thinking from darkness to light. You have to stop dwelling on how much it hurts; how hard it is; how impossible it seems and get yourself over to the promises of God. You have to stop complaining about your unmet needs; being frustrated by your unmet needs; getting pissed about your unmet needs and put your focus back on God who promises to meet your needs. To think otherwise is to dwell on the darkness and dwelling on the darkness won’t bring forth the light. Can’t you see it? The reason you continue to struggle is because you haven’t yet been able to get your thinking to the right place. Darkness is a liar and accepting its claims leads only to defeat. God does not want you to suffer. God is not withholding any good thing from you. God is not upset with you. Thinking so is listening to and believing the darkness. Evil does not define the terms. Darkness does not dictate what will and will not happen to you, though it claims vociferously otherwise. You are in a contest. You are in a competition. It’s damn hard at times, but you can always win. It is God’s will that you win. Stay lit.

I think if we ever stopped to consider how important it is to control what we choose to think, our lives would be changed immeasurably. It is so much easier to see what is going on when the lights are on. The solution to being engulfed in darkness is not to try and understand the darkness, but instead turn on the light. All darkness flees when the light comes. Thinking and considering and rehearsing and evaluating darkness or ideas promoted by darkness is a trap and no matter how smart you think you are, you ain’t getting out of that trap. It’s a trap because darkness is counting on your cooperation in order to prevail. Don’t be that person. Get to the light. Stay lit.

It does not matter what obstacles you are facing, God will help you learn how to win. There is no temptation that has taken you that is not common to man. There is a way out. There is an answer. There is a solution and the way out, the answers, and the solutions are found in the light. God sent His Word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions. Tap into the power that is greater than yourself. Tap into the power that always overcomes. Find the light, then stay lit. You won’t be sorry, you will be set free.

Just some good thoughts…

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I’ve Been Blind for Awhile Now…

On By Papa TonyIn Thought3 Comments

In life, just because you cannot see something does not mean it doesn’t exist. There are whole vistas of life and understanding to be discovered once you finally get the eyes to see. People trudge along their journeys lifeless and hopeless never quite discerning; never really seeing; never able to make sense of life with all of its varied and manifold twists and turns. And because they have not experienced it they don’t believe it and in not believing it, it escapes them. Often life is more about what has been obscured from your view than it is about seeing what is right there in front of you. Maybe there is more; much more, for you to learn still. Maybe you have been blind for awhile now…

In order to see what is available to see, your mind needs illumination. Darkness is always the absence of light. You will remain unable to see what direction you are traveling as long as you are traveling in the dark. To think you are already illuminated yet continue in futility is a sure indicator that you remain in the dark. To grossly assume that your limited life experience or past education has provided you with all that is necessary to understand life is to cut yourself off from the very essence and fiber of life. You do not know what you do not know. All of the natural, breathtaking reality of nature surrounding you serves to capture your attention. Whether it be the brilliance of a sunset or the intricate depth of a flower, all are designed to lead you to a question; the next question. That question urges you to the light. In the light life, real life, is found.

The reason people live their whole lives in darkness is because they do not know or understand the truth. They have unknowingly lived in darkness for so long that they cannot even consider that light exists. The glimpses of light they have experienced are quickly chased away by the darkness. They are led away unmercifully time and time again, herded with the masses into uncertainty and fear. They do not seek light because they have been sold on lies concerning the light. Religion, posing as the light, feeds them error upon error, producing only more darkness. Religion informs them of all the things they must do to find the light, then chastises them for being unable to find it, attributing it to sins or hidden faults preventing them from finding, seeing or experiencing. Every wrong path pursued, be it intentionally or out of ignorance, leads only to more darkness. Error works to harden the hearts of men, and once hardened, can no longer perceive. Darkness is a cruelty that can only be remedied by the light. Otherwise man remains blinded and unable to see clearly.

Light comes from God and from God alone. The light is found in the truth of God’s Word. Ask yourself how much of God’s Word you understand and you can accurately predict how much light you enjoy. Most people, sadly, know very little about God’s Word and worse much of it has been manipulated and distorted to be something it is not. In place of unparalleled freedom people are enslaved. Instead of being a source of encouragement and edification it is turned into a touch point for accusation and criticism. People falsely conclude that life with God is all about their behavior and what they are doing and shouldn’t, and aren’t doing, but should. They make God the morality police and as such avoid Him like the plague. I’m pretty certain God already knows how you are living, yet like any good parent worth his salt, loves you anyway. You pray for healing to a god that supposedly made you sick. You endure unspeakable tragedies and console yourself with some mysterious higher purpose. You daily assign evil to the only good and live in abject fear of destruction and loss. Brothers and sisters, you have got it all wrong. God is only good always! God will never do anything to harm you, no matter who you are and whatever you have done! That is love and that is light…

Once you begin to understand God’s Word and His purposes, you find the light for which you have been searching your whole life. God’s Word illuminates your path. The truth enables you to separate good from evil. God’s Word helps you to finally see all the things you have formerly been unable to see. Once able to see, you become free to experience real life. You find the love and the joy you have only heard of before. You discover the peace of God that surpasses all human understanding and in that peaceful state are able to quickly spot the imposters when they arrive. You no longer have to live your life terrified about what tomorrow may bring. When you have a need, God, not your human wisdom, meets it. If you are sick He will heal you. What you cannot understand He will explain to you. The parts of life that formerly enslaved you, will no longer hold you bound because of the light that lives within your soul. Have you been blind for awhile now? Well, now is the time to see…

If your heart is open and if you are willing to admit that maybe you don’t know, you can learn. You can both see and experience all that God intended for life to be. You can live on the high road. You can escape the clutches of religion and bondage and walk in complete and total freedom, never again held in by anyone or anything! You can discern error for what it is, error, promoted and espoused by evil to keep you away from the true light. God is not hiding any of this from you, but something else is and you owe it to yourself to figure that out. The life you are yearning for is yearning for you as well. Maybe you have been blind for awhile now. The truth will make you see…

Just some good thoughts…

 

Spread a Little Sunshine…

On By Papa TonyIn ThoughtLeave a comment

The Corona Virus pandemic has certainly done a fine job of screwing with everyone’s minds in various proportions. Some folks have taken to buying one hundred toilet paper rolls guaranteeing unlimited wiping for the foreseeable future. Others have seen fit to hoard bread and soup and even the spices. Salt anyone? Oddly, bottled water has reached an epic peak as preparation for Armegeddon marches on! Some geographic locales have locked the populace down entirely for fear of an increased spread. Whatever the reactions, ranging from mild annoyance over lost conveniences to abject terror, ye old virus has done a dandy on the minds of Americans. So, what the hell can you do about it?

First, it is important to put things in their proper perspective. Things like this have been happening in the world almost since time began. There have been world wars and rumors of wars. There have been plagues and other health vexations for centuries. There have been catastrophes of unparalleled proportions. The threat of nuclear annihilation only just recently fell out of fashion. In short, there is always something going wrong, somewhere, to some people. It is all a million variations of the same threat, namely fear. Fear has no logical endpoint, because as soon as one fear is overcome, another pops up to take its place. Fear doubles down on bad circumstances and invites more and more disaster. Fear seeks to convince you there is nothing you can do about a situation; severely limits your options and boldly asserts that God is dead! But, God is not dead my friends and He is inifintely bigger than any dreadful thing that rises up against you. Fear is a liar from the father of lies. Remaining in fear you cannot hope to win. Fear is negative outcomes accepted and believed before they come to pass. Fear is truly your only enemy!

In the midst of trying circumstances, you really have only one responsibility. Stop being afraid. Fear not! Fear will have you engaged in all kinds of crazy shit! (toilet paper anyone? – pun intended) Decisions made in fear are not decisions at all, but rather forced behaviors you neither chose or agreed to. Fear is a bully taking advantage of your mind and your human tendency towards futility. I mean, how much control do you really think you have over world events? What could you possibly do in your little reasoning machine to effect any change over what is going on? You cannot wish away negative circumstances, but you can sure as hell refuse to participate any longer. Do you really think that you or a scientist or the medical profession can have any serious, lasting impact over things that are based in the spiritual realm? The only thing that defeats spiritual negativity is spiritual positivity! In other words, instead of furthering the spread of negativity and fear, you must learn how to spread a little sunshine instead. Literally, shed some light on the subject. Be part of the solution. Wake up, stand up and get out there expecting something good to happen. You may not change the world, but you can change how things are going to work out for you. You are the only thing you can control. Instead of falling in line with the other sheep heading towards the cliff, turn around. Go the other way. Decide, “not me boy” and get out there and live.

It has been my experience that God can turn anything around if enough people can get behind that notion. I’m quite sure God is very familiar with what is going on right now. I’m also sure He loves your loved ones at least as much as you do. If you got sick, I’m quite sure He could heal you. Nothing that ever happens comes as a surprise to God. He has foreknowledge which means He already knows. And because He knows, He also has a solution for you. Your job is not to try and wrangle with fear, but instead trust God and find the solution. The alternative is almost certain defeat. God is infinitely bigger than anything you will ever come up against! Trusting God means making a decision to stop being afraid. Then, in response to that, let that shit go Elsa! (Peloton reference) Walk away from it. Let it go! Don’t worry yourself over it for another second. If there is nothing God can do when faced with a world pandemic, He certainly wouldn’t be much of a God, would He? Well, there is something He can do, but you have to learn to trust Him and let Him do it! Start spreading a little sunshine…

This too will pass. One day you will look back on this time and wonder how you let it get you so shook up. But, you will have wasted a lot of time in churning and stressing over something you had no control over. If you think about; I mean really consider it, nothing you have ever feared was ever within your realm of control. At some point, hopefully, you decided to let it go. Trusting God is always about letting it go. Just as you have enjoyed a beautiful day basking in the sunshine, put that sunshine on in your mind today. Inject some light into your thinking. Stop reasoning with potential catastrophes and walk in the light. Walk in the sunshine feeling the warmth of the One that invented sunshine. There’s a reason sunny days make you feel so happy. It is God, don’t you see it? It is God enlightening and uplifting your life. Sure, we may have some hardships to endure, but just as there are rains and storms in life, the sun always comes back out. It has to…

I, like you, am not sure what lies ahead. I have also considered economic collapse, sickness and mass misery in the days ahead. But, I haven’t considered it for very long! I decided I am going to continue spreading the sunshine, no matter how dark it gets, because my life isn’t based on what things look like, but rather on the promises of God. You too, my friend, can spread the sunshine. Help somebody else out and get your mind off yourself. Bless people, love people and remember God is bigger, much, much bigger… There will always be a way out for us. Believe that and spread a little sunshine instead…

Just some good thoughts…

Living in a Dark House…

On By Papa TonyIn Thought4 Comments

Being a lover of light, I’ve never understood how people could tolerate living in a dark house. They have all the blinds shut and the curtains drawn to keep out the light. Over in the corner is some old, dim lamp with a sad, 40 watt bulb throwing out yellow shadows. There’s usually a bookshelf or two chock full of old books, covered with thick dust from years of neglect. There appears to be some type of carpet, but you can’t really tell what color it is. It seems to lead down dreary hallways to even darker bedrooms. And, the people inside? They’ve got that look on their faces that says nothing goes on in here and it hasn’t for a long time, and they seem okay with it. They have grown fondly attached to their darkness, however dim and blasé, because it is familiar and feels safe. Are you living in that old, dark house?

Nature itself teaches you that the light feels good. There’s nothing like a beautiful, sunny day to lift your spirits. People are happy in the sunshine and warmth and travel many miles to seek it out. But, when the weather is gloomy, people don’t feel so good and sort of hang on until the sun comes back out from behind the clouds. Sunlight even has a positive effect on your body. It’s as if all of creation is beckoning you towards the light. In the light you can see clearly. Colors are more vivid and details are overwhelmingly apparent. In the mornings and evenings, the shifting sun highlights the terrain and casts pleasant shadows on all of the other beautiful things. Without the light we could not live. Without the light, you do not live.

Although you may dispute it, you live your life from within the frameworks of your own mind. Your mind is your house. You have the freedom to decorate it as you see fit. You may fill it with bright, inviting artwork or pictures depicting misery and pain. You can adorn the walls with pleasant, serene colors or with dark, gloomy shades. You can open all the doors and windows to freely admit the light or you can close the blinds and draw the curtains not allowing any light inside. Whatever you choose and however you do it, it is always your house and the choices of decoration and lighting always remain with you. Many people in ignorance, not willful, allow their homes to be decorated for them. Instead of choosing the adornments, they allow something else to choose for them. Once the negative and uninspiring images get inside, they permit them to stick around instead of immediately shooing them back outside. Through disappointments and false representations, they allow their windows to be closed and their doors to be shut. Little by little, their homes gets darker and darker, drearier and drearier. Soon they become accustomed to the dreariness and expect it as just a necessary part of life. The darkness becomes familiar and safe, though it is slowly killing the owner inside.

The simple solution to this complicated dilemma is to turn the light back on. Turn the light on so that you are able to see what has been going on. The trouble with darkness is that once it gains entree it is difficult to extricate yourself from it. Darkness begets more darkness. Darkness is never overcome by exploring and investigating the darkness, it is strengthened. Darkness may only be overcome by light. The light exposes the darkness for what it really is…a lie. Darkness paints a picture of life that is not true. Darkness convinces and persuades you to close your own windows and lock your own doors. It threatens and intimidates with the aim of getting you to retreat inside in the darkness and to remain inside without coming to the light. Scores of people miserably dwell in a dark house of their own choosing, completely unaware of the remedy, found only in the light. It is not that the people no longer want the light. The darkness has discouraged them. The darkness has defeated them. The only way out is to return to the light. The light is always there patiently waiting for people to open their blinds and their curtains and let the light back in. Many a frightful terror is easily dissolved in the light of day.

The light; the true light is found in God’s Word. It is the only light capable of defeating the darkness. You are not going to turn the lights on in your home with your human wisdom or your human logic. It’s your human logic that has been defeated. Your human brain is no match for your spiritual opponent. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. His Word is light. It is the answer to every question. The more you seek it, the more light you gain access to and the more your path is brightened. Things that have escaped you for years suddenly become apparent. You begin to see things for what they really are and in seeing can make real changes. Soon the role you have been playing in your own defeat enters your awareness and you can finally stop cooperating with evil, leading to your own downfall. Only the light can deliver you from that darkness and if you want it, it is there for you.

Decide today to stop living in that old, tired, dark house. Step out into the sunshine where life is good. Open the windows and doors of your soul and let that light inside. Let it shine inside of you and reveal every dark crevice and thereby set you free. You don’t have to spend another night in futility as the day is at hand! You don’t need a dim lamp to light your path, you have something brighter than the sun.  Choose the light. Look for the light. Desire the light. Your days of living in a dark house are over. Choose the light!

Just some good thoughts…

 

 

Understanding God’s Perfection…

On By Papa TonyIn God, knowledge, life, love, ThoughtLeave a comment

God-Is-LoveIn order for something to be perfect, it must be absolutely and completely free from all faults and errors. The smallest amount of defect renders a thing imperfect and though the shortcomings be minute and even imperceptible, if they exist, the thing in question cannot be considered perfect. God is perfect. He has no downside, no shadow of turning and no requirement for any give and take. Thus the things of God must also be perfect, free from any admixture, free from darkness, and free from any heartache and pain. We speak of a perfect day, but what we refer to is a day that went well, though imperfect in many respects. Being able to begin to comprehend God’s perfection, has the power to put us in touch with the right to every wrong; the elixir to any sickness; the solution to each and every problem.

There are more opinions concerning who God is than there are grains of sand on the seashore; than there are stars in the sky. Every group reports to know Him and are more than willing to share His will with you. Yet often that so-called will is fraught with illogic and puzzles pieces that can never fit. Truth cannot be one thing today and another thing tomorrow! God does not change His truth for the times or the circumstances. Truth is truth in every day. You can find it in a tulip and in a sparrow. It exists in and permeates the creation. It is complex, yet breathtakingly simple. It speaks to your heart in a poem. It soothes your soul in a song. It jolts and awakens your mind by both friends and your enemies. It has to, it must, because it is perfection. When you hear it, you already know it is true, though you don’t know why you know it’s true. It escapes your mind yet pre-exists in your heart.

Naturally, the whole system of God is also perfect. There is no whim, no injustice, no wrong in any form. The truth of God must then exist without contradiction, just as light has no darkness in it at all. Love works no ill to its neighbor because it cannot work ill. There is no fear in love because fear is the antithesis of love. Thus, the system of God, if it be of God, cannot work ill, make ill, or be ill. Nor can it promote fear, make fear or be fear. If fear exists, like it’s counterpart darkness, then it must be absence of truth or light in some capacity. Trying to reconcile perfection with imperfection is impossible. Yet how many good men declare God’s abounding love and with the same breath dole out His threatenings on unsuspecting mankind? Prayer to God for healing of a sickness He gave you is like begging the slave owner to stop whipping you. The question is rather, why the hell is he whipping me? What greater purpose could be found in such an act? An unjust beating is an unjust beating and ascribing something good to it is insane. Yet, men entertain this with God in every day. Hurt is hurt and pain is pain. Calling pain good and hurt necessary might send you to the crazy house, but apparently never in the name of God.

So, you may now be wondering what it is I’m trying to say! What I’m saying is that once you begin to discern who God really is, you will axiomatically begin to love Him with all that you are. He is only good always and seeks goodness and love in all that He does. He doesn’t punish people for their bad behaviors, evil takes care of that. He does not follow you around day by day waiting for you to slip up. He is not your conscience making you feel guilty for the mistakes you have made. Sure you’ve been taught that but it just isn’t true. God says, my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. It’s what you don’t know or what you “think” you know that has been killing you. You don’t go to God for help or when you do by chance go, you enter in sheepishly with your mind chock full of all your sins and errors. So you ask without believing and in doing so ask amiss. I don’t blame you for this because this is what you have been taught! The church did it to you. The Sunday school did it to you.

You read the Old Testament and it scares you. You see a vengeful God wreaking havoc on mankind. What you don’t realize is that in the Old Testament, the snare of evil had not yet been revealed. God never wanted all of the laws and commandments. The laws and commandments came because of the people and preserved for people a future opportunity for redemption. Jesus Christ could have never completely set you free if there wasn’t something he could set you free from. The justice of God demanded it.

At the end of the day, there is only one True God, and He encompasses all that you could ever hope for and dream of in life. He is your sunny, perfect day. He is the love in the eyes of your grandchildren. He is the healing behind your doctor. He is the Miracle Gro for your flowers. He is the spring in your step and the smile on your face. He is indescribable joy and love and peace for a suffering and downtrodden world. He is who you thought He was when you were just a child!

If you can break yourself free from all the dogma and throw off the heavy shackles of religion,  you will find Him, though He be not far from any one of us. You will discover that this life is worth the living and that there is something fantastic behind this world waiting for you to tap in… Ladies and gentlemen, God is love!

Just some good thoughts…