Tag Archives: Christ

be their helpers in every way possible

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MP900427738  Helping those who are in need and that are unable to help themselves is not only feeding, clothing, housing or caring for their physical needs it is also caring for their spiritual and emotional needs as well. We are supposed to be their helpers in every way possible. We are to be their best friend, mentor, brother / sister and so on. They are fellow human beings and fellow children of God so they are a part of our great extended family through God and Christ. It all boils down to having and giving the same kind of love God and Jesus has given us. We should take care of each other as if we were family, we shouldn’t see others as separate from our family in Christ. Christ taught compassion towards all people, regardless of race, sex and even religion. How are we to win the hearts of those who don’t know Christ if we shun them for believing differently. That just closes the doors to their hearts and minds to us and to Christ as well.

We are supposed to be good examples of both God and  Jesus’s  love and their mercy not Judgmental and hurtful.

Ray Barbier

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we can not achieve perfection by any means

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2Perfection, something many strive for but none truly ever reach. The illusion that we can achieve some form of perfection is nothing but a vicious trap. The more we work to be perfect the more we seem to find fault in ourselves. There is no man or woman who can achieve perfection and to try is to waste precious time and energy. We can achieve great and miraculous things but we will have many mistakes involved in the process. Mistakes and faults are what makes us who and what we are for through them we learn and grow spiritually. I believe many are perfectionists out of their fear of failure or some kind of desire to be accepted. Many overachievers and perfectionist are driven by the dreams and expectations of their parents, partners and peers. They haven’t realized that the only dreams and expectations they need to worry about is their own. God has given each of us talents and gifts and a purpose for them. We should be concerned about What god wants and set goals by what we know we can achieve. To set too low or too high of goals for our abilities is only setting us up for either failure or wasting of the talents and gifts God has given us.

Through God and Jesus we can achieve anything that is within the will of God. God knows we are not perfect and that we can not achieve perfection by any means on our own. So why should we expect perfection of ourselves or others if God doesn’t expect it of any of his children? God only expects us to do our best and to do it for his glory. So give up on perfection and embrace the idea of doing the best you can and for the Glory of God. In the end God and Jesus are the ones that matter the most in life.

 The hardest part of following God’s Will is the part where we have to surrender our will and give up our own selfish desires. Putting God before everyone and everything else.

Ray Barbier.

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live my life trying to be something he would be proud of.

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scan0006Around this time of year I usually become somewhat sad because it’s the month my dad (SFC Stephen M. Barbier) Passed away. Its been around 6 years now since his passing and I still think of him almost daily. I know he is in the care of God and Jesus now, But the sorrow I feel is not for the dead but for the living. Those of us who had to carry on after his passing with a hole in our hearts and minds. Though my dad was no saint, those who knew him knew he was one of those guys who would give his shirt off his back to help a friend or even a stranger in need. I do miss him quite a lot and regret we drifted apart for so many years and I am happy that in the end we were as close as ever.  I celebrate his life nor his death, I live my life trying to be something he would be proud of, knowing he was always proud of me even though he didn’t always show or say it. Well Dad, I know I may never said it in words but I know you knew that I loved you, I looked up to you and was proud to have you as a parent.

Thanks to my dad I exist, thanks to him I have become who I am because he let me find my own way and rarely judged my choices and was there to advise when I asked. As I said, I usually am sad around this time of year, but now I celebrate his life and cherish the moments I had with my dad. I don’t seem to be as sad as I used to be and in that I realize now that I was blessed to had known him.

God Bless you all, Remember to tell your parents how much they mean to you and celebrate the lives of those who have went to heaven before us.

Ray Barbier

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All of the Bible and the Whole Message

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65242I have noticed in my lifetime that there are several ways to preach or spread the gospel. One is the hell and damnation style, this is where your main focus is to scare the living daylights out of the listeners by focusing on the wages of sin. Then there is the Good news style where you preach mostly on the salvation through Christ and the grace he has given us all. There is also a newer one that is all prosperity, unfortunately I have noticed some of the prosperity preachers prospering way too much off their ministry. There is also the Faith focused style as well, Faith is an important part of being a Christian so it is another good choice. Personally I prefer the Good news style though they all serve their purposes, probably a mix of all the styles would be the best way to preach. If you stick to one extreme or another you may leave the congregation with only half of what they need to be a good Christian. There is probably many other styles of preaching / teaching the gospel I haven’t covered or seen as of yet. I just believe we should teach all of the bible and the whole message and not just parts. Well this is just my humble opinion take it for what it is…

 Through Christ we have salvation, through faith we have hope.

Ray Barbier

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With God no challenge is impossible to meet.

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03.365 (02.08.2009) FaithWhen you stand against your weakness and sin it seems victory may be an impossible goal. When you stand alone facing it all, you are fighting a lost battle. When you face it with God no challenge is impossible to meet. Through God’s strength there is nothing one can’t do if they have faith. Faith isn’t just going to church and praying, it is the full hearted belief in God and his promises. A half-hearted faith is not a true faith, though any amount of faith is better than none at all. Pray for the will of God to be done in your life and surrender to his will so you can do his bidding. Serve God, not your own ego and your own desires. Hard it is to put the self aside but it isn’t an impossible task.

 

 

We need to remember where our strength comes from and from whom are help comes from. We need to give thanks not only for the blessings we have but for those we are yet to receive.

Ray Barbier

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Thank you god for all the blessings you have given me in my life.

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009Sometimes I could just slap myself in the face, I need it to wake me up and remind me of how God blessed me. I may have been denied the blessing of my own children, but I have been blessed with nephews and nieces both by marriage and blood. I was blessed to be a part of my nephews life and watch him grow up to a teen, I am currently blessed with having a 6-year-old niece and get to help raise her on the weekends and most of the summer. I may not have many friends like I used to but those who stuck with me are true ones. There is not one person I truly hate or can not forgive in time, not one of the past loves I had, do I hold anything against them and most of them are still my friends.

God blessed me with a kind heart though sometimes I let stress and frustration to get the best of me, God gave me a good family to grow up in even with all our problems we love one another. I have good memories of my youth in Overland Missouri and of the friends I had along with my time in Georgia. I had ran my own business twice in my life and now I have a job I like for the most part. I have made some new friends and they embellish my life in their own unique ways. Even through some of the worst times in my life I survived and had friends offer me a helping hand. Thank you god for all the blessings you have given me in my life.

Pray in thanks for your blessings and ask him to help you remember those blessings when times are tough.
Ray Barbier

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution By license.
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Embrace that spirit of hope

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p10329 We tend to look outwardly for our happiness, love and for acceptance. God gave us all the tools within us to be happy, love and be loved. Pretty much anything we need to be or do is within our own selves, God gave us everything within, it is only the matter of having the faith to utilize what we have been blessed with. We can not find happiness from an outside source if we can not even embrace the happiness god gave us within. It is hard to love anyone or anything if we can not embrace the love God gives us deep inside. Once we learn to have faith in and embrace the gifts god planted within our souls we then will not worry about acceptance because we know we belong to God. As long as we don’t allow the distractions on our modern lives to get in the way and we don’t fall to the spirit of fear we shall live a happy and successful life. We must embrace that spirit of hope and the sound mind God blessed us with. We can not allow those in this world who try to make us believe we are hopeless or condemned without salvation. They wish only to drag you down with them, we shouldn’t have hatred for those people for we should pray for their souls and show them the compassion we are taught by Christ‘s teachings.

Look within yourself for the blessings god blessed you with and do not fall for the traps of our modern world.
Raymond Barbier

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We must choose as well as Believe.

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MP910221000The power to be happy is in our own hands, no outside force be it circumstances or another person can change how we feel unless we give it the power to do so. Too many times I have seen people who allowed the opinions of others and circumstances to effect their mood as well as negatively influence their self-image. God gave each of us a spirit of hope and not one of fear or negativity, the world is what brings fear and negativity into our lives. The good news is we can choose not to allow the negativity or fear to effect us and keep ourselves in a positive and happier mood. The words and actions of others have effected so many people negatively in life that they have no self-worth or confidence. The ability to achieve anything you desire is within us all, it is something we must choose as well as believe.

God gave us all the power to live a happy, productive and love filled life, we just have to realize that the power is within us and accept the gift as well as be thankful for it. That is what Jesus was trying to say when he was talking about the faith of a mustard seed. All things are possible in Christ and with faith, to choose to believe and have faith is the key. God wants all his children to be happy, confident and live in love with each other.

Just a few thoughts for all to ponder
Raymond Barbier.
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All we can do is learn from our past and work in the present to make a better future.

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MP900426559Seems the person we all judge the hardest is ourselves, We hold ourselves to a higher standard and expect to achieve it. We tend to forgive and overlook other people’s faults and mistakes much easier than our own. We can have compassion for every one around us but we seem to find it hard to have compassion upon ourselves. We need to learn we are also human just like everyone else and we can’t be perfect or without flaw. We must accept ourselves for who and what we are and forgive ourselves for our shortcomings. We always have room for improvement but we must realize we are beautiful and good as we are. We should build upon what we are and not try to destroy that which makes us unique.

We definitely need  to wake up to the reality that we are who we are and that it isn’t that bad being an imperfect human.  It is quite relieving to know we are like everyone else in the fact we are imperfect and make mistakes. We just need to learn from those mistakes and improve what we don’t like in ourselves as well as embrace the light that dwells within. God made all of us the way we needed to be in order to learn the lessons of life he set before us. We can not live in the past or the future because we live in the present and we shouldn’t dwell on what was or what might be. All we can do is learn from our past and work in the present to make a better future.
MP900399589We need to love ourselves and one another in the same way God and Jesus loves us.We need to accept the grace given and give as much grace as we can to ourselves and others. God gave us the spirit of love, and of a sound mind not of anger or fear and Jesus taught forgiveness and compassion.  For the spirit of love, forgiveness and compassion is not only meant for others but also for ourselves as well. For it is hard to love, forgive or have compassion on others if you can’t even have it for yourself. The sound mind comes with loving oneself and having the compassion to forgive yourself. With a sound mind you will find that there is very little others can say or think about you that will matter much. You will only be concerned with the truth and not of opinions and/or hear say.

 Listen to the heart God blessed you with and not the mind that the world helped program.

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Raymond Barbier

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New year, New Way?

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p10174 With New Years upon us it is once again to make new years resolutions. We all could make those unrealistic promises to ourselves that we know deep in our hearts we will not even try to fulfill or even set goals that we will strive for that are impossible to reach. The sad part of resolutions such as those is that when we fail to complete or uphold them we have the sense of failure which isn’t a good thing to start the year off with. Best to either set simple and achievable goals for your new years resolutions or ones that will not bring certain failure. We all want to make a resolution that will either improve our selves or the lives of others so to start the year off with a positive note. Most change is enacted through a series of steps not one giant leap, so remember to make a resolution that can be planed out as a day by day plan. To arrive at any destination one must take the first step and be willing to follow through with every step afterwards till they reach the end. There is no shortcuts to self-improvement or change. The fist step forward usually consists of forgiving yourself of the mistakes of the past as well as the mistakes of others. If you can not leave the past in its own time then you will find it very hard to move forward if even exist in the present. Learn from your past mistakes and don’t live in their shadows for they will block the light that you deserve to live in. Start your new year off with a clean slate for both yourself and others, for each day we wake is another chance to do what is right and live in the light of our creator. For his son died on the cross and through his blood we are washed clean of our past sins so we can live free as well as seek to become more Christ like in our every day life. To feel remorse for your sins is what you do before you pray to be forgiven and not what you do after the sin is washed away. To carry the shame and pain of a past sin is to hold on to the sin itself, if you believe in the mercy of our lord then the sin is no longer yours to carry. So leave your sins of the past in the past and leave the path ahead in the hands of the lord. Forgive, be forgiven and move forward knowing that you do not walk alone in this world. One of the greatest new years resolution one can have is to surrender to the will of the Father and follow the teachings of his only begotten son. Learn to be tolerant of the beliefs of others for they have the right to choose the path they walk in life as well as the religion they practice. Just learn to love all of your brothers and sisters on this great planet earth we have been blessed to live on and cherish its beauty. No matter what resolution you make on this new year I pray that you find peace and prosperity in this new year of 2012. May our politicians wake up to see the mess that our house is in and let them find the wisdom to put aside their differences to do what is best for both our planet and our species.

 

May God bless Mankind and guide us in this new year.

Raymond Barbier

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