Christmas Past

grahamcommand Christian, faith, Inspiring

This is in memory of past years and how the culture in England has changed over the years

With little if anything to do with the birth of Jesus, replacing this most important fact

With fantasies of Santa’s Grottos, and Hollywood films adding flying Reindeer for fast delivery of children’s presents.

Christianity has been attacked over many years by the likes of Richard Dawkins, who was happy at the continuing drop of people who attend church, but upset that Ramadan was celebrated

Poor Richard, too obsessed by science to stop and realise that once worshippers stop attending churches will close or be converted into shops, restaurants or residential housing

 Christmas Past

The birth of Jesus was the true meaning of Christmas, for without His birth, we would all be without hope, without freedom from the slavery of sin

Let all those who have chosen by God to worship Him with all their hearts and not as the world has chosen, to celebrate “reason for the season” While encouraging inclusion for everything except Christianity and preaching salvation or even reading the Bible out loud

Patience VS Forbearance

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Gowth

Both are fruits of the spirit, I must admit, I thought they were different

It turns out they are both part of the same process. Patience is the starting point, whereas forbearance is the ongoing process of patience, which can span even years and with God, thousands upon many thousands of years

To be honest, I have found being patient throughout even one day with my epileptic wife, I struggle due to the side effects of assorted medications

Which, all too often, can alter her mood from a happy and contented lady into a moody and bored person who finds it difficult to reject thoughts that depress her

I am grateful to God who bestowed on me patience, which is blossoming into forbearance and the understanding of its fullness.

I say these words not to boast, for if it were not for the grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus, I would have continued to be hopelessly lost in my sin with no hope

It is with a grateful heart that I continue to praise God every day He gives me breath

Idle Hands

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“The Devil finds work for idle hands to do”

A well-known phrase featured in Proverbs 16:27

It seems the enemy knows our weaknesses. Mine was consuming lustful video after video

After being freed from that addiction, I promptly sorted out Christian videos

I considered it an improvement for a while, but all too soon, I became just as addicted with the unwelcome help of Google Analytics

Along with Facebook Feed, video recommendations are selected, ranked and delivered to you by an AI system

Between the two powerful platforms, I now realise I have fallen for the enemy trap of false work, which has distracted me from writing posts and reading the Bible every day

I therefore ask for prayers, as I will ask for forgiveness

That I will regain control of the use of my time for the glory of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

The depth of darkness

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Inspired by a YouTube Praise video

I love to watch praise videos, mostly through YouTube. In recent years, Facebook has also allowed videos to be uploaded, even those that have been linked from YouTube

Having watched and been uplifted by many praise videos, I quite often scroll down to read the comments, while all Christians offer their own praise and thanks to the person who uploaded the video

There always seem to be other viewers (non-believers) who delight in criticising all too often

There are many forms of darkness, not just the darkness of the night. One of the deepest darkness is depression, which wraps itself around your life force and sucks all the joy out of your very being

Dragging you downwards into a spiral of self-criticism, self-doubt, along with self-pity, which uses our own weaknesses against us

Clouding our vision so we begin only seeing the lies of the darkness, exaggerating even our smallest faults and allowing them to grow into nightmarish monsters

 Much of the darkness inflicted upon us can be beyond our control, while some are self-inflicted because they offer false pleasure but become easily addictive

The enemy weaves such a web of deceit all around us; we can so easily become trapped as a fly stuck fast upon its sticky strands. We soon grow weaker through the struggle and succumb to its power over us until we accept the situation as a normal part of life

Since the fall, we seem to have bodies and minds that are far short of what they should be, and our children become affected by the sins of their parents

Many modern people view the commandments as outdated and even unfair, considering it unreasonable for God to expect us to adhere to all of His strict rules.

Uncontrollable anger rages – a sense of hopelessness, self-doubt, self-pity, and perhaps the worst of all, self-indulgence

This we shrug off with excuses, “I’m only human”, “You have to have some pleasure in life”

But deep in our hearts, we know that self-indulgence will lead us into more self-centred behaviour, blocking out our ability to see our desperate need for salvation before we can help others

Whatever darkness threatens to engulf us, let us pierce with praise, that we be freed from the enemy’s clutches, and help and pray for each other to become free through the grace of Jesus Christ

Dreams – Hidden Meanings

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Deams with meanings

Within the Bible Joseph not only had many dreams in his lifetime, but he could interpret them.

But his brothers did not welcome this ability when Joseph spoke about a dream about his brother in which even the stars and moon bow before him!

They became angry with him suggesting that his older brothers would bow before him!

Since Joseph was the beloved son of his father, Israel, gave Joseph the famous robe of many colours

They became jealous and angrier of Joseph which led them to take harsh action

him into slavery to a travelling caravan of Ishmaelites who took him to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard

King James Bible Joel 2:28

And it shall come to pass afterwards, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

As to this present day, the Bible says “Old men will dream dreams”

As an old man of 76 years, my dreams were more warnings, as the days before I had indulged in partaking in a drink (not alcohol) but one I had given up with God’s help

The following two nights I saw myself wanting to indulge in a brief sexual act that I had not even thought about in months

The second dream was much more explicit and graphic, I awoke and knew that I had opened up a doorway for the enemy to tempt me back to my old ways

I therefore resolved once again never to allow myself to indulge, by not buying that drink

Forgive me Lord, for my weakness

The Enemy Attacks

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Prowling Lion

Many Christian videos I have watched talk about the enemy no longer hiding, but boldly is operating in plain view

This seems to be the true situation of the world and modern-day life

My confession

Even though I truly believe I have been forgiven my sins and been born again, I came across a video of an old TV programme from the past. I was caught off guard with curiosity allowing it to rekindle lust enough to entice me to watch to the end in the hope of glimpsing the actress of the show wearing a skimpy costume featured on the video thumbnail

Yet I had previously said I never wanted to go back into my dark past sins

I had made it far too easy for the enemy.to attack by failing to read God’s Holy word

Which I did by allowing daily chores to detain me from reading Bible passages first

The side effect of allowing my guard down in the way I did, also allowed other attacks by the enemy who introduced true-life videos of people who committed evil acts upon their children

The video drew me with curiosity once again, causing me to judge the two ladies featured as the guilty abusers, but I quickly realised that by doing so I was condemning myself

In that moment I knew that was the whole point of this video, as the scriptures say” Judge not, lest you are judged by the same measure”

I was compelled to confess both of my sins and ask for forgiveness

Anger the Contagious Fire

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AI Created "Anger the Contagious Fire"

I write this post not to boast, but to expose my weakness and to hopefully help others who may also struggle with the flame of Anger

I have noticed lately that although the amount of patience has increased due to the number of problems that require patience

Someone else’s frustration has led to anger, leapt across even the smallest spark that ignited to become anger the contagious fire, without realising how quickly and easily it spreads

At one time my own vanity sparked anger, in my arrogates I thought my gift would please who I had bought it for, but when it was rejected

My anger was swiftly ignited and I reacted with uncalled-for insults, and justly reprimanded

Which led me to humbly apologise for my outburst of self-righteous behaviour

Since then, several times I have struggled not to allow someone else anger to ignite the consuming fire of anger, instead allow love and patience to snuff out any spark

Help me Lord to make a difference!

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New Creation

Even as You have forgiven me and made me a new creation

You have chosen to give me a desire to serve you within my heart

I continue to read Your Holy Word, even though I struggle and stumble

Although many have been presented to my eyes spreading false teachings

Your word is consent and clear shaking me from idle deceptive words that would tempt me back into that darkness which so enslaved my life before You saved me.

In that hellish place of self-torment where I was so unclean in thought and deeds  

Yet You Oh Lord who chose to set me free, for I am willing to do Your bidding, even if others threatened and killed me, for I would rather die than ever go back to that dark place

I will continue to praise You my Lord and serve You, without fear of what men may do

I no longer desire the things this world has to offer, for You my Lord are more than I will ever need

Amen

Creative Imagination

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Creative Imagination, Curse or a Blessing?

Creative Imagination

One of the distinctive features of humans is their creativity, by the use of their imagination they can create great literature or compose moving compositions that inspire and uplift our spirits

Not forgetting those magnificent works of art, timeless masterpieces that live on in our lives long after the artist who produced them passed away

With such a wonderful gift of creativity, it is sad that there have been those who chose to create weapons of destruction and used their imagination to stir emotions of envy and hate    

Creating ugliness instead of beauty – wonder and joy

Even the great artists and composers must have struggled with their creative nature, for some became tormented by the very passion that drove them towards greatness

While others succumbed to their emotions and allowed their imagination to conjure up demanding personal demons that soon ruled over their lives

Twisting what should have been a joyful experience of love, into a bitter-tasting pill to swallow, with such power over them they abruptly ended their life

They could not bear such torment, and many lived in poverty only to become famous after their death – sadly never knowing the fame and fortune that might have been theirs

Vincent Van Gogh was such an artist, although he didn’t intend to become an artist, he originally went into the life of a clergy.

Several years later he became a creative artist, but sadly remained poor, only reaching the lofty status of a famous artist after his death

Lies and More Lies

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First the author of lies and how he deceived Eve

Satan’s first lie “Did God really say you could not eat fruit from any tree in the garden?

“You will not surely die,” the serpent told her.

“For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

More recent lies

Then there are lies told through the internet

“The Bible is a bunch of fairy stories”

Next: The all-time favourite with atheists “There is No God”

 “Jesus is Gay” This lie started circulating many years ago, even before Woke gained attention

“Jesus was gay” Because all of his followers were men” Recently a TikTok user added that phrase to his awful video, attempting to promote the Gay LBQ+ community

(That is Not true Jesus also had a large number of female disciples

Mary Magdalene a former prostitute became a follower

Mary the mother of Jesus travelled with Him throughout His short ministry

Yet more lies

Jesus is portrayed as Korean, a Black man with dreadlocks, as an Indigenous Māori with a full-faced tattoo The most bizarre lie is that Jesus was portrayed as a dark-skinned Woman!

Jesus was just a prophet and He did not die on the cross, it was a substituted man who died in place of Jesus 

Jesus was just another dying and risen God (The theme line of the atheist film

Where they listed other mythical gods from other religions

They claimed all these gods were born of a virgin

In short, this film claimed Jesus was a carbon copy of all these gods

(Whereas not one of the claims had any truth in them)

Woke based lies

“I am my own god I create my own reality”

“God made me this way” based on a excuse for homosexuals & lesbians