Translated by Google
PRAYER
“Living faith is impossible without prayer. It must be admitted that
the idea of prayer of modern people does not express its essence.
People think that you need to pray on holidays, and even in the
morning, in the evening, before meals, after meals; and they do not
know that prayer can be unquenchable, eternally warming in the depths
of a human being. Prayer has countless forms and contents, for it
accompanies a believer throughout his life.”
One day, I got into a conversation at a bus stop with an elderly
woman. We talked about our problems and also about our relationship
with God. She was somehow very calm, despite her worries of those
days. I have often noticed this state in elderly, deeply religious
people. Out of our entire conversation, I was surprised by her story
about her evening prayer. The fact is that she did not have a prayer
book, a collection of prayers, and she was worried about how correct
her appeal to God in prayer was.
Regretting this, she told me that she simply talks with God as with
the One who is very close to her, in whom she loves and in whom she
hopes. And I understood her that at this time nothing else exists for
her, she only tells Him about her life and consults with Him about
everything that worries her, rushing to Him with all her thoughts with
hope and love. And her words flow easily, as if someone is helping her
with this about the entire past day and its worries. She told Him what
she managed to do and what didn’t turn out the way she wanted. And she
asked Him about this, knowing that God would answer her. And she will
wait for His answer and the help for which she asks Him. Her entire
conversation was intertwined with words of gratitude and sometimes
tears. This was her prayer, which left in me the memory of her warmth
and deep trust in God. Our intimacy with God should never be
interrupted. We must ALWAYS REMEMBER that we are connected to God by
LOVE, His love for us and ours for Him.
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LOVE AND MUSIC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB7RHsDA1CQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZqGHTC2gbg
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HqmF-B2-3NA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tg9O_R5WHs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgxCWnLBOdU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PvVaYmjlk4
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=31I8RhR2a4M
---------------------------------
Should a husband fulfill his wife,s words?
Two interesting notes: At the beginning of the Bible it says that the
husband (Adam) fulfilled the words of his wife and ate the forbidden
fruit. Adam committed a sin and lost salvation, and in the end the
husband (Pilate) did not fulfill the words of his wife and also
committed a sin - he handed Christ over to execution. “As he sat in
the judgment seat, his wife sent him to say: “Do not harm the
Righteous One, for now I have suffered much for Him in a dream”
(Matthew 27:19).
Therefore, the head of the family must be guided by reason and make a
decision based on the advice of his wife, wisely. This is true? Yes,
this is true, because the head of the family, including for the wife,
according to the Bible, is the husband. The husband must understand
that if what the wife says is pleasing to the Lord, then it must be
done with gratitude for God and for the wife. But Pilate still
understood that Christ was from God and the advice from his wife was a
reminder to him to do what was pleasing to God. Eve, however, spoke,
unlike Pilate;s wife, what was displeasing to God. Yes, the wife is an
adviser. Sometimes this is a bad adviser, sometimes a good one. The
husband must take into account his wife’s words and make decisions. He
is responsible for these decisions. Consultation is necessary and
beneficial: “Discord comes from arrogance, but wisdom comes from those
who consult” (Proverbs 13:10).
------------------------------
The meaning of baptism, short text.
“Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his
ministry” (Luke 3:23)
“According to Jewish tradition, a man reaches responsibility and
spiritual maturity at age 30, and only at this age can he begin to
teach and preach. This means that in matters of faith, adult society
did not respect or listen to the words of a person under 30 years
of age. Thus, here too the Lord Jesus Christ demonstrates great
humility and waits for his 30th birthday to legally begin his public
ministry" https://dzen.ru/a/ZCPWaGzpbAqL
Christ performed baptism as a necessary rite for believers in
order to become priests of God for all people on earth. The Son
of God showed people, while in the human body, an EXAMPLE
of fulfilling baptism for SERVING believers to God and people in
their upcoming, everyday life. Thus, baptism is a NECESSARY
rite of dedication of a BELIEVER for Christian SERVICE to God
and people.
And if the Birth from Again can take place up to the age of 30,
then baptism is intended to take place at the age of thirty and
older, ACCORDING TO THE EXAMPLE OF Christ. Christ is an example
for believers in everything, including at the age of
baptism NOT earlier than THIRTY years. “Whoever says that he
abides in Him must walk as He walked” (1John 2:6).
The question of the Lord;s decision to be baptized at the age
of thirty remains OPEN and here;s why: “Whoever says he abides
in Him must DO as He DID” (1 John 2:6). Every believer who
decides to perform baptism must FIRST repent before God!
Only repentance before God must be performed by every believer.
Otherwise the baptism will not be true. CONFESSION of sins to people
and church ministers CANNOT BE CONFUSED with repentance.
Baptism is intended only for the believer;s ministry in his life with
people, only for the fulfillment of his upcoming priesthood. The
Apostle Peter admonishes Christians, saying: “build yourselves
into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood.” (1 Peter 2:5). The
priesthood designates a ministry for every believer. Repentance
and Birth again always occur at the same time. The Holy Spirit
carries out the Birth from above and participates in repentance,
helps the believer, but the beginning of repentance is carried out
by the believer himself. Baptism is also carried out by the Holy
Spirit, but only for those who have fulfilled repentance and
received the Birth from above.
Of course, ministry includes bringing the Word of God to people,
but not only, since our actions in life often tell people more than j
ust our explanation of Bible truths. Therefore, the age of the
believer who is baptized is of great importance when serving
people, so people trust more adult preachers of the Word of God.
Therefore, the question of the Lord’s decision to be baptized at
the age of thirty remains OPEN and here’s why: “Whoever says he abides
in Him must DO as He DID” (1 John 2:6).
------------------------------------
Why does God need people?
Why did God create people and why does God need people? Here is my
answer: FIRST reason LONELINESS is alien to God. The feeling of
loneliness is a very sad, bad state. Apparently, therefore, at the
beginning of all eternity, God created His Son and the Holy Spirit
through the separation of His essence. So God never had loneliness.
Later God created angels, and later the first people.
The SECOND reason is the joy of CREATIVITY. I realized this when I
worked as an engineer (designer).
THIRST for mutual love is the THIRD reason. If we love someone, we
always want to have love in return, that is, to be loved too. Mutual
love brings the highest happiness: both for God and for man. And all
this is inherent in God. Only people who love God, that is, those born
again, can be with God in eternity. The article “You must be born
again. The main commandment of God” speaks about this.
http://proza.ru/2022/11/07/276
Those who are born again receive the Holy Spirit from God into their
spirit, and therefore love. The Bible states that love is the Divine
state of man, the presence of God by His Spirit in us, the presence of
the Holy Spirit in man. “The love of God has been poured out into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (1 John 5:5).
The born again are children of God who love God and their love for God
is MUTUAL love for God, giving God joy and happiness.
--------------------------------------------
PARABLE
I would like to give you a human parable. This parable is about our
lamentation and grumbling: One man came to God with a complaint that
his cross, his fate, was too heavy...The Lord takes him to the barn,
opens the locks, and there is a huge number of crosses - very
different: metal, wooden, carved , big, small and says: “Choose which
one you like.” The man was delighted, chose for a long time, tried it
on, tried it for weight, and finally brought out the thinnest and
lightest one and joyfully shouted: “Here, this one, why didn’t you
give it to me right away?” To which the Lord replies: “So this is your
cross.” At first I was delighted by the beautiful parable, but upon
coming to my senses I immediately realized that this parable was about
my entire past life. And bitter memories came and engulfed me, from
which there was no escape and nowhere to hide...
-----------------------------------------
On the attitude of Christians towards non-believers and
people of other faiths
The Bible verse is very important for the relationship of Christians
with people: “Try have peace with everyone and holiness, without
which no one will see the Lord.” (Heb. 12:14). Two questions about
peace are addressed here: peace with everyone and peace with
God and what it is.
1) In the relationship of Christians to people non-believers
and people of other faiths should be guided by the words
Gentlemen. In Mark 9:40, the Lord says to the disciples:
the Lord tells the disciples, “For whoever is not against you
is for you.”
Any person who is not against me can treat me in two ways:
either he treats me friendly or indifferent. Both in this and in
Otherwise this person is not against me. He can be my friend
and comrade. People may not be close to each other, but they
are not enemies either.
2) For God, a person who don;t need God, cannot
be with God together. Jesus talks about this in The Gospel
of Luke (11-23) says: “Whoever is not with Me is against Me.”
That is, a person of any other faith is responsible for the
correct your choice in life before God. Moreover, we
understand that no one will be condemned without hearing
he Word of Salvation from God, including children from
abortions. Despite all the bad things that the media gives
to the people of the land, through them, through the mass
publication of Bible books, through missionaries of the Word Salvation
extends "to theends of the earth."
---------------------------------
God and fate
In one of the conversations about life, my reader asked me:
“According to my concepts, the years of life on Earth are
determined by Fate. “CAN a person decide for himself or at
someone else’s direction to live or die if the heart stops working?”
ANSWER: Only God can. “Are not two little birds sold for an assar?
And not one of them will fall to the ground without the will of your
Father; but even the hairs of your head are all numbered”(Matth10:29-30).
God knows everything, including the future of man according to His
Divinity and foreknowledge. No other DIVINE exists except God. The
word fate was invented by people when they could not understand the
reasons for what was happening in their lives.
Wikipedia: “Fate is the totality of all events and circumstances that
are predetermined, the predetermination of events, actions; fate, a
higher power that can be thought of as nature or a deity, rock, fate,
fortune,”
As I understand it, this word arose during the period of paganism,
when the sun was recognized as a deity, etc. Everyone who believes
in fate, by their concept, denies the existence of God the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit.
“The main features of Slavic paganism as a worldview are considered to
be the spiritualization of nature, cults of ancestors and supernatural
forces, the idea of the constant presence of the latter and their
participation in human life, developed lower mythology, the idea of the
ability to influence the state of affairs through primitive magic.
---------------------------------------
Foundation of the Christian Faith
When a person does not need God, then he cannot become a believer.
Believers build their relationship with God on the basis of love,
not self-interest. All believers were non-believersfor some
time, but became believers and changed their faith
towards God. If a person realizes that he has made a mistake
in his beliefs, then he should not be afraid to abandon them.
To say that a person changed his beliefs because of gain
when he became a believer is this is of course disgusting.
So, THOSE WHO NEED God become children of God.
This is understandable based on the earthly family, when
children love their father. Likewise, among Christians, faith
is not based on profit, but is the result of love for God.
-------------------------------
Reincarnation theory
Gennady: I once asked a follower of the theory of reincarnation, what
does the transmigration of souls give a person? He answered me:
perfection. I asked: How can you tell me that I was someone else?
He: According to individual memories: you accidentally hit your head
against the wall and start remembering whether this happened to you
somewhere in a past life.
Gennady: Yes, I hit myself somehow, but I
don’t remember anything like that in a past life, and I don’t remember
anything about this life, maybe I need to hit myself a few more times?
He: this is not given to everyone, but only to the gifted.
I realized that I was not one of the gifted, but still asked again: If
I do not have the memory of the entire past, and therefore the past
mind, then this speaks of the death of a person, but you assure that
the person continues to live. However, why does a person need to die
every time in order to become better? Maybe it would be better to
improve during life? Then may your God simply lengthen your life for
this. He: don’t do too much philosophy, remember more, maybe you’ll
remember something, not everyone is given this.
Gennady: then I have one more question for you. A person can turn into
an animal after death: a mosquito or a pig? He: yes, why not? Gennady:
Here is a man who was a professor during his lifetime, and then he was
reincarnated as a pig, and now he will receive more perfection?
He: maybe a person will correct his shortcomings during his life as a
pig.
Gennady: will being a pig help him do this? He: I don’t want to
talk with you, because your examples are somehow bad, since a
professor can become not only a pig, but also another animal, and he
can also remain a human.
Gennady: Thank you very much, I liked your last words, that the
professor may not be a pig and will remain a man. At this point we
parted.
---------------------------
Why did God give birth to the Son, but why did he not give birth to
the Holy Spirit?!
We have a misconception about the birth of the Son of God and the time
of His life in the unknown former eternity, and this happens to us
when we read the Gospel of John 3:16, where it is said that the Son of
God is the “only begotten” Son. Much, of course, is unattainable for
our understanding, but what is necessary for us to understand
everything contained in the Bible is explained by this word. And we
say that God has only one Son and that the Heavenly Father begat His
Son. The word BIRTH explains to people the relatedness with God, but
does not say at all that God gave birth to the Son like the birth of a
human woman.
It is difficult for people to understand how a father can give birth
to a child, since a woman-mother gives birth to children. The answer
to this is given to us by the Bible, its beginning, where it is said
that God created woman from the rib of a man. God took part of a man's
flesh and from that part he created another man. Nothing is impossible
with God, and therefore we can say that this part helped the creation,
since it contained the necessary data for this. God created His Son
from Himself. God the Son is a part separated by God. Likewise, the
Holy Spirit is a part separated by God from Himself. The essence of
Everyone has its own direction in being. But all Three are separate
Persons, united in Their actions according to the Will of the Heavenly
Father.
The Son of God and the Holy Spirit are each God in their essence, but
all creating according to the will of the Father. However, the Bible
does not say that God BEGOTTEN the Holy Spirit and here is why this is
so: God separated the Holy Spirit differently from the separation of
the Son.
The Son, upon separation from the Father, received His Body, Soul and
Spirit of God. Holy Spirit upon separation from the Father received
part of His body and part of His Soul, but God’s Spirit remained
common with the Father and the Holy Spirit, not separate. The Son of
God is completely separated from the Father, not only by Body and
Soul, but also by the Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit, as a Person, is known to us according to the
Scriptures by many of His actions, including these:
1) The Spirit intercedes for believers, demonstrating independent
activity, which means it thinks and has reason. Example: Rom.8:26,27.
2) The Spirit gives Gifts to believers (1 Cor. 12:11), “dividing as He
pleases,” that is, according to His MIND and WILL, which He has.
3) Has emotions, may be upset by our insults, and the Apostle calls us
not to do this (Eph. 4:30.
4) An unbeliever can reject the Spirit, resist Him (Acts 7:51) and
quench Him (1 Thess. 5:19). He is offended (Heb. 10:29). He teaches,
instructs, leads and directs, and is a COMFORTER for believers (John
chapter 16).
----------------------------------------
About loneliness and unrequited love.
I once wrote down some texts on this topic from the Internet, with
my comments. So, let's read their revelations to their loved ones:
1. “Mistakes? We've both done plenty of them. But, tell me, are there
really such mistakes that a truly loving heart cannot forgive?.. Soul.
I told you that everything I did for the two of us, I invested a piece
of my soul, energy and love. And this part remains with you. When you
left, it was as if you took with you a part of my soul, a part of my
heart, a part of me.
I have come across so many different life stories in books and in
life. So little time to live this life. I so want to be important,
needed, to give care, affection, tenderness and warmth to my only
loved one who will always be there and will never betray. And only
bewilderment about why suddenly this should end at the very moment
when it seems that I have found that very person... Believe me, I’m
not looking for a reason to hurt you. And if you made a decision, I
must respect it. But quite a lot of time has passed. And I just can’t
understand why the pain doesn’t subside...”
MY ANSWER: The pain will subside only in the upcoming meeting with HER
in eternity with God. Then only we, having freed ourselves from the
feelings and sensations of the previous physical body, will unite with
our loved ones in spirit, which will bring us more joy and will
eclipse previous experiences and their pain and previous feelings.
Love never ends, and therefore in eternity God has no unrequited love,
and for single human love there will be a continuation of it with God.
Only there, who did not respond to us in love, will love us, and it
simply cannot be otherwise.
2. “Loneliness is when you are alone. This does not necessarily mean
that there is no one nearby. It’s just that everything that happens
inside you is only yours, and for some reason you cannot or do not
want to share it with anyone. They say that a person comes into this
world and leaves it completely alone. But is it? There is always a lot
of medical staff in the maternity hospital. Throughout life, a person
is surrounded by many other people. And often a person also dies
surrounded by other people.
Still, is loneliness good or bad? Alone, you can take a break from the
hustle and bustle, think about your life, concentrate on reading or
studying something, meditate, dream.
So why do many people run away from loneliness? Because it creates a
feeling of lack of demand, uselessness, unimportance, unfulfillment,
isolation. And not everyone is able to overcome this feeling, because
a person is essentially a social being. And for those who are
accustomed to always being the center of attention, loneliness is
tantamount to death.
They say that a person gets used to absolutely everything. Is it
possible to get used to loneliness? You don't need to get used to it.
It needs to be ACCEPTED. Loneliness can be an important life stage, a
lesson, a challenge. No, not a punishment, but a break deliberately
given to a person so that he realizes what he has lived through,
assimilates the experience, turning it into wisdom, and prepares for
the next step of his destiny. And everyone has their own period.
Someone has a day, someone has a life...
It seems to us that there are people who never experience loneliness.
Maybe. But we don’t know what experience they went through. Perhaps
they have already learned their lessons and it is time for them to
enjoy life. Or maybe they are only joyful on the outside when they are
with friends and family, but inside there is emptiness...
We often say that we feel lonely when a loved one passes away. We
close ourselves off and hide all our thoughts and feelings, not
believing that there will be someone who wants to share them with us.
But is it? Perhaps we are replacing concepts, masking our own fear,
shame, dissatisfaction, disappointment, jealousy, pain with
loneliness... After all, life goes on and it is beautiful! And all the
problems are only within us...”
MY ANSWER: The worst, most difficult loneliness is when you want to
talk at least a little with someone, even about nothing, but there is
no opportunity for this, but even then loneliness is not scary if God
is with you. “The Lord is with you when you are with Him; and if you
seek Him, He will be found by you; if you forsake Him, He will forsake
you” (2 Chronicles 15:2). If a person believes God and unites with God
through His Calvary and His suffering, and understands his guilt
before God in them, then the person’s heart will be kindled with love
for Christ. And the person who was previously far from God will begin
to talk to God about his life and about all the painful things. And
THEN a person will begin to receive answers to his questions and
requests, and then the loneliness of a person will end.
3. I found “my” letter on the Internet, not written by me. Its title
is: “No one can forbid loving!” I liked this letter, although it was
written by a person I didn’t know, to a woman I didn’t know, and I
wrote it down and corrected it a little, surprised that loving people
have so much in common.
“You know, I can be strong! I don’t have to write or call... I finally
did it! If only you knew what it costs me... Now, remembering you, I
came to that same place again. This is it in the photo. Did you find
out? What does it mean to me? Although, I still don’t know if you
loved me. What could be more beautiful than a spring evening with your
beloved! But you're out there somewhere. And I'm here. They say you
need to learn to let go.
And this morning I went to the area where you lived before. Streets,
market, shops. It's like everything is exactly the same. And as if it
was a thousand years ago... But I loved you and love you! He loved as
best he could. I've been through a lot with you. It’s as if you have
become a part of me, my heart. And you know, no one can stop me from
loving you! Love is an amazing feeling! And it defies instructions.
And even if you are not with me now, I still love you and look forward
to meeting you!
How long will this last? I don't know. There has been a lot of joy and
pain in my life. People, events, numbers, names came and went. But it
was you who became the one that is very difficult for me to let go. I
don’t want you to “pass” like all other events that remain only in
memories... And let it be as it should be! Today my heart is filled
with love for you. And I'm happy!
MY ANSWER: People, take care of your love for the person you have
chosen in your entire life, with whom you formed a family. And then,
even when he is no longer on earth, your love will not stop and will
always warm you, but not only with memories of the past, but also with
thoughts and feelings in life together until the upcoming meeting now
and in the future https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=8Tg9O_R5WHs James
Last - The Lonely Shepherd.
Äæåéìñ Ëàñò--Îäèíîêèé ïàñòóõ. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tg9O_R5WHs
-------------------------------------------------------
Old lady and old man. The secret to a happy marriage
Taken from here http://emosurf.com/post/1258
The husband and wife lived a long, happy married life. They shared all their secrets and experiences with each other, but there was only one thing the wife asked them never to do: not to look into the old shoe box that she kept on the top shelf of her closet. The husband never asked about the contents of the box. He thought there was something personal, feminine...
But one day the old lady fell ill. When she felt really bad, she asked her husband to bring that box to her in the hospital - it was time to reveal the secret. The old man came home, found the box and brought it. Inside were two knitted dolls and a huge pile of money - 95 thousand dollars!
- Where is this from? How? - asked the dumbfounded old man. “Before we got married,” said the old lady, “my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage: every time I get angry with you, you need to sit down silently and crochet one doll.” The old man was happy - there were only two dolls in the box. In 50 years of marriage, she only got angry on his behalf twice! He hugged his wife and kissed her.
- But where did the money come from? - he was perplexed.- Oh, this? - she answered with a smile. — This is the money I earned from selling dolls.
And this is my answer: Thank you for the parable! Of course, forgiveness is very important, but it cannot be eternal without love. Only love, that is, the presence of the Spirit of God in a person, can make forgiveness eternal. A marriage can only become happy when the marriage was concluded by three people: HE, SHE AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD that settled in them.
---------------------------------------
What is PEACE with God!?
Once, when I was standing in line and approaching the ticket office at
the railway station, one woman standing next to the ticket office,
having heard the cashier’s answer about the lack of empty seats on her
train, began to be loudly indignant to the entire waiting room,
continuously uttering curses at everything and everyone station
employees, accusing them of all the sins that they might have
committed, as well as those to which they had nothing to do. When she
moved away from the cash register and approached me, I saw a chain
with a cross on her neck and said to her quietly: “Ask God to help
you!” “It does not help!” she answered loudly, waving her hand.
“Do you have peace with God?” I asked her. And here something
unexpected happened to me, because the woman stopped, looked at me
carefully and quietly asked: “What is peace with God?”
At this time, the person standing in front of me moved away from the
cash register and people from the queue began to loudly say to me:
“Man, you are holding up the queue! Will you take a ticket or not? If
not, then move away from the cash register!” I had no time for
answers, since I had already told the cashier the name of my train,
which I had to leave on that same day, but the cashier’s answer
stunned me: “There are no free seats on your train for today.” I turn
to walk away from the cash register, saying to the cashier: “Too bad!”
And I hear, half-turned from the cash register, the words of the
cashier: “Citizen, wait! You can take a transfer: by train to
Rtishchevo station, and there you will change to another train, which
also goes to your city, and I will reserve a ticket for you for this
train.”
“I agree, thank you,” I exclaimed, and the words flashed through my
mind and thoughts: “Lord, I dreamed about this, to travel by train
through these places dear to me since childhood and remember all my
distant past connected with it.” . People say: “if there was no
happiness, but misfortune would help,” but now I already know that
misfortune cannot help, but only God! The woman who asked me had
already disappeared, but her words sank into my soul: “What is peace
with God?”
Years passed and, returning to these words, I found in the Bible the
answer to how to have peace with God: “Therefore, having been
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ... through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Rom.
5:1,2,11). We receive reconciliation with God ONLY through Jesus
Christ and nothing else!
What kind of faith should we have in Christ? Only with love for Him:
“faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6) “If you love Me, keep My
commandments”; “If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My
love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His
love” (John 14:15; 15:10); “and whatever we ask, we receive from Him,
because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His
sight.”; “And whoever keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in
him” (1John 3:22,24)
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About intimate relationships according to the Bible. Part 1
All this is very important, since love and passion largely determine many of a person’s actions in his life. Feelings are all temporary, but love is permanent, both with God and with man. It can never disappear, and many sincerely believing people know this from their own lives.
Love CANNOT BE CONFUSED with physical attraction between a man and a woman, when they like each other and there is a desire to have physical, bodily intimacy, which is very important for married life and this is laid down by God in every person for the birth of offspring. For this, God gave people genitals at their creation, and after the sin of Adam and Eve, God gave them an attraction to each other, but especially noted the woman: “He said to the woman: I will multiply your sorrow in your pregnancy; in pain you will give birth to children; and your attraction will be for your husband, and he will rule over you (Genesis 3:16). However, for living together, for the normal existence of a normal, happy family, not only joint PHYSICAL attraction is necessary, but it is very important to have LOVE, which you must have in themselves BEFORE the marriage.
If one of the spouses marries (gets married) only on the basis of physical attraction, but without the presence of love, then at the very first betrayal of his wife, the husband may say to himself, so what did I find special in my wife? She is the same ordinary woman. The wife may think and tell herself the same thing. And this is one of the reasons for many divorces of married couples. From the Internet and from our own lives, we know examples of married elderly couples, when the spouses love each other until the end of their lives, although they can no longer have sex. So love can exist without sex.”
I am publishing an important article from the Internet on this topic:
“Attraction is selfish, love is not. When you are in love, it seems as if you are ready to give everything and more, just to make your lover happy. You don't keep score, you don't try to find out who is right and who is wrong. Don't fight over whose turn it is to do the dishes. Don't try to manipulate to get your way. You're just genuinely happy.
Love liberates, passion keeps you in suspense. Mutual love allows your true self to manifest itself fully, without fear of evaluation, condemnation, or criticism. The ability of loving partners to accept each other as they are inspires, helps to dream, follow dreams and change their lives.
Love is forever, attraction passes quite quickly. True love can overcome any obstacles and does not fade away over time.
Agree, if you were once truly in love, this person and warm memories of him will forever remain in your heart.
But if people are connected by passion, then after breaking up they are more likely to feel angry, envy or a sense of betrayal, depending on the circumstances. Because passion is always based on selfishness and possessiveness.
Attraction blinds, love opens your eyes. There are even expressions: “passion clouds the eyes.” Those who have experienced this storm of feelings at least once will confirm: you stop noticing everything around you except the object of affection. You literally live and breathe only him alone.
Love, on the contrary, inspires and makes you notice many things in life. And mostly good things: clear skies, bright sunshine, smiles from passers-by.
Love is responsible, attraction is not. When you are in love, you value your loved one, worry about their condition and try to protect them from all possible dangers. And therefore you monitor your words and actions very carefully, assessing the consequences. Well, passion has one motive - to possess the beloved undividedly, to spend as much time with him as possible, without particularly taking into account his plans.
Love is aimed at the future, passion is here and now. People in love feel so good together that they dream of spending their whole lives together. They make plans, discuss details, fantasize and look for new furniture for the shared apartment.
NOTE G.G.: Love is from God and is born in a person by receiving the Holy Spirit. Passion is a derived feeling FROM the human BODY. The Bible states that love is the Divine state of man, the presence of God by His Spirit in us, the presence of the Holy Spirit in man. “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (1 John 5:5). God has no beginning and no end, and love is infinite and has never had a beginning and will never have an end. There is no love without God. Love is not a feeling, but it evokes in a loving person, unlike passion, many different feelings.
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About intimate relationships according to the Bible. Part 2
It is impossible to live without love with God and with people in eternity. Many people know that it is difficult to live together without love even for one day. But you can live with someone who doesn’t love you this day, but for this you need to have patience. You can live even 10, 20, 50 years, but it is impossible to live in eternity with God and with people without love.
We must also understand: can God be with a person in eternity if a person rejects and does not love God. All this gives us the opportunity to understand the importance of the existence of love among people. But what is passion for?
Passion is born on the basis of the ATTRACTION that God imparted to man after the fall of Adam and Eve, which contributes to the reproduction of a large number of people pleasing to God.
“Wikipedia: Attraction is a mental state of a person. This is the desire to satisfy an unconscious or weakly conscious need and therefore the primary source of any mental movement and behavior. Sexual desire is a complex of desires and associated experiences, which is based on biological instincts aimed at reproducing life.
Passion is a strong human feeling that dominates others, characterized by a strong attraction to the object of passion. Objects of passion can be both people and objects or ideas. Most often, the word “passion” is used to denote a high degree of sexual arousal combined with emotional attraction to a partner.”
Passion has nothing to do with love, since love is not a feeling, but is the presence of God's Spirit in a person. The optimal solution for a married couple to have love and passion together. Passion is associated with feelings of upcoming sensations. Love is not a feeling.
Passion is short-lived, maybe for one night, maybe a little more, but the day will come when one (one) will say, what exactly did I find in her (him), and therefore all relationships between partners end and often develop into hatred, and there will always be reasons for this.
A good example in the Bible is Amnon's relationship with Famar 2Kings13. My opinion is that Amnon had no love for. There was a passion of intense carnal attraction based on her attractiveness. Love never turns into hatred, but passion very often does. And therefore Amnon had no love for Famar. There was a passion of strong carnal attraction based on her attractiveness, as well as a warming up in the thoughts of the imagination of sexual possession of her body, which later turned into hatred.
Here are some more very interesting verses from the Bible (Genesis, chapters 39-40-41), which tells about the passion of a woman, the wife of a courtier, for her husband’s servant Joseph, who was “handsome in stature and handsome in face,” when this woman, MADNESS with passion for Joseph commits meanness for the death of Joseph because of his disagreement to enter into sexual relations with her. So passion can become the source and reason for a person to commit meanness.
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What forbidden fruit did Eve eat in Paradise and what does a bitten apple mean?
Apparently, the Lord did not specifically name the fruit of the tree, since it does not have much meaning. However, many people, without knowing the Bible, believe that apples grew on the tree. The tree was intended mainly for salvation, but before salvation it was also intended to remind the first people of the danger of disobeying God, the danger of not believing His Words, since this would bring death to them.
The tree was a sign that they always saw in paradise, warning about the death of refusing to obey God (Genesis 2:16,17): “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou shalt eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat, for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt die.”
Salvation lay in the fact that the tree, through its fruit, gave (for people who followed after committing a sin) the opportunity to make the right choice between good and evil, and for those who wanted to do good to become with God. This made it possible to identify His future Children (believers) for God, as well as to weed out those who would commit evil (evil) that is displeasing to God.
As soon as people, after their creation, committed a sin (did not believe God), the knowledge of good and evil would immediately be inherent in their essence. In addition, after committing the first sin, Adam and Eve also received a conscience, but this was already a consequence of their fall and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil had nothing to do with it.
So: “Let us hear the essence of everything: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is all for man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Unfortunately, not everyone understands this. Sometimes you can see a bitten apple on a computer or other company product.
Some people claim that this is a symbol of knowledge. However, believers know that the tree gave only the knowledge of good and evil and did not give any other knowledge, and therefore a bitten apple is a SYMBOL ONLY OF SIN.
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Happiness, what is this?!
“The horrors rushed towards me; My greatness was scattered like the wind, and my happiness was carried away like a cloud" (Job 30:15).
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Yes, happiness is not permanent for everyone. Adam and Eve, during the Fall, lost their happiness of being with God in Paradise, in which they lived happily. But here's an interesting question: did they know about it, that their life was happy during that period? Of course not, because they didn’t know what happiness was then. It turns out that in order to understand that such happiness one must experience the misfortune that they soon experienced after committing a sin.
For a normal, healthy person, the presence of air in which he is always located does not bring happiness from this person until a disease of his lungs, heart or something else arises. But when a person begins to choke from lack of air in the body, a breath of clean air makes him happy and joyful. Happiness is what we lack and we receive it, recognizing its absence as unsatisfactory or even dangerous for us.
In eternity with God there will be no unhappy people, and they, unlike Adam and Eve, will already know what misfortunes are from their past life. They will feel the joy of their salvation and eternal presence with God and will receive complete happiness.
Joy is the sister of happiness. They are always together, where there is joy, there is happiness. Changes will occur through the perfection of spirit, soul and body in people. Their needs will change, which will be satisfied in the process of their creativity, which will lead to new joys and happiness in their lives.
The entire infinity of people’s existence with God will become the infinity of their finding happiness. Real, complete happiness can only be with God in His eternity, in contrast to the short-term happiness of people on earth, when they know that at the end of their lives they must find death, and during life they find sorrows and misfortunes, illnesses, betrayals and much more, including worries about your children and loved ones.
While living on earth, people understand happiness in different ways, here are two examples.
1) Two people decided to gain their wealth by dishonest means, and to do this they robbed a bank and killed one of the guards and wounded the other. After that, hiding from persecution, they arrived at their hideout, where, sitting at a table with a bottle of wine and a snack, while talking about what had happened, they were overcome by the joy and joy of a successful robbery. “Well, our luck has befallen us!” says one to the other. “Yes (says another), we are still happy!” The fact that they killed a man who quite possibly still had a wife and small children - all this turned out to be insignificant for them compared to the bag of money lying next to them.
2) Here's another example. Once, I casually asked an acquaintance: “What is happiness for you?” His answer was simple, without any philosophy: “Happiness is when I go home after work, where my children and wife are waiting for me, who love me and are always ready to share with me my failures, grief and joy in life.” The understanding of happiness in these two examples turned out to be different. What do you think, reader, what is happiness for us in our life on earth?
Once, I was asked the following question: is it possible for a lonely person to be happy? My answer was: “It’s possible, but only under one condition: you must have love for people, have God in you. God is love and he who is in love has DIVINE in himself, has a particle of God in himself, and this makes us happy. Happiness is real only when we share it with other people, but special joy always comes to a person when he makes a loved one happy!”
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The meaning of people's lives. Short article
According to the philosophy of human life, the meaning of life is a philosophical and spiritual problem related to knowledge of the ultimate purpose of existence, its PURPOSE as a biological species, as well as as an individual, one of the basic ideological concepts that is of great importance for the formation of the spiritual and moral image of an individual. In this case, it is implied the need to understand what is the purpose of life, that is, why does a person need to live?
Meaning is associated with purpose, and is a consequence of an external cause - a phenomenon that is primary and intentional. So, before a person begins to do something, he determines the meaning of it in his head. When a person in his practice encounters some phenomena and objects through perception and sensations, then with his mind he comprehends the meaning of their existence, although this meaning was not determined by him.
Is it possible for a person to know why he lives on Earth? When an artist or designer just starts working on his future creation, he first makes sketches and draws up a general drawing. And to a stranger who sees this, much will be unclear: what it will be and what it is for. That is, creation is always secondary and determined by the CREATOR.
Why we live on Earth, only the one who created us knows, only God knows. And we can only get an answer to our question from God. The Bible is a book from God. In the Bible, the Apostle James, addressing the first Christians in Israel, speaks of their future on earth and in eternity, this is the meaning of people’s lives. “When God desired begot us by the word of truth, that we might be some firstfruits of His creatures” (James 1:18).
The meaning of people's lives on earth: to find KINSHIP with God, which gives them a joint existence with God in eternity to fulfill the plans of God, which in their life, being on earth, cannot be understood. But eternal life is only a consequence of this relationship. Kinship with God is achieved by the communion of the Holy Spirit, which every person can receive through faith and love for the Son of God Jesus Christ. One must not confuse the meaning of a person’s life, that is, why he should live, with how he should live: love children, do good to people and benefit them in his work and in his creativity for them, and much more.
The meaning of life cannot be for those people who do not have a future (eternal life). Non-believing people do not have the meaning of life and cannot explain it. The meaning of people's lives is connected only with the presence of a FUTURE for them. There cannot be a meaning to life for people whose life is a short time on earth and their life is aimed at the conditions of their existence, survival, although at the same time they demonstrate creativity in technology, art, science, in understanding the world and after all this die.
If people's lives are meaningless, that is, stupid, then why do they need to live on earth? Is it good to continue a stupid life? Reasoning, we come to the conclusion that life without God has no meaning. It is meaningless, that is, stupid and inappropriate. Only believers have the meaning of life and realize this meaning in their lives on earth and in eternity. But on earth this is just the beginning. The purpose of people's lives on earth: gaining faith and love for God and love for each other. The purpose of life in eternity will be revealed to people after their resurrection.
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My short confession from the past
Approaching the end of my life, I realize with all my being that I lived and live in a completely different world, that there is another world for which I am destined. It was as if I got off the train at a different station to which someone gave me a ticket, and for some reason I made a mistake. Where I should be everything is real, but here everything is temporary, everything flew by like a dream. Why was I wrong and who is to blame? Is it possible to correct my mistake and get a ticket to my station? It turned out that this became impossible for me, since the ticket was given to me by the One Whom I don’t remember and don’t know how to find Him. He gave me a ticket to the city of love and happiness, but I made a mistake, being on the train of my life and, forgetting and confusing everything, got off at another station, ending up in a city alien to me.
Then I began to think about my life, about the meaning of life. I realized that it cannot be that in the infinity of everything, only man and his mind exist, as the pinnacle of everything rational. And if this is so, then can we think that there cannot be a more majestic mind than the human one, and that this mind can create everything that the human mind is not only capable of creating, but is even inaccessible to understanding? And this mind may be beyond the bounds of our infinite universe, the infinity of which a person determines only by his own parameters accessible to him.
If you are an unbeliever and read my book, then in it you will not find evidence of the existence of God. Believers do not engage in any scientific search for evidence of the existence of God, although they have evidence in their personal lives. We need to understand this simple truth. Truth is not something that only you have come to know. If a person has not known something, for example a newborn child, this does not mean that there is no truth outside his world. One can come to the knowledge of God only through the heart, but not through the mind, although faith in God cannot be considered unreasonable, just like any faith, because every faith begins with some really existing starting points.
There is no contradiction here, it’s just not available to everyone yet. The path to God for a person lies through love for people. I used to think that I could find the main truth in a person’s life through knowledge, through reading the books of great writers. I’ll open this book and find the truth. Even reading the Bible did not give me anything I did not understand the truth, because it was not revealed to me. ONLY those who need Him become with God. As believers told me later, when I complained that I became a believer late: EVERYTHING HAS ITS TIME!!! May God grant that this time comes sooner for you!
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Causes and sources of evil
When God created the first people, He did not protect them from the devil, from evil, knowing that they would commit sin, giving them freedom to choose their actions. Without freedom of choice, a person would be just a robot, and robots cannot receive love in themselves. Without love, it is impossible for a person to be with God and people in eternity. From the order in which a person commits sin, it is clear that sin was preceded by temptation, but sin did not arise from temptation, but from CONSENT to fulfill what was desired (to fulfill temptation).
The main condition for the survival and existence of any living organism is actions aimed at satisfying its needs at the expense of the world around it, regardless of whether this will harm everything else and other living organisms or not. So one growing plant covers another from the sun, not caring that it may die. This is EGOISM, which is also inherent in people! The source of evil according to the survival program that God gave to people is egoism, when a person puts himself, his desires first and this harms another person. But this is evil. That is, the source of evil is egoism. The creation of man (or another living organism) is impossible without man producing evil. Can we conclude from this that God did not need to create all living things? Of course, such a conclusion would be wrong.
Evil is a consequence of the process of human life, i.e. it is a necessary accompanying action in the implementation of the program-embedded goal of survival for both humans and animals and plants. Any of their actions becomes evil when it is aimed, in addition to its own satisfaction, at violating the conditions of survival of another person (living organism). Therefore, evil, as a necessary consequence of life, is realized only by humans (living organisms) and, in order to avoid it, humans must exercise their will, limiting themselves, when a person, when making a choice of one or another action, must refuse to commit evil.
After the fall, the human spirit began to contain the spirit of sin, the spirit of temptation, the fulfillment of not the Word of God, but of one's own whim - everything that pleases our body and our soul. This is also one of the reasons for man's evil. IT IS EASIER FOR A BELIEVER TO AVOID THIS EVIL. Evil is a consequence of immoral actions in a person's life. In order to avoid them, a person must show his will.
Adam and Eve received the knowledge of good and evil only after committing a sin - as a gift from God, as a guide for the life of all people. After the fall, the human spirit began to contain a sinful, devilish spirit, a spirit of temptation to fulfill not the Word of God, but one's own whim - everything that pleases our body and our soul. People became like animals, people became mortal.
The history of the emergence of conscience and morality of man begins with the acquisition of the concept of good and evil after the original sin was committed by Adam and Eve. Before committing sin, they did not need conscience in life, since they did not commit evil. The concept of good and evil is determined by God, His book the Bible for man and is the basis for the concept and formation of his morality.
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The Importance of Good in Human Life
“And those who have done good will come forth to the resurrection of life” (John 5:29). This is what Jesus Christ said, to whom the Heavenly Father gave judgment on all people (John 5:22). From this we can conclude that all those people who do good in their lives will find eternal life with God after death on earth.
The Bible warns people, narrating, “Therefore to him who knows to do good, and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). A relative once asked me: how do you divide people, by what main feature. And I told her that God divided people a long time ago at their creation: “And the Lord God said to Cain, Why are you angry? and why is your face fallen? If you do good, do you not lift up your face? But if you do not do good, sin lies at the door. he desires you, but you must rule over him” (Genesis 4:6,7). People must do good to each other in their life together and this divides them into two camps in life.
In the process of these actions, the person himself changes, only good deeds can bring us closer to each other and at the same time we open ourselves and affirm ourselves in the one to whom we do good, and the one who receives good begins to open up to us and draw closer to us.
To do good means to strive to be like God, to strive to find His righteousness. Therefore, the Bible tells every person: "Whoever does good is of God"(3John 11). Understanding how important it is to do good for people, we can say that a person who does good in his life changes himself so much that he becomes close to God, and this is possible only when his human spirit, passed on to him from God.
The sources of doing good can be different. It is one thing when good is done with a sincere desire, with our inner need to do something necessary and good for people. In this case, the source of good is love, which speaks of the belonging of the Divine in people. It is another thing when good is done in order to glorify oneself, to rise in the eyes of others or to receive some other benefit.
Person who does good because of his egoism and a person who does good out of love are completely different people. If a person does good out of love, then there is God in him. Such a person may be an unbeliever, but this is only a temporary state in his life, when his thoughts are sometimes contradictory, when his human spirit still tries to resist the filling Spirit of Love - God's Spirit, Who will definitely help him find faith sooner or later. And therefore find eternal life.
Doing good without meaning, based on love, doing good just like that, doing good out of vanity - has never corresponded to God, and believers should strive to be like God. "And if I give all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." (1 Cor.13:3)
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A little bit about former Russia 1000 years ago. Waltz dance and winter in the village.
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6yCFSAfMpc&ab_channel=0
2. https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=31I8RhR2a4M
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How to treat people.
At the beginning of the article I would like to publish one saying by Tatyana Osokina, the author of a number of Christian articles in Proza.ru and other websites on the Internet about the lives of people and their attitude towards each other:
“It seems to me that every person on earth carries light. People, like stars, shine in the darkness. Some are brighter, others are weaker. But if you look more closely, you can see that the light of some is an ordinary, primitive light. And often just stupid. It is boring and sad with such people. The light of others seems much brighter and more attractive, but if you get close to it, it can burn you. You need to keep this in mind!
But there is a light that, burning, illuminates and warms everyone around, without blinding or burning, which attracts not so much with its beauty and brightness, but with its soft warmth and kind radiance. Such a light draws you inexorably, and having lit a tiny spark in your own, you want to go and spread its wonderful mercy throughout the world!
Here is another answer from the Internet:
Once an old man was sitting at the city gates. A young man came up to him and asked: - I have never been here. Tell me, old man, what kind of people live in this city? The old man answered - What kind of people were in the city you left?
- They were selfish and evil people. However, that is precisely why I left there with joy.
- Here you will meet exactly the same, - the old man answered him. A little later, another man approached this place and asked the same question:
- I just arrived. Tell me, father, what kind of people live in this city?
The old man answered in kind:
- And tell me, son, how did the people behave in the city you came from?
- Oh, they were kind, hospitable and noble souls! I had many friends there, and it was not easy for me to part with them.
- You will find the same here, - answered the old man. A townsman, fiddling around with his cart, was watching this whole scene. He approached the old man and asked:
- Why did you tell one that scoundrels live here, and the other that good people live here?
- There are good people and bad people everywhere, - answered the old man. - Everyone just finds what they know how to look for.
Author unknown Chopin Melody of Paradise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZqGHTC2gbg
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Repentance is the culmination of a person's life
The Lord began his ministry to people with a sermon on repentance ""Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:14,15). So, repentance is the culmination of a person's entire life! And this is what this article is about.
The entire Bible is revealed to people who seek to know the Truth, by the call of God, knocking on their hearts, to open their hearts to God, believing in His Son, who accomplished the greatest feat in the history of people on earth on the Cross of Calvary for their salvation. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20). Man's repentance before God is the greatest joy for God and is the culmination, the summit, the highest degree of man's whole life.
This is what the Lord says about this in His parables: "Which of you, having a hundred sheep, if you lose one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders with joy and, coming home, calls his friends and neighbors and says to them: rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. I tell you, that in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need repentance."
And here in the next parable the Lord reveals to us the concept of repentance in the SALVATION of man: "He also said: a certain man had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. And the father divided the goods between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together, and went into a far country, and there squandered his goods, living dissolutely. And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need; and he went and joined himself to one of the inhabitants of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine; and he would have filled his belly with the husks that the swine ate, but no one gave him.
And when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and went unto his father. And while he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell upon his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. And the father said unto his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring forth the fatted calf, and kill it: and let us eat, and be merry. for this son of mine WAS DEAD AND IS ALIVE; he was lost and is found."
To accept God into your heart, and this means accepting His Spirit of God, you must see God with your spirit, that is, understand that He exists, and this can only be done by faith, only by FAITH do we open the FIRST lock in our heart. However, demons also know and believe that God exists. And therefore God cannot enter our heart if we do not have peace with God, and this is the SECOND lock, which we can open ONLY by repentance before God - the FIRST repentance, not the kind of repentance that believers perform for current sins that happen to believers in life unconsciously, but the FIRST, when we suddenly understand that we are guilty before God of not recognizing Him as our God, and this is our grave sin. Only by this repentance can we cleanse our heart for God.
All this, as about the Birth from above, is spoken of in the 3rd chapter of John: in order for the Spirit of God to enter our heart (verse #6), we must first cleanse it with repentance (verse #5), where water symbolizes our repentance! We can also understand all this using the example of a human family, when children reject their parents, refuse to recognize them as their fathers and mothers. And, unfortunately, there are many such examples in people's lives. So, in order to return to your parents, first of all, you must ask them for forgiveness and confess your guilt. The first step leads a person to gain faith in God. Faith in God gives birth to the knowledge of God in us and to worship His love for us: for me and for you. The emergence of a feeling of guilt before God gives birth to repentance in a person.
Consequently, the salvation that God promises him. Without repentance, a person cannot be a TRUE believer and does NOT have the right to be baptized. Only repentance together with love for God gives salvation to a person. To be with God, one must have PEACE with Him. Peace with God cannot come without repentance before God. This is the kind of repentance that God expects from a person.
Where should our faith in the Savior Jesus Christ begin? Christ began to speak about this immediately at the beginning of His ministry to people after baptism, having experienced human temptations: “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:14,15) The two words of the Lord REPENT and SALVATION stand together (the Gospel is the message of salvation). With these words to people, Christ began His ministry on earth. Repentance before God gives the believer peace with God and ONLY through repentance can the believer become Born of God, receiving the Spirit of God into his spirit.
Consequently, the salvation that God promises him. Without repentance, a person cannot be a TRUE believer and does NOT have the right to be baptized. Only repentance together with love for God gives salvation to a person. To be with God, one must have PEACE with Him. Peace with God cannot come without repentance before God. This is the kind of repentance that God expects from a person.
Where should our faith in the Savior Jesus Christ begin? Christ began to speak about this immediately at the beginning of His ministry to people after baptism, having experienced human temptations: “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:14,15) The two words of the Lord REPENT and SALVATION stand together (the Gospel is the message of salvation). With these words to people, Christ began His ministry on earth. Repentance before God gives the believer peace with God and ONLY through repentance can the believer become Born of God, receiving the Spirit of God into his spirit.
Repent from the Greek translation means to change and alter your opinion about something. In the Bible, the word "repent" means to change the concept of the meaning of your life, to change your attitude towards God, and therefore to change the way of thinking. In repentance, the main words are condemnation of your failure to recognize God in your previous life, condemnation and rejection of your previous failure to recognize the Son of God Christ as your God. This is the main sin for people. It is also important to condemn all the sins in your life, but we will not be able to remember and list them all in our life in a short time of repentance, but we will always know and remember them in our current life, when certain circumstances will remind us of this with bitterness and there is no escape from it.
God now commands people everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). Repentance is an appeal to God to recognize your sin (or sins) with a simultaneous request for forgiveness. The first repentance before God leads to the Birth from Above. But repentance can be done repeatedly by a believer who is already Born Again, since a believer is a sinful person and can involuntarily commit sin in his daily actions. However, such repentance is very different from the first repentance when a person asks to forgive him for a past life without recognizing Christ, the Heavenly Father, His Son and His Holy Spirit.
Repentance is condemnation, unlike repentance, in one's mistakes it can be done by both an unbeliever and a believer both before a person (or people), and also alone in one's thoughts. Repentance, as well as confession, should not be confused with repentance! The first repentance must be done PERSONALLY before God. Can it be done before people, before a minister of the church? Apparently, it can. Can the church give salvation to a sinner? Of course NOT, since only God can do this during repentance, when a sinner, having believed in God, only begins to repent, as the Holy Spirit immediately descends upon him and helps him to repent. The Church helps a person to find faith in God and to keep it until the end of his life.
Remembering and condemning sins will also be a kind of repentance as a process of our entire subsequent life, but it is different in that we must be sure that God has forgiven us all our previous sins before repentance and this gives us confidence to live a normal human life, and this gives us repentance. Here are the words of the Apostle Peter: "Repent therefore and turn, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19). True repentance always leads to a change in a person's actions (Luke 3:8-14). In the book of Acts 26:20 it is said that Paul "preached that they (Jews and Gentiles) repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance."
In these difficult-Complex times of the last days, when many people, enriching themselves to satiety in everything, replacing truth with lies, and love with fornication, pushing aside shame in everything, have lost the understanding of the transience of life, believing that it - this life will be long. Now two thousand years have passed. How have people changed during this time? Have they thought about what happened? No, far from all. All the same worries about themselves, about tomorrow. God is looking for us among all the human thickets - sins in which they are and with which they have fenced themselves off from God with a worldly wall, with reproach and love, asking them, starting with Adam (Genesis 3:8,9): where are you Adam, why did you hide from Me, why did you betray Me and leave Me? The voice of God and the knock on the door of our hearts with the call of God to be with people still continues, but many do not hear God.
And so there was Golgotha. This is the greatest event in the life of people on earth in the entire history of their existence: the Lord on the cross, to which His hands and feet were nailed by the people He came to save, whom He loves. And the flowing blood of Christ. But was there Golgotha? Or maybe there is no God? And if there is, will man live his life without God, without the understanding of what God wants and expects from him in his life on earth? Will the upcoming meeting not be terrible for the one who rejected God? The question is not easy, but many live without resolving it.
People are in a hurry, they have no time. This is especially noticeable lately. But everything has an end. And the end of everything comes quickly. It only seems so long in youth. All older people know that it passes quickly: it flies by like one day. In the Bible, God's words to people ring out like bells, so that they may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing they may have life in His name... For there is NO other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (John 20:31 and Acts 4:12).
Our Homeland is in Heaven
The Bible tells the future for Christians - born again after the end of the Millennial Kingdom. So, according to the Bible and the ABC of Faith, I place the text below:
Our homeland is in heaven, and from there we await the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. He has been given the power to subdue all things to Himself, and by the action of this power He will change our humble bodies so that they will be like His glorified body (Philippians 3:20,21).
But of that day and hour knows no one, not even the angels in heaven, but My Father only. (Matthew 24:36).
The body that will rise will no longer be hungry, thirsty and subject to decay, but will be perfect, incorruptible, freed from the misfortunes and infirmities of the body. There “it will no longer need food to live, nor a ladder to climb, for it will become spiritual, something wonderful, of which we cannot even speak in its worth”; it becomes such that we are not able to compare it with anything similar in value and brightness. But the way in which this will happen is a mystery. He will raise us up in another form, which only He knows, and will introduce us into a new state.
The Lord informed us about the new form that this body will have. He taught that in the afterlife they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but abide as the Angels of God in heaven (Matt. 22:30). (G.G.: In paradise there will be no sexual relations, nor will there be sexual attraction, which was mentioned at the beginning of the Bible and which God intended for the acquisition of the necessary number of people on earth, but everything will be spiritual, including attraction, and instead of orgasms and carnal feelings there will be the great joy of the union of the Holy Spirit of God in people through their mutual love).
Those who will live there will receive an incorruptible and immortal nature and will be equal to the Angels (Luke 20:35-36). In addition, God will abolish both the belly and food in the Future Life (1 Cor. 6:13).
The Lord informed us about the new form that this body will have. He taught that in the afterlife they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but abide as the Angels of God in heaven (Matt. 22:30). (G.G.: In paradise there will be no sexual relations, nor will there be sexual attraction, which was mentioned at the beginning of the Bible and which God intended for the acquisition of the necessary number of people on earth, but everything will be spiritual, including attraction, and instead of orgasms and carnal feelings there will be the great joy of the union of the Holy Spirit of God in people through their mutual love).
Those who will live there will receive an incorruptible and immortal nature and will be equal to the Angels (Luke 20:35-36). In addition, God will abolish both the belly and food in the Future Life (1 Cor. 6:13).
The resurrection of our body will not be simply a return, a recovery, or a “restoration of the original state of our nature”; it will also be an elevation, a transition to something higher, better, more perfect. This was revealed to us by the Spirit of God through the Apostle Paul, who writes: “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is also a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:44). The body that was animated and controlled by the lower, animal powers of the soul is sown. The body that is raised will be animated and controlled by the spiritual powers of the soul.
But no one knows by experience what the "spiritual" body of which the Apostle speaks will be. According to the divine Chrysostom, the high mind of theology, that body will be "spiritual" because the Holy Spirit will constantly abide "in the flesh of the righteous and act through it, although the soul will also be present in the body. Or, again according to the same father, it is called "spiritual" because it will be "lighter and thinner, so that it will be supported, raised and carried in the air"; but perhaps both are possible. And whereas here on earth the body is "by nature heavy and thick" and therefore is constantly drawn downwards, there it will be changed in such a way that it will rise upwards.
(ABC of Faith)
Children of War. How We Lived
Once, not long ago, I read an article in the memoirs of one author about waiting for my father after the war and the joy of meeting him: "Hurray! He came back from the war alive!"
And it burned me with the bitterness of my previous memories. The war was going on, but we knew nothing about my father's fate, since we did not receive letters from the front. But a few months before the end of the war, we received two or three letters from my father from the front. I don't know exactly, since later either my mother or my stepfather destroyed them. But we did not rejoice for long: a funeral notice arrived.
It was terrible, some kind of break in life occurred. My father died on March 18, 1945. There were only a few days left until the end of the war. I was nine years old then. In the letters, my father wrote that he was in a concentration camp in Poland. Before the arrival of the Red Army, he and a comrade escaped and hid in a cellar with local residents. When our troops arrived, he continued to fight as a soldier. Now I think that if he had returned from the war alive, it would have been bad for him, since Stalin sent everyone who had been in concentration camps to a Soviet concentration camp, the GULAG, after returning from the front. And there was no way out.
After the funeral, when I was left alone, it was hard to experience all the grievances and troubles from the everyday life of that time, when only the street, basically, filled my life. My mother had no time for me. Loneliness without communication with people close to me crushed me. It is hard for boys to live without a father. My little sister was closer to my mother than I was. In the summer, I often dragged myself along the river for days with a homemade fishing rod, so it was easier, somehow everything was forgotten.
In the winter, I tied my skates to my felt boots with a rope. At the same time, I twisted the rope with a short stick and the skates held well, so you could skate on the beaten path. The guys had a fashion back then: they made hooks from a piece of wire and used them to cling to the rumbling trucks driving along the rolled snowy road of the street. But there was a danger when there were places of open cobblestone without snow. I started smoking with the guys, but my grandmother smelled me when she kissed me before leaving. I didn't smoke for a long time.
They bought me some old boots that were the wrong size and I was constantly rubbing my feet. Going to school was painful to the point of tears. But one of my friends didn’t go to school at all during the slush, since his shoes were unsuitable for the damp. We ate mostly potatoes, and this was an “advantage” compared to the present time, since we didn’t have to cook several dishes and wash a lot of dishes, and also have a refrigerator and a lot of dishes, and we couldn’t even dream of that back then. There was a primus stove in the hallway, but at the end of the war a kerosene stove appeared – a miracle of technology at that time. This was all good for us, since others didn’t even have that. I remember after school, my friend and I went to his house. At home, on the table in a vase, there was one small piece of black bread. This was his lunch, which his mother had left for him.
Mom, sister and I occupied a small room of about 15 square meters. There were two beds in the room. I slept on the small one, and my mother and sister slept on the larger bed. There was also a small table and stools, and a loudspeaker with news from the front hung on the wall. We had no other furniture. The plates, saucepan and frying pan were in the hallway with a primus stove. The hallway was shared with a single woman. She occupied the room next door.
Her husband was at the front, and so she and Mom sometimes talked in the evenings, but mostly about the war and its hardships for us then. People were different then, and so were the children. All my free time I dreamed of growing up quickly, because it seemed that I was a burden to everyone. May 9 was approaching, the day the war ended - the GREAT DAY - a day of joy and incurable grief.
Faith, deeds, love and how they are connected
Before reading the article about the true Christian faith, and therefore about love, and their relationship to the deeds of believers, I will tell the reader a story heard from a person unknown to me. It happened on the beach on a quiet sunny day of the waning summer, when lying on the beach during a break from swimming in the water, you experience with your body an extraordinary joy of connection with nature. There was an ordinary crowd nearby, the people were ordinary and they were all talking about ordinary things.
But suddenly I heard a woman nearby exclaim to her friends: "Look at this man! See? He is coming out of the water? See how big his scar is?" Everyone around turned to the water and began to examine the man who came up to us and lay down on the sand next to us. One of the women, as I understood, in order to start a conversation, asked: "Well, how is the water?" After that, they began to talk about something in a friendly manner with the stranger. And unexpectedly for me, I heard the question: "What happened to you, why is your scar so big?" The stranger said, "Okay, I'll tell you the story of how the cut on my chest turned into a scar. This story is unusual and it's very similar to the story of many people, but will you understand its connection with their real life? How true it is, it's up to you to judge, but I'll answer with one word, "almost."
Once upon a time, and it was a long time ago, I fell in love with a girl and after some time of our meetings I confessed my love to her, she answered that she also loved me, but she wanted me to prove my love with actions, not words. She asked me: "And how will you prove your love?" To which I answered: "My heart tells me this, isn't it visible in my attitude towards you?" Smiling, she answered: "It's easy for you to talk about the heart, but I don't see it. Show it to me!" To which I answered: "Take a knife and cut my chest, and you will see my heart!" "I agree," she answered.
We found a place for this and she cut my chest, she did it despite my pain, and seeing the heart, she exclaimed: "Your heart is hot, but I can no longer see anything and nothing is written on it! You deceived me!" I gathered all my last strength to tell her: "You will know this when you cut your chest, take my heart and put it to your heart, and it will also become hot. Only with your heart, but not with your mind and eyes can you know and understand this." "No, you live with your heart, and I will live with mine, your heart is hot and it can harm me!" - my beloved answered me. She sewed up my chest in cold blood and we never met again.
But my heart remains hot, and for some reason love does not go away. I have loved this girl all my life and I cannot even imagine that another will be with me. But I know that the time will come when we will be together and then our hearts will merge in our common love. I have only been worried about this question my whole life: what is this love that it connects us for all eternity and is my hot heart to blame for this?
After hearing this story, I realized that love cannot be proven by deeds, but true good deeds that come from the heart are done by love. The main thing in everything is love. Love cannot be proven by good deeds, but good deeds can be done in the name of love. Christian faith in God does not exist without love for God. Deeds can never replace faith. Faith and love for God can be without deeds, but deeds have no meaning for God without faith and love.
Who are the elect of God?
Simply put, the “elect of God” are those whom God has predestined to
salvation. They are called the “elect” because that word denotes
“determining beforehand,” “ordaining,” “deciding ahead of time.” Every
four years in the U.S., we “elect” a President—i.e., we choose who
will serve in that office. The same goes for God and those who will be
saved; God chooses those who will be saved. These are the elect of
God.
As it stands, the concept of God electing those who will be saved
(predestination) isn’t controversial. It is a biblical truth (John
6:44, Romans 8:28-30, Ephesians 1:4-5). What is controversial is how
and in what manner God chooses those who will be saved. Throughout
church history, there have been two main views on the doctrine of
election. One view, which we will call the prescient or foreknowledge
view, teaches that God, through His omniscience, knows those who will
in the course of time choose of their own free will to place their
faith and trust in Jesus Christ for their salvation. On the basis of
this divine foreknowledge, God elects these individuals “before the
foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).
The second main view is the Augustinian view, which essentially
teaches that God not only divinely elects those who will have faith in
Jesus Christ, but also divinely elects to grant to these individuals
the faith to believe in Christ. In other words, God’s election unto
salvation is not based on a foreknowledge of an individual’s faith,
but is based on the free, sovereign grace of Almighty God.
The difference boils down to this: who has the ultimate choice in
salvation—God or man? In the first view (the prescient view), man has
control; his free will is sovereign and becomes the determining factor
in God’s election. God can provide the way of salvation through Jesus
Christ, but man must choose Christ for himself in order to make
salvation real. Ultimately, this view diminishes the biblical
understanding of God's sovereignty. This view puts the Creator's
provision of salvation at the mercy of the creature; if God wants
people in heaven, He has to hope that man will freely choose His way
of salvation. In reality, the prescient view of election is no view of
election at all, because God is not really choosing—He is only
confirming. It is man who is the ultimate chooser.
In the Augustinian view, God has control; He is the one who, of His
own sovereign will, freely chooses those whom He will save. He not
only elects those whom He will save, but He actually accomplishes
their salvation. Rather than simply make salvation possible, God
chooses those whom He will save and then saves them. This view puts
God in His proper place as Creator and Sovereign.
The Augustinian view is not without problems of its own. Critics have
claimed that this view robs man of his free will. If God chooses those
who will be saved, then what difference does it make for man to
believe? Why preach the gospel? Furthermore, if God elects according
to His sovereign will, then how can we be responsible for our actions?
These are all good and fair questions that need to be answered. A good
passage to answer these questions is Romans 9, the most in-depth
passage dealing with God’s sovereignty in election.
The context of the passage flows from Romans 8, which ends with a
great climax of praise: “For I am convinced that... [nothing] in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in
Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
Beethoven Moonlight Sonata
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5WTGOdOek0&ab_channel=
Othello. Shakespeare She loved me for my suffering, And I her
for my compassion for it. So we too must love Christ for His
suffering on Golgotha.
BOYS EDUCATION
Introduction: This is all taken in parts from the Internet
When you find yourself in a difficult situation, do not lose your
composure. There is always a way out, but it is better to look for it
while being calm. It is not what happens to you that matters, but how
you react to it. If you do not make mistakes, then you are not trying
hard enough. Courage and bravery are not about fearlessness. They are
about moving forward, despite your fears. Having dreams is great. But
it is even better to have a plan to achieve them. Stand up for the
weak.
If someone falls, help them up. It's easy to stand in a crowd. It
takes courage to stand alone. When someone trusts you with a secret,
keep it. Never stop learning. Even in old age. Especially in old age.
Spend less than you earn. Take care of your body. It's the only thing
you'll always have until your last day.
Life is not a soft sofa. Learn to cope with discomfort and not to
complain about difficulties. Winners are those who, experiencing
failures, do not give up. Only slackers never win anything. Everything
that happens, happens for the best. Even things that seem bad to you
now will definitely be associated with good things later.
The best apology is not words. It is behavior changed for the better.
Be kind to people. Every person you meet has their own battle that you
know nothing about. Be kind and welcoming to new people around you. No
gain, just be kind and helpful. When you have a bad day, still try to
treat the world better than it treated you.
Having written a letter full of anger and complaints, do not send it
immediately. Calm down, reread and delete it. There is no one who
could make you happy except yourself. Everything you need for
happiness is already inside you. Be attentive to your decisions and
actions. Do not make hasty decisions, especially in the evening. It is
better to sleep with the thought of how you want to act, and if
determination and confidence in your rightness do not pass with the
sunrise, do as you think necessary.
Love your brothers and sisters. If you quarrel, try to make up
quickly, do not hold a grudge against them, because they are your
family, with whom you grew up. Call your parents. This is very
important for them, especially for your mother. No matter how old you
are, she will always worry about where you are and whether you ate
well.
Never be afraid to ask the prettiest girl out on a date. If your
father hadn't been so determined, you wouldn't have been born. "No"
always means no. A woman's body is always hers and hers alone, and
what she wants to do with it is her choice, not yours. When you marry
a girl, you marry her entire family. Treat your wife as well as you
treated her in the first few days of your acquaintance.
Don't wait for good times. You're already living in good times. Live
in the present. If you don't like something in your life, don't blame
it on someone else. Have the courage to take responsibility for your
own life and try to change what you don't like yourself.
Love and family relationships
What is the most important thing in family relationships? The main
thing in a family is mutual understanding and, of course, LOVE - that
is the foundation of a family.
Yes, it is so, when two people have it for each other. Read about it
here "What is love. Edited article" http://proza.ru/2024/08/19/56
However, you can make a mistake by accepting attraction only based on
a person's appearance or his desire to have an intimate relationship.
The truth of love is revealed only in the process of living together.
If you are already a family, then just accept the idea that
the relationship will not always be wonderful, there will be everyday
difficulties that each other will have to overcome.
However, if in the process of living together there is concern for the
wife, husband, the sacrifice of his own life for their happiness, his
true love can come, which becomes indissoluble,ETERNAL.
------------------------------------------
So, further about some family relationships that will help to find
eternal love in the family for each other. I took this from the
Internet: "Resolve all problems calmly. A family quarrel or some other
unpleasant situation arose, because of which you and your husband, wife
had a big fight? Try to resolve the conflict differently next time, using tenderness
and understanding! After all, understanding is the basis of future family
victories and one of the most important aspects of creating a family!
Don't be a selfish person. Don't think only about yourself,
anticipate situations in advance and take care of your wife,
your husband, children. Another aspect that is worth highlighting
in aseparate point is the ability to FORGIVE. Every person makes
mistakes. After all, if you do something for the first time, then
shortcomings are possible.
Family, heart in the form of hands. If a person made a mistake and
sincerely repents of it, then forget and forgive. No one is
insured against unpleasant incidents.
Also, do not remind your partner about the problem and make it a
lesson for the whole life. Family happiness consists of care and
warmth. You build it yourself, put tenderness into it. Creating a
family is the most important thing in the life of spouses."
Adolescence of children in the family
Introduction: This is all taken in parts from the Internet
---------------------------------------------
One of the most important conditions for creating a prosperous
family, when children become teenagers. In the modern world
of computer technology development, information spheres, each
person becomes to one degree or another dependent on gadgets.
That is why ordinary friendly communication fades into the
background.In order to return it, it is necessary:
One of the most important aspects of creating a family is
understanding the joys of children. Try to remember when they
were the happiest, and repeat this moment! Find enough time
that you can devote to children. It is during the time that
you spend with children that you will be able to learn their
desires, experiences. To create a family, you must immediately
accustom your children to a daily routine.
If you have a free minute, talk to them. During a walk,
breakfast or any other free moment, ask them how they are
doing, what they did at school. Maintain a dialogue, if
necessary.
-----------------------------------------------
ADOLESCENCE is the time when the PERSONALITY is formed:
signs of emotional and physical maturity begin to appear.
At this point, it is important for parents to understand
that their child is no longer small, but not yet an adult.
To avoid discord due to different views on problems,
teach your teenager to solve them independently. Personal
example is very important. This mechanism is the basis of
any learning. Let your child see how you solve your
problems: for this, your openness is important - tell
honestly what is happening with you now and how you are
coping.
Give faith. Help your teenager believe in himself-
especially during this period, when he is especially
vulnerable and does not know himself. "Sayopenly that
you believe in him. For this, it is important to
really believe- work on yourself if this is not the
case, and you doubt the strength of the teenager.
There is nothing worse when a child reads your doubts.
To avoid discord due to different views on problems,
teach your teenager to solve them independently.
Personal example is very important. This mechanism is
the basis of any learning.
Let your child see how you solve your problems: for
this, your openness is important - tell honestly what
is happening with you now and how you are coping.
Give faith. Help your teenager believe in himself-
especially during this period, when he is especially
vulnerable and does not know himself. "Say openly
that you believe in him. For this, it is important
to really believe- work on yourself if this is not
the case, and you doubt the strength
of the teenager. There is nothing worse when a child
reads your doubts.
Give your child small tasks and praise them, even if
they have done half of them. Emphasize what they can
do. Reinforce this—in the future, they will often rely
on your assessment and your words.
During adolescence, parents should help their child
find themselves, their passion. Says they don’t want
anything? It means they don’t trust you. Reluctance
and refusal are a child’s defensive reaction. Look
at your relationship and try to understand: where
did trust fail, where did they close themselves off
from you, where did they lose faith in themselves?
If your child is aggressive, suggest that he or she
take up sports: physical activity helps to release
energy. Creativity will also help to express
emotions without harming others. A calm child can
be occupied with reading: it promotes the development
of imagination and allows one to relax.
It is important to remember that each child is unique
and develops at their own pace. Be patient and support
the teenagerin his or her desires and aspirations.
Raising children is a difficult task, in which it is
important not to quarrel with the child in attempts
to help him or her.
Listen to your child and try to understand his point
of view. Compromise to smooth out the edges of discord.
This will help the teenager feel respected and heard.
Be patient. Children need time to learn to cope with
problems on their own. Give them the opportunity to
make their choice or solve the problem themselves.
But at the same time, provide supportand guide them
in the right direction.
It is important to be open and sincere with your
child. Explain why it is important for you to help
and how you understand this or that situation. From
time to time, put yourself in the child's place
and try to feel how he feels. This will help you
better understand his needs and emotions.
Let's take a break. Take breaks in conversations
when necessary, and return to the discussion in a
calm state. Teenagers need time and space to stop
and think about the situation.
We told you above how to liberate a child, but
what to do with a teenager if he is shy? Several
options that may work:
Introduction: This is all taken in parts from the Internet
1. Drawing: through art you can learn to express
feelings. You can even do this at home, online
drawing lessons will help you with this.
2. Reading: this way you will kill two birds
with one stone. Expand your horizons and
immerse yourself in another world in which
there is no place for constraint.
3. Animals: get a furry friend. It will help
the teenager open up and teach him to take
care oAdolescence of children in the family
others.
Is your teen asking you to back off?
Sometimes this may be appropriate. If
your child is in a dangerous situation
or has health problems, it is important
to continue offering to help, even if
they initially do not want to.
Jacob's Prayer
Continuing to write about prayer, I would like to
mention one prayer. We often forget to perform it,
although we need it. It is an unceasing prayer to
God for our blessing.
In the book of Genesis, chapter 32, an event is
described that happened to Jacob. "And Jacob was
left alone. And a certain man wrestled with him
until the breaking of the day." And Jacob said to
Him, "I will not let You go unless You bless me."
The certain man was an Angel—a messenger of God.
God, through the Angel, tested Jacob. Jacob won
in this struggle, not because he was stronger than
the Angel, but because it was pleasing to God that
Jacob should win.
Jacob understood that Someone was God's influence
on him, and he was given the opportunity to receive
God's Blessing.
This event is very important for
Christians, since it carries not only a historical
fact, but also shows God's desire for closeness
with a believer. A person who strives to always be
with God is like a small child who stretches out his
little hands to his mother when she puts him down on
the ground and when she moves away from him. This
desire of a child for his mother is connected with
the fact that the child is afraid of losing the most
important thing for him - his mother, and he grabs
her by the dress and reaches out to her arms. The
child knows that his salvation is from his mother.
God's blessing for a person means his salvation and
the fulfillment of the main thing in a person's life:
to always be with God, and also that God will always
be with him. We must hold on to God and not let Him
go, despite all the difficulties in our life and the
struggle that we have to wage with various temptations,
circumstances, but first of all with ourselves. Our
persistent prayer with a request to God for a blessing
corresponds to His desire for our salvation and,
according to the Bible, brings Him joy. (Luke 15
Parable of the Prodigal Son).
Love and the Cross
If human love is a manifestation of the action of the Holy Spirit in man, then the question may arise: does man participate in acquiring love for people and for God? Or is this the action of God alone and the ability to love does not depend on man?
Just like finding FAITH, LOVE begins first of all with the actions of a person, determined by conscience and God's visitation of each person during his life on earth. This interaction is carried out through the influence of the Holy Spirit. And if conscience is a constant presence, then God's personal visitation of each person during life on earth occurs at least two or three times (Job, chapter 33). Each person responds to this according to his right of choice given to him by God. God does not force anyone either in faith or in love. Receiving the constant presence of the Holy Spirit in a person is decided only by God, and this sooner or later leads to the Birth from above, that is, the love of an unbeliever for people sooner or later leads him to love (faith) in God.
The motive of such love: compassion for people, experiencing their joy and sorrow with them, receiving joy when you can help them. Usually this feeling of empathy arises in people who have experienced grief themselves and know what it is. In most cases, love for people appears before they become believers. Love for God comes only after faith or maybe at the same time. Many know that among unbelievers there are those who treat people better than those who call themselves believers. And these unbelievers help others much more than believers. The Spirit of God dwells in such people, because such people are pleasing to God. By dwelling with His Spirit, God helps them to find faith, because in their lives they strive to find His righteousness not in words but in deeds. Their Holy Spirit, Whom they received, is their love. The source of the formation of love in them becomes: the Spirit of God.
Love is not only joy and happiness, but it is also a cross for a person. A cross that a person takes consciously and with the joy of fulfilling it in his life. And this is very surprising in that a loving person, even to a small degree, resembles his God and His manifestation of love on the Cross of Calvary.
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Here is what St. Theophan the Recluse said about this: "Although not everyone carries his own cross, and the cross is mostly not simple, but complex, but not everyone looks at it through the cross of Christ; not everyone turns it into the arrangement of his salvation; therefore, not everyone's cross is a saving cross. There are many crosses, but there are three types:
THE FIRST TYPE - external crosses, consisting of sorrows and troubles, and in general of the bitter lot of earthly existence. They are scattered along all the paths of our life and are encountered at almost every step. These include: sorrows, troubles, misfortunes, illnesses, loss of loved ones, failures at work, all kinds of deprivations and losses, family troubles, unfavorable external relations, insults, offenses, slander and in general the earthly lot, more or less difficult for everyone. And who does not have one of these crosses?
And it is impossible not to be. Nobility, wealth, glory and no earthly greatness will free you from them. They have grown together with our earthly existence from the moment the earthly paradise was closed. And they will not depart from it until the time when the heavenly paradise opens. Trouble and grief have befallen you. You are already bearing the cross. But do not grumble, do not envy others and do not indulge in senseless grief. Make sure that this bearing is for salvation. And not for destruction. For this it is not necessary to move mountains, but to make a small change in thoughts and dispositions of the heart.
Internal crosses (SECOND TYPE) we encounter during the struggle with passions and lust. The Holy Apostle says, "But they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Gal. 5:24). Crucified? So, there was a cross on which these passions and lusts were crucified. What kind of cross is this? The struggle with them. To crucify passions means to weaken them, suppress them, eradicate them. Don't have the strength to begin? Pray. The Lord will send it.
It remains to explain to you the THIRD TYPE of cross, saving for us - the cross of devotion to the will of God. The most perfect Christians ascend this cross. Who raised our Savior to the cross? This devotion. In the Garden of Gethsemane our Lord Jesus Christ prayed: "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matt. 26:39). The Apostle Paul describes this state in relation to himself: "I have been crucified with Christ: and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:19,20).
I would like to give one human parable. This parable is about our lamentation and murmuring: One man came to God with a complaint that his cross, his fate, was too heavy... The Lord leads him to a barn, opens the locks, and there is a huge number of crosses - of all kinds: metal, wooden, carved, large, small, and says: "Choose the one you like." The man was delighted, spent a long time choosing, trying it on, testing its weight, and finally brings out the thinnest and lightest one and joyfully cries out: "Here, this one, why didn't You give it to me right away?" To which the Lord replies: "So this is your cross."
At first I was delighted with the beautiful parable, but when I came to my senses I immediately realized that this parable was about my entire past life. And bitter memories came and engulfed me, from which I could neither escape nor hide...
Love is not only joy and happiness, but it is also a cross for a person. A cross that a person takes consciously and with the joy of fulfilling it in his life. And this is very surprising in that a loving person, even to a small extent, resembles his God and His manifestation of love on the Cross of Calvary.
War, as it was. It cannot be forgotten!
Here is a little bit from my childhood. I don’t remember exactly, but I think a year after the defeat of the fascists in Voronezh, I was with my mother in the back of a truck driving along a street in Voronezh. It was simply impossible to call it a street. It was a road cleared of the ruins of already incomprehensible buildings. And long before that, I had to experience evacuation from near Voronezh. Here is my short story about it. The war did not pass me and my wife by. My wife survived the entire blockade in Leningrad, was left without a father and mother. My father was in a concentration camp in Poland. He escaped with his comrades. He died at the end of the war on March 18, 1945. As a minor, I, together with my grandparents, were evacuated by train from near Voronezh as the Germans approached, but we didn’t go far. Ahead, the Germans bombed the railroad. The train stopped near a small village. Not only our train with refugees got stuck, but also military trains, including those with the wounded.
Kind people let us spend the night. In the morning I woke up from the roar of a bomb exploding close to the house. I saw a boy standing in front of the window, apparently the son of the owner of the house, with drops of blood on his face from the glass from the window broken by the wave. My grandmother was shouting something, running into the room where I was sleeping on the floor under the window. Grabbing me, my grandmother pulled me out into the street, not understanding anything. Everyone was shouting something and running somewhere, and bombs were exploding nearby. So my grandmother dragged me to some ditch, where many different people were already hiding, bent over, pressing themselves to the bottom of this ditch. Many houses were burning. The planes were roaring loudly all the time and bombs were continuously exploding nearby. This went on for about an hour.
I was stunned by all this and did not understand anything, and therefore I do not remember being afraid of anything. But this was only at the beginning of this nightmare in reality. But when the bombing stopped for a short time, my grandmother again dragged me further away from the railway. About a hundred meters later we found ourselves in the cellar of a house standing nearby. There were already some people there who gave us shelter. As I understood later: this was only the first echelon of German planes attacking the station, where many trains had accumulated, waiting for the road to be repaired.
After a short break, the raids resumed. That's when I felt what fear really was. The bombs fell continuously with a short interval. And each bomb emitted an increasing howl. This howl drove me crazy, because each time this howl was such a clear ending for me right now of my life. This increasing howl did not leave hope that the bomb would fall not on me, not on us, who were in this cellar. Why there was such confidence I still do not know.
Saying goodbye to life just once is scary, but when the bombing doesn't stop for several hours, you can go crazy, which I was convinced of when, as an adult, I began to read the memoirs of other people who had been under bombing. By evening, the bombing stopped. Having climbed up, my grandmother and I began to look for my grandfather, who, even before the bombing began, had gone to a nearby village to look for opportunities to find temporary housing and find out about further evacuation. How we found each other, I still don't understand. Probably people told my grandfather that they had seen us: my grandmother with her grandson. My grandfather told us that when he was returning to us, he was fired upon by a German plane. It helped that there was a ravine nearby, in which he hid.
After the meeting, we joined the column of refugees and trudged on foot to the nearest village, leaving behind us in the darkness the wounded, smoking village and the glow of a blazing fire in the distance. Apparently, something was burning in Voronezh or its environs. When we arrived at the village, we began asking for a place to stay for the night. The first solidly built house refused us, but the second poor house let us in. Of course, we were very happy about this and fell asleep on the floor. They simply had no other sleeping places. These people lived poorly. But our joy did not last long, as at night we were attacked by swarms of bedbugs. A long journey lay ahead to the Saratov region to our relatives, sometimes stopping in some village for a few days so that my grandfather could earn some money for our existence and further advancement.
My grandfather worked as a blacksmith. Almost all blacksmiths were taken to the front during the war, so my grandfather was welcome in the villages through which our salvation route lay. Sometimes we were given a lift by passing carts, and when we had to walk, my grandfather sometimes took me in a wheelbarrow. That was how my childhood began, from which I remember little. My whole life flew by so quickly that it became difficult to even understand my short memories, pages of the past, I can no longer even believe that all this was real.
Short Christian articles in English
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