We Are The World

Monday, August 28, 2017

Welcome to my Monday Blog, my Friends – And a special HELLO to our new friends from India and Australia. Thank you!!

Actually it’s hard to believe that we’ve been sharing each others thoughts and opinions here for almost five years now—call me thrilled and humbled and I’ll call you fabulous! I’ve been so gifted with all of you—visiting me each week from all over God’s great world, has truly been a blessing and I’m so grateful.

My title today is for all of us to take notice of the fact that We Are The World. Each and everyone of us who has been gifted with Life here, can make a difference – tiny but mighty in many instances. I admit that if we maintain a daily diet of the news channels, our incredible gift God created for us all can be anything but uplifting and hopeful…much more like doom and gloom, right? I too, have become almost numb to the angry rhetoric we’ve been inundated with this past year or more.

The fact that most of us live in one specific part of the world at any one given time, doesn’t mean we are not all living in the same world at the same time. We are. Remember that infamous line from the 1967 American film, “Cool Hand Luke”, with Paul Newman and Strother Martin? “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”  

This is an understatement! With over two hundred countries in the World, there may be only three or four who actually agree on more than one or two issues at a time, and I can’t prove even that. It also appears that our World Leaders cannot get along with even 50% of their own jurisdictions.

The kind of world that lights us up, is no longer shining brightly for any of us. Shoot, if there was any other place to go, I’m sure many of us would have already gone “there”—I sure would!

Here’s the problem: too many people believe they are calling all the shots. There are now two sides to everything (maybe even three or four) but we are split apart because we’re not willing to agree to disagree, and get on with the business of working together for the good of ALL the people, not just a few. I know the problem and there is a solution, but I fear there will be much more destruction here because not enough people believe that this World does not belong to them, but instead, to GOD.  He created this World for us ALL to live in ….but sadly it will not be happily-ever-after.  WE THE PEOPLE have made a gigantic mistake in recusing God from His own creation and I truly believe there will be hell to pay.

I for one, will continue to pray about the enormous hate and fear now growing in God’s World. It’s hard to believe what His world has turned into, but without God, we are literally nothing and have nothing. It’s interesting how God gives us all the freedom of our own will…to make our own choices, to believe or not believe in Him.

We Are The World, but the World and everything in it belongs to God and may He have mercy on us all. Amen.

This week, let’s all try – no, not try, just do it…let’s all pray without ceasing that God will have mercy on ALL his people and touch our hearts in such a way that we’re aware of His holy presence. What are we guilty of that God may change in us by merely being sincere and asking Him to do so. Remember, the tiny but mighty changes we may make in ourselves can be as the little mustard seed…POWERFUL!!  And finally…

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all you mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself.” – Luke 10:27

GOD is Good! GOD is Great!! Always!!!

I love you,

Margaret

My novel, “That Melvin Bray”, a spiritual thriller, is available at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/That-Melvin-Bray-Margaret-McBride/product-reviews/1458212122

 

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Listen Up!!

Monday, August 21, 2017

Hello my Friends!

Welcome to my Monday Blog — I’m thrilled you’re visiting with me today!

Each week, I try to share parts of my life with you in hopes of striking a chord in some area of your gift of life, that may bring us both joy. For example this past week was filled with questions I had about a specific direction I was in doubt about taking with my novel, That Melvin Bray. So, I muddled over it for a few days and then I got bogged down and even more doubtful. By the end of the week, I had accomplished very little, was quite disappointed in myself and still in the dark.

Over the weekend, I came to the conclusion that I was so busy being the bossa’ me, that I had totally left God out of the equation. I was so in charge and going full steam ahead — I’m so smart!

Well, God let me know, I couldn’t do it without Him— SURPRISE—That’s why I got nothing done. Nada, Zip, Diddly Squat, Zero. WAAAAAA!!

I know better, because I’ve done this before. When will I learn? — Oh lordy!! When we’re ready to listen, God will provide for us, He’ll take our fears away and show us what He can and will do in our lives. By the same token, He will also teach us obedience. He allows us our free will, right? Ya know, that’s one thing (and I’ve told you guys this many times before), that I wish He wouldn’t do; however, this is how we learn to trust in Him, and until we learn this lesson, we will continue to suffer, needlessly.

We need to Listen Up!! Listen, being the operative word there:

* “Hear His Voice – 

“God only gives three answers to prayer: 1. “Yes!”  2. “Not Yet” 3. “I have something better in store for you.” (author unknown).

Many of us have run across this statement before, and this wisdom couldn’t be closer to the truth. God always keeps His promises according to His purpose for us and God provides in accordance with these promises. It’s in the Bible, Psalm 89:34 “No, I will not break my covenant; I will not take back one word of what I said.” But sometimes in the noisiness of our everyday lives, we have trouble hearing what He’s saying to us. In order to fully embrace God’s provisions, we have to listen to what He’s saying. There are five things God will provide when we’re ready to listen.

Encouragement –

We all need the encouragement and support of our family members, friends and loved ones but it’s not always easy for us to receive it when we’re going through a rough period or doubt that we deserve it. But fear not. Deuteronomy 31:6 says “Be Strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” Encouragement from God is always genuine. Whether you’re dealing with the betrayal of a family member, a cheating spouse or fearful of a new chapter in your life, know that God will encourage you. No matter what you’re going through, He never gives up on us and His love never fails. Just be still and listen to Him.

A Healthy Relationship  –

Whether you’re single and open to love, or involved in a committed relationship, God wants your relationship life to be healthy. On your relationship journey towards your prince (or princess) charming, many of us will meet a lot of frogs, people who don’t have our best interests at heart and that’s ok. God is with you every step of the way. If you’re struggling in your relationship or not finding a match, remember this verse taken from 1 Peter 5:6-7 “Humble yourselves, therefore under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” While you can’t control the timing of love, you can lift up your concern’s and He will answer. You just have to be open to the idea that it may not be the answer you’re looking for. But whatever the answer is, it involves health and prosperity.

Financial Breakthrough –

God will provide you with a financial breakthrough when you’re ready to listen to what he’s telling you. There are many indicators to this promise in the Bible. We are told that we will not lack anything that is needed. Psalms 34:9 says “Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack anything good.” If you’re struggling in some form financially, know that God will take care of your every-day-needs and when you’re ready to take the necessary steps to change your financial situation in order to have a breakthrough, He will walk along side you. Seek Him and He will provide.  

A Spirit to Overcome Temptation –

 We are all victims of sin and temptation. This can manifest in the form of lust, addiction, infidelity, greed and compulsivity among other things. But God promises us victory over temptation and the enemy will flee when we submit and draw near to God.”

When we’re truly ready to Listen Up, that’s when God shows us His deep love for us…because we’re showing Him that we love Him, respect Him and we do know that He’s the bossa’ us. And don’t tell God you have a big problem, tell your problem that you have a BIG GOD!!

This week, my prayer for all of us is that we’ll simply stop, pray and listen to what God is telling us. I’m the worst at praying like crazy for incredible miracles, but can’t wait five minutes for God to answer me. Gimme a break! I’m serious— I’ve many lessons to learn in the “have patience and wait on the Lord” department. Oh goodness, I would be so lost if God didn’t love me so much and I need prayers from all of you! Amen.

God is Good! God is Great!! Always!!!

I love you,

Margaret

*A special Thank You to “Beliefnet/Inspire Your Everyday”, for their contribution to my Blog today.

I invite you to visit AMAZON and check out my spiritual thriller, “That Melvin Bray” at:

https://www.amazon.com/That-Melvin-Bray-Margaret-McBride/product-reviews/1458212122

I’m Just A Kid!!

 

Monday, August 14, 2017

Welcome to my Monday Blog, my Friends and I hope you all had a wonderful weekend filled with all that makes you Joyous!

OK, first off, I’m in no way dissing the tremendous challenge our incredible teachers face every single day in the public school systems across this great country of ours. However, I can personally attest to the fact that in the over fifty years since I graduated from high school, there’s not a whole lot which has changed. Not really. For example, the curriculum is what it is in the public school system and everyone is required to follow it…just as it was in my day, my children and now their children.

There’s no “exception to the rule” either! You either make it or you don’t. If it wasn’t for the dedication and exemplary performance of so many exceptional teachers out there, so many kids would be left behind. The truth is that the “one size fits all” theory simply doesn’t work with human beings. Why I can remember quite vividly in Jr. High  when there were times I just didn’t get it…yet, by the grace of God and the devotion of some awesome teachers, my struggles were not in vain and I never got left behind; nor, I was ever made to feel “stupid.”

Frankly, in High School, I was so bad in French class that Mrs. Faircloth  (in her tiny but mighty voice) suggested I drop French altogether and replace it with a subject more suitable to my learning ability (or was that dis-ability). Anyway, Hallelujah!! To this day, my French vocabulary consists of counting 1-10 and Bonjour. I struggled with any language other than my own, and sometimes I even struggle with that one, as well. Oh, my dear Mrs. Faircloth stayed late with me many days and worked extra hours with me in an attempt to see me succeed in her class. When it became clear to her I was not wired for that beautiful language she, herself, spoke so fluently, she never left me behind…in fact, she helped me find another subject which suited me better— I think it was Home Ec.

Yes, Home Economics….oh, that was way easier than French and much more my style; however, I distinctly remember the required “Blouse Project” each student had to make on their own before Christmas break. When I was finished, my lovely garment had three extra button holes…Ooops! This dear teacher didn’t leave me behind either and she worked with me until we finished that blouse with the correct number of buttons!!  I DID IT —  (WE did it).

Some schools are better than others and some teachers are better than others, and that’s just a fact. The bottom line though, is that every child is gifted, regardless of the school and or the teacher and each and every one deserves the very best our system has to offer. There are no two exactly alike —even identical twins are unique unto themselves, separate of each other.

I believe each child deserves to be treated with respect and dignity…just as their teachers and guides expect of them. It’s amazing what children can do, achieve and grow into, when they’re made to feel cared for and appreciated. It’s okay to not have all the answers all the time—what’s NOT okay is to not have the chance to be all that one can be, no matter what age, any time. Children are so impressionable…so real and so wonderful—they deserve the very best we can give them no matter what the situation.

May God Bless all the children…”red and yellow black and white, they are precious in His sight.”

And Jesus said, “let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” —Matthew 19-14

This week, should we have the opportunity, let’s observe our younger ones, all ages. We’re ALL teachers, so let’s pay attention to them—Be there in the moment with them and acknowledge them…even PRAISE them. When we hear, “I’m Just A Kid”, remember, that’s very special! Oh, and one more thing…PLEASE PRAY FOR ALL THE TEACHERS, EVERYWHERE!

God is Good! God is Great!! Always!!!

I love you,

Margaret

P. S. Have you ever been to the Garden of Hope? Something is always Blooming — Look around.

“That Melvin Bray”, a spiritual thriller by Margaret McBride

on Amazon –

https://www.amazon.com/That-Melvin-Bray-Margaret-McBride/product-reviews/1458212122

 

What’s Wrong With Just Being YOU?!

August 7, 2017

Hello, Everyone—It’s Monday Blog time —WELCOME!!

Each week, I come here and spend a bit of time just talking…mostly about ME and what’s going on in my  Life, right? So today, let’s talk about YOU and me.

you; pronoun:

1. used to refer to the person or people that the speaker is addressing.— “are you listening?”
2. used to refer to any person in general. — “after a while, you get used to it.”

As I’m reading these two definitions, I see in #1, the word you as it is used in a sentence, posed  as a question—very appropriate for my blog title today.

Let’s start with the #1: “Are you listening?”

Every Sunday, for thirty years now (at least a bazillion times), my Pastor asks the congregation this question and I’m pretty sure it accomplishes two very important goals he has for every sermon…

He asks, “Are you listening?

Translation:  “WAKE UP, I’m not finished yet, and YOU need to hear this!”

(Amen & Thank You, Pastor Wright!)

#2:  “After a while you get used to it.”

Translation: When we do something, anything, long enough, it can become real; whether it is or not. We can get used to it. Sadly, this may not be a good thing. I’m certain.

Looking back on it all now, as I have on many occasions, I became “The Great Pretender” and I created a world for myself because underneath it all, I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin — I wasn’t good enough just being me. That made me very sad.  As a mater of fact, there were several occasions during my childhood/teenage years, when I wanted to be a part of a specific party, attend special occasions, join a certain club, or shop at a popular boutique, but I was not accepted by certain kids whom I thought were “better” than I. I wasn’t the only one, who had difficulty “fitting in” and I felt sad for myself and those like me. No one wants to be left out of anything, that “everyone else is doing.” No one wants to be an “outsider”, feeling unwanted. This started at a young age and regardless of the WHY, the damage was done and it would be a very long time before I would be able to turn this around to my advantage:

• What do you do? Well, like me, you may just start pretending.  Now this may work in some instances, but in my case, it did  NOT cause my  Daddy to stop drinking, it did NOT allow my  Mother to quit work and stay home with her children, it did NOT provide anymore income so that my family could enjoy more than  the bare necessities to live on; however, it did allow me to function with some gumption and not act as a pitifully insecure child.
• Pretending did not change ONE thing…but ME. It did help me a lot, however, to rise above myself and actually gave me a sense of self I didn’t have, before I started my new life as “The Great Pretender.” Again, however, I am not advocating living anyone’s life but YOURS!
• Fast forward to my early twenties. I had grown so comfortable in my pretend new skin that I didn’t see the world as it really was. Seriously.  And when I did get harsh glimpses of the real world, I just turned my psychological channel to another station…one with bright colors and nice people.  Quite fake, actually, totally. Not in the REAL world.
• I don’t recommend this to anyone. Because of this, I made some mistakes which, of course,  in hindsight, I can honestly say, were nothing short of totally stupid. Gimme’ a break—What was I thinking?! I wasn’t—I was pretending!!
• I had lived for so long in a make-believe world because I didn’t feel “good enough” just being me, that one day I had to break out and run in the opposite direction! Trust me, for a while I must have felt like my daddy…he would say, “I cant stop drinking because I don’t know how to live any other way.”  I had become so uncomfortable as the pretend me, that I had to do something drastic. I had two worlds going and could not live happily in either one.
• Do not do what I did. It’s never too late to be YOU…of this, I am certain!
• BE FEARLESSLY AUTHENTIC – Admit to yourself all the wonderful things you are. No, really, YOU ARE WONDERFUL—Just do it!! 
• What’s wrong with just being YOU?
• ABSOLUTLY NOTHING!!!
• *Before there was you, God knew, wanted and ordained you before you were an embryo.  God says: “You had to be born and aren’t a mistake. You were set apart and I put MY mark on you for Myself. You were meant to be different for MY purpose, so it doesn’t matter what anyone else says. You were not created to die, but live eternally with Me. You had My blessing from the beginning of creation to succeed and prosper. You are so important to Me that before you were created, I made a provision to get you back into My life by coming to Earth to save you.”  – Jeremiah 1:5

This week, let’s all consider our actions. Do we lift others up or do we pull them down? Are we too busy to feel for others less fortunate? This is so important! Our desire should be to make everyone around us comfortable in there own skin and at the very least, be kind and thoughtful. No one should be made to feel the need to pretend they’re anything other than the wonderful person God created in them.

God is Good! God’s Great!! Always!!!

I love you,

Margaret

*A very special “Thank You” to Fay @Daily FavorBlog:  – Jeremiah 1:5  — https://favored1-dailyfavor.blogspot.com/2017/08/before-there-was-you.html

Amazon.com – “That Melvin Bray”, a spiritual thriller by Margaret McBride

https://www.amazon.com/That-Melvin-Bray-Margaret-McBride/product-reviews/1458212122

It’s All About The FAITH!!

Monday, July 31, 2017

It’s Monday Blog time again—Welcome!!

A few days ago I was chatting with an old friend over lunch. Most of our conversations, at some point, will drift to our spirituality. My friend is way less verbose about his faith than I, however, we do have some very interesting and enlightening discussions on the subject. On this particular day he began to tell me about a gentleman who was a great American philosopher and scholar. This enlightened fella was almost 100 years old when he passed away several years ago. He spent his last few years here on Earth researching and studying the existence of God —Is He real or a myth? His conclusion was, “While I do believe God exists, He has not given me the gift of faith.”

WHAT?! Of course, I immediately was taken by that remark. It just didn’t sound right— to my own intellect and certainly my heart.  The two of us discussed it further, but when I got back to my office, I was still a bit bothered. My understanding of faith, what it means, how do we get it, what are we to do with it, caused me to do my own research and here’s what I found:

“When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? —Luke 18:8b (NIV)

*Believing The Truth:

• Faith is believing in what is true. Faith has two elements: 1) Being convinced of the truth, being certain of reality, having evidence of unseen things, and 2) believing, hoping in, embracing, seizing the truth. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” – Heb11:1 (NIV)
• While faith requires being convinced that what we believe in is true, just knowing the truth is only half of faith. God’s word must be hoped for, embraced, seized! “The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith?” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”—Luke 17:5
•  Believing is not exactly the same as faith. For belief to be faith, it must light on what is certainly true. Yet Scripture gives examples of situations where belief alone is required, even commanded. There’s no time for evidence collection, to wait, to hear, for certainty. Just believe. Like Peter walking on the water–don’t think, act! God even requires us to believe in Him when, temporarily, the evidence looks bad: to trust. God requires belief and trust in moments of human weakness, but faith is what makes us strong. Faith is the state of being convinced about what we hope for. Contrary to popular teaching, faith is not mental delusion, presumption or self-deception, but a work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. —“Faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”      – Romans 10:17 (NIV)                  
• C. S. Lewis: “We must not encourage in ourselves or others any tendency to work up a subjective state which, if we succeeded, we should describe “faith”, with the idea that this will somehow insure the granting of our prayer…What this state of mind with desperate desire working on a strong imagination can manufacture, is not faith in the Christian sense. It is a feat of psychological gymnastics.”
• Belief detached from the truth is not faith. Believing in what is not from God, not true, believing in “the word of your own imagination”, or even the “word of Satan”, is deception pure and simple. Calling this deception “faith” does not make it so.

*Believing The Gospel Truth:

C. S. Lewis: “Now faith…is the art of holding onto things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods…Make sure that, if you have once accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines shall be deliberately held before your mind for some time every day. That is why daily prayers and religious reading and churchgoing are necessary parts of the Christina life… — “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. What you heard from me, keep as the pastern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted in you, guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit that lives in us.” —2 Timothy 1:12b-14 (NIV)

• “Without faith it is impossible to please God…” —Hebrew 11:6 (NIV)
• “We are all hard-pressed on all sides, but never in despair. We are persecuted, but are never deserted; we may be knocked down but we are never knocked out! Everyday we experience something of the death of Jesus, so that we may also show the power of the life of Jesus in these bodies of ours. Yes, we who are living are always being exposed to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be plainly seen in our mortal lives.”—2 Cor 4:-8-10 (Phi)
• “This  means tremendous joy to you, even though at present you may be temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials. This is no accident–it happens to prove your faith, which is infinitely more valuable than gold, and gold, as you know, even though it is ultimately perishable must be purified by fire. ” —1 Pet 1:6-7 (Phi)
• “Faith means that we have full confidence in the things we hope for, it means being certain of the things we cannot see.”—Hebrew 1:1 (Phi)
• “The whole thing, then, is a mater of FAITH on man’s part and generosity on God’s . He gives the security of His own promise to all men.”—Romans 4:16 Phi)   
• The philosopher’s statement was: “While I do believe God exists, He has not given me the gift of faith.”  The part of this statement that concerned me was, “….He has not given me the gift of faith.”

Based on the gospel truth, we must invoke our faith in Him – the FAITH and trust which lives inside us – OUR Faith and trust in Him. That’s on us, NOT God:

“For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” —John  3:16

Seriously, let’s all pray about this and if there’s any doubt about what our responsibility to God is, we better get it right, because our Eternity is based on our FAITH and TRUST in Him—it’s not the other way around.

Amen!!

God is good! God Great!! Always!!!

I love you,

Margaret

“We can’t make anyone else love us; however, our Creator already loves us more than anyone else.” —KFaith 

*A special Thank You to: Bible Studies/Act 17:11 (for portions of my Faith series today).

“That Melvin Bray”, a spiritual thriller: 

on AMAZON—

https://www.amazon.com/That-Melvin-Bray-Margaret-McBride/product-reviews/1458212122