Roberts Mirror Mirror

Is the Image We See in the Mirror Reflected in Our Lives?
1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9905430-3-9
Verlag: MDR Publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 249 Seiten

Mirror Mirror explores chapter by chapter the way in which a person conducts their life, either by works of the flesh or the fruit of the Spirit. The reader is left in no doubt by Scriptural references, what is required in order to obtain God's blessings in their life. A person's free will choice is extracted and laid bare to reveal, that where a person spends eternity is their choice, and theirs alone. 'Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it-not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it-they will be blessed in what they do.' James 1:23-25 (NIV)

Autoren/Hrsg.

Roberts, Martin

Leseproben

Introduction The nucleus of this book came about from a conversation with a family member who, for me at least, I believed was mocking God. My first thought was that I needed to put them straight. But I confess, I’m not the most tactful person when it comes to speaking to a family member, which I’m sure many can relate to. Many of us can have an attitude when speaking to a family member that we are free to speak to them in whatever way we wish, especially if we think it is for their own good. That is wrong, which is something I can personally testify to. For me, I assumed quite incorrectly that what I said, even though it was out of love and concern for my family member’s welfare and, more importantly, their eternal life, I had hoped it would be looked upon as loving advice. Sadly, it was not. A few days later, my family member told me that they had decided they wanted nothing more to do with me and launched into a verbal campaign of telling me what a hypocrite I was and that I could never change (referring to past life experiences). I analyzed what they said and questioned whether I was to blame for making this family member feel the way they did. Some of the things they said to me deeply hurt and upset me. Their words cut me to the core like fresh salt placed in an open wound. But I was sure by the nature of what caused the initial conversation in the first place, it was right for me to speak up. Not only that, the culmination of their decision to have nothing more to do with me reflected past hurts rather than present statements. This taught me a huge lesson of humility, forgiveness, respect, and above all the free gift of Grace from God. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was He replied that it was to “love your God” and He quickly followed up with the second one, “to love your neighbor”. The Apostle John further enforced this when he was asked to speak to those wanting to know what was important and simply said, “love one another”. This then, like a perfectly machined piece of a jigsaw puzzle, fits ‘like a glove’ into what is another command from God. To forgive one another. In our imperfect world and, indeed, our own individual imperfection, forgiveness can be something that is not easily achieved. The bridge is so easy to cross for two people to resolve their differences, but all too often one of them sets the middle of the bridge on fire and the bridge collapses. All too often the offended party, instead of throwing a rope as in a lifeline to the other person, chooses to throw gasoline on the fire so that the bridge burns quickly and is eventually destroyed with both parties looking at each other from the divide. This situation, although an illustrative one, plays out in real family life situations every day. I can personally testify to this. I am not proud and I am indeed ashamed of much of my past life. I was guilty of not forgiving, of all people, my mother. Sadly, the bridge I burnt was never erected again and for the last 10 years of my mother’s life we did not speak to each other. This does not affect only family members. Friendships, some that have lasted lifetimes, are also easy game for the one who is behind the cause of these divisions. One thing a person cannot do is reverse the past. They cannot change a situation that has already occurred. They cannot take back a wrong word they said. But if there is no way to alter a wrong that one may have done to another, how can one be able to move forward with a clear conscience? All too often one, if not both, parties who may feel wronged choose to reveal the wrong with other family members or their sphere of friends. Why? Is it not simply to gain someone on our side so as to feel justified that we are the one who has been wronged? All too often we try to legitimize our part of the story that we tell others about. We may even be guilty at times of fabricating more than what actually happened in order to incur sympathetic glances. Can you imagine if our Creator, Almighty God acted in such a way? Fortunately for us He cannot and will not. It is not in His nature to act in such a manner. Would He be justified if He could, or did, act in a way we as humans think is appropriate? When one considers what man has done by means of acting out their humanistic tantrums created by the devil, God would most certainly be justified to say to each and every person who has ever lived that they are not deserving of Him and He wants nothing to do with them. Thankfully, true Christians serve a God who is nothing like what was just described. He is a God of love, desiring all that want to be in union (a relationship) with Him to seek Him while He can be found. Unlike some hidden treasure that, unless you have a map and the means to find it, God is right with you, right now. His road map, the Bible, isn’t some mystical enchanted fictional story book. It is the inspired word of God which “He breathed,” so as to give us the information that each and every one of us can attain. Not only that, if you are reading this and you are not currently serving God, He wants to give you a free gift. You cannot buy it, trade for it, barter for it, sell it, or obtain it other than by God freely giving it to you. What’s the catch you may be thinking? There isn’t one. God gives you a free choice. He wants to give you His free gift of Grace as long as you are willing, by free will, to accept His son Jesus Christ as your Savior. This book is more than a single event that happened in my life with my family member. It’s a book to help the person who may still be searching for God. It’s a book that hopefully you or someone else can identify with and, if that be the case, to put into action how to draw oneself into a relationship with God now. I would also suggest that some of those searching for God do not even know they are searching for Him right now. But their lives, or rather the way they conduct their life, may not be what they want it to be. Maybe the person who this book appeals to or helps is one who is enslaved to drug addiction, or alcoholism. Perhaps sexual immorality may be something a person is struggling with and may not even know it or recognize it as such. Many other things which can enslave a person are much more subtle and deceiving to the point that they are not even seen as being wrong. Through the chapters of this book we will detail all of them and show by Scripture, God’s law and what He demands of each and every one of us to be acceptable toward Him. You may be thinking that this is not free will or that you have to do something to get something. But that is not the case. Free will is, by definition, a choice of doing something. For example, take the protection that a zoo provides to ensure the safety of its visitors from the wild animals they have there. Obviously, seeing wild animals outside of their natural habitat is perhaps the only way to see these beautiful creatures up close, or as close as one is allowed to be. All manner of barriers and protection is installed for the safety of the zoo’s visitors. But what if a person chooses to ignore such a barrier, thinking they somehow can ignore it and remain safe? We can all cite examples (thankfully rare occurrences) of this happening with the tragic events that follow the person ignoring such warnings being seriously injured or dying as a result of their disobedience. The victim, by his or her free will, chooses to ignore the warnings [commands] the zoo places and their own actions [disobedience] result in their serious injury or death. This is no different to God’s warnings or commands and the results that occur by disobeying them. He doesn’t post the signs nor place the barriers to prevent you from enjoying everything in life. Rather, He does all of this for a person’s protection. All too often we hear of people saying it is too hard to serve God. That you have to be a “goody two shoes”. That, in itself, is a myth. No one can be a “goody two shoes” in the truest sense of the word. Romans 3:23 bears this fact out when it states, “All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory.” (CEB) In other words, as sinful, imperfect creatures we cannot help ourselves. Our imperfect human body is incapable of not sinning. But what if you learned of someone or something that helped you to stop sinning? Or, better yet, enabled you to resist sin so that you no longer wanted to sin? There is someone or something that can do that and this book will detail that too. It will help launch you onto a journey of fulfillment if you are willing to have an open mind and a desire to learn. You see, society has made the right course of action to be frowned upon. Some people are looked down upon and made to look as though they are weird or crazy. The day and age we live, with all our technological advances cannot, and will not, save mankind. We are incapable. When you look at a science program today they talk about how long we have left before man kills each other, or a giant meteor colliding with the earth to end life as we know it. So much for their theories of survival of the fittest. If that were true, we would have learned by now how to eradicate such dangers and advance our species to greater heights. We cannot even control the weather, so how can we control ourselves? No, mankind’s only hope is through a superior force being able to rescue us. That force is God Himself. One day we are all going to face the decisions we make now, which will determine where we spend eternity. If you have an open mind and the desire to learn, I challenge you to check things out for yourself. Besides, what do you have to lose? But more importantly, by Scriptural reference within this book, what do you...