First this life and my thoughts now aren’t about believing in Santa Claus or not!
A year passed and have things changed; not really the same game but worse!
Let me ask you; do you really prefer to think that not being born would be better for you and your children? Because I can absolutely guarantee you that is exactly what the Devil wants you to believe, that master of all lies wants any of us to think we are defeated before we start. Start what you might say with; how about the greatest and most magnificent journey that the brightest of minds couldn’t imagine in a million years! A way for everything to add up and come out perfect! Who else can sort all of this out, but the author of existence, certainly we mere inklings of a shadowy concoction of energy, matter and substance don’t have a fart in the winds chance of coming up with The Solution to all that has, is and will be happening on this planet our home we call earth.
You see I’ve learned that God absolutely exists and God’s purposes and Plans are all that matter not we free willed sometimes foolish, silly or arrogant creations of; His. “Total humility is the beginning of acceptance and understanding” that we are here for a God given reason not our imperfect sometimes self-righteous thinking or vision of what this has to be about living among the dead as we do; for I say to you this isn’t really living not with a price on all of our heads that says nobody gets out alive! We are looking with eyes half shut or in many cases wide shut in which case even though we think they are open they see nothing, not the Truth of God; never really seeing the length and depth of all that is really going on, and is always beyond our grasp; yet it’s as plain and simple as the morning turns to night and after the night a new dawn comes. No degree in rocket science required, only a genuine humble heart on bent knee which will open not only your heart to God but will open up the ultimate world of possibility and endless love! Something must bridge that enormous GAP for us, and that can only be the One who set this all in motion to begin with! Being BORN into this at times so chaotic and even rotten world is I assure you a Blessing, and no matter who it is or what they have or don’t have, being able to exist is our one sure ticket to the Ultimate Destination. Which is to be with God the One who made this all possible and is always waiting first for our recognition of Him to acknowledge we know we are helpless babes in the woods and need Him above all there is in this existence! That He must be our primary focus and then to learn with His unrelenting undivided help and attention; to Trust in Him! If we are making this connection as individuals that I’m speaking about to you placing Him front and center in our lives, then that will ensure us of our lives being worth something and a whole lot more than we can ever come up with or concoct on our own for being here in the first place!
Life is the most beautiful incomparable gift and blessing of absolute LOVE! We are suffering here and some so much more than others;many through NO fault of their own but the world is riddled with sin and evils that effect even the most innocent among us! What’s fair and fun about that you might ask, and I say not much, that at times to me really sucks, that so much pain and suffering is going on and so many dreams and hopes getting dashed or crushed under the enormous weight and burden of sin, imperfection, stupidity, hate and the list goes on as you are well aware I’m sure! But for this to all get sorted out and for any of us to make heads or tails of it all, is a fool’s errand, unless we have God on our side, you hear that; God on our side. He actually is, that is why this whole damned world didn’t get wiped away like so much chaff in the wind long ago, to our concept of time; but really a flickering flame to God which He hasn’t extinguished yet! We are absolutely at His Mercy and He wants us with Him in His Glory! How do we get that you might wonder here; we start by wanting Him so badly that it becomes our life force and breath our very REASON for LIVING, so we can be a part of His heavenly eternal Glorious and totally wonderful kingdom! I see it clear my friend, we are so lucky to be here and each of us will be nothing but dust, these bodies in the end, with our souls damned to oblivion or complete separation from God’s glory, his eternal kingdom; not even being a memory without God setting the record straight and bringing absolute Justice to all things in His good time when it is appropriate for any of us!
Now that was coming from my own heart that God has opened and restored countless times because due to my own errors and shortcomings, He knows I belong to Him though I don’t deserve to in a sense, yet I do; because I decided with my Own Heart that I want to and must if I’m to be worth anything after it’s all said and done and this carcass I occupy is eventually in the dirt where it belongs, “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak;” but my soul belongs to Him my Maker, who Gives, who gives all things; to those who love Him back! But how much grander is what comes for us if we stay strong in our faith no matter what, and “keep Jesus Christ front and center in our hearts and minds!”
1 Corinthians 2:9
9 But as Scripture says:
“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
the things that God has prepared
for those who love him.”
Love must be a two way street and we can never give a fraction of what God is giving or ultimately offering!
Saint Dismas a scoundrel of a man and bad dude before he met Jesus Christ who was nailed to the cross next to his, he Dismas to the right side of Jesus saw all that transpired that day his final day, when his heart opened up like never before watching this man who said He is the Son of the Father in the heavenly Kingdom saying things like, “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do!” Dismas was so rapt in awe he asked this dying man the Savior to “just remember me when you join your Father in Your kingdom.” He as then in that moment being honest and humble having admitted he deserved every bit of what he was getting being tied to a cross and crucified for all of his crimes against men, as well wasting his life being a scoundrel, but, then surely as Dismas correctly said to Jesus, in essence his meaning being; you deserve none of what they have done to you, you have to be who you say you are, just by how you are forgiving these same people doing this to you, you have shown not even one complaint or modicum of anger or hatred, you are praying for them instead!
“One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
—Luke 23:39–43 (NIV)
And so Dismas then asking Jesus in all humility and heart felt compassion not thinking in the slightest that he deserved even this opportunity to ask, the Messiah; “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (verses 42-43).
“As Jesus was hanging on the cross, paying our penalty for sin, He made a promise to a dying, repentant thief. By the grace of God and the power of Christ, that promise was kept. The thief’s sins were washed away, and his death that day was his entrance to paradise.” gotquestions.org/today-paradise.html
What does “if God is for us, who can be against us” mean in Romans 8:31?
Romans 8:31 says, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” The “things” are the dozens of amazing proofs of God’s unfailing love listed in the preceding verses. Romans 8 contains many of the cherished verses that comfort us, such as “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (verse 1). And the one that gets us through difficult times: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (verse 28). Verse 31 of Romans 8 is a culmination of all those wonderful promises. It reminds us who God is and how He helps us. When we grasp the truth that God is for us, we have nothing to fear.
God is “for” us in the sense that He is on our side; He is working on our behalf and for our good. He has proved His benevolence in that He has adopted us (Romans 8:15), He has given us His Spirit (verses 16–17, 26–27), and He has determined to save us (verses 29–30).
The follow-up question, “who can be against us?” is rhetorical. It’s another way of saying, “There is no one who could possibly be more powerful than God” or “No one can destroy us.” The idea is not that we will never face opposition; it’s simply that our opposition is doomed to failure. They may be against us, but not successfully against us. Since God is on our side, we have nothing to worry about.
Romans 8:31 is an echo of other passages that say the something similar:
• Psalm 118:6 says, “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
• 2 Kings 6:16: “‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet [Elisha] answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’”
• Psalm 56:9: “My enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me.”
• Hebrews 13:6: “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?’”
• Psalm 27:1: “The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?”
Sometimes our hearts respond to verses like this with consternation: “I’ll tell you who can be against me! The IRS, my in-laws, terrorists, corrupt politicians—” and the list goes on. Our real-life enemies seem to overshadow the ideas conveyed in Romans 8. Despite spiritual promises, we still have to endure physical, mental, and emotional struggles—so much so that we may wonder if God is truly for us.
The man who penned Romans 8:31 (Paul) faced the same struggles we face and many more. He lists some of his sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11:22–28 as proof that he did not write from a plastic bubble of ethereal peace. However, his intimate relationship with the risen Christ had become his all-consuming passion. He said he considered everything else “garbage” compared to knowing Christ (Philippians 3:7–9). He had learned the secret of contentment, whether he was celebrated or imprisoned, and he stated that secret: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13, BSB).
So when Paul writes, “If God is for us, who can be against us,” he is comparing earthly opposition to the eternal power and presence of Almighty God—and he declares the winner. No one can overcome God’s love for us.
Jesus taught the same thing. In Luke 12:4–5, Jesus said, “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” His point, as was Paul’s, is that, no matter what may happen to us here on earth, there is a higher reality. There is a bigger war than the one we think we face, and God is the ultimate winner (Ephesians 6:12). If we are on His side, then we will win, too. (Revelation 21:7–8, 27).” gotquestions.org/if-God-is-for-us-who-can-be-against-us
I Lawrence say with absolute confidence God is with us right now and never leaves our sides but we do have crosses to carry while here which is absolutely worth it! He Jesus Christ overcame all of this conflict and suffering and did it out of “Pure Absolute Love” and I tell you as I look around this world, me an imperfect nobody, I see so much I wouldn’t want to be any part of, yet I’m so happy to be dealing with the blood, sweat and tears of it all; because I have a shot through Jesus Christ of making sure that my life a gift from God was and is all worth it because He overcame all obstacles to Paradise; our path is to follow Him our Lord Savior and Redeemer. Amen.
I knowing through and by my own heart with Him Jesus Christ that we are going to make it there to the Promised Land, Hallelujah!
God bless you brothers and sisters!
Brother in Christ Jesus,
Lawrence Morra III
Zero Lift-Off 