Monday, December 27, 2010

Life

Is very interesting. It's true that we are only here for a moment and could be gone the next. When we close our eyes to sleep, that could be the very last time we open our eyes in this system.

In this system there are so many things that could happen that could change life as we know it. One of my biggest fears was to lose my wife while delivering any one of our children and sure enough it almost happened.

What would my life be today with her. How could I wake to an empty pillow. How could I wake without seeing her face in the morning. Then I think of my kids. Although Jesse is 18 now he is still my baby, my first born. I often worry about him when he out late playing basketball.

One of my fears almost happened when Joshua almost died. I am thankful for life each day but I know that any one of my fears can happen. That's why I'm so thankful that there is a purpose for life. There is a chance of making it into a world where we don't have to worry, where we don't have to panic.

Sounds like a dream but if you were God would you have it any other way? If you had the same powers as God wouldn't you do the same? Why would he do any less? Even if a person didn't know the Truth, think about it why would God create the Earth in the first place if people went to Heaven? Why would any go to Hell if a person dies, his or her sins are forgiven?

So I trust in Jehovah that he will indeed keep his promise to transform this Earth that he created into a place where all of our fears will go away. Hope....

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Life is never easy

I often wondered what kind of person was I going to be in life. Would I end up in prison like my father. Would I end up dead like so many of my friends. I never knew that I would end up becoming a witness.

It wasn't easy to become who I am today. I had so many internal issues to deal with. I had to think about those who claimed to love me and would die for me but all they would do in the end was stab me in the back.

Those that I thought were friends were nothing but bad influences that if I held onto those, I wouldn't be where I am today. It didn't matter to me that they would talk about me behind my back because I became a witness.

It didn't matter to me what my family thought. Matter of fact, my mother was very supportive of my choices because she saw the changes. She knew it was positive although she didn't understand it. She supported my choices because in life.

My brother however did not. We haven't spoken for years. I cannot understand why. He should love me no matter what I choose in life but being a witness isn't easy and it wasn't meant to be easy. If Jesus was treated badly, we should expect the same.

Sometimes doing the right thing can be hard but nobody said doing the right thing is easy. Life is never easy....

Monday, December 6, 2010

What's up Blood

Back in the days of Noah, an ancestor of all mankind, God laid down a remarkable law. While granting humans the right to eat the flesh of animals, he forbade them to consume the blood. (Genesis 9:4)

He also gave them his reason, equating blood with the soul, or life, of the creature. He later said: “The soul or life is in the blood.” In the eyes of the Creator, blood is sacred. It represents the precious gift of life that each living soul possesses. God restated this principle again and again.—Leviticus 3:17; 17:10, 11, 14; Deuteronomy 12:16, 23.

Shortly after Christianity was founded , believers were given the divine commandment to “abstain from . . . blood.” The prohibition was based, not on health concerns, but on the sacredness of blood. (Acts 15:19, 20, 29) Some argue that this God-given restriction applies only to the eating of blood, but the word “abstain” speaks for itself. If a doctor told us to abstain from alcohol, we would hardly feel at liberty to inject it into our veins.

The Bible further explains why blood is so sacred. The shed blood of Jesus Christ, representing the human life that he gave in behalf of mankind, is key to the Christian hope. It means forgiveness of sins and hope of eternal life. When a Christian abstains from blood, he is in effect expressing his faith that only the shed blood of Jesus Christ can truly redeem him and save his life.—Ephesians 1:7.

For some, that is hard to understand. We live in a world that holds very little as sacred. Life itself is rarely valued as it should be. Little wonder, then, that blood is bought and sold like any other commodity. But those who respect the Creator’s wishes do not treat it that way. ‘You must not eat blood’ was God’s command to Noah and his descendants—all mankind. (Genesis 9:4) Eight centuries later He put that command in his Law to the Israelites. Fifteen centuries later he reaffirmed it once again to the Christian congregation: ‘Abstain from blood.’—Acts 15:20.

Jehovah’s Witnesses hold to that law primarily because they want to obey their Creator. By means of the sacrificial death of his own beloved Son, the Creator has already provided mankind with lifesaving blood. It can prolong life not just for a few months or years but forever.—John 3:16; Ephesians 1:7.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, are determined to ‘abstain from blood.’ Hence, we do not donate blood, nor do we store for transfusion our blood that should be poured out. That practice conflicts with God’s law.