Some people fill this “void” with relationships, others with service, and these people usually do well enough. Yet others who have no clue of where to look for an answer fill their “void” by seeking pleasures, the pleasure feels good for a time, but soon is not enough, so they seek more of the pleasure. This leads to drug abuse, alchoholism, and other addictions.

There is a saying that “Knowing is half the battle” so education (if that is the proper term) is key to a successful life. People who don’t know about their “void” and the reason they have it and the proper way to fill it are often the “confused teenager, the street bum (urban outdoorsman) the criminal and so on.

You would think in this day and age with all the methods of mass communication that everybody would know about the void and the connection to spirit that is needed to fill it. If everyone knew the truth for themselves and were able to live in harmony with others then this world would be a very happy place to live in. Sadly this is not the current reality, too many people still do not know about the connection to spirit that is needed to live a happy and fulfilled life.

What needs to be done is to “educate” the entire race in a non “religious” way. Too many people are repulsed by religion, especially if the religion is a bit draconionian proclaming that their way is the only way and all others are wrong, etc. etc. etc. Bringing in non sequiter rules and dogma that are more for control than the benifit of the people.

I aplaud you for your effort, and hope that soon your ministry will grow and the truth will be seen by more and more people.

Be Blessed

Brother Paul responds:

Excellent points, Ralston! It is my hope that all will come to understand these truths and not be blocked out by the stuff that is spewed in front of them everyday. As John said, “Be unspotted by the world.” That’s a tough thing to do for many. But, if we connect to our true source, we can remember that we are not at our final resting place, but that we have much to accomplish here.

Make it a great day in the Lord!

This unique signature that we walk around with all day is who we are, we are spirits with a body that we use for a time, and it is our spirit that people see when they meet us, otherwise we would all be alike, kinda like a school of fish, or a herd of buffalo, there would be no discerning factor that sets us apart from each other.

Then with our spirit we are to use our body and our time on earth to grow, to learn and become better. We all know that you get from giving, so this universal law helps us to grow by sharing of ourselves. We are here for a season to do as we will, hopefully we use that time for good, to make the world a better place than when we found it.

Be Blessed

Brother Paul responds:

Excellent points!

Glad to see you back.
Thanks for this writing—it is right on the mark!

Alas, while it does make a point, I must furthur add to your article.

People DO get what they ask for, the problem is it is not necessarily what they want.

Let me esplain; The Universe also known as God has a great sense of humor, and use of semantics (since God invented language) and so can and will use your self against you. When you ask for something and your motives are “impure” you will get as close to exactly what you asked for, but not what you wanted.

An example is in order here; let us say you asked for a house, you wanted the house just because you are tired of the landlord demanding you quit partying at 9pm. So in a few days or so you receive a letter that says you just won a house, BUT when you go down to view the house it turns out the house is perfect for terriers, but would be a bit hard to live in. Thus getting exactly what was asked for but not what was wanted.

Another one is people wanting to win the lottery, my mom is a good example of this, she says she will win the lottery and then she will have a good life and life will be good. Well in a conversation recently, she mentioned how she had matched three numbers and won $5. SO by this she was convinced that soon she would win the lottery. So I had to explain to her that she just DID win the lottory, she won $5, thus her fervent prayer to win the lottery was answered. So I explained that now that she had won, she has to keep her end of the bargain and start having a good life.

So you see people do get what they ask for, but not necessarily what they wanted.

To sum up the lesson here; make sure of what you wish for, as you will get it.

Be Blessed

Brother Paul Responds:

I thank you for the post and am happy you enjoyed it! A word to everybody here so that you don’t think I don’t check these things out, I have noted the url and if you go to that page, there is NOTHING offensive, but I cannot guarantee past those links. As long as links do not lead directly to pornographic links or directly inappropriate content, we’re going to leave the links as they are.

If you are looking for body jewelry and you are married and your tastes run that way, I find nothing wrong with it, as in Hebrews we are told “The marriage bed is honorable in all!”

There was an old farmer who lived in a villiage on the far side of the empire. Many of his fellow villiagers said he was an un-lucky man, yet he always believed he was lucky.

One day his son was trying to learn to ride a horse, fell off and broke his leg. The other people told him this was bad as he was now deprived of his help and had a mouth to feed that was not productive. The old farmer replied that everything happens for a reason and that he was blessed that his son fell off the horse.

The next morning they awoke and found a fox had eaten most of his chickens, except for the family pet they kept in the house because it laid egss all his chickens were dead. The neighbors told him that he was unfourtunate and felt sorry for him saying he must really have angered the gods. The old farmer replied that evrything happens for a reason and that he was blessed his chickens had all been killed.

The next day his wife decided to leave him and go back to her province in manchuria. Again the villiagers said he was un-lucky and unfourtunate as his wife had left him. Again the old farmer simply stated that everything happens for a reason.

About a week later a prince with a group of soldiers came and said war has been declared on manchuria and all young men were ordered to join the army. The old farmer simply smiled as the other villiagers wept. His son could not go because he had a broken leg so the prince dismissed him from serving.

A week later a courtier came and declared a chicken tax, all people were to pay gold for every chicken they owned. The tax was needed to pay for the war. The old farmer again smiled as he had only one chicken and so paid vary little tax, while the rest of the villiage either went broke or went to prison.

About a month later the manchurian army swept into the villiage and began to execute any male in the villiage that could walk. The old farmer told the soldiers his wife was in manchuria and he had to stay with his son who had a broken leg. The soldiers let him go.

By the end of the summer he was the only man in the villiage besides his son. So he directed the women of the villiage in the harvest of the rice. Since there were so many fewer people to feed there was an abundance of rice. Soon the prince came back and saw the large amount of rice and paid the old farmer a large amount for the rice, and hired all the women of the villiage to carry it to the capital.

The old farmer took his money, and his son and moved to the himilayas where they both met woman and they and lived happily ever after.

So you see things happen for a reason, the pain is that the reason is not always apparent.

Be Blessed

First let us address the flaunting thing. Spending money on stuff you desire is not a sin, what is the sin is the the forcing of other people to also enjoy what you have.

If you are truly interested in diamond rings then it would make for a great conversation, but if you are not then you may consider that to be flaunting.

So it is with religion, if you are interested in spiritual growth then the conversation would be one of mutual enjoyment, but if not then one would think the other to be preaching and the preacher would consider the other to be a unrepentant sinner.

So it is a matter of perspective, if a rich man spends money on a house he has spread his money out to the contractor, the laborers, the utility companies and their laborors, and so on, everyone has benifited. But if the rich man holds onto his money then no one benifits. So to spend money on the things we want is benifiting to everybody.

We are all rich in various degrees compared to others. The people in the midlle east consider all Americans to be selfish rich pigs of a people, as even the allowance of most American teanagers is greater than the average annual earnings of an adult in their country.

Is being wealthy a sin, no it is not. What is the main error of those we perceive to be rich is that we do not have the same interest as they do, so why would we care about how much a party costs? Only the contracter and the laborers would care as they are getting paid for their efforts. On the other hand if we enjoyed those kind of parties then we would consider it a good investment.

So do not despise the wealthy, for if you do then wanting to be a good person deep inside we could never become wealthy for then we would have to become bad by our own definition. Instead bless those who you desire to emulate, and soon you will be like them as you too want to be blessed.

Be Blessed

Brother Paul responds:

I somewhat agree, Ralston. Spending money on things that you can enjoy, provided they are not harmful to others, and provided they are not “flaunting” is not a sin.

But, there is a borderline here that is extremely dangerous if crossed.

Remember, the “love” of money is the root of all kinds of evil. When these people that I refer to are buying rings to “flaunt” in front of their guests, they are being prideful. And pride goes before a fall.

The celebrity I referred to has nothing (that’s zilch, zero, nada) in savings, but spends all her money on clothes to impress other people.

Is it wrong to buy a $500 pair of boots that have a lifetime warranty. I don’t think so. That means they are high quality and will last. Is it wrong for Donald Trump or Bill Gates to buy a Lamborghini? I don’t think so.

It’s the proportional aspect that we need to look at. Plus, provided they have taken care of other needs, and they are still proportionally purchasing things they want, that is fine.

But, it’s in the moderation that I think we most need to look at. Yes, there are people in third world countries that would consider me rich because I own my own house and land.

But, to spend money on a booze party and spend thousands or millions on jewelry to impress others, I don’t believe is in accordance with what the laws of the universe are.

Again, there is NOTHING wrong with money. And, there is NOTHING wrong with being rich.

But, I think the excesses that were shown are not paths to emulate. Had they invested those millions at a rate of 8 to 9%, which is what the stock market has averaged since 1945, would cause their money to double in 8 to 9 years.

I thank you, Ralston, for pointing out the perspective aspect, which is an extremely valid point. And, I don’t want to think that people need to live in “sackcloth and ashes” or your basic black to be rewarded.

But, again, there is a difference between rich and obsequious. Rich, in my opinion, is fine because true wealth can be defined from that. But being obsequious, in my opinion, is a problem.

As always, feel free to join in on the conversation!

Make it a great day in the Lord!

Brother Paul

First that we need to seek the truth, the meaning of life, the reason we are here, etc. We must first seek to fulfil our spiritual side in order to fulfill our physical side.

God created this universe because quite simply; he could. He then created us living beings so that we could learn to be his friends. When you were young you had a teddy bear or doll that was your friend (or blanket, pillow, etc) eventually we grew out of that and wanted real living friends so we could interact with them and grow. We will reach out and help our friends redily as we realize our own need for friends.

Well God wants us as friends, God is more interestedin our coming to him willingly to be his friend than in having robot like servants. So we humans came into existance in order to learn and grow and become friends with our God.

So many teachers have come into this world to try to teach us the way,the path, the direction and purpose of our journey here. We are here to learn how to be friends with God, and in return God offers not just mere friendship, but fatherly reciprocation. (for those women out there substitute motherly) since fatherly (or motherly) love is a higher form of love than friendship, or brotherly love, God is trying to show us that to be his friend, and seek the kingdom of heaven we will be well taken care of.

So in short our purpose here is to find our God, to become friends with God, and to find the kingdom. Rather than get into a long winded discussion of these subjects (I will leave that to Brother Paul) it will be sufficient to just say that God desires our willing friendship, not our blind servitude. So the truth is hidden in plain sight for us to find and realize for ourselves, and when we do we become children of God.

Be Blessed

Brother Paul responds:

Ralston brings up some great points. I don’t know that “friend” is the correct term, but God does want a free will relationship with his creation. He doesn’t want us to be robots who just do what he says without our wanting to do it.

Kind of reminds me of “Coming To America” where the king played by James Earl Jones provides his son, played by Eddie Murphy with a bride who will do whatever he likes to do and will do whatever he commands. The son didn’t want that. Just like that show portrays, God doesn’t want us to do something because he is making us do it, but rather, because we choose to follow his instructions and commands.

Seeking first the kingdom is a very deep subject, but Ralston touches on it nicely. When I talk about being in line with the universal laws that God set up, that has a lot to do with seeking the kingdom. But, the kingdom lies within several planes. It lies within us, but it also within the assembly, which is those who are of the same mind that are also seeking the kingdom.

God has put talents and skills within us that allow us to maximize what we are and how we work within the kingdom of like minds. (Which ties into the blog that follows this one.)

One of the problems, which I will be covering in a blog soon, is that we often try to do more than we were intended to do. The character Superman couldn’t solve every single problem. If he did, he’d never have had time to be Clark Kent. Just like that, we often try to take on more than we were supposed to do. (Yep, I’m “chief of sinners” on that one.)

But, again, I want to thank Ralston for taking the time to comment. (You all can join in anytime, you know.)

Make it a great day in the Lord!

Brother Paul

I do find other things to be thankful for like having a working vehicle, family, etc. etc. etc. Being thankful does bring more of what you are thankful for.

Be Blessed