I have lived in many places throughout my life; some were good and nice and others were simply out of this world! Of course most of those places were experienced when I was a kid, so the memories are those of a kid, even an immature kid. Having said that, I fear going back to those places and seeing them today for fear they will displace the affection I have for them.

Many of these places as a military brat, were beautiful back then, but they are gone and this sort of hurts my heart. These places hold special memories by virtue of those who occupied the area while I was living there. We could say it is the experiences I have been through that made a particular place and time so very special. Looking at the root cause for these places being so special, I then wonder why we are not able to enjoy every place and time.

The crux of the matter brings us to those around us who make an area a home, or just a place to live—like a house, a building and nothing more. It is also the times in which life took place; so obviously the 1960s felt more innocent and carefree. So why is it that we are not able to re-create this same scenario where ever we are?

Could it be that we cherish our youth to the point that we find life in old age to be dismal? We knew back then, as we know of life today, nothing remains the same. Still as yet, the question remains, why are we not able to be as happy now where ever we are, as we were back then?

I know that almost everyone looks at the time of their youth as the most prime or most innocent of their lives, and it has been that way for generations. So what are the requirements for being happy where ever we are and in whatever time frame? Yes…I know all about the contestants of beauty pageants, that continually say, “World peace.” Yet the 1960s were not without its own set of wars and strife in many areas of the world.

World peace will never be, without Jesus Christ. Of course in this article we are looking at the individual perspective and not the entire world perspective. To clear a field, it is required to remove the stones and obviously that begins with each and every stone until all the stones are gone. Is it a safety issue? An issue concerning individual contentment? Is it only a matter of youth, being young at heart?

Or does it concern the reason why we exist here on earth, in the first place? I mean there are pessimists and optimists and those in-between. Does that matter? Does the beauty of an area count as a factor in this? Or how about the mystic, the mystery and origins of the area and its inhabitants? Or could it simply be that someone else has handled the big questions, and concerns rather than you or me?

I would like to say that after considering these things, as children we were cared for and our needs were always met. In other words we were confident and secure. This of course was because of our parents. They handled all the difficulties and hardships, and we were left to explore and discover many things. As adults we now know these difficulties and hardships and thus, they cause us to become jaded to a degree. It is almost like saying, “We have lost the flavor of life.”

Matthew 5:13 “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

I am afraid this can spell many troubles for those who lose their flavor for life simply because they are not willing to place their faith in Jesus Christ. I would like to believe that this spells the chance for us to see this world in a more simple way once again. A viewpoint that deletes the wicked and sordid and allows us to be innocent once again, through Jesus Christ.

HE gives us that sense of security that we seem to have lost since our youth. It would be most proper to say that because we are not in our home—which is heaven, that we are simply on a vacation here on earth. Looking at everything with these news eyes brings the beauty and mystery of life back again.

I know most people would like to believe that perspective is an individual matter, and if that is so then why do so many people choose to see this life the way that they do? Living this life as if there is no God leaves a person with only one perspective, which is a dismal one. Seeing life and everything associated with it here through the lens of God allows us to have a new perspective, a new viewpoint.

I remember my mom and dad telling me that you can go through life “hoping” for good memories or you can choose to MAKE good memories, and that is true on an individual basis. It has to do with what you want in this life. If you choose to live life only as the world sees it you’re going to be continually disappointed because you will never be able to measure up.

If you are “keeping up with the Joneses” they will always be ahead of you, they will always have more or better. You will live your life solely in the pursuit of “stuff.” Is stuff enough for you? What do the Joneses really think,? Are their lives everything they thought it ought to be? Or have you been misled by what you think… they see? How much stuff do you need to have around you before you start feeling like your life is cluttered or too complicated?

How about we take on a new perspective of life. God Almighty created this universe for HIS glory, which then means the glory is not for you or me. To put it simply, HE created you and me for HIS glory, to be HIS people, to love and devote ourselves to HIM…NOT to ourselves.

John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

It requires the love of the Lord God Almighty in order to draw our next breath of air. If that is truth and we know it is, then why does everyone want to do things their own way? Again, we are the fallen species here; we would forget to create our own next breath of air. Thank the Lord for every breath of air we take because HE never forgets anything. The air is available for both the saved and the lost alike. It is our own arrogance that makes us believe the next breath of air will always be there, somehow we think we make this happen, and that my friends is blasphemy of the Lord God.

The world thinks the next breath of air is by short-sighted evolution, never once being willing to give the glory for it, to God. This life is a gift; it comes from the Lord God and no one else. Our lives are meant to be lived for the Lord God and for HIM to be glorified. So if you so choose to listen to Satan and his ilk be assured you will reside with him for eternity. The thing is this: You chose this for yourself. God the Father wants to save you through the blood of Jesus Christ.

As each moment passes you are one moment closer to meeting your Creator and there you will give an accounting for all your actions here on earth. With each passing moment that you fail to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, is one more moment that you draw closer to an eternity in the lake of fire.

Understanding that, it begs the question: When is your end? When will you die and where will you be after? That is what this life here on earth is for, to make that one crucial decision: Jesus Christ or Satan and his ilk; your final home in eternity will be according to your choice and YOURS alone.

Feeling too busy to think on this! I would suggest that you re-think that idea; it is the reason you are here. Just one decision and that’s it. After your decision your life is forever changed and your life will be conducted accordingly. How is it that young people die every day, babies die every day as well as old folk?

Your first question for yourself ought to be this: When is my day, hour and minute to die? If you say you don’t know then you might want to consider the gift that Jesus Christ brings to your life—because HE knows—the very second you will die. HE knows the number of hairs on your head. HE knows every thought you will ever have and HE already knows whether you want life or death. Yet…HE gives you every opportunity to make the proper choice. Again, YOU must choose!

We seem to think that the end of our lives here on earth is the end of everything. How shortsighted of us! We have finite minds, thus we will never be able to conceive eternity. Regardless of where you end up it will be for eternity, and here is another mystery word: Forever!

Suddenly, your perspective becomes enormous to consider. I would rather consider the point of God Almighty and know my future is for sure in heaven. Hell…is too much for me to consider!

The word: subterfuge.

1) The use of tricks especially to hide, avoid, or get something

2) They obtained the documents by/through “subterfuge.”

Synonyms: craftiness, cunning, deviousness, shadiness, shiftiness, shrewdness, slickness, slipperiness, slyness, sneakiness, treachery, underhandedness, wiliness; crookedness, crookery, cunning, deceit, deceitfulness, deception, deceptiveness, dishonesty, dissimulation, double-dealing, dupery, duplicity, guile, etc.. (Merriam-Webster On-Line Dictionary)

Have you ever been in a situation and you know that something wrong is taking place, but you may not be able to correctly put your finger on it? It happens more than you would ever be able to guess. Do you hear the news and then wonder how much of the news is the truth or if they are giving all the facts?

Do the actions of our leaders ever catch your thoughts and make you wonder if what they are doing is the truth, or even in your best interest? I do remember a time when that was a very rare moment and most now days simply say, “It’s men being men. Is that the truth or just moresubterfuge?

Proverbs 23:9 “Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.”

Psalm 14:1 “The fool hath said in his heart, ‘There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.’”

Have you ever wondered why those in Congress, never listen to the words of their Constituents? Could you conceive in your mind, that these leaders know more than we, the common folk, do? And so in line with that question, there is another question…

Why? How is it, that we believe these leaders are supposed to be more intelligent than any of us? Have you ever researched, to see if these individuals are up-standing members of our communities or are they criminals with a rap-sheet? And once you have completed your research, would the results surprise you?

All these things seem to run all through our government and right down to the leaders of corporations and even to the common folk around us. Having said that, why are things this way? The problem is this: Things are worse now than they have ever been in the history of this world.

This then begs the question, who is influencing all these individuals? The answer as it has always been, is Satan and his ilk. How odd is it then that so many people do not believe in Satan or the devil. Is this not more ignorance on the part of these individuals?

Is this not selfishness,conceitedness, self-serving, “It’s ALL aboutME” behavior? And to hell with everyone else? If that is so, we already know Satan and his ilk were around when Adam and Eve were. Why do we continue to listen to them? How much worse do things need to become before we begin using our common sense and change for the better? Since the beginning of mankind on earth, the answer has always been Jesus Christ, whom we know is God Almighty

We are such social creatures, that if a person of corrupt beliefs says there is no God, that we are able to do whatever we wish without consequence or accountability, we listen to them rather than listen to the Word of God. You would think, if common sense was the rule of the day, that the Word of God, over 4500 years old, would be the most trusted of all. How odd is it that the name of Jesus Christ is now fighting words for the majority, rather than the rule.

How odd is it that the Christians of this world are now termed terrorists, persons against the State. How odd is it that the world would rather accept terrorists from other regions, accepting their religion and way of life, than that of those who have lived and died for the way of life we enjoy today. Those honored dead, roll in their graves at how this country has turned to the life we live today.Essentially, rubbing out the things they fought and died foryesteryear.

If there is one thing I know from living this life, there is right and wrong and this country of ours has chosen to do all it is wrong. The fact that it has been said before, that we are a fallen species, seems to fall on deaf ears. We have chosen to forget our past, we have indulged ourselves in whatever depravity we choose.

Or maybe the millions of dead babies in countless abortions no longer fazes anyone and the dead from countless wars no longer matters. That we forget our elderly to “old folks homes” all across this country and as they die, so does their wisdom across time. We have born educated idiots by the thousands and have then elected them to the offices that control this country. One ought to be able to begin this research with the individual in the White House and move on from there through Congress and other offices of this government.

This is all right though, the Bible is explicit; one day every person will stand before Jesus Christ and give a full accounting of their actions, I simply wonder what they will say. No one will be able to lie their way out of their own actions, because God knows all things of everybody.

Romans 14:11-13 “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.”

Matthew 12:36-37 “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

My friends, there is no greater statements than these! We will see Jesus Christ whether we are saved to HIM or not and we will be judged accordingly to our lives. Every single thought, “The intent of our hearts are recorded and from that recording we will be judged, because everything in our lives comes from the intent of the heart.

Romans 2:1-6 “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds.”

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”

Jeremiah 25:6-7 “And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.”

So we see that the judgment of every individual will be sure and swift and according to the wisdom of God, that no one will be exempt in any way. Having said that, why would someone not want to come to the Lord and render their lives to HIM? Anything less than that would be eternal suicide!

Everyone must remember, we are fallen because of our own sins and God will judge us accordingly. That being the case, only the sin covered by the blood of Jesus Christ will be exempt from Judgment. I keep saying the intent of the heart is of great concern for every individual and the Lord God will expect a rendering of such things from everyone.

2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

This verse above is the only answer there is to our present and future condition, there is nothing we can do to circumvent the Word o God, simply because we do NOT control anything! Finally, we no better verse than this:

Acts 4:10-12 “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

My friends, I already know it is difficult to humble ourselves and accept the truth of God’s holy Word, yet that is the problem today and every day. We, as in each and every one of us, are here by the grace and love of God Almighty. We should be following HIM with every fiber of our beings. So now you know the entire sequence of events; yesteryear, today and into the future, the answer has and will always be…Jesus Christ and HIM alone, there is NO other!