Tag: Religion

Abundance

Posted in Inspiration, Life

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10

LightJesus didn’t show up out of the blue, and nothing about his time on earth was a cake walk. These cliché observations reflect random acts and living the high life. Christ came – and comes – at just the right time so we, frail and flawed humans, may live abundantly. Not next week, next year or when we get to Heaven, but now. So, what does that word “abundant” mean? Not being a theologian, I don’t recommend taking my thoughts as gospel, but I think it means making the most of who you are, where you are and what you are doing right now. You can never know what a difference you make by speaking a kind word, smiling instead of frowning, sharing instead of hoarding, laughing instead of crying, being faithful and having faith in the face of doubt.  Live abundantly and pass it on.

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Christmas

Posted in Arts, Poetry2 Comments

Light of the World

Not a holiday, a holy day.
If there be excess
let it be an excess of kindness and mercy.
There is no place in Christmas
for anything but joy.
Change the Christmas sprint
into the Christmas Spirit.
Jesus lived as humanly as any of us
and left an example for us to follow.
Love God
and love your neighbor.
Simple rules, easy to follow.
That is Christmas.

Thank you for being a reader/subscriber. It is my goal to present informative, interesting and creative content on this site. Your likes, shares and comments are welcomed and hugely appreciated.

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Courage

Posted in Arts, Inspiration, Poetry

Sundown

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” 1 Peter 3:13-14

Sometimes courage shows
when we do the right thing;
when we stay quiet
in the cacophony of raised voices;
when gossip is being spread about.
Perhaps it is speaking faith
by your actions
when others say, “There is no God.”
Could it be prayer raised
on behalf of someone who is not like you
or who has treated you badly?
Don’t fear what other people think;
be true to who God made you to be,
that is the step-by-step journey
called courage.

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Tiny Tome #1

Posted in Books, Inspiration1 Comment

cover 6x9I write daily devotionals; it is part of my faith practice. The resulting brief essays are part meditation and part writing exercise. I have quite an accumulation and decided to select 31 for my first tiny tome digital book, Joy in the Morning, Words of Hope and Encouragement. Some are in prose form, some are written as poems.

The books will only be available on this site and in e-format. I hope you are inspired by Joy in the Morning, Words of Hope and Encouragement. Below is a sample.

 

Day 25
Temptation
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. ~ 1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV

Temptation is a beast. Not always a ravening beast, one that is evident and huge, jerking you around with relish; sometimes it is far more subtle, a gentle nudge here and there to compromise your values and your morals. C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters pointed out the gradual slide into sin. “You are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness,” Screwtape says to Wormwood. “It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing… Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one.”

God’s promise is the trump card. When we know the beast is at our doors, we know God is there ahead of it, ready to stand with us to overcome.

~§~

I will appreciate you downloading Joy in the Morning, Words of Hope and Encouragement, and tell me what you think of it. The next tiny tome will be a collection of short stories.

The revision of Future Imperfect, a story of the apocalyptic consequences of manipulating nature, will begin posting soon.

 

Forgiven

Posted in Inspiration

Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake. Psalm 79:9

Peace
We are going to stumble. We are going to stray.
We are going to try, to go our own way.
God does forgive as humbly we pray,
For guidance and wisdom every blessed day.

 

Please Follow, Like, Comment and Share this post. Your feedback is important to me. Thanks for reading One Roof Publishing Magazine. One Roof Publishing may be reached by e-mail at fsharon@msn.com.

He is my strength

Posted in essay, Inspiration3 Comments

Walk in faithThe LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. Psalm 118:14

You are wandering in the desert, alone, afraid, disoriented. What do you do? Pull out your cellphone and pray you have service! Life can feel a bit like being lost in an unknown place. Panic sets in and you know you need immediate help. How and where do you get it? Personal experience has taught me to get on my “cellphone” to God through prayer. One of my go-to prayers is: “I seek the Lord and he hears me, and relieves me of all my fears.” The second is somewhat like it: “I release myself, my loved ones, my worries and my fears into the hands of God, and I trust him.” He is my strength. The song of his promise to be with me always sings through my life.

 

Healing in forgiveness

Posted in Inspiration

SunriseAnd we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16 (KJV)

Forgive and forget. The forget part is hard. We mull over disappointment, wrongs done to us, wrongs we have done to others. We slog through the murky depths of disappointment. Our focus finds its way to yesterday to the point we don’t give attention to the joys and opportunities of today. It isn’t easy to forget, but it is something we must do to make a difference for ourselves and for those around us. Fears keep us from so much. Anger nails us to the floor of discouragement. Let go and let God is not a panacea; it is faith come alive. He does not forget us. We are crafted with as much thought as the earth and sky. We are unique. Formed for a purpose. Given breath and life. Give back in the ways you can and leave behind anything that holds you back. It is healing; it is restorative; it is joyful.

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The Fence

Posted in Inspiration2 Comments

But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.  1 Samuel 16:7 (KJV)

The FenceLife is, what it is. God’s plan is outside our understanding. The book and movie “The Shack” made me think about the universality of God the Trinity. There is no separate lesson for the rich and the poor, the Middle Easterner or the Caucasian, the Black or the Asian. God loves everyone the same and everyone is welcome. We get into trouble when we start separating ourselves from the rest of the world, aligning our thinking with like-minded folks and begin to believe we’re more “in” with God than those who worship and think different.

There is a religion joke about the guy who dies and goes to Heaven. St. Peter is giving him a tour of the place and the new guy is duly impressed, everything is spectacular, far better than he could ever have imagined. In the tour, they keep going by a high fence with locked gates. The guy says to St. Peter, “I didn’t know there were fences in Heaven. What’s back there?” St. Peter smiles and shakes his head. “That’s where we keep the Catholics; they think they’re the only ones here.”

You could put just about any religion following the words “…where we keep the… ” When we believe we’re better than the next man, woman or faith practice at any level, we lose site of God’s message. God looks beyond the surface; God looks at our hearts.

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I Believe

Posted in Inspiration1 Comment

Easter LilyWe are beginning the season of Lent and will soon celebrate Easter. Every year about this time television (mostly cable) runs programming about the “truth” of the resurrection, how much of the Bible is verifiable, whether Judas was a betrayer or following the will of the Most High God. Did Jesus really die and then come to life again, or was his body taken by the disciples and everything else a myth? The questions are limitless.

It intrigues me that in the quest for truth in these programs, the messages from Christ are lost along the way. Did he walk on water? Does it matter? Did he feed 5,000 people with a few fish and loaves of bread? In what way do these miracles make Christ more or less believable? Were you there? Did you see?

These programs often miss the message of both the Old and New Testaments: love one another. What does that mean? It means to serve others, and that takes many forms. Not everyone can be a preacher or a teacher, a rabbi or a priest, but everyone can serve where she or he is.

  • Kindness.
  • Friendship.
  • Thoughtfulness.
  • Understanding.
  • Mercy.
  • Nurture.
  • Listening.
  • Faithfulness.
  • Respect.
  • Integrity.
  • Truth.
  • Succor.
  • Comfort.
  • Compassion.

These are one-word descriptions of what service might look like. The Easter story is about transformation. We are transformed and made better every time we reach out to others. We arise each morning to new life and new opportunities. What we do with that is up to us.

How, or Who?

Posted in Books

Candle LightLikewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27

How? That’s the one word question we ask when a crisis arises. How am I going to get through this? How can God possibly fix this? How will I face tomorrow when today is so painful? How will other people think of me when they find out the messy lives my loved ones lead? How will my loved ones get through this? How? How? How? The question isn’t how, but Who? Who will get me through this? Who is at work in the lives of all? Who has promised to be with those who call upon his name? Who will pray for and with me when I have no words of my own because I don’t even know what to ask for? Who? God, whose love is profound and indescribable; God, who knows the hearts of all; God, whose very Spirit breathes through us and renews us and guides us.
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