God

Why We Should Love Others

This post originated at my now shutdown blog, Christian Interpretations.

I’m going to share a couple of verses to you explaining why it is important to love others.

But first, some of my thoughts. Love is more of a verb than a feeling to me. You must make the choice to love someone. That “feeling” is often paired with hormones and such. You don’t always feel like loving your friend when he gets on your nerves.

Ha, God definitely chooses to love us. As much as we mess up? If he felt like loving, we’d be dead by now. He chooses to love us despite our mistakes. He loved us so much he decided to send His only Son to save us all. So, now that we know about love, let’s talk about it.

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Faith in God, not the Government

If you’ve been following this blog, or if you’ve followed me at all, then you kinda knew this post was coming.

I follow politics. I rarely discuss them. I don’t have a party; I just vote on the best solution to the issue. Race and/or gender doesn’t matter to me.

Okay, got that out of the way. Let’s talk about recent events. I’m sure you heard the US government shutdown. I’m not going to talk about who is right or wrong. I am going to talk about why this shutdown doesn’t phase me…that much.

My faith is in God, who is on control of everything. He will make sure I survive this mess. Not to say this shutdown will kill us all, but, I know there are some people who are scared. Scared because the government has shut down and things are uncertain.

Don’t get me wrong. The government is important. Very important. The Bible calls Christians to pray for our government and to follow their lead. I’m no rebel and I do care for my government. I think it’s a shame this has happened. People have lost their jobs…but the bills won’t stop.

But we have to trust God. Not just during the hard times but for the good too. So, to keep this post short, pray for this nation. Pray that both sides will come to a sensible agreement. We need to get out of this and the leaders of this country need to follow God’s way.

Trusting God is smart. He will never let His people down. In the worst of times, He’s looking out for His own. So, while we need our government, let’s never forget who is in complete control. Also, really take a look at the related articles too as they help with my message. I didn’t use them, but, I ran into them after I was done.

-DALANEL

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Dante’s Opinion: What Is Your Favourite Song?

Another round of questions answered! Our first one is from Savannah:

What is your favourite song? what is the one song that u ca listen to over and over and never get tired of hearng it

I am going to go with Fred Hammond “He’s God”.

This one is from Jim:

Hello I am 21 years old and I just started a job at a theme park and it is pretty simple. However, I am a very serious loyal worker. Whatever the rules are I follow them. Even if it is a simple job I am strict and will follow rules. My supervisor is a bit laid back. He always lets people in for free and makes fun of me how I am serious. Also, when I have to leave a 10 pm when my shift is over. I tell him I have to go home and study. He yells at me really loud and said KID YOUR YOUNG!. I feel like he wants me to stay because he knows that I am hardworking and he leaves all the work to me and he walks around and just text all day. He also makes fun of me and tells me I ask too many questions and that I am person who thinks to much. I finally got tired after three weeks and went to go talk to the ceo which is my friend. My supervisor got in my trouble for treating me this way. I felt so bad afterword but my other manager loves me and they want to promote me. The only one that doesn’t like me is my supervisor. Did I do something bad?

Nope. It sounds like he’s a bad supervisor. Okay, not bad, but he wasn’t treating you right.. Rules are rules. And when your shift is over; it’s over.And good for you that your hard work is paying off. Maybe he was kidding around but still. Letting people in for free? No-no.

Last question is from Doug:

Shouldn’t “T-Mac” be “T-Mc” since his last name is “Mc”grady? Doesn’t sound nearly as cool lol, but that’s what it should be

You know what? You’re right. I missed this one big time.

That’s it. Remember, if you have a question for me to give an opinion on, go to the Ask Dante page and follow what it says.

-DALANEL

God and Fear

So…the Bible says you should “fear the Lord your God”. And it also says that “God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear.” So, what do we do?

We first have to ask ourselves what “fear” is.

In the context of the first verse, to me, fear means respect. You know how powerful God is, and you respect this. It does not mean we are scared of Him, like the second verse would suggest. Yes, God is not a Spirit of fear. He’s not here to scare anybody. He’s not here to make us tremble. He loves us.

If you are scared of God, know that God doesn’t want you to be. This fear is not good. It doesn’t make sense to be afraid of God. I seriously don’t think it’s okay to be afraid of God, even a little bit. It’s just not what God is about. He’s here to protect us from fear and to comfort us. He’s not going to turn around and have you fearing for your life.

People view God as this all powerful being that could snap at any moment if we do something wrong. God is patient. Yes, we should be following His commands, but, that’s because we love Him. That’s what He wants for us. He doesn’t want us to do things out of fear. He doesn’t want us to do things just to avoid punishment. There are consequences for our sins. That’s the reality. If we do something wrong, we need to learn from it. That’s what a good punishment is.

Yes, 2 Timothy 1:7 says this: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. And Deuteronomy 6:13 says You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him and shall take oaths in His name.

But, in terms of these verses, and for the point of my post, this verse really sends it home:

Hebrews 12:9 says this: Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?

Matthew 10:28 is another good one.

Look, the point here is that, fearing the Lord your God is a wise and fine thing to do. He gave us a sound mind. You can’t have a sound mind and be scared. Fear is for the weak. Love doesn’t fear. God is love.

I know this may seem hard to get, and perhaps this is just my opinion based on how I did interpreted the Bible verses. So please, if there is anything you can show me that says that we should literally be afraid of God, let me know. I never claim to be all knowing. Until then, I’m going to continue to not be afraid of my Lord God.

-DALANEL

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Dante’s Opinion: “I am consumed with negative thoughts how do I stop?”

Another week of questions. Keep in mind, my answers to these questions are just my opinion. I’m no professional in any area. Our first question is from purplekoolaid:

The past 2 days have gotten the best of me. I am extremely overwhelmed with anxious feelings that my stomach has been churning pretty much. It’s causing me to have to poop more frequently. Which is weird I’m usually not ever having to. It’s sort of like a feeling you have before you start school in the fall. Or take a test. But it won’t go away. I’m not even in school I’m 24!

I think it’s for many reasons. I am hating my new job I have been working there for a month. Plus I am stressed because I am consumed with thoughts of seeing my boyfriend and leaving this job. We are long distance and I just wanna pack up and move away to be with him already. I have anxiety that I will never see him again if I don’t make a move because we are in different countries. I just worry about things that aren’t even happening. I’m scared I will lose his love etc.

I’m 24. I am also noticing these feelings right before I start my cycle and I know what is happening but it’s hard for me to control this sadness within me.

Whew! This is tough. In a general thought, I would suggest get some spiritual help. All of this stress can be managed by God if you accept Jesus into your life. Now, to go deep into the question. In these tough economic times, quitting a job seems foolish. However, it’s proven that doing something you hate can have serious impacts on your health, as you…uh, described. Leave the job or at least find another one and then quit. As for the boyfriend, that’s something I can speak to from a little experience. I talked about my long distance relationship with my cousin. It’s not the same exact thing but it’s something. Anyway, as I said before, turn to God for peace. Ultimately, you obviously need peace and God can give you that peace. Also, talking to your boy friend can be a good idea too. See where he stands in the relationship or how he feels. No sense leaving everything to go be with a guy who may not even have strong feelings for you.

Next, we have Matthew Cammarata:

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Daily Good Stuff 137

Boy viewing has been crap lately ever since the 21 when the viewing record shattered the previous one. August has some cool stuff in store that will bring back the people. At this point, I’m limping to through the end of the month here. Of course, viewing is so bad that I might just leave the month alone and come back strong in August. But, you’re here for the good stuff. I hear ya. Let’s go.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30

I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’ Muhammad Ali

demotivational-posters-demotivating-posters-funny-posters-posters-airport-security-tsa-screening-airliners-police-law-enforcement

 

At least buy me dinner first!

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