- Oct 30, 2006
- 170
- 27
- Faith
- Pagan
- Marital Status
- In Relationship
- Politics
- US-Democrat
In our journey of life we encounter many people on a daily basis who can impact us for the better or for the worse... this is a widely accepted truth; however, what if I told you that it's truly a state of mind. If we sense a mostly negative person and we are experiencing a difficult time in our own life then would we not want to steer clear of that person until we are in a better position to help them? If this be true then how can we tell whether or not a person is a positive or negative person and what makes a person one way or the other?
In figuring what type of influence a person is I would refer to the words of Jesus:
Matthew 7:15-23
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thronbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.Not everyone who says to me, 'lord, lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Fahter who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!"
Now what does this mean? We can know the nature of a person's influence based on how they influence others. Do you ever get a really down feeling around one specific person? Do you ever get uncontrollably angry at the sight of a preticular individual? This is one way to tell. Also, how do they impact the world around them. Do they seem to spread joy and peace wherever they go or do they always complain about how crappy their life is instead of trying to change it for the better? Many christians look up to their ministers and many ministers have become ministers because it's easy money and all you really have to do is sell a story that people have already baught. Just look at all the tele-evangelists who beg you to send them money so you can be healed... a true minister of a loving God would heal you because he wants to see you better off than you were. Dare I even bring up the sexual scandals in the sexually repressed church. So, these trees that bear bad fruit are thrown into the fire. An interesting note is that many christians will tell you that this is the fire of hell but this is not what Jesus said... he just said fire. Fire since the beginning of time has been a symbol of change, consider the concept of the phoenix that dies by fire in order to be reborn. Many christains in preticular believe that they must force others into their belief structure in order to truly help a person, but what does this accomplish? If a buddhist is perfectly happy being a huddhist or a hindu is perfectly happy being a hindu and if they are helping others to grow and enjoy life then how is this a bad thing? Wouldn't an all loving God just be happy that they are happy? Woudn't an all loving God look upon these people's love for one another and smile? What if paradise isn't a place but a state of mind? Consider this, if Jesus was God and if He wanted to help the hebrews when He came to earth then would he try to help them by introducing to them a belief structure completely foreign to their own? I don't think so... no one in Judea would believe him at all, perhaps He was forced to operate under their preexisting belief structure in order to temer truth to their form of understanding and the fruit of this was a state of mind of peace for those early christians before the time that the chruch saught power, power which corrupts.
In figuring what type of influence a person is I would refer to the words of Jesus:
Matthew 7:15-23
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thronbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.Not everyone who says to me, 'lord, lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Fahter who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!"
Now what does this mean? We can know the nature of a person's influence based on how they influence others. Do you ever get a really down feeling around one specific person? Do you ever get uncontrollably angry at the sight of a preticular individual? This is one way to tell. Also, how do they impact the world around them. Do they seem to spread joy and peace wherever they go or do they always complain about how crappy their life is instead of trying to change it for the better? Many christians look up to their ministers and many ministers have become ministers because it's easy money and all you really have to do is sell a story that people have already baught. Just look at all the tele-evangelists who beg you to send them money so you can be healed... a true minister of a loving God would heal you because he wants to see you better off than you were. Dare I even bring up the sexual scandals in the sexually repressed church. So, these trees that bear bad fruit are thrown into the fire. An interesting note is that many christians will tell you that this is the fire of hell but this is not what Jesus said... he just said fire. Fire since the beginning of time has been a symbol of change, consider the concept of the phoenix that dies by fire in order to be reborn. Many christains in preticular believe that they must force others into their belief structure in order to truly help a person, but what does this accomplish? If a buddhist is perfectly happy being a huddhist or a hindu is perfectly happy being a hindu and if they are helping others to grow and enjoy life then how is this a bad thing? Wouldn't an all loving God just be happy that they are happy? Woudn't an all loving God look upon these people's love for one another and smile? What if paradise isn't a place but a state of mind? Consider this, if Jesus was God and if He wanted to help the hebrews when He came to earth then would he try to help them by introducing to them a belief structure completely foreign to their own? I don't think so... no one in Judea would believe him at all, perhaps He was forced to operate under their preexisting belief structure in order to temer truth to their form of understanding and the fruit of this was a state of mind of peace for those early christians before the time that the chruch saught power, power which corrupts.
