Category: Poetry

Have Texts Replaced Conversations?

I really love technology.  I am truly grateful for the inventors who brought us technology that make tasks in our lives faster to do and more convenient.  Some of the things the cell phone can do really amaze me.  Now a days I find myself doing more texting than talking.  It really comes in handy if you want to convey a short message and don’t want to hold a conversation.  But the last time I texted someone I got to thinking.  We used to laugh and talk just about everyday.  But now have texts replaced conversations?

True text has made it convenient to say something quick.  In the old days when you had to call someone to briefly convey a message, you’d say “I’m not going to hold you”. But then one of you would say something and the call went on a little longer before you know it y’all would be talking for hours.  Texts cut down the possibility of that.  Also with texts you can’t feel emotion.   Emojis and word abbreviations don’t get into your soul.  Whereas a voice can let you know if somebody is feeling fine or happy or sad. It lets you share their happiness, or sadness, or love as you can feel it in their voice.  I love the technology of texts, but they can never replace a good old fashioned conversation filled with emotion.  As sharing emotions makes us stronger humans like iron sharpening iron.

Scripture reference:

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Is This Hell?

My initial learning about Hell was that it was a place where you go to after you die if you have not been saved meaning you had not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior or repented of your sins.  Hell was a place of eternal fire and permanent separation from God.1  Just the thought of that makes me cringe as that is such misery and the thought of being in a fire is just unbearable.  But at one time things were really going bad for me.  It seemed to be no end in sight and time was just slowly creeping by.  And the thought came to my mind was; is this Hell?  Perhaps Hell is more than just fire?  Maybe it’s unbearable conditions on earth and one can be placed there even if they are not dead.    

After a few days things got better.  So I know my thoughts were just that and I was not in real hell.  But I never want to be.  I don’t know if real hell is only fire but one thing for sure, is that it is permanent.(Luke 16:26)  On earth, God’s mercy can change the conditions of a righteous praying person.2  But once one is condemned to hell, there’s no hope of suffering getting better3  That’s enough to scare me into staying in the grace of the Lord and to do my best to live according to His words and principles.  Because I sure don’t want to have to ask again-is this Hell?

Scripture references:

1 Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

2 Psalms 51:1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

3 Luke 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Luke 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

Luke 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

Luke 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Why Buy It If It’s Bad For You?

I stare at the treats in the grocery store and debate; should I buy them or should I not?

Then I look at the list of ingredients.  Usually they have a high percentage of at least one thing I know I shouldn’t put in my body.  So, why buy it if it’s bad for you?  

Because my body still craves the treats.  I be afraid If I don’t buy them at all, then near the end of the night or at some inconvenient time, my body will start to crave the treats and I’ll be in misery.  But if  I do buy them,  I often eat way more than I should because they are at my disposal. Sometimes I call myself taking a small portion.  But then I go back for another small portion.  And repeat until only a small portion is left.  And then I tell myself there’s no point in leaving that little so I eat that too.  In one setting I exceed the amount I wanted to eat.

Then I tell myself there you go again. If you hadn’t brought it, you wouldn’t have eaten so much of it. I gotta stop buying stuff if it’s not good for me.  So, to satisfy my cravings for these treats and to keep my body from deteriorating I started looking into healthier alternatives after I saw this cooking show where the chef made some tasty treats using healthy ingredients.  So now that’s going to be my new thing!  Getting the same good taste in a treat without the bad ingredients.  

Scripture reference:

Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.