What Can I Do If I Really Want Peace?

July 11, 2016 Effie Barba

Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Hebrews 12:13-17

When we consider the early Hebrew Christians, we know that they underwent great persecution from both their Jewish Brethren as well as the Roman Soldiers. They were cautioned by the writer many times to keep their focus on God’s Grace. They were reminded of Jesus who endured unjustly so much more. When the soldiers came to arrest Him, He commanded His apostles to lay aside their swords. Once again in these scriptures, the writer is reminding them that they are to make straight paths, seeking holiness; lest bitterness spring up within them and they lose their way. Bitterness, anger and hostility will destroy them as a people and as a nation from the inside. When we lose sight of the bigger picture, which is our position with Christ; then, we are blind to see the truth though it is right in front of our own eyes.

These were being persecuted on every side; yet, the writer urges them to follow peace with all men and to seek holiness. He goes on in Hebrews 13:1-3 (NIV)

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

They were urged to lift each other up with love and in kindness to transform others.

Continue reading What Can I Do If I Really Want Peace? →

Christian Poetry

IT BEGINS WITH ME

July 10, 2016 Effie Barba

These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3: 15-20

How sad the tragedies of this week which cry out to our hearts. We stand in fear, sorrow, and ask, “God, where are you?” Yet, all who proclaim the name of Christ, think about this: How long have we been complacent? How long have we closed our eyes? How long have we been too busy to pray or to extend our hands in mercy and love? Have we allowed roots of bitterness to grow up in our own hearts? Revival begins with me! If I die proclaiming the name of Christ, let me do so with honor, grace, and love!! But let me not be silent; nor let me be filled with fear or anger!! Let me stand with love, grace, mercy and truth on my lips proclaiming the truth that our only hope as a nation, as a people and as a world is to stand firm in proclaiming the name of Christ as the only hope for all nations. It begins with ME!!

IT BEGINS WITH ME

By Effie Darlene Barba

With all the pain across this land

What can I do to take a stand?

For hope, for joy and virtue too

Oh Lord, to take my stand for You!

There is no hope for truth to reign

While men do use Your name in vain

Their selfish lies Your gospel feign

Our streets now filled with bloody stain

My Lord, I come with heavy heart

To ask You Lord, “What is my part?”

“What can I do? Where do I start?”

I have no strength lest You impart!

For if I speak, they will not hear

Angry, embittered, deafened ear

With hearts of rage and hearts of fear

Until truth and love all disappear

Such bitter rain of dark dismay

“What can I do? What can I say?”

Except on bended knee to pray

To plead You come to heal today

You are the ONLY Hope I know

Where virtue, truth doth overflow

I plead for them, that You might show

Your mercy, Lord to men so low

And let Your victory on the cross

Cover our shame, our bitter loss

Open our ears to hear Your voice

Let peace and love now be our choice

Turn evil hearts that they might see

Their only hope of victory

Is to bow down on bended knee

Pleading for Grace, humility

I cannot see my brother’s pain

While anger, fear within me reign

So, first I come before You now

Clean my heart, Your truth avow

It all must now BEGIN with Me

So, open now my heart to see

My selfish heart, my guilty stains

Let truth and mercy fill my veins

That I might boldly go proclaim

That if each one would call Your Name

And lay aside their selfish pride

Your peace and love could then abide

Our freedom, liberty renew

Our torch of hope for all to view

And so Dear Lord, I clearly see

Revival now, begins with me.

I plead with each and every person that hears my voice to in humility bow your knees before the throne of God and pray for our nation. Pray that He reveal to you the sins, doubts, bitterness, and pride that lies within your own heart; so that you might repent and be cleansed. Lay down before His mighty throne any root of bitterness in your own heart, so you might then stand in mercy, truth and love to proclaim His Name to a despairing world in need of Him.

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. 2 Chronicles 7:14

[bctt tweet=”As a nation we must pray for grace & love to reign in our lives. It begins with me!!” username=”effiedarlene”]

[tweetthis]I must be responsible for my own behavior!! It begins with my own heart.[/tweetthis]

[bctt tweet=”If I desire Peace, Love, and Grace from others, it begins with me giving Peace Love and Grace.” username=”effiedarlene”]

[tweetthis]Let’s start a new movement of hope, love and harmony. “It Begins with ME”[/tweetthis]

©Effie Darlene Barba, 2016

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Christian Blog

NOT TONIGHT–A Poetic Tribute to Our Officers

July 9, 2016 Effie Barba

Not Tonight

Into the deepest darkest night

Where evil lurks-hid from his sight

An Officer goes-prepared to fight

With all His strength and all His might

Praying to God, not tonight

He gently pulls His children near

Their smiles can lift his heart with cheer

He kisses boo-boos wipes their tears

And as He leaves for work He hears

Daddy, don’t go, not tonight

She kisses him, to work he goes

And all the time, too well she knows

That he must face such evil foes

Phone clutched tight, her eyes then close

Lord, don’t let it ring, not tonight

A mother awakens to whisper a prayer

Protect my son from sin’s dark lair

Your warrior of truth-just and fair

Endowed by you with virtues rare

He’s yours to call, please not tonight

Forgotten and paid a pauper’s wage

Media and public he must assuage

While calmly holding back the rage

When violent criminals do engage

Pleading to God, not tonight

These officers protecting you

They sacrifice more than you knew.

When will you value what they do?

Or even stop to say, “Thank You”?

Shame on you, if not tonight

The sad reality is that for five brave officers in Dallas, it was the last time they kissed their children goodnight, it was the phone call their wife had prayed to never receive, it was their mother’s heartbreak, and it was the communities loss. We cannot continue this road of hatred toward those who sacrifice so much to protects us. They see more evil in one night than some of us do in a lifetime. What kind of world would we have if they all just quit? Anarchy and chaos would rule. Those who believe that police target blacks—look at the statistics! The statistics report that 50% of all police shootings are white, 26% are black, and the remaining hispanic or asian; while 60% of all crimes are committed by blacks. Do you want to change the Statistics–don’t break the law and treat the officer who stops you with respect–no matter what!! If 13% of the population are committing 60% of all crimes—think about it. If you don’t want to be profiled—don’t profile yourselves into those statistics. Many of my very best friends are black; because, to me color, ethnicity don’t change how I see the person. I see them for who they are. Yet, when my purse was stolen it was a black man who ripped it from my arm, when my house was broken into—it was two black men who violated my home, when my windshield was violently broken on my van as I left our office—it was a black man, and when our office in Dallas was broken into—it was 2 black men. Yet, I REFUSE to say ALL black people are bad because of those 6 who chose to be bad. Yet, the chants heard in the Black Life Matters protests is proclaiming ALL Cops are racist–using slurs and hatred toward all law enforcement–escalating the problem and resulting in more young black men resisting arrest, disrespecting the officer and fighting instead of “doing as told.” If you are innocent that can be determined after the fact–not at the moment you first encounter the police!! Each and every one of us needs to look deep within our own hearts. The other day I was pulled over because I had forgotten to place the new stickers on my license plates, though I had them. As anyone when pulled over, my heart was pounding, I felt a moment of anxious wonder as to what I had done. I rolled down the window and kept my hands visible, open and lying on the steering wheel in clear sight—like you are suppose to do when pulled over. If there is a delay before the officer approaches the window, then you get registration, insurance and drivers license out to lay in open view in the passenger seat. If there is no time, just place your hands open and resting on the steering wheel in plan view. Simple ethics of being a citizen in a democracy such as ours. Everything was good. He smiled and said, “when you get home, put the stickers on the tags” My reply? Yes, Sir.

[bctt tweet=”As a nation we must pray for grace & love to reign in our lives. It begins with me!!” username=”effiedarlene”]

[tweetthis]I must be responsible for my own behavior!! It begins with my own heart.[/tweetthis]

[bctt tweet=”If I desire Peace, Love, and Grace from others, it begins with me giving Peace Love and Grace.” username=”effiedarlene”]

[tweetthis]Let’s start a new movement of hope, love and harmony. “It Begins with ME”[/tweetthis]

Christian Blog

Can One Broken, Contrite, Praying Heart Make a Difference?

July 8, 2016 Effie Barba

Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Hebrews 12:12-15

This has been a tragic 4^th of July week. Our country, my country and yours appears to be in broken turmoil. Split into divides and sanctions with bitterness and hate rising. The hatred, bitterness and divide have been rising over the last 8 to 10 years culminating in all the tragedies of this week. We saw a taste of our officers at their worst. A result of fear for their own life or rage? I haven’t seen all the pieces or facts, so I certainly do not know. Can we judge their heart, their motive from a video? Then we see the police at their finest as we watch them be slaughtered. I watched as the police were placing themselves in harm’s way to protect the protestors in Dallas. Those who were calling them names were ushered to safety by the very officers who walked into the line of the bullets. Other officers again placing themselves directly in the line of fire to rescue one of their own and then to apprehend the suspects.

We watch snippets from videos and believe that we know the story when all too often we only know what the sensationalists want us to know. I cannot pretend to say I know for certain the right or the wrong of each incident; yet, I am certain I cannot judge the heart of someone else. I can start by examining my own heart. Last night, I could not sleep. I was watching the calm protests and saw the unfolding of the Dallas tragedies when they first occurred. Flipping between channels as I had been doing for the previous hour; trying to reconcile the differences in the “truth” presented, I could not help but notice that some lagged way behind in presenting the news about Dallas while continuing a rant against “all police.” Did their rhetoric escalade and open the door for such a planned attack? Probably not in one day; but, does our need for 24-hour a day sensationalism add to the divide already present within our hearts?

Continue reading Can One Broken, Contrite, Praying Heart Make a Difference? →

Christian Blog

How to Run This Marathon Called Life When Weary

July 6, 2016 Effie Barba

Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ²looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. Hebrews 12:1-3 (NKJV)

In the last writing we looked back over Hebrews 11, which has always been considered as Faith’s Hall of Fame. For me, I am comforted to know that none of these men or women were perfect. They didn’t always get it right; yet, they kept getting up and going again. Sometimes they stood very strong and at other times they stumbled along the path. For some their lives were surrounded by great and wondrous miracles; others, suffered great loss and persecution. All had times of great trials, sorrows, and struggles.

Life is really tough at times. No matter how carefully we try to plan our lives; unexpected storms come and surround us. There are times along this journey that our body, spirit and heart are wearied and we just don’t know if we can go one more step. We look behind and see the broken pieces scattered along the path. We wonder how God could still love us. We have said things we wish could be taken back; but alas, it is too late.

Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17 as our Great High Priest.

Continue reading How to Run This Marathon Called Life When Weary →