Enjoy the Journeys to Sunday

In this piece, I will examine a few ways to live out your faith and live by what you learn, discussing
the journey and goals you should be mindful of throughout every day that leads to Sunday – not
just on Sunday. Sunday is the most important day of the week and you should regard it as such.
All days lead to and proceed from Sunday - the day of rest and reflection and the day that fuels the
week.

No matter what you occupy yourself with during the week, Sunday is more important and more
meaningful than the rest of your days combined. Why? Well, on Sunday you invest your time to
receive, give thanks, and pray to the Holy Spirit. Sunday is the day during which you profess your
religious liberty and, in turn, receive Gods will and wisdom.

We pray together on Sundays for the opening of our minds, hearts, and souls to develop a greater
appreciation and understanding of what God truly gave us when he sent his son to defeat the Devil
and grant us salvation and everlasting life. Jesus Christs’ made us pure again in the eyes of Our
Father, our merciful and all-loving Lord.

I should suggest that if you have any doubts that, through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, we
aspire and rejoice for the most precious thing we can have - "everlasting life for our souls" - then
I advise you stop reading or that you should read more eagerly. Depending on how you make your
decision, one thing is certain; the choice is yours.

Christianity does not always provide gold; it does not guarantee us the life we want, or the life
God intended for us – but why? There is not a single thing wrong with the word of God, however,
there is an impressive influence in regard to how we receive these words and, consequently, how
we are guided by them. Even if the Devil, or certain daily elements, have not influenced you
strongly enough to impel you to ignore the word of God, a number of obstacles are often placed in
front of us that can undermine our understanding and implementation of Christian faith. Losing
our faith, or letting it dissipate, not only affects our salvation, but it prevents us the strength and
wisdom for us to live a better life.

As important as the beginning may seem, where we end up is far more significant.

Sunday can mean very little if you are not honest with yourself and don’t truly respect the meaning
of this day. It also means nothing if your faith is easily challenged during any other day of your
life. I will start by exploring how we might make judgments and conclusions based on what we
absorb.

If you've ever built anything you know that a solid foundation is a requisite, even though it's not
visible from the surface. Another imperative factor comes even before a strong foundation; this is
the soil upon which the foundation is built on. A foundation standing on poor soil will crack, sink
and be rendered useless. In the case of faith, it will undoubtedly disappear. This is the simple truth.
Sometimes truth is not as believable as a lie. Keep in mind that lack of belief serves as no burden
to the truth. Whether it is believed or not, truth remains true (and therefore valuable), whereas a
lie becomes useless if it is not believed.
Think about all the things that we are meant to accept without doubt. Would you agree that without
faith we could never have strong belief? If we are to have strong beliefs, our faith must be nurtured
and bolstered. It must remain strong and serve us well. Also consider that our beliefs are not to be
blind. We must look and we must see. We must apply the wisdom and discernment provided for
us in the word of God.

Permit me to make a bold and conclusive statement (which I may update or adjust later on); if our
beliefs are the foundation, then it must follow that faith is the soil on which our beliefs rest upon.
I say this with sincerity and conviction, but I warrant that my conclusions are provisional rather
than absolute, leaving room for the Holy Spirit and the Lord to continue working on me through
Jesus Christs perfect sacrifice for us.

It is senseless to ask for help and to be impacted if you consider yourself a completed work. If you
are cast and set-in stone, you will not change no matter how much light is poured upon you. It is
said that only God can soften a hardened heart. Let's always welcome the Lord - keeping our
minds, hearts, and souls open to things that continue to move our lives toward our walk with God,
which, by its very definition, is endless and forever. Is this not one of the many reasons that the
gift of our souls is so wonderful and beautiful? It exists with no end and no death. It is quite
unbelievable, but you must live it.

Let’s get back to beliefs. Below is a perspective which I call the reality-to-reality circle. Read it
carefully.

Reality is what we take to be true; what we take to be true is what we believe; what we believe is
based on what we perceive; and what we perceive depends on what we look for.
What we look for depends on what we think; what we think depends on what we perceive; what we
perceive determines what we take to be true; and what we take to be true is our reality.

Note that I did not make this up. I have read it, many times. Do I understand it? I personally have
to answer no. Do you understand it? If you do understand it, please explain it to me.

Most of us don’t have a clue as to what is, or what qualifies as, a good foundation for belief, let
alone try to locate a suitable starting point for the foundation - our beliefs - to stand on.

God can give us any reality we want, but it must be rooted in our faith, in line with our actions and
in line with His will for our fullest life here on earth. We all want the most for our children, because
we love them. God wants even more for us, because he loves us; we are his children, created in his
likeness. We hear this, but do we really know it, understand it and live it?

I suggest that from now on when someone asks you, "Who do you look like?", you answer, "I was
made in the image of God". Even though we have some physical features of our fathers and
mothers and also share features with our brothers and sisters, should we think that we really look
like them? We are unique and individual children of God. A good friend of mine once said that
she only ministers from personal experience, not theory. This keeps her grounded in practicality
and makes certain that there is always evidence supporting her knowledge, based on what has
occurred in her life.

The thirst for knowledge and wisdom from God must be constant within you. I find that those who
have the most wisdom and who deal with the absolute – with facts – are always those who receive
more wisdom. They resemble lakes and rivers, which always flow into oceans.

Considering myself well versed in the area of money and investments, I had asked myself why I
was constantly paying $1.35-$1.95 for a cup of coffee when it only takes about 9 cents to produce
it. So, I decided to cut out my coffee purchases and, instead, I made it myself. I put aside the money
I was saving on coffee purchases, collecting the loonies and toonies in a glass, and I continued to
do this daily. After several weeks, my change count in the glass was $127.

This saving activity is a small example of a big idea. If you get an idea and decide that you want
to do something, commit to it and do it. Once you follow through with an idea and take action, it
leads to a strong change in your thoughts, which in turn, changes your outlook, your actions, your
thinking and your circumstances. These changes transform your position in whatever area/s you
decide to improve.

Let’s get back to beliefs once more. Let me share with you two thoughts of mine, which are making
more and more sense to me – more than the reality-to-reality circle. “He who seeks for heaven
alone to save his soul, may keep the path, but will not reach the goal. While he who walks in love,
may wander far, but god will bring them where the blessed are” (state source).

I don't know the complete meaning behind this teaching, but considering my current
understanding, I find that I do agree with it. It is indeed very important to set aside a day for our
Lord. However, I believe it is much more significant what you decide to do during this day, based
on what is in your heart. I believe that prayer is not optional. Prayer should be ongoing and
everlasting, even though the hands that help someone are holier than the lips that pray.

There is a time for prayer and there is a time for action. The word of God fills us with wisdom to
discern, choose and act. Upon consulting with the Holy Spirit as to God's blessings, you follow
what is in your heart. In other words, everlasting life and salvation is a byproduct of walking with
the Lord, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is achieved by filling your heart with love, not simply
by attending church services, abiding by the commandments, and regarding your dedication to
religion as a chore. It must come naturally, and it must come from a true place of love and honor.
Gods gifts do not come from adhering to rules for the sake of receiving reward. This provides no
spiritual benefit or clarity in your life. Your personal faith and commitment to the Lord must dwell
in your heart and be felt every day – not just on Sundays.

I am in no way suggesting that simply following commandments are aimless; I am simply saying
that if you don't feel that your heart is inspired by that purpose – of why you've chosen to walk the
path with God – then it can do you more harm than good. Following the path blindly can become
lonely and confusing.
The best place to generate an aspiration for the word of God is in reading the word of God. We
have all that we need and all that we could ever want in us. We need only to turn our hearts and
minds toward God to recognize and activate the desire to learn. I like to think of each of us as
having been created with perfect potential in God's image, but we have to play our part in living
our lives to develop that potential, by building a relationship with God; by becoming one with him,
in spirit, soul, heart and mind. In all that God has provided for us, of free will and out of pure love,
he leaves more up to us than we imagine, and we must seek it out.

The forces of evil are always at work, trying to deceive us one way or another by preventing us to
fully learn what gifts we have or by discouraging us to open ourselves to the appreciation we have
for what we have been given in life. These forces mean to disable our love and spiritually paralyze
us. Many Christians take the position that if we were aware of all the perils of evil that lurk amongst
us, that which our God protects us from, we would become overwhelmed enough to shut down.

This couldn't be further from the truth. We must always be aware of the Devil's presence and guard
ourselves with the tools that the Lord has given us to uphold and defend the victory that Jesus has
already blessed us with. When one lives in the power of victory, each day they can continue to
defend, honor and praise ever-lasting life, because the outcome is never questioned - the Devil was
already defeated for us by Jesus Christ. Our only choice is to live with the power and glory which
comes from that victory or to struggle with pain and guilt by questioning it.

Sometimes all the Devil needs to do is create one seed of doubt. From there, he steals your hope,
thereby cutting you off from God and rendering your faith purposeless and then, useless – not only
for yourself, but also to others in God’s work. This leaves you with broken faith and a weak belief
system, causing you to feel confused and empty of love. It robs you of the victorious life you are
meant to experience.

I leave you with one question, which you must ask yourself every day; Which life will you choose
to live?

You may think that it is simply a choice to choose – to walk with God and have a victorious life –
but in actuality, once this choice is made, it is just the beginning. You have to move forward in
achieving your purpose and this lifelong pursuit cannot be done alone. The journey revolves
around realizing more of that perfect potential we all have inside us.

I hope this teaches you as little as possible in the sense that it has been a reminder to you, rather
than a lesson. In other words, I hope you are well ahead in the most important journey of your life
– that is, living it.

If you appreciated this reminder or if this lesson resonates with you, stay tuned for the continuation
of this discussion in my other upcoming piece.

By Osvaldo Antonio Minchella