Just A Thought, Nothing More Than That.

Truth is the only foundation for confidence, humility, and distinguishable open-mindedness.

Christ is the sole basis of this truth; for He is truth.

From Hearing to Mere Trust.

Some people might say that it's impossible to hear from God, especially in the sense of His voice communicating directly into your mind.

Being the logical and rational being that I am, I have always assumed this. Then, something, among many other recent things happened...

On Tuesday night, I heard a distinct voice.

It spoke to me in a gentle and reassuring spirit the words, "I have a plan for your life; it's not what you think, but it's good."

When I heard this statement, my initial reaction to it was one of disbelief. How can God say something to me without using scripture, an experience, or other human beings? How do I know it's not the devil trying to deceive me through the use of my thoughts? How do I know its not just my own thought, such as my flesh?
Then I thought it through a little bit, and came to the conclusion that it has to be God because right now, this statement doesn't make much sense to me. And when something doesn't make complete sense to you, you can trust that it's God because His thoughts are not our thoughts. When Satan puts a thought into my mind, or when a thought is explicitly from me [the flesh], it usually is phrased in such a way that allows me to still have control over my life, and it never has me trusting in its plan because the plan is always attained by my own means.
However, the sentence exclaimed above allows for me to have no control; It only contains trust. When something requires trust, it asks for faith. When faith is needed in something [such as your future], it must be God; for only He requires our belief. And that's how I know this voice was in fact the voice of God.
Thus, God still speaks, and yes, He's immensely personal.



-burton 261E

The Theory of Physical Touch.

A Scientific Approach [And by This I Mean an Experimental Approach] on How to Know You Are Wired for Relationship:

Have you ever tried to give yourself a massage? Have you ever attempted to tickle yourself? What do you find when you try both of these things by yourself?
Absolutely nothing.
No pleasurable sensation whatsoever occurs.
When you massage your own arm, you feel almost nothing and you are no more relaxed than you were when you started applying pressure.
Now, when another human being comes along and gives you a massage, you feel something don’t you? You certainly feel as the massaging progresses, and as their touch sooths your needs, relaxation occurs.
And as you probably have experienced, when another human being comes along and tickles you, much happens. Your body reacts in a rather spontaneous (but hilarious) way to that other person’s tickling action.
Two is always better than one, even in the realm of sensational touch.
There are many other instances where physical touch has wonderful sensations and reactions, but let’s save using those anatomical instances for your marriage with your current or future husband/wife.

We are undoubtedly wired for relationship; this study only demonstrates a few reasons for humans being externally wired for it.


-burton 261E

God: good

God is the source of goodness. When present, we see what goodness actually looks like; apart from him there is no goodness. When absent, we are overwhelmed with evil and begin to lose sight of what goodness originally looked like. That's why when we are willingly away from Him, we begin with compromise and follow it down the seemingly harmless country road until we are caught speeding on the more dangerous freeway of regret. It is then that we understand that we cannot have goodness apart from the one that is truly good. Realizing this, we take the next exit, make a U-turn, and drive back into the arms of He who never wanted us to go in the first place, only to once again, find ourselves forcefully wiggling out of his arms, hopping into our car, and chasing after His absence until finally, through experiencing what His absence feels like and having this awful taste linger in our mouths for a while, we are craving for His goodness all over again.

-burton 261E

The Decision of A Broken Soul

Date Written: Sometime around a week and a half ago.
Status: In bed fighting off a terribly long-winded cold with a fever, headache, sore throat with bloody mucus, and all kinds of symptoms and feelings that any number of people would deem as utterly evil; or at least agonizing to say the least.

I realize that my life, the deteriorating physical body that contains the contents of my eternal soul, is but a wisp of thin air, lasting no longer than the blink of an eye facing a swift, bursting wind. A mortal being am I. Now, sickness is quite an interesting circumstance. It comes about so unexpectedly, yet always appears to produce the expected results of which go by the names of Pain and Suffering; both of whom, after working their treacherous jobs for a while, ultimately resolve in death of the body. The actual job description of sickness, however, is not what makes it an interesting circumstance. What makes it such an interesting circumstance is that the products of sickness [Pain and Suffering] enter into our lives to accomplish one goal: To defer us long enough so that at the end of our lifetime we have fully forgotten who the God that has brought us this far is. Unfortunately for us, failing to notice that He is still there, regardless of how hard Pain and Suffering are working in our lives at that moment in time, will have us winding up in a different world full of unimaginable sickness; a world where Pain and Suffering never stop working, and the God who loves is not present. The worst part about such a place as horrifying as this is that we are given the opportunity, the freedom, and the ability not to choose it, and still, there are people who choose it.

“Ignorance is bliss?”
...I think not.

Make life count; it has potential to end rather abruptly.

-burton 261E