I recently remarked, “I hardly ever hurt anyone anymore,” but I have to admit it’s not really true. The fact is, I still hurt people and, to my dismay, I do it too often. And, more often than not, it hurts me as much, or more, than it does them. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for May, 2015
Hardly Ever… Is Still Too Often
Are You Finished?
I’m a very happy guy, and my main goal these days is to try to encourage others to be happy. Yes, there is evil and suffering in this world, and if we focus on it, we are very likely to develop a keen sense of hopelessness.
On the other hand, if we focus on the good things in our lives, we can be encouraged and carry on with the things God has prepared us to do. I am firmly convinced our lives have purpose, and to accomplish that purpose we must focus on it.
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30
What Do They See?
What do others see when they’re watching you? Does it matter?
We will sin—not much doubt about that—but when we focus on God and His love for us, we will sin less, as the more like Him we become. When our spirit leaves our earthly body to spend eternity with God, we will no longer sin. But… wouldn’t it be great if we could stop sinning now?
Our testimony is what others see when they look at how we live our lives. We are who we are, and we will most likely never be perfect, but when we set our eyes upon Jesus, we’ll be getting better all the time.
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Romans 6:1
The Thrill of Victory
When I was a teenager, I would often watch Wide World of Sports on Saturday afternoon. It always began with a short film clip showing someone being victorious, and someone else in the agonizing throes of defeat. Read the rest of this entry »
Blood On The Moon ~ the story
Blood On the Moon was the first short story I wrote when I decided I wanted to try and write. This is the 2015 rewritten version (I hope it’s better than the original). It’s 2170 words long (5 single spaced pages), so print it and read it later if you want. I’ll even email it to you, if you can’t print it off the blog. Click the picture to enlarge and read the poem by the same title. Read the rest of this entry »
The Big Lie
On one side there is ego, which is typically an undeserved lofty opinion of one’s self, and on the other side of the proverbial coin is our tendency to deem ourselves unworthy. Both are lies. Read the rest of this entry »
That’s All I Need
In the movie, The Jerk, Nathan has lost everything, and as he prepares to leave his home, he starts gathering, one-by-one, little things he just can’t imagine living without. Read the rest of this entry »
The Point of No Return
I’m not perfect, but anyone who’s known me for a long time will tell you I’ve changed. And I believe I will continue to change, because somewhere along the line I reached the point of no return.
The gift of God’s grace is not only given freely, but it sets us free; free from sin and free to experience a life filled with joy and peace. Being free from sin doesn’t mean we won’t sin, because being the fallible humans we are, we will always sin. But! We are freely justified by the grace that came by Christ Jesus!
and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:24
I’m Wicked?!?!
Yes, I’ve done some bad things—things I’m not proud of—but I’ve never thought of myself as wicked. Well… not very often, anyway. Read the rest of this entry »
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Marbles In My Pocket ~ The Official Blog of Charles L. Mashburn ~ Poems, Short Stories, and random thoughts from the author of "Be Still... and know that I am God" 