Ask For Rest

“We’ve been through hell, but we’re still here!”

Sometimes, when times are getting tough on me, I mistaken it for something bad in my life. The truth is, wherever we are right now, there is a purpose, and that purpose is something good. I mean usually, or every time.

Instinctively, people react bad when something is different, but the truth is it’s something better from God. IF it comes from a true Christian.

For God did not make death, nor does he delight in the death of the living. He created all things so that they might have existence, and the creatures of the world give life. There is no deadly poison in any of them, and the domain of hell is not on the earth, for righteousness is immortal.

Wisdom 13-15

I am wrong when I said I’ve been through hell. Actually, I had quite a lot of working to the point of exhaustion. We are all exhausted to the bone, what we need is God to heal us and give us rest. The Lord Jesus Christ will give us rest IF we pray to Him that prayer.

Ask, Seek, Knock. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.”

Matthew 7:7

Go ahead, just ask God!

Small Things, Great Things

We all have a part to play in God’s glorious plans. Even if you write a letter for a blind man, or just sit and listen to someone, or you take the mail for him, and you visit somebody or bring a flower to somebody, or wash clothes for somebody or clean the house— small things, but these are great things in the eyes of God.

Mother Teresa

Looks

We are careful not to judge people
by what they seem to be, though
we once judged Christ in that way.
2 Corinthians 5:16

There was nothing attractive about Jesus, says in the book of Isaiah. People judged him by what he seemed to be. Jesus was a lowly carpenter, with brothers and sisters they knew. Still, He healed the sick and preached the gospel. Jesus said, “Prophets are honored by everyone, except the people of their hometown and their own family.” And because the people did not have any faith, Jesus did not work many miracles there.

Maturity

Think like mature people and
be as innocent as tiny babies.
1 Corinthians 14:20

When I was in high school, all I did was play computer games. I don’t study, I eat fast, and exercise less. Then, when college came, I didn’t collect comics anymore, I studied early in the morning up until noon, and ate with friends. In 2021, I could smell birthday cakes burning. I don’t play computer games anymore, I usually paint, write, make music, and do chores around the house like washing dishes, sweeping the floor, etc. I guess getting older makes a person carry more responsibilities. You think more for others than of yourself.

Revenge

Dear friends, don’t try to get even.
Let God take revenge.
In the Scriptures the Lord says,
“I am the one to take revenge
    and pay them back.”
Romans 12:19

When you get hurt, it’s pay back time. Words fly like a fire breathing dragon, engulfing everyone in flames. It’s automatic. However, God tells us Christians to resist the temptation and no matter what happens, do the right thing. This separates the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. Let God’s Spirit give you self-control and bless instead to curse others.

Loud And Clear

The Internet is “fool” of information. No, it’s not a typo because we are being fooled every day of so much news that we can’t see the forest. Reading the news is included in my daily routine, and I always have this feeling of being overwhelmed by so much text to read. Still, I am clueless of most of the needed data fed to my brain in order to comprehend the message. Unfortunately, this “confusion” led to protests in our country.

There is always one solution to this problem: Go to the source. But, the problem is we human beings tend to rely on “other” sources for important information because these “other” sources are much accessible.

The other day, I saw a short comic strip describing the vaccine to be administered to front-liners. It was short, specific, and crystal clear. It was about five pages with cartoon drawings and big fonts with the government logo. It was the official Facebook page for our country. It popped-up to my news feed and so I read it. And, I was glad they made it because after reading hundreds of news articles about the vaccine, I was still unsure about my knowledge. Now, it’s as clear as the noon day sky.

Another thing that helps me get reliable news is from the radio. We listen to the radio every day because of my dad who was a news junkie.

I remember the time on our church retreat we played a game called, “Pass the message.” We form lines of different groups and the first person in line will tell the message and pass on to others by whispering it to their team mates until it reaches the last person. Whoever gets the whole message right is the winner.

Communication is crucial in today’s world. We have our phones and the internet to thank for it. We don’t have a lack of tools to communicate to others. The problem lies when our message that we pass on is not clear to others who receive it. Therefore, we get our information from those near to the source, and cut-off the middle men to be more reliable because information passed to many people loses some of that information. Just like we learned from the game.

During this pandemic, we rely on information to guide our decisions we make daily. Information is power. However, that information should be “Loud and Clear.”

Rumors

Rumors can bring down a president just like what happened in Egypt 2011. That is why in many countries, journalists were killed because of corrupt officials. Facebook has also become a favorite weapon of choice by people to spread rumors, and it may save or destroy you.

“One journalist killed worldwide every 4 days.”

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Sirach said, “Never repeat what you hear, and you will have no regrets. Don’t tell it to your friends or your enemies unless it would be sinful to keep it to yourself.” Sometimes rumors could be true and might save many people, and so it is sinful to keep it to yourself:

“Truth will set us free!”

News organizations are careful in sensitive situations where people’s lives are in danger. During the pandemic, misinformation, gossip, and fake news were littered in every social network, and got inaccurate news. People are now afraid of taking the vaccines because of this, and it will destroy a nation.

“Don’t believe everything you hear.”

Sirach 19:15

So, the question is what to believe? Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Believe in Jesus and He will show you the way that will lead to the truth and life to so many people.

It’s A Web!

Websites. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them. Nowadays, people are queuing online. Who goes first is like a raffle draw and nobody knows when the delivery will arrive at your doorstep. Deliveries have reached the threshold and it’s carrying the heavy burden of the actual packing and deliveries. We need an army to do this.

Online sales are skyrocketing no doubt about that. How about brick and mortar stores? How are they coping with the lock-down? Even the president says that small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy. How will they survive a world without a place where people pick up items, put it inside the cart, wait in line and pay for the products? The answer is the Web!

The web is constantly evolving. Creating your websites used to be a chore and it will take weeks to put up an online shop. But nowadays, it’s automatic. In JUST seconds, you’ll have a website up and running, ready for the WORLD to see, AND it became so cheap even third world countries can have one.

I can’t recommend you one because it’s a disservice to other hosting providers if I didn’t mention them because what’s the point of having a business? Just go to Wikipedia or search it on Google. Do a little research, do your homework before diving in. However, there is a small problem. You see, online stores are great for customers, but security remains a big problem. Now that hackers know everyone is joining, it’s becoming very rampant and common. So, my advice is, create hard passwords and use two-factor authentication. This will help secure your hosting provider enormously. Invest in a good password manager, as I always suggest, and use genuine software, movies, music, etc. Be good and God will always be good.

Lastly, if you don’t know anything about technology, hire a web specialist, IT consultant or a friend who knows his craft.

I hope that you will always remember that God will always be with you. If you get stuck on the web, just pray.

Humans

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a weapon. This technology is dangerous enough if it falls into the wrong hands, our world will be in darkness. Pessimism about this is prevalent to humans because we are afraid of something we do not understand, but that is also the case for guns.

Guns are weapons that could kill. It had myriads of infamous news on the internet about school shootings, terrorism, and war in Syria. Guns are scary because it can take our lives, and being scared runs deeply in our subconsciousness. The real culprit is humans.

Humans create AI, not the other way around. Therefore, it is humans to be blamed for AI’s shortcomings. Guns are like AI in it’s truest form because they could be a weapon for good or a weapon for evil, which will take us into questions like, “Who would protect us from AI?,” or “Will the government take measures to regulate AI, so that anyone who uses it will not be a harm to everyone?”

Like guns, we should limit the people who are allowed to use AI because humans are prone to error. But, that is impossible! Like the internet, it can not be controlled. So, who can save us from the inevitable?

Humans.

The disciples went to him and woke him up. “Save us, Lord!” they said. “We are about to die!”

Matthew 8:25

Bible Society of South Africa. Good News Bible: Good News Translation (GNT) . Bible Society of South Africa. Kindle Edition.

Reduce

More adds complexity. Like buying products you don’t need; adding features that nobody uses; adding a workforce that brings up costs; installing apps that bloat the system, or adding more work with strict deadlines. To live simply is key to having a more productive, happier and safer environment.

For example, list all the things you do when browsing the web. We all use a web browser to interact with websites, or apps to access social media, do online shopping, and research in school, right? Common sense dictates that the web browser is your portal to the outside world. But, the world is not rosy and pretty realistically. Let’s be honest, everything on the internet sells something for financial gain because it is business, but there are also bad actors that only after your money and do harm. That’s why parents are fearful of their children’s safety online. So, what do we do to help protect the public from malicious individuals or cybercriminals?

The answer is to reduce.

Reduce everything from your web browser’s powers. Turn off everything you don’t need like access to your microphone, access to your camera; turn off access to your location, file editing, block notifications, motion sensors, etc.

Next, your operating system must close ports you don’t use like disabling access to apps in your firewall. Every OS like Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android have a firewall to prevent unauthorized intrusion by hackers.

Next, use wired instead of wireless as much as possible. It’s safer to use a wired connection because it is physically attached to your computer. But, this is just a bit of advice that you can break because everyone at some point needs a wireless connection like using Bluetooth, and WIFI.

Be sure to update your devices. I know it’s a problem with Android phones since they rarely do updates, and after years older, your device is probably obsolete anyway. You have to have to buy newer phones to be safer. Just be sure to dispose of your phone properly.

Reduce the number of people that can send you emails, and limit the number of websites you visit. Don’t click that link. Be sure that the website is legit. How? By looking at the URL or email address. The URL must be simple names that do not mask or show random numbers and letters. If you find that it has this, then stay away or check to see if it’s from a trusted website or domain name that everyone knows.

The online world gives us the ability to connect, share with others and nourish relationships, but we must be careful about how we interact and use these technologies because the world we live in is not just a fairy tale. These are just a few suggestions in order to enjoy a much safer experience online. Therefore, to reduce the number of vectors and complexity is a solution that most of us can utilize.

Here are tips from Microsoft on how to avoid getting infected by ransomware: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4013550/windows-protect-your-pc-from-ransomware

How I love you, Lord!  You are my defender.  2 The Lord is my protector;  he is my strong fortress.  My God is my protection,  and with him I am safe.  He protects me like a shield;  he defends me and keeps me safe.  3 I call to the Lord,  and he saves me from my enemies.  Praise the Lord!

Psalms 18:1-3

Bible Society of South Africa. Good News Bible: Good News Translation (GNT) . Bible Society of South Africa. Kindle Edition.