Life Lessons

By Sharon Briggs

This book will pull the reader into the world, culture, and mentality of the author. It reaches into the mind of the reader to pull out the character flaws of many believers who may be sitting in judgment of those on the outskirts of the pure, the perfect, the rich, and those living in the mainstream of Christianity.

Life Lessons is a wonderful book.In this book you may have experienced some of these things or you may know someone else who has. Through it all, it always leads you to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Prepare yourself for an amazing journey.

Martha King, Teacher and Editor, Word Newsletter

An amazing writing collection. Inspiring, spiritual, truly a must read! This compilation encompasses some of her best pieces of work thus far. If you want to be captivated by thought-provoking reading, then this is the book for your soul.

La Trese Newson, Law Enforcement Officer, Artist, Philanthropist

Sharons writings are inclusive to all audiences. They transcend age and are appropriate for both children and adults. I have been familiar with this author for over sixteen years. I have watched her go through many challenges and come through them victoriously.

She has continually gone through the fires of this life, thanking God for the trials. This is why she is who she is.

Ruby Bacon, President and Founder, Kingdom Builders International, Pastor, Elder, Destiny Center Springfield, TN

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 12, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490852072

Sharon Briggs

Sharon Briggs has been interested in writing most of her life. Previously, she worked as a special education teacher and holds a teacher credential in behavior disordered and learning disabled students. Sharons intense desire to write poetry has become a valued outlet. Her experiences mirror her writings in a deeply personal way. She currently lives in Auburn, Kentucky.

Book preview

An Even Exchange?

An Even Exchange, is by far an understatement. There is no human being that could possibly endure the terrible devastation that Jesus faced for the sake of the gospel. He had to hide from His own who would not receive Him. John 1:11. Who could endure the persecution by people in authority who planned his death from the beginning of His ministry? Constant harassment, being called a child of fornication, John.8:41, were the horrible attacks that Christ, our Lord encountered. The psychological and physical torture was also beyond human endurance. Mentally, emotionally, socially and relationally, Jesus endured it all. An Even Exchange, hardly.

History explains these horrors in depth in Isaiah. 52:14, Isaiah.53:4,5, Psalm 22:14-21, and 1 Peter. 2:24.(King James Version) Many other places in the Bible show the persecution of Christ. The substitution work of the cross was a sacrifice unparalleled in the history of God’s creation. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. There had to be a perfect Lamb. His name is Jesus. The perfect Lamb slain without a cause. Just as innocent animals were used to cover Adam and Eve after the fall, Jesus’ innocence had to be established before His death.

The doctrine of propitiation, or substitution, began initially before the foundation of the world. He knew those who were His. He knew the end from the beginning. He ordained His own before the foundation of the world.

The law was a schoolmaster bringing us to Christ. We had to learn that the blood of bulls and pigeons couldn’t save us. We needed a Savior.

Two thousand years ago, the Man despised, and rejected, and acquainted with grief, took the chastisement of our peace upon Himself. He became poor that through His poverty we could become rich, and with his stripes we are healed. An Even Exchange, could not be further from the truth; but He left us a promise: We are heirs and joint heirs with Christ, Romans 8:17 (King James Version) We reign in life. We reign with Christ.

If we suffer with Him we will reign with Him. He did not say we would not suffer. In this world we will have tribulation, it is impossible but that offenses must come, but we can be of good cheer, for He has overcome this world. The battle is the Lord’s. Substitution. He became poor, that through His poverty, we could become rich. Substitution. The chastisement of our peace is upon Him. Substitution. With His stripes we were healed. Substitution. He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. Substitution.

Jesus was our substitute. He was our propitiation. The Father had to put the sins of the whole world upon His only Son. The wrath of God was placed on Jesus. This solved the problem of the sacrifice of bulls and goats which could not please God. Jesus, once and for all entered into the holy place of the kingdom of God with His own blood to cleanse the sin of all mankind.

We were made the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus our Lord. The price was fully paid as we had an exchange of our sins for His righteousness. This righteousness is a gift. It comes because we believe. We believe on God’s Word simply because He loves us. Faith worketh by love. Without faith (belief) it is impossible to please Him.

Because of the exchange we are made the righteousness of God whose righteousness we are. Therefore, our effectual and fervent prayers availeth much. That exchange, was so perfect and so complete, and so God ordained, that we can even do all things through Christ who loved us. Without Him we can do nothing, but there is an end of the struggle. All things are ours. He who gave His only begotten Son shall with Him freely give us all things. Rom 8:32.

Through The Father, it was An Even Exchange. Our ways are not His ways, however. The sins were those the whole world. The sicknesses were those of the whole world. The poverty was that of the whole world. Bear this in mind: the world has not ended. This sacrificial price was paid all the way to the end of the age. An Even Exchange, to the carnal mind could be appropriate; but to the godly man, the man who has God’s spirit, there will never be a price that could be paid for the suffering of God’s only begotten Son. An Even Exchange, I think not.

Human?

A child was born, a pan was prepared with oil and spices for the evening meal that night. The baby was the evening meal that night. Human? 70 people were shot at a movie theater. Twelve were killed. Human?

Over 200,000 people were hacked to pieces in Africa. Human? 26 people were killed, 20 of which were children under the age of ten. The perpetrator also killed his mother and himself. Human?

13 people were shot in a gang war at a park, one was a three year old child. Human? 17 men were frozen, cooked, candied and feasted on. The same person preserved the head of a young teen in a box for a long time. Human?

13 people were shot on a naval base. The killer was then killed by the police in a shootout. The killer complained of hearing voices by electronic means. Human?

Thirteen people on a military based were killed by the psychiatrist on staff. He is now on death row. Human?

A teen smothered a four year old foster child while he cried out for his mother and placed menstrual blood in the form of a cross on his forehead after he was dead. Human?

A young baby was shot in the face and killed by a teen hoping to be successful in the robbery of the mother who he shot in the leg. Human?

Almost 3000 people were killed when two planes were flown into the Twin Towers in New York City.

A plane was flown into the Pentagon the same day. Many were impacted by this attack. Human?

Author’s Note

This is not a fantasy. This is happening now. You have got to serve somebody. It is critical that we as a nation and a world come to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot serve two masters. There is an inhuman entity called Satan, Lucifer, Serpent, Waster. He comes not but to kill, steal and destroy anything and anyone in his path. Young, old, in the womb, handicapped, aged, defenseless, poor, rich, middle class, or otherwise, he was created to destroy.

Why Would you seek to serve someone who has no desire but to end everything that is good, merciful, kind, and innocent? He has access to those in the following conditions: Being on the fence, in the middle, doubtful, double-minded, none opinionated, without conviction, having no stand as to right and wrong, unbelieving, faithless, in your comfort zone, on your flowery bed of ease; this is who Satan seeks after. The time is out for this. You are acting on what you believe. Are your actions based on goodness and mercy, or based on your own selfish will and desires?

Your heart excuses you or accuses you as to as to what is right. God needs your whole heart. You can only be human if you fully accept that you were created by God who put on sinful flesh and was tempted in all ways as you were and was yet without sin. We can be as He is if we are in Him and His Word is in us; only then can we be human. We have all done things we are ashamed of, but does it have to continue? No! Make your choice.

Being human, means taking on the nature of the One that created you. He knew you before you were in your mother's womb. He named all your parts while they were yet unformed. God made us we did not make ourselves. He made us to be human, even as our Creator is human. In Dealing with the wrong decisions that you are making right now, search and examine yourself for the truth of your behaviors and your preferences in this life. Follow the Lord, our Savior, our Holy one of Israel.

Is There Ten?

In Genesis 18:32 (King James Version), the Lord declared to Abraham if there be ten in the city of Sodom, God would not destroy the city. To the believers everywhere I pose this question; what if we His people would be praying for at least ten people? Those ten people would preserve the entire city. In a time like this, where tsunamis, floods, storms, fires and earthquakes are literally destroying whole cities, what if each one of us as believers would be praying continually for at least ten people. What if it was twenty, thirty, or forty? There wasn’t even ten in the city of Sodom to preserve it. Myanmar, the Island of the Philippines, great portions of Japan, Hurricane Sandy, the devastation of Louisiana, which killed over two thousand people in the flood; volcanoes have even destroyed whole villages. These examples speak to this question.

We as people of God can intercede for the lives of people that we are charged to pray for. All of us have a responsibility to pray for all men according to God’s Word in Luke 18:1. (King James Version)

We are even responsible to pray for our enemies. The ten or more that we should be praying for needs to have an order. We need to find out the population of cities of this world. We can save these cities according to God’s word if we pray diligently. What if we care for others like we care for those who love us? What profit have we if we only love our friends according to John 15:12 (King James Version)

This is not a one party system. We frequently preach to the Choir in our churches, staying in the four walls of the church terrified of venturing out of the safety of our communities even in our thoughts. Us four and no more is the way we have learned to live in a dying humanity. The desperate cries of handicapped, poor, defenseless people are going unheard by the church because we refuse to come out of our comfort zones.

Is There Ten? Suggests that Christians should come out of the closet and began to band together past racial, denomination, physical and mental differences. We should hold up this world and stop this onslaught of violence against our youth, our aged, our children, our defenseless, our poor and needy, and the needy of other countries.

Our country is so rich and full of opportunity; yet a very small percent of this country controls a great portion of the money. The Bible says that all the silver and all the gold belongs to God. The controversy exists that if you work for it you can keep what you earn. Who gives you the strength to work and the ingenuity to do the things that cause you to get the wealth? Who made you? I tell you the truth without God you can do nothing.

You can take nothing with you when you die. What are you doing with the life that God has given you? Do you build bigger and bigger barns? Our example is Jesus became poor that through His poverty we could become rich, according to 2 Corinthians 8:9 (King James Version) Is there ten?

The Sin My Root

I figured it out one day in my misery. Where had my misery come from? The awesome answer came by revelation. In the garden were Adam and Eve being tempted before the fall, they were tempted by the devil to sin against God. This original sin was man’s attempt to be like God.

Today power and control is still the attempt by men to be like unto God. To take a life, to take that which is another man’s, to destroy that which belongs to another, becomes the drivingforce for all who have no relationship with God. I see dead people. We must do that which we please without regard for our Lord, is indeed an attempt to be God-like.

Is it not so that there is a real devil that comes not but to steal kill and to destroy? His every attempt is