THE TRUTH DOESN’T COST YOU ANYTHING BUT A LIE CAN COST YOU EVERYTHING Francesco Savonarola Gentile (Frank Savi) © 20 20 Author’s Note When I started writing I had a mission in mind: help people realize the beauty of life despite every situation or problem possible. I hope this short story will make a difference. God helped me on this project because I stretched my hand to Him . A re you w illing to stretch yours too ? Well, this can be your move. Sufferings “ Rejoice in sufferings, because suffering produce endurance and endurance build up a great character that can walk fearlessly firmly through everything in this world. ” ~ Frank Savi _ It was a dark period of my life In those years I was often lonely, I couldn’t fit in the society and as t ime was passing by the situation wasn’t improving but getting worst instead. I had enough of suffering and I was very unhappy about my life When I was trying to achieve something , this turned out to be a disappointment and everything was going in wrong or unexpected ways. I was almost giv ing up ; f ed up with struggle s and failures, sometimes I just wished to disappear forever. I was wrongly so mad with God because my life was miserably sad and no one seemed to care. My family at that time couldn’t understand me fully too, but that’s why I was barely able to do it myself. I was becoming a bad person : the young man full of life and dreams was almost dead. I was still alive, but the greatest loss was being dead inside I felt like my existence had no purpose neither significance, hence my will to live was almost zero. I didn’t love my life and then, when I start ed to find comfort mainly in drinking and smoking , I realize d to have reached rock bottom. I was in a deep hole of desolation , but all my efforts to escape were in vain because I was always returning there , repeating the same old mistakes. In my mental prison , d eath and desp air were daily thoughts. All this was b ad and very uncomfortable , but d espite of my will to get better , I couldn’t do so I tried everything in my possibilities to move from stalling, but the starting point was always home. Whenever it seemed like I was going to make it, suddenly I was back there, in my sad reality I needed a kind of help no person could give me : I had no hope. I was far from the light , and blinded by darkness I didn’t know that unconsciously I was gasping for t ruth like air. But what was this t ruth? In a constant changing world , full of different people with different mindsets, what I was really l ooking for? I didn’t like my reality and I wanted to change it , but it took me a while to understand that only one Truth can free us and lead to everlasting joy, peace and happiness. I found what I was searching for o nly after I discovered who God really was and started getting the first signs. God was looking for me since ever and when I finally made myself available , I couldn’t help to look for Him all the time : I always wanted more. T ruth is we only search for God when we please, forgetting He ’s always watching over us. We can hide from people’s eyes, but we cannot hide from the eyes of our all - knowing Lord. Yet, most often , we seek Him occasionally , while we should every day. Even if I was desperate , I didn’t ask for God’s help , a nd so I regretfully had to see the darkness before appreciating the light . The dark world was very threatening and unsafe; p laying with evil forces or ‘demons’ got me in many troubles . E veryone has a dark side indeed , but if we choose to never bring it alive , God will always protect us “ God is our mighty fortress, always ready to help in times of trouble. And so, we won't be afraid ! ” ~ Psalms 46:1 - 2 The enemy can be very deceitful and use everything in attempting to destroy you ; that’s because while God wants nothing but your love from you, Satan wants everything you have and he can use his filthy trick s to make you f all On our side though, even if we cannot control these things, we can certainly choose how to deal with them. “ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ” ~ 1 Peter 5:8 M any people tried to bring out the worst part of myself , but at first I responded them with a bad attitude too . T hank God then I understood that there is no point in doing so Don’t lose the good in you trying to fight bad in other s ; y ou don’t extinguish fire with fire, therefore evil can n ot be fought with evil Without going into details, I’ve seen death too many times, perhaps more than necessary Yet , through it all, I’ve been always protected by God and pulled out of the worst scenarios either with a blessing or a lesson. So, e ven though it’s important to stay watchful and alert, e vil does n’ t deserve all our consideration , God does. S eek Him over everything because His power is higher than an ything else and He can always show you what’s right. Unpleasant and unfortunate events often happen because man trust man and people rely on anything but God. Instead, if you rely on the Lord and trust unconditionally only Him, you wi ll know what to do in every situation D on’t try to be right at any cost and prevail over other s in a rude or aggressive way , let go and let God instead. Mind your own business when it’s better so, be at peace with who you can and always help other s when you have the opportunity to d o it Be strong but not rude, be humble but not timid, be kind but not weak T ry to be nice with everyone because you can never know their struggles. Moreover, i t’s essential to c ontrol and keep our thoughts always positive : t hey rule our life L ies and toxic thoughts must be stopped immediately before it’s too late and become our reality. We can l eave to God everything too big and difficult for us to handle because for Him our problems are small like sand grains. Our loving Father wants us to come to Him just the way we are, with all our flaws and weaknesses; in this way H e can work on us, strengthen us , and bring out the best version of ourselves every day Signs “ Look always up, that’s the sign you ’ve been waiting for. ” ~ Frank Savi _ Sadly, I straight ignored the first signs I received I didn’t realize they had good purposes and i gnoring them was unfortunately keeping me even closer to the society lies and fake beliefs Coincidences, distractions, accidents, flukes... many are the names we give to things we cannot explain or control ; we strive to find some sort of rational explanation for them, but there isn’t really one After I ’ve been through a lot, I realized that what cannot be rationally explained it ’s certainly explainable on the spiritual level Since t he last few years have been really crazy for me , I wish I knew first God has the real control and the final saying over everything A s far as we try to do something , we must keep in mind that we are nothing without Him and H e has always the best intentions for us Since e very thing depends on God, the sooner we admit His existence and believe in His a lmighty power , the sooner we’ll know how to better manage our life. L earn ing about God and His ways , I realized most of my life choices were wrong because mainly made with ego and pride. I couldn’t go back to erase or even try to change them , but I decided to put an end to the old me because I was given a new chance to start again . W ithout changing my past , thanks to God’s presence and help , I could have change d my future , aiming for a brighter one. Life f or many people is hard and complicated , it was for me too and sometimes still is, but without God it will be more These days we try to force things that aren’t meant for us to come our way , get ting stress ed when there ’ s no need to and making our problems bigger than they actually are W e don’t give space to God to change the situation or even better change us : that’s what we are really doing. Negative forces are all around , but signs are powerful ways our Creator can use to communicate and redirect us back to Him These signs are different for everyone : n umbers, words, people, things or simply intuitions from which we can figure out to be not alone in our struggles As we know, God works in mysterious ways, so His angels will try often to reach out us with the right support to fulfill our destiny. W hen we decide to let God be the director of our lives , w e’ ll finally experience changes for goo d : His plan is always the best and His power unlimited W e’ ll look at reality in a genuine way and everything will be significantly different as we ’re discover ing the true essence of life , ignoring all the lies in it “ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love H im, who have been called according to H is purpose. ” ~ Romans 8:28 E ven situation s and events that may look bad in the first place can turn into something great for those who believe If we let Him, God can use everything for our sake and to manifest His glory through us Waiting plays an important role in this process because God’s timing is not like ours , but without Him we ’ ll live badly our wait. So we must wait w hen waiting is required but stop stalling when we need to take action. Since God is bigger than our worries , it’s good habit to consult Him before making plans and overthinking about them We have free will and we can mak e our choices , but choos ing God ’s side will produce remarkable results . We’ll be at peace even in the most difficult circumstances because whil st all things here are temporary, our peace in Jesus is eternal and transcending of all understandings. “ Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid. ” ~ John 14:27 Sacrifices “ Sacrifice without a good purpose is meaningless. ” ~ Frank Savi _ When we place our life safely in God’s hands, we are implicitly accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior T here is no other way to say that and no greater Truth ‘’ I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through M e. ’’ ~ John 14:16 No lie and nothing else can ever take over this statement , as a matter of fact this is God ’s word. We are free in Jesus name and everyone who calls on Him will be saved. T he price to be free from evil and saved from the slavery of our sins has already been paid dearly with His precious blood and redeemed with His resurrection. During history a lot of men tried to be God, while Jesus is God who become man. He’s the King of kings, but we hanged Him on a cross instead of letting sit on a throne and crowned with thorns instead of gold. Jesus renounced to His divine privileges to be like us ; He never sinned, yet He suffered and died for our sins once for all. But death could not hold Him and He is risen so we could be reconciled to God through His blood. Feel His love and rejoice in Him because God elevated Him above all the existenc e I f we believe and accept His ultimate sacrifice as our gift , we can share His powerful victory over sin and death too , recogniz ing that our spiritual needs a re the most important part of life B od y and mind have needs too, of course, we are humans... but if our soul is dry and damaged, we ’ ll never be completely satisfied. Persistent sins damage the soul, evil ways can destroy us , and the absence of true repentance doesn’t allow God to restore what has been lost. At first, for a considerable breakthrough, we must be willing to do sacrifice s in this world and to give up everything standing in the way between God and us . T hrough our spirit we can connect with Jesus and allow Him to renew our soul O ur main provision must come from the Lord and His word : feed your spirit with it to keep it strong T hrough the valuable teachings of the Holy Bible, thanks to our unlimited God, we can find all the strength we need to endure and overcome the enemy and his limited possibilities. Since e ach verse is full of deep meanings , don’t just read the Scriptures , meditate on its messages instea d “ The word of the Lord is t ruth. It is sweet music for the ears of the righteous, sweet like honey to taste, light for his eyes. ” ~ Frank Savi When I had absolutely no clue of what to do, to avoid making any further mistakes I decided to fast and continuously pray in order to seek God I wanted to hear more from Him and less from the world , therefore I handed over all my thought s to Him and surrendered to His will. D o your part and surely God w ill do His ; o ur t ime on earth is limited , stop wasting it and make the best of every second We have to get uncomfortable with the corrupted world to get comfortable with God and pursue what is not. “ Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. ” ~ James 4:8 During my darkest time Je sus was always there for me H e loved me at my lowest point in life and held out my hand to pull me out the ‘ fire of hell’ ; then, when I experience d this powerful love , I wanted Him to fill my life more than ever. His word was healing every area of it and His Spirit fill my sense of emptiness better than anything before. “ I am the bread of l ife. Whoever comes to M e will never go hungry, and whoever believes in M e will never be thirsty ” ~ John 6:35 The good news is w e are only asked to do little sacrifices in this world Jesus died for us so we may live, so we are literally paying a little price since H e already paid it all. Although the land s of this world where to cultivate our dreams are often so arid , our sacrifices , soon or later, will be repaid with incredible blessings If God allow us to suffer for a certain time, we have still to trust Him : we are not see ing the whole vision yet and only a leap of faith can keep us going “ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ” ~ Hebrews 11:1 The Holy B ible is full of men like Noah, Abraham, Moses , David ... which fervid faith a llow ed God to realize great works through them. They all succeeded in their endeavors and gained what was promised With the coming of Jesus, God’s promise has been taken to the ultimate level as we can receive blessings in this world and eternal life in the other I f we believe in the process and walk always by faith , the outcome will be surprising M y renewal in Christ wasn’t easy but necessary, life - changing , and definitely worth it. I made sacrifices I never thought I was capable of , found patience I wasn’t aware to h ave , and bec a me a better person with improved qualities Patience is not the ability to wait but to keep a good attitude while waiting : s ince God has already figured out everything ahead, you can feel safe , confident , and at peace Your mistakes are in the past , so from now on try to stay patient, relax, and enjoy your trip like you do on a plane or a ship not even know ing the pilot or the captain ; i nstead , we know God and life is our ride, so through highs and lows we will trust Him. F aith can make flowers grow even in the desert ; during our trials t hrough eyes of faith everything will be clearer and start to make more sense “ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to H im must believe that H e exists and that H e rewards those who earnestly seek H im. ” ~ Hebrews 11:6 S acrifices and obedience to God are necessary to forge and master our spiritual power , indispensable in this world If we are bonded to God, joy , love and grace can be the best weapon s against all negative forces; ‘kil ling them with kindness ’ is the safe way to not let these lies corrupt our hearts If w e endure w hen hatred will try to stop us , grace will carry us o n and replace the despair in our spirit with great joy Grace is the unmerited an d unearned God’s gift offered to all of us with the salvation th rough Jesus Christ. Our Lord is the supreme source of joy and grace , however it’s our choice to fully embrace this foundatio n by faith. “ Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ” ~ Hebrews 12:2 In short, it’s up to us choose to live a good and godly life , we have the resources to do it and the first step is following Jesus and His teachings So, love one other and do n’t despise your neighbor, but treat everyone equally without judging. D on’t do to other s what you don’t want done to yourself , but instead pray even for your enemies E very one needs help and it can be found in the love of Christ, which we are called to share instead of spreading hatred. The worries in this world can be high , but thanks to Jesus we can overcome all our fears and anxieties, doubts and paranoi d thoughts Worrying and having faith are opposites , we cannot practice both at the same time . Hence, when we feel overwhelmed t he best to do is sustaining our faith by pray er. “ Cast all your anxiety on H im because H e cares for you. ” ~ Peter 5:7 Visions and Blessings “ The Spirit of the Lord is the only o ne worth living for. ” ~ Frank Savi _ V isions are basically glimpses of a near or distant future and usually require a deep state of spiritual awareness, meditation , and prayer Although e veryone pray s for different things , it’s important to understand that praying doesn’t make too much sense if we first don’t build up a personal relationship with Jesus T his allows God to bless us with the strongest force possible: His Spirit. Pray ing is call for God ’s help and it can give us access to the source of everything , p raying in the name of Jesus has indeed an infinite and great power. When our action s are meditated by pray ing and put into effect through the Holy Spirit , we can even aim for the stars and achieve outstanding goals in our life Through the reading of the Holy Bible , we can deepen our knowledge of th is supernatural force and learn how to walk and live in it The Spirit will manifest in us differently and everyone can receive specific spiritual gifts that we are called to share through its fruits, of which the most important is certain love. “ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self - control. Against such things there is no law. ” ~ Galatians 5:22 - 23 T ime by time the Holy Ghost can reveal us what must be done or changed in order to follow God’s plan I n our prayers we can always ask with confidence because through the Spirit we ’ ll be empowered to reach our full potential and destiny Jesus was full of the S pirit and He left us t his supernatural force to be our faithful guide ; everyone who ask for it shall receive this power. Even if t he spiritual warfare between evil and good is still between us and the fight between lies and truths is no joke, w ith the power of the spiritual armor of God w e’ ll be able to stand against all evil forces without any fear : Jesus’ authority can defeat them all. “ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ” ~ Ephesians 6:17 God is sovereign and He knows well how to manage the evil among us . I n uncertain times our God is certain , and s o we will trust Him unti l the second coming of Jesus , when harmony and peace will rule all earth F ear and love God before anything else , He ’s the administrator of our lives and He can decide who lives or die, not us. O ur life is His gift and we should n’t take it for granted but grateful for every single breathe. If we remove th e s e beliefs , the fear and love of everything else can suddenly take place in our hearts and keep us awa y from God. If we take d istan ce from our Father, we’ll be misled by evil forces on a wrong path full of threats and temptations ; t hankfully , t he Holy Spirit can keep us away from these wicked ways and order the steps in our life journey If we are led by the Spirit , our visions , through prayer plus God ’s work and our s , can become real. “ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank H im for all H e has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. ” ~ Philippians 4:6 - 7 However, d on’t expect God to grant every wish of yours ; He’s not a geni e and i f you r pray ers are trivial you will be easily disappointed Way t oo often , we pray in selfish way s for thing s we don’t really need , which we consider good in th ose moment s , but the t ruth is God want s to give us more than our expectations. I f you pray with all your hear t and most important in the Spirit , you can obtain enough f aith to believe that grea t things will come your way to help you and others. I can assure you it’s always worth the waiting. S tay away from te mp tations and the Lord will provide He knows you better than yourself and so He can give you what’s completely tailored to fit your needs T he devil , on the contrary , can offer you easy ways and shortcuts for the merely pleasure of the flesh T emptation s , unlike divine provi dence , lead to many sin s Sin is destructive and the death of your holiness ; w hen you sin , the purit y of your heart will be stained black as with a white rob e T his displease God as it’s a n insult towards Him and the cause of our fall from grace Today some think they ’ re good people just because they are not committing evil deeds or mortal sins , but really even the smallest lie can be a serious sin. Clearly we ’ re all sinners , but God is still willing to forgive us and save through His Son But if we continue to follow the devil’s lead , it’s sure that s oon or later we ’ ll pay for our mistakes , regretting we did so . I’ve been tested and tried in many different ways , so I know that resist ing sin initially is hard. Temptations are everywhere and I admit I ’ve failed a lot of time s , but when we ask for Jesus ’ help, He’s always ready for us I fell down, but with Him I got up again stronger than before. T hanks to my constant faith I overc a me all my addictions , regained my physical and spiritual health , and separate d myself from all the wrong things unpleasing God. Today I can finally say to be grateful even for my time of suffering because it made me the man I am. Therefore, as far as y our f aith will be tested , you need to endure to obtain the best. God breaks chains and not promises, wait for His favor s with faith and patience. We serve an Almighty God and His grace and goodness for the righteous are endless. “ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you ” ~ James 4:7 Humble before God and get rid of counterproductive things such as your ego, toxic relationships , non - supportive friends , unhealthy addictions, negative thoughts, people’s opinion and everything that c ould push you away from Him Stop being materialistic and selfish , start to seek what’s really important Money is not your god, stop chasing it desperately like a fool. Don’t believe in the society lies : no person, no job, no car and nothing else can make you really happy if your life is not filled with the Spirit and Jesus not at center of your heart. Seek first the K ingdom of H eaven and its eter nal things , then God will provide for your earthly needs too. “ The salt of the Spirit shall make your life saltier and the light of God sh all enlighten your life so. ” ~ Frank Savi T he Holy Spirit can enlighten even the darkest room , and so when we feel surrounded by darkness and negativity , we get to shine even brighter “ You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let y our light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. ” ~ Matthew 5:14 - 16 As followers of Jesus, we are not allowing this world to shut down our light W e are n’t meant indeed to fit and die in this society, but to stand out as the great winners we are in Him With God we can make the best of each day by living in the present moments and without overthinking about the future. Every day is a blessing , every morning a fresh start and opportunity to apply what we learn and practice what we preach Even i f everything seems lost and every door closed , God can still surprise us unlocking bigger opportunities W hen the time and season will be right , thanks to our constant f aith and assured of the outcoming blessings , we’ll be ready to make our big move God can open doors no man can shut ; thereby we shouldn’t rely only on our own strength and resources because u nless the Lord wants it , we will labor in vain If we are willing to follow Him, He’ll make a way even w h ere there isn’t His blessings are free for everyone and our life can be overflowing with them I n fact, God has given us different gifts and He wants to bless us always more. B lessings can also be intended as the rewards for our endurance in the struggles of life , a popular