God's Way

B. G. Starkey

ISBN 979-8-88540-023-7 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88540-024-4 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by B. G. Starkey

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Guidance of God

Everyday Choices We Make and the Words We Live With

Love

Caring

Kindness

Guilt

Forgiveness

Giving

Learning

Humility

Patience

Sharing

Hope

Judgmental

Listening

Empathy

Authenticity

Happiness

Honesty

Anger and Temper

Grief

Prayer

Blaming Others

Cheating and Stealing

Common Sense

Compassion

Don't Quit

Honor and Respect

Introspection

Spreading Personal Information

The Law

Truth

Understanding

Virtue

Your Word

Optimism and Positive Thinking

Courage

Faith

Cynicism

Envy and Jealousy

Trust

Reflections of God

Odes—God's Way

Living with Yourself

Understanding Love

A Tender Heart A Perfect Creation by God

Are You with Me Now?

Everything

Full of Love

God

Grace

I Don't Know

Love Is

Memories

My Wife

No One Knows

Our Love Eternal Love Given by God

Perfect

My Prayer

Sometimes

Time and Distance

We Take so Much for Granted

Thoughts for a Spouse

The Comforter

The Power of Words

Always Up—Never Down

Especially Special

For the Rest of Forever

Beliefs

Friendship

Survivor Guilt

Connections to God

God's Way

Did I?

Purpose

Regret

Positive or Negative

Decency

Deception

Aging

Complaining

More Hope

Older People

What She Did for Me

Afterlife

God, Prayer, and Science

Nice

Understanding Love after Death

Leadership

Discipline

Work

Wisdom

Thank You

Glory to God

A Loving God

Dedicated to Shirley

Purpose

I Love You

Love Gets Stronger

Where Did You Go

Finding You

Love Never Dies

Resentment

Self-awareness

Motivation

Sincerity

Success

Joy

Gratitude

Jealousy

Loneliness

Failure

Prejudice

Pride

Worry

Conscience

Courage and Bravery

Despair

Victory and Defeat

Hate

Responsibility

Good Health

Integrity

Excellence

Trying to Learn

Appreciation

Promises

Generosity

Thoughtfulness

Self-control

Bullying

Blessings

Curiosity

Disagreement

Expectations

Shame

My Search Why I Wrote This Book

About the Author

To Shirley, my very special wife, who gave love and purpose to my life

What Does Special Mean?

When we say someone is special, it's as far as we can go.

To say that someone does possess the things that we all know

Matter most in human beings and how they live each day.

The things that we admire most and do not go away

If I did try to name them all, I'd probably miss a few.

But she had so many more of them than anyone I knew.

In no special order, for each has its valued place.

Loving, caring, kind, forgiving, and thoughtful take some space.

Sacrificing, helpful, trusting, and supporting are also on the list.

Giving, subjugating, and accepting we also cannot miss.

Empathy, a moral compass, and sharing are there too.

I'm sure there might be others that are critical to you.

In varying degrees, each of these is in us all.

From none at all to great amounts within us when we call.

To say someone is special is reserved for just a few.

They need to show us all of these and not just one or two.

When I gave this thought and made a list of just what I thought special was

I reverse engineered what she showed us all that she got from above.

In other words, I saw in her the meaning of the word

The consummate example of someone different from the herd.

Yes, I know she was special, and I think that you know too.

Now we have some reasons why, it's the best that I can do.

Guidance of God

Everyday Choices We Make and the Words We Live With

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

—Proverbs 3:5–6

God's Way

I am no expert, just someone wanting to learn more and to share that knowledge.

I have learned that these words and their reactions have a profound influence on our lives.

Understanding these actions and reactions is important as guidelines to each of us, living and shaping our lives.

We are here to learn from reliable sources of information and from our mistakes, and then to share that knowledge.

The Bible is a source of actions we face every day, and we must decide how we respond each time.

Our responses to actions we face and the choices we must make will influence who we are and the life we will live.

If we obey the Ten Commandments and are guided by these principles, we will be living our life God's Way.

I am sure you already know all that is written here, so use these words as a simple reminder.

Words to live by

The Bible quotes are from OpenBible.com.

Love

So now faith, hope and love abide these three, but the greatest of these is love.

—1 Corinthians 13:13

Love is the ultimate expression of the will to live.

—Tom Wolfe

Love is powerful and persistent, and only understood in part.

Perhaps the most important thing on earth, love is where all things start.

Unconditional love, reserved for God and a family, is just right.

Romantic love is about attraction, before a marriage is in sight.

There are friends who we love, a proven friendship that endures forever.

Love of mankind embraces all as we are all in this life together.

There is no place for hate within your heart; it will damage you.

The love you show through kindness and caring always will shine through.

Love is mentioned in the Bible 541 times, evidence of its role.

Love is central to our life on earth; love is essential to your soul.

You give your love, and what you ask for is nothing in return.

You treat others as yourself and share the best, a lesson all must learn.

Love has no limits; it should be shared; that's one thing love is for.

The more love you give, the more love you will receive; there is always more.

Caring

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

—John 15:13

The simple act of caring is heroic.

—Edward Albert

Caring along with love for others is a purpose we all should share.

It begins with empathy, and an outward showing that you really care.

You care enough to make a difference, for someone who is not you.

Giving help, or support, or just lending an ear is what you always do.

Perhaps a donation, or a word of encouragement, might be what you give.

Responding to the need of others, a life that you should live.

Stopping to help or to save someone is help given from the heart.

A single person or a larger cause, you care and you take a part

Not for a reward and not for fame, you care because it's right.

It's just part of your belief system; you are always there day or night.

It can be viewed as, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Helping each other is why we are here; it's just the right thing to do.

Caring for someone can be a short event or longer-term care.

To be thoughtful and without being asked to be with them anywhere

I believe that caring and loving are our greatest roles on earth.

Learn to use them both each day as they have been with you since your birth.

Kindness

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

—Ephesians 4:32

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

—Aesop

Kindness is what is shown to others, because you really care.

Or you can be unkind to others caused by dislike