Archive for June, 2010

Has life ever puzzled you?  Have you ever asked God why?  Let’s delve into the mysteries of God as defined in the Bible.  The first is:

1.   The mystery of the Kingdom of God.   
 ¹¹And He said unto them, “Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God; but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables. (Mark 4:11)

2.     The mystery of why God blinded, in part, the nation of Israel
 ²⁵For I, brethren, would not have you be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits: that blindness, in part, has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. (Romans 11:25)

3.  The Mystery of the purpose of Jesus on earth

     ²⁵Now to Him who has the power to establish you according to my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began. ( Romans 16:25)

4.  The mystery of  the wisdom of God

⁷ But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, ⁸ which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  ( Corinthians 2:6-8)

5.  The mystery of the rapture

 ⁵¹Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep; but we shall all be changed ⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ( I Corinthians 15:51-52)

6.  The mystery of His will.  

 ⁹He hath made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself,¹⁰that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him. (Ephesians 1:9,10)

7.  The mystery of evil

 ⁷For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now holdeth back will hold him back, until he is taken out of the way, ⁸And then shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming–( 2 Thessalonians 2:7)

8.  The mystery of the faith

 ⁹holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience (I Timothy 3:9)

9.  The mystery of godliness

 ¹⁶And beyond controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (I Timothy 3:16)

10.  The mystery of the secret things

²⁹“The secret things [mysteries] belong unto the LORD our God; (Deuteronomy 29:29)

The key point I want to make is that  if we understood everything about God, we would BE God.  If you make a study of these 10 mysteries, I believe it will help you to cope better with life.  I know it is hard, mainly because the Christian community has failed so miserably in reaching out to people.  We are God’s plan to cope with His mysteries, and we have failed miserably by becoming spiritual “fat cats,” and not caring and reaching out as God commanded us to do.    It is equally divided between leadership and lay people. We would rather be part of a judging and jeering committee or a gossip center.  All I can do is apologize for the Christian community, at least here in America.  One of the mysteries of God I can’t figure is why God would allow such horrible leadership to emerge here in America in tele-vangelism.  It has been a horrible stumbling block to millions; and, millions are probably lost because of them.

I heard a testimony over TV that just made me cringe.  It involves a gay person that was very uncomfortable at a gay parade.  He felt the need to reach out to God but he didn’t know how.  He said that if someone had just come up to him in a kind loving way and shared Jesus, he would have accepted Jesus right then and there.  But, that is not what happened.  Some protestor pointed his finger at him and yelled “You are going to hell, you ____.”  Somehow, I don’t think people like that are true believers.  Many horrible things are said and done in the name of Jesus.  I am a victim of such, so I know exactly how people feel.  

Determine within yourself, you will not be like the status quo.  You will reach out and help a dying hurting world.

June 26, 2010

Guilty Of Plenty

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READ: 1 Timothy 1:12-17

The grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant. —1 Timothy 1:14

A man was filling out a job application when he came to the question “Have you ever been arrested?” He wrote, “No.” ?The next question, intended for people who had answered “Yes” to the previous question, was “Why?” The applicant answered it anyway: “I never got caught.” He evidently knew he was guilty of plenty!

So was the apostle Paul. He knew he had personally done wrong and sinned against God. He wrote, “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man” (1 Tim. 1:13). He even called himself the “chief?” of sinners (v.15).

We too were once separated from the Lord because of our sin and were considered His enemies (Rom. 5:10; Col. 1:21). But when we confessed our sin and acknowledged our need for His forgiveness, He cleansed us and made us new.

Those of us who have known the Lord for many years may have the tendency to forget what we’ve been rescued from and forgiven of. Sharing about our past and current failures and giving praise to God for forgiveness will help us not to come across as “holier-than-thou” to people who don’t yet know the Lord.

The truth is we’ve all been guilty of plenty, and God deserves the glory for His mercy toward us. —Anne Cetas

All that we were—our sins, our guilt,
Our death—was all our own;
All that we are we owe to Thee,
Thou God of grace, alone. —Bonar

Grace is everything for those who deserve nothing.

From Gail:  We may think we get away with sin, but God sees everything.  You will get caught eventually.  It may be sooner rather than later, or later rather than sooner but it will happen.  In the meantime, we live in bondage and fear, always wondering if today will be the day we will get caught.  Is it really worth it?

” I don’t know right from wrong.” You would be surprised how many people, especially young people,  relate to this statement.  This isn’t the kid’s fault.  It is the adults.  So, next time you are tempted to say, “those darn teenagers,” think again.  You should be saying “those darn parents,”  because 98% of the time, that is the case.

Why is that?  Because parents and adults have “fallen down on the job.”  Kids used to be the center of the lives of adults, now they are on the peripheral.  Hollywood used to care about the kids.  In the 60’s Hollywood couldn’t even use the word “sex” on TV.

Legally, freedom of speech  doesn’t allow you to yell fire in the theatre and cause mass panic because it infringes on other people’s rights.  Corrupting the kids use to fall under this category also, but doesn’t any more.

So, let’s use God’s standard of right and wrong.  Let’s start with the 10 commandments, and these are ten commandments, not ten suggestions!!

They are found in Exodus 20.

1. Thou shalt not have any gods before me.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

3. “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.

 4. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

  5.  ”Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

  6.  “Thou shalt not kill.

  7.  “Thou shalt not commit adultery.

  8.  “Thou shalt not steal.

  9.  “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

10.”Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.”

Basically, anything you put before God is an idol.

Now, the next question rears its ugly head, “I know I am supposed to love, but I don’t know how.  Somehow, I can’t get the job accomplished.  What is love?

The best definition of love God gives us is in I Corinthians 13

1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

 8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.

 11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

 13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

Remember, without God, Paul said he could do nothing.  You are no different.  Only God can change hearts.  Let him change yours today. Jesus is only one prayer away.

 

What causes people to be so blinded that they allow their minds to be controlled by cult leaders such as David Koresh.  What I find alarming, is that even educated people are trapped.  I was listening to one account on TV where the head of security was a police officer.  Lawyers get trapped into cults.  The people that are trapped and snared into cults encompass all SES groups, all ethnic groups, all genders, and all ages.

Kaye Marie Porterfield wrote a book entitled Blind Faith that addresses these issues.  She feels the reasons these tragedies occur lies within the psyches of people.  Within the collective unconscious lies the image of the hero, the Messiah.  People have always searched for heros and acts of heriosm to guide our spiritual search and to act as role models for our behavior.  We must create meaning for our lives that empower, delight, and validate us as a person.

I agree with her assessment.  First the Bible clearly states that God has given us a God conscience.  In Romans 1: 19-20 we read:

.¹⁹since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse

This scripture clearly shows why we must search and find God.  We need someone to guide our spiritual search.   We find people we believe are better and more intelligent and skilled than ourselves, so Kaye Porterfield feels the solution involves realizing that the search for a true hero must lead back to ourselves, and finding self-worth.

One big reason I feel cults flourish is that Christians have “fallen down on the job,” so to speak.  They used to be energetic, go door to door and witness about the love of Christ.  We have become such” spiritual fat cats,” we don’t do this anymore.  Cults, however, have not “fallen down on the job.”  They do still go door to door, hang out at airports, etc., and when they find someone who is hurting, and will listen to anything to feel accepted, loved, and fulfilled, they latch onto these gullible people.   Once they get into the cult, the mind programming begins.

So, in sum, if you find yourself drawn to a cult, remember to make application of the scripture in Hosea 4:6.  It states:

⁶ my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
       “Because you have rejected knowledge,

You reject knowledge by refusing to study the Bible and remembering that Jesus is just one prayer away.  The Bible is your handbook (instructions) for life.  Don’t let anyone tell you any different.  You have a God-conscience and it is your responsibility to use it and make it grow.  Many reject the Jesus of the Bible, because they don’t want the accountability that goes with it.  They want their “cake and eat it too.”  Remember, Christianity is all about the selfless life, not the selfish life.  Jesus set the example for us to follow.  Let us do so today.

COMES THE DAWN

Author unknown

 

After a while you learn the subtle difference

between holding a hand and chaining a soul.

And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning,

And company doesn’t mean security.

And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts,

and presents aren’t promises.

And you begin to accept defeats with your head up and your eyes open,

with the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child.

And you learn to build all your roads on today,

because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans,

for futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.

After awhile you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much.

So you plant your own garden, and decorate your own soul.

Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

And you learn that you really can endure,

That you are really strong,

And you really do have worth.

And you learn and learn,

With every goodbye you learn.

 

Bipolar disorder in children is becoming more and more common.  What I find alarming is that there has been an expoential growth in all childhood disorders.  This article isn’t so much about learning about Bipolar disorder–I’m sure all parents affected have researched it out on the internet, and it is better to learn from the experts than me.  All I would be doing is copying and pasting things that you can read for yourself.  I just want to deal with this from a Christian psychology perspective and give some insights you probably won’t get from the secular experts.  

The first thing I would do if I had a bipolar child is pray.  I would ask God for insight into why my child has bipolar and what God’s purpose for the child was.  The purpose may be for God to show his miraculous powers by healing my child.  On the other hand, His purpose might be to have this child help others, like He did with Joni Erickson who was paralized from a swimming accident.  She encourages and helps others with disabilities.  She knows her situation is not permanent because her faith and trust is in Jesus and there is a new world coming.   At any rate we MUST submit to the will of God as Jesus did in the garden of Gethsemane.  James also addresses this issue in James 4:15: Instead ye ought to say, “If the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that.

So, in sum, first and foremost, find out God’s will in the matter and submit to it.

Second, there are always natural remedies that God placed on the Earth.  I firmly believe there is a “pathway to healing” in nature.  It is important, however, to find the right doctor you can trust.  You need to find a naturalist doctor MD.  These doctors believe in incorporating nature (natural remedies) with science.  The very best out there, in my opinion is Dr. Reginald Cherry (www.dr.cherry.org).  He has some natural remedies for bipolar disorders.  Although I doubt if it will be a total cure, but I am sure it will definitely help.   I would encourage you to peruse his website.

What is a title like this doing on a positive blog such as this?  It is amazing when you do a google search how many people think God is mean.

Because there are so many online, I think I will start a series on answering some of these questions to hurting people. 

Here is one listed below that I found.  It deals with why people think it is mean of God to send people to hell. 

Why is god so self centered? i mean, you don’t beleive in him and you go straight to hell??? whats up with that?

Well, here is my answer to this question:

Hell is the most postive message in the Bible.  God sent His only son so you wouldn’t have to go there.  It was never prepared for you–just the devil and his angels.

Look at it this way:  You have committed first degree murder.  You are standing before a judge who is about to condemn you to death.  You are hopelessly lost.  There is no chance for redemption.  Suddenly, the judge says “wait.”  I’ll go in your place.

This is what Jesus did.  Adam and Eve sold your soul to the devil because they wanted to be like God.  You have to be perfect to get into heaven, otherwise, we would corrupt heaven.  How can anyone be saved then?  There had to be a perfect sacrifice–someone without sin to take your place so you wouldn’t have to go to hell.  But, wait, there is more.  God didn’t just want to save you, he wanted to make you his adopted sons and daughters to rule and reign with him.

This world is temporary and a new world is coming, but it will get worse before it gets better.  Jesus is just one prayer away.  Take your bible off the shelf, wipe the dust off it and start reading it.

It is easy to cave into your feelings when life has treated you so abusively.  Don’t suppress your feelings.  This is dangerous.  Be open and honest with God and tell Him how you feel.  Then start reading the Bible to find some answers.  Start with the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).  Then turn to John 3.  Especially take note of John 3:16:

“For God so loved [insert your name] that He gave His only begotten Son, that if [insert your name] believeth in Him I shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

TriVita’s Weekly Wellness Report
by Brazos Minshew, TriVita’s Chief Science Officer

Ways to Improve Your Memory

OK, I will admit it if you will: I have forgotten the names of people while I was talking to them! I have lost my car keys, misplaced my glasses and turned the wrong way on my drive home.

How about you? Does it seem like your memory is playing tricks on you as you age? Well, there are reasons for that and very few of these reasons are related to diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.

How to make a memory

Your memory is an amazing miracle. Every second your brain processes billions of bits of information from your five senses. You may consciously perceive only a very small percentage of this information because one function of your brain is to filter out unimportant information. The things you remember will usually be advantageous to you. For instance, remembering your wedding anniversary date or remembering where the speed trap is on your drive home.

Memory is classed into two basic groups:

1.Short-term: Short term memories are quickly forgotten when they are no longer important.
2.Long-term: Long-term memories may be divided into recent and distant.
Practicing or rehearsing can improve your memory by moving more information into long-term. For instance, when I am distracted by stress I will not be able to remember where I left my car keys. That information was deleted from my short-term memory. However, if I consciously say, “I am hanging my car keys on the hook,” I am far more likely to remember where they are.

How to keep a memory

Reduce stress
Stress kills your memory. The stress system is designed to ensure survival. It helps us fight off a snarling dog or flee from a snarling bear. As important as that is, humans do more every day than merely survive. If you want to have a good, healthy memory, do all you can to reduce the need for fight or flight stress responses.

Learn something new

As mentioned, practicing or rehearsing something enhances memory. So does learning something new. You see, memory is facilitated through the billions of neurons and synapses in your brain by patterns: retracing old patterns as well as creating new patterns. The more new things we master and the more connections we create, the better our overall memory will be.

If you want to remember your anniversary, start learning a foreign language. If you want to remember important names, learn a musical instrument. The more you learn – and the more you connect the old with the new – the better your overall memory will be.

How to nourish a memory

Certain nutrients help the memory to remain sharp. These nutrients fall into two basic categories: those that create brain structure and those that nourish brain function.

Your brain is made mostly of fat. And the majority of that fat is an Omega-3 called DHA. So, to have a healthy brain we need healthy fats like OmegaPrime®. Your nerve cells convert some fats into functional nerve proteins called myelin. Formation of myelin requires dietary protein and Vitamin B-12. So, for healthy brain structure and function we need Omega-3 fats, healthy dietary protein and Vitamin B-12.

When the memory is activated, it creates heat in the brain. To fuel the memory, quench the heat and repair the daily wear-and-tear on your brain, you need antioxidants. Certain antioxidants target brain function specifically. An excellent antioxidant formula that is also anti-inflammatory is Nopalea™. The Betalain bioflavonoids in Nopalea also help improve circulation by fortifying healthy arteries.

What do you remember?

To recap: Occasional memory lapses usually indicate you are distracted by stress. Rehearsing things you want to remember and practicing new things you have learned can help you avoid stress-induced memory lapses. Because new behaviors create new pathways in your brain, learning something new such as a new language or musical instrument can improve your overall memory.

Stress kills your memory. Nutrients such as Omega-3, Vitamin B-12 and anti-inflammatory antioxidants such as those found in Nopalea can help rebuild and restore your ability to remember. With all of these tools at your disposal, you have access to the power of a healthy memory.

From Gail:

I also personally recommend Dr. Cherry’s website, www.drcherry.com .  He is a MD that believes there is a pathway to healing just for you.  Please peruse his website.  I personally have found his Memory Support natural products very effective.

I’M STILL STANDING

When relationships break down, emotions run high.  You feel like the world has come to an end, but guess what?  The sun will still rise and set the next day, God is still on the throne, and Jesus is still King.

What have you learned from the experience?  Perhaps now you know the genuine from the disingenuine.   Perhaps now, you will recognize who really cares about you and who doesn’t.

Remember, when boys ask for sex, just say no.  It is a good test to see if they really care about you, or just care what they can get out of you.  If they won’t respect your feelings, they are just using you. ‘Save yourself for your true lover–your future husband.  It will be worth it.

I had an experience like this once when I was younger.  My boyfriend wanted to go all the way, and it was tempting for the momentary pleasure, but I said no.  He respected it, but later I found out things I didn’t know.  I was so grateful and relieved I hadn’t given up my virginity.  I would have felt so used and abused.

Remember, it isn’t worth it for just a momentary pleasure.  The consequences are forever, especially if you pick up a disease.