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Getting somewhere requires effort, it takes
faith to push on, it's easy to screw up,
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Friday, June 24, 2011
Let’s party, but not for the wrong reasons!
Nothing makes you more tolerant of a neighbor's noisy party than being there.”
Franklin P. Jones
Most people are not aware that the Christian God likes parties! In Old Testament
times there were weeks at a time put aside for eating, drinking, dancing and meeting friends at the temple.
Why?
Simply because God likes a good party and really likes it when happy people are thankful for what he
does for them!
That’s the reason for a God party (I
think they called them festivals at the time or feast days).
Somehow as the church trudged through
the years, they lost this fun and happiness aspect and instead put rules in its place. Why? God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow! He still enjoys a good party with him at the center.
This
weekend I go to my baby grandson’s dedication. A party! Yay! At least
we still do it! What we need to do is have a wonderful time and party well! That’s what God appreciates! We will all
promise to bring young Samuel (I love the name) up in God’s instruction and way of life until he can do it for himself.
That’s the God centered bit!
So what about those guys and girls from Israel’s past? Surely they
didn’t make a mistake of missing who God was? A mistake of doing
the wrong thing?
Didn’t God save the nation miraculously by taking them through the red sea, feeding them with
Manna, a food from out the sky and finding water for them in a desert.
They couldn’t
fail to see the power of God, right?
This is what Paul says!
Brothers and sisters, here is
what I want you to know about our people who lived long ago. They were all led by the cloud. They all walked through the Red
Sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same supernatural food. They all drank
the same supernatural water. They drank from the supernatural rock that went with them. That rock was Christ. But God was not pleased with most of them. Their
bodies were scattered all over the desert.
Now those things happened as examples
for us. They are supposed to keep us from longing for evil things, as the people of Israel did.
Yeah, most of them screwed up! Don’t you think Paul was
rather graphic? “Their bodies were scattered all over the desert” is not a pretty picture even if it is accurate.
It also points back to why that happened!
God had
organized a real big party, the biggest!
He gave them a whole new country to go into and told them it was going
to be theirs. It was described as land “flowing with milk and honey”
which said cattle, flowers, green stuff, plenty sugary treats, etc.
Instead of trusting God’s
word and following the leading of God’s Holy Spirit (which Paul points
out in this same passage was Jesus’ spirit), they balked at the idea
because the land was inhabited but “giants” (they called them Nephilim) and fear set in.
That’s
why they failed to party right! They allowed fear and the wrong focus to
take over their life’s direction! When evil takes over, we loose out big time!
We need
to know that parties are in God’s plan for us. We must not fear partying
the right way, God’s way!
Let’s grab what God offers with both hands even when it looks a
little difficult (even when it looks downright impossible). Let’s
rejoice, sing songs, eat, drink and give thanks to God because Jesus is a party person. Even in the New Testament, he was
accused of having a good time among those who were selfish, nasty and ignorant. The Pharisees didn’t and look what happened
there! Who did more for our world?
Okay, the weekend is coming up so I plan to enjoy it fully. Not sinning or getting drunk or being stupid,
but good wholesome fun!
I plan to enjoy the weekend in praise and joyful abandon to the God of the universe!
What’s your plan for this weekend?
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Why knowing everything is a stretch!
“How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows
not, though he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people.”
Albert Einstein
Do you know that with the internet, computers and modern innovations the amount
of scientific knowledge in the world is doubling every five years? The amount of clinical knowledge doubles every 18 months!
Perhaps the number of years is debatable, nevertheless the average thirty year old has to know three or more times that of his or her parent to be in the same place!
To say life is like
a treadmill is to understate this fact!
With this in front of us, choosing life goals is difficult and it is easy
to become disillusioned isn’t it? In one of my fields of study, computers,
they say if you stay out the business longer than 18months you have to start again! Wow!
So what
advice does the bible have for us?
Strangely, some of the older advice is the best! Paul says this. . .
When I was a child, I talked like a child. I thought like a child. I had the understanding of a child.
When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
Now we see
only a dim likeness of things. It is as if we were seeing them in a mirror. But someday we will see clearly. We will see face
to face. What I know now is not complete. But someday I will know completely, just as God knows me completely.
The three most important things to have are faith, hope and love. But the greatest of them
is love.
He explains we all have to grow-up!
The reality is that no matter how mature we
think we are, we cannot compare with God and God’s knowledge! What we are starting to learn, is what God built
into the fabric of his creation and is not even a start in the everlasting knowledge we will get to know when we go into heaven!
He speaks of us seeing in a dim likeness! What was he talking of?
εσοπτρον or mirror is spoken of many times around the period Paul was writing.
Often the reflector was a piece of polished bronze such as that mentioned in
Exodus 38:8 The workers made the
large bronze bowl and its bronze stand. They made them out of the bronze mirrors that belonged to the women who served at
the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
or in another place it says
Job 37:18 Can you help God spread out the skies? They are as hard as a mirror that's made out of bronze.
These mirrors made out of bronze didn’t reflect truly, they changed the reflections colour and distorted it a little, and even hid detail (particularly
as it got a bit tarnished).
So what Paul is saying is our lives here, in the best of possible circumstances,
are inferior to when we are with God.
Now, this is where it gets interesting!
Of all the attributes
Paul could pick for us to focus on while living, he picks three that have application here and later in heaven.
Faith, hope and love!
In our multitude of tasks today, the few things
that will give us direction, point us to the true value in life and help us sort through the overload of information to find
those valuable scraps, is not wisdom, or intelligence, or power, or strength. It is faith, hope and love.
Faith
aligns us with the power of the God of the universe, hope directs
us to true goals, and love enfolds us, empowers us and protects us!
Love makes us less self aware and more other aware! Love takes us from the here and now, and puts us simultaneously in the
throne room of God as our prayers join with others today in-front of God.
We activate powers in the universe by those prayers today.
Isn’t that a great thought to go out into the world today?
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
Pablo Picasso
Babies are appreciated to large extent because
of their potential.
That crying, diaper filling scrap of a human is an unwritten book!
Looking into a child’s face it’s possible to believe it can do anything!
Our world is out there full of opportunities and
we appreciate the child in it’s simplicity and growth can take it on in ways we have perhaps failed to use. Then as
day by day the little child grows up into an adult, choices constrain and direct their life. This is the journey of personality
growth and realization of the complexity in life.
We all know we travel from innocence to a place where our lives become full
and difficult to deal with!
Yet, even we can do anything! Christian have the freedom of doing anything in the world since we are forgiven of our sins. Yes, that includes
the ones we are still to fall into doing!
This is why Paul says "Everything is permitted."
However, because it's permitted, doesn’t mean it will do us good. Being selfish, nasty, ignorant and disobeying
God will not make our lives realize their potential. In other words, “not everything is good for
us.”
That’s why Paul advises "Everything is permitted."
But not everything builds us up. We should not look out for our own interests. Instead, we should look out for the
interests of others.
One of the most amazing facts of our lives is that by trying
to be selfish with them we loose out!
It
is most amazing since when we look around us, so much of this world tells us we need to be selfish, we need to put ourselves
up and above everyone else, we need to be the greatest and best.
The God of this universe chose to be greatest
and best (God was already the greatest and best before anything existed) by coming to this earth to serve men!!!
Why?
It is a Godly attribute to serve and be selfless in expending
oneself! It lifts us above ourselves into heavenly places as God’s
Holy Spirit enfolds our lives, as his love and appreciation pour blessing into our lives, as the vitality of Holy Spirit activates
our existence!
This is life and full living!
This is what it is all about! What we do is not as important as this service! We can reach our potential fully but to do so
we need to try to please everyone in every way.
We should not be looking out for what is good for ourselves. We need to be looking
out for the interests of others. We do it so that they might be saved.
That’s my objective
today, what’s yours?
NotE: All quotes from NIRV bible 1 cor 10:23 onward
Wed, June 22, 2011 | link
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
It’s reported there is sexual selfishness, sexual nastiness and sexual ignorance among us!
“In lieu of creativity, there is an undue emphasis on sexuality”
Jay Christian Emerte
He goes on to refer to “former California governor
and Hollywood celebrity, Arnold Schwarzenegger, had cheated on their dynastic family member Maria Shriver and had proven himself
a low-life by impregnating a member of his own household staff a decade ago” then “a
man who was a two-time presidential contender, John Edwards, was indicted by a grand jury for covering up spending US$925,000
to hide the fact he had a mistress and a love child.”
We could go on but the point is made! Sexual
foolishness traps us easily whether we are a teenager or a congressman!
Also notice that while many people try to say God’s word is out
of date and doesn’t take a modern approach, the newspapers and public seem to agree with God’s word.
They do not approve of these non-christian sexual practices do they?
Why?
Because
we all know in our hearts we want God’s word to be true! We know where true sexual freedom is don’t we?
It’s in a monogamous relationship where a male and female devote themselves to pleasing each other and in so doing develop a sexual practice that leads to loving intimate relationships with the other spouse, blessed
by God and magnified by the power of Holy Spirit.
That’s the real deal!
Anything else is likely to hurt, cheapen and is not adequate
no matter how much we try to pretend it is.
Have you every had Spiritual sex? If not, I totally advise trying it!
The
recipe?
Well, first our life
needs to be in God’s hands, next we need to be married to another who is filled with God’s
spirit. Then we look for ways to build our spouse up all day long and hold them up in prayer
telling God just how amazing they are, asking God to bless them and thanking God for every
little action or moment with them that is appreciated. Then when we enter into the sexual moments, we
ask God to inflame desire in us for them that envelopes both of us and we
ask that at that moment of climax he fuses our souls together in his love.
Hmmmm! If that isn’t good, then you are a very strange cookie J!
Yes! God’s plan for sex is supreme!
But we screw up so easily don’t we?
It’s not new either! Paul said of the Corinthians (1 Co 5:1-3 NIRV)
It is actually reported that there is sexual sin among you. I'm told that a man is living with his father's
wife and is having sex with her. Even people who do not know God don't commit that sin. And you are proud! Shouldn't you be
filled with sadness instead? Shouldn't you have put the man who did that out of your church?
Even though I am not right
there with you, I am with you in spirit. And I have already judged the one who did that, just as if I were there.
So they had big problems in those
days as well!
The problem with this selfish giving over to base
desires is it steals true enjoyment from us!
We think because a person professes to love
us they do, but really they can be simply wanting to own a selfish experience of our body and touch and fail to link
intimately with us. Then we really feel abused and cheated. Perhaps they do start with intimacy but they are ignorant of Holy
Spirit who binds Christians together and cannot give to Him. That way the love they have for others is likely short lived
or may fade to a dry living that neither want.
Let’s not be selfish or ignorant in love!
Let’s never be nasty deliberately or accidentally.
Instead let's allow the
fire of God to burn in us! It feeds our love for our partner, keeping us safe in a crazy world!
Well I
hope I gave you something to think about!
Go have a great day, and if you have a Christian
spouse, a wonderful sexual evening!
(If you are looking for a spouse, finding a Christian spouse is
the only way to have GREAT sex!)
Bye for now!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Good and bad remembering
“Discipline is remembering what you want.”
David Campbell
It was time to go again! The
sun was setting and the thirst of the day was intense. This place to quench their thirst was a paradox. The waterhole was
the only place in the dusty grassland that satisfied their thirst but it was also dangerous. The lions made it that way. They
knew animals had to come and drink. The lions needed food!
Rashi remembered
how they had taken his friend Kali one morning over a week ago. He shivered and a faint tremble vibrated through his frame.
He was thirsty, very thirsty! That morning at the waterhole, he had hardly drunk, preferring to watch for these evil creatures
and ready to flee.
Aziza was bouncing around excited to be going back. Smiling she
remembered how pleasant the water was, how cool it felt and how sociable it was to be in among the other animals. Excited
to be with friends, she sidled up to the main group and chattered about how magnificent the day was going to be.
The waterhole was a busy affair with warthogs, giraffes, buffalo, and even a few elephant
around it as their herd made its way down to the water.
The lions watched!
Lions don’t like to attack whole groups of animals as they are less successful and at greater risk themselves. Instead
they look for stragglers!
Rashi, reluctant to go back to the waterhole, had hung back, and
when the others left had joined a small group behind the main herd.
Guess which
group the lions focussed on for their dinner?
Memories are something we all have!
It’s what we do with
memories that matters isn’t it?
Psychologists make money simply by modifying how we use memories. Have
you ever thought about that?
We can choose how we deal with
memories! We can allow God to help us switch them into joy rather than fear or hatred.
Ever considered that forgiveness has a very important part in memory modification?
That is
one of the reasons why Jesus advises us to forgive others. We need to allow ourselves to move to a better place and to do
that we need to modify our memories.
An ancient prophet once quoted God as saying this (Isaiah 43:18-21)
Forget
the things that happened in the past.
Do not keep on thinking about them.
I
am about to do something new.
It is beginning to happen even now.
Don't you see it coming?
I am going to make a way for you to go through the desert.
I will make streams of water in the dry and empty land.
Even wild dogs and owls honour me.
That is because I provide
water in the desert
for my people to drink.
I cause streams to flow in the dry and empty land
for my chosen ones.
I do it for the people I made for myself.
I want them to sing praise to me.
God
was advising the Israelites to forget the things he had done for them in the past, (he was talking about good memories) and
pointing them to the future.
The way we allow our pasts to go away and move our minds to the future
is the way we change our failures into success.
We put on the equipment that enables us to
successfully take on our day this way!
God is not repeating the past, but moving us together with those that
love him to the waterhole of life.
He will protect us on the way
but we need to stay with the group.
Forward thinking and using memories correctly help us to move to success.
That’s my plan today!
To reject the negative memories and allow God to use the positive memories!
I know God is about to do something new and it is beginning to happen even now.
I can see it coming! God is going to make a way for us to go through the dry tough
places of life and will make streams of living water flow through us in the dry and empty places of life.
Holy Spirit
will flow from within me, empowered by the right memories to change my life and those around me.
How
will Holy Spirit be helping you today?
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Rift in Evil
By Ken
X Briggs - Published: September, 2010
- Format: Perfect Bound Softcover(B/W)
- Pages: 208
Size:
6x9 - ISBN: 9781450250894
Available from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iUniverse. |
Credit cards are acceptable on sites having Ken's books: 
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| Ken's book covers are displayed below. . . | |  This
suspense thriller centers on Kiara, a beautiful young woman pursued by a murderous group of people, who relentlessly and ruthlessly
hunt her and her sisters. Kiara has no idea why she is being targeted! When Kiara and her family turn to the law for help,
this fails. Her pursuers’ powers reach deeply into the political and law enforcement world. Family support for her dwindles
when they too have to flee her pursuers. Can Kiara escape the clutches of both the law and dishonest big business? With the
media broadcasting that Kiara and friends are dangerous and subversive, can Kiara clear her name and bring her pursuers to
justice?
| | | | | To purchase Kiara's Pursuer ebook
@ $1.99 kindle version click here, To contact the author contact Author@KenXBriggs.com | | | | | | | | The town of Zinaville is dropped into a spiral of evil causing a young man and a beautiful but abused woman
to launch into an investigation that unveils an evil conspiracy. A horrific mining accident results in Joshua
Robyn's father being killed. Joshua struggles both with himself and his townsfolk as he tries to make sense of an incomprehensible
situation. Is it an accident or a murder? Why is there a seeming link to evil? Why is his work environment suddenly threatening?
What is the conspiracy about and what are they trying to do? As action moves dramatically from exotic African grasslands to
the heart of North America's cities, the plot unfolds and the pace quickens. Will there be time? Why is a beautiful abused
young woman in the center of this plot? Evil tendrils tighten on their lives and the interplay between the visible
and invisible world shows opposing forces at work. Will there be a rift in evil? Will they be able to stop the
evil in time? | | - Published: September, 2010
- Format: Perfect
Bound Softcover(B/W)
- Pages: 208
Size: 6x9 - ISBN: 9781450250894
Available
from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iUniverse. Chapters | | | | |
| Frugal Eating Advice |
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May you be blessed today!
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