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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, October 18, 2013
Sometimes we think we need God more than others, but we are wrong! “We can't
solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” ~ Albert Einstein
Over the last
two days my heart and prayers have been with a friend who has been immersed in a problem that has impacted the life of his
family significantly.
Sitting at work two mornings
ago, the phone rings and he hears an unknown voice, full of urgency asking for him. He responds to be told “your
son has been in an accident” and that the boy is being taken to hospital.
I was informed of this by email as he left
work to struggle through city morning commuter traffic to get to the boys side.
This is where God comes in!
Since I have very little information and don’t know the circumstances I simply
take the information that I have and start praying.
Firstly
I am not sure if the accident was a car accident or not, and the level of the injuries are not known. My prayers are simple,
a. That the boy would not be excessively hurt, and
b. That the accident situation would not have
been one having an expensive complicated legal mess,
c. That my friend and his family would receive hope and have their
concerns reduced,
d. That the family would come around the boy and help him the best they can,
e.
That God would
intervene in his treatment and injuries and minimise the damages.
These are simple prayers, trying to cover the situation with spiritual power to enable
the best to occur.
I
wait, anxious for more news but not wanting to interfere with what I know will be a stressful family situation.
Most of the day passes and then I send out
a tentative inquiring email to see if there is more known.
The answer…
“Well, after many hours at the hospital, we are finally home!
My son is okay, all things considered. He has a broken wrist and some bad scrapes and cuts on his
face. There is no concussion, but he has some memory loss around the time of the accident.”
I praise God! As I tell others that know him, relief floods through them. I see it visibly on their faces.
My dear wife who has been
praying with me is happy yet still concerned. She works in Auto Insurance medical rehabilitation and the message doesn’t quite ring true.
She explains to me the boy
had a concussion but the hospital chose not to classify it as such.
We find out he has had a CT scan, but my wife explains that this proceedure
rarely shows up injuries to the brain and we need to continue to pray.
That’s the reason for this blog, I want to get more people praying
for this family and this boy.
That he
will not have any lasting brain injury!
It turns out that finding out want happened is difficult. Somewhere between home and school, riding his bike the boy jumped the
bike up onto a curb. Something went wrong! He flew over the handlebars and smashed his face down onto the pavement or sidewalk,
breaking his wrist in the fall, but hitting the front of his head full force into the solid concrete. He was not wearing a
hemet (Note to the world: Use helmets when riding bicycles)
There is an area of concern still. There could be undetected
damage! Our prayers
are to remove that potential. Please join me in these prayers!
Yet, there is something more important that comes to me in this circumstance
as well. The urgency
and direction and intent of my prayers became focussed by this incident.
My heart and mind became less self-focussed and more other
focussed.
That love for my neighbour
overwhelmed me.
I
asked myself why this day’s focus should be so much more poignant.
Why is not every day this way?
We need to feel with our hearts for God.
We need to want to intervene in life in ways that make a difference.
What is going wrong in our world that we can identify and ask for God’s intervention? God is a relationship God! He
wants to help us with our problems. Do we want to do the little he asks and bring him into them as part of our relationships?
Let’s realise that
God uses problems to help us examine our lives. See James 1:2-3, My brothers
and sisters, you will face all kinds of trouble. When you do, think of it as pure joy. Your faith will be put to the test.
You know that when that happens it will produce in you the strength to continue.
God uses problems to lead us in directions we need to go. It’s not nice to get beat up by life,
but proverbs 20:30 explains “Blows and wounds wash evil away. And
beatings make you pure deep down inside.” We clean out our lives when we respond the correct way to problems.
We become more disciplined
and focus on what God says more “It was good for me to suffer. That’s what helped me to understand your
orders. The law you gave is worth more to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.” Psalm
119:71-72. We learn to toss out the unimportant and find what is of real value. We purify our lives.
The evil in life may intend us harm but it
is not successful Genesis
50:20 “You planned to harm me. But God planned it for good. He planned to do what is now
being done. He wanted to save many lives.”
God wants us to experience his power through us.
The boy is at home now! It will take five to eight weeks before the situation is
really known. This is time to focus on God and prayer to ensure the young boy will become a young man who goes through life
with God’s protection and fully capable of the tasks God wants him to do.
I also pray for you today, that God will enable you to face your life
problems, that you would see them as opportunities to allow God to
work and to purify you.
May you be greatly blessed today!
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Running and other early morning benefits  “Running has never failed to give me great end results, and that's why I keep coming back for more!” ~ Sasha Azevedo
10 reasons to start running starts with this advice...
“One of the biggest benefits of running is that it's good for your health. Running
is an excellent way to strengthen the heart and ensure the efficient flow of blood and oxygen throughout the body, which helps
decrease your risk of a heart attack”
The medical community also agrees that running starts our metabolic burning
of calories and once it’s started during the running, it stays high during the day and so even after the run,
more calories are burned than normal. The benefit continues during the day after the activity ends.
Christians have another
activity that they do that has parallels with running. This activity is reading the bible. We read it each morning and during
our reading it increases our spiritual awareness and connection with God. It also has a lasting effect and continues with
increased spiritual awareness all day and better connection with God.
With running we loose that weight
that weighs us down and we gain energy. With spiritual activity of reading and praying, we loose the weight of sin that weighs
us down and more freely through life.
Runners often run for a cause like money for cancer or hunger or child welfare. Christian’s
devote their lives to the cause of connecting others with the most magnificent person in the universe(and outside the universe
:) ).
Runners meet others through running. Christians meet with God and he directs them to others
needing help and who can provide help. We are part of a great big family with relations in every country and of every national
group. Isn’t that wonderful?
Runners run to experience something new and different. Christians
living by the power of Holy Spirit experience new and different in an incredible way. Powerful, supernatural, incredibly comforting
and peaceful. Joy indescribable in the most strange circumstances. New and different is the very nature of God.
Runners often
train for a specific goal. That 21km race or that 30mile race. Christians have their eyes on the goal of everlasting
life in heaven with experiences that outweigh the pleasures we can ever experience on this earth, but with great dignity and
truth at the same time. We have the ultimate goal. Perfect life!
Running improves energy levels. The more
you run the more energetic you become. Bible reading, prayer and time with Christian and in doing God’s work gives Christian
energy. The more we experience God working through us the more we desire to experience God working through us continually.
Running
can help with stress relief. God’s forgiveness, guidance and protection far outweighs any simple stress relief
that running provides. With God the creator of the universe is our protector, friend and lover. We need never fear.
What
all this is actually saying is that if we want to improve our day we just need to pick up that bible and connect with God
each morning,
It works! I know!
PS: The full advice for runners is from the article hyperlinked
above if you want to start running as well
Thu, October 17, 2013 | link
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Meditation in times of trouble May these words
of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 NIV
We
all get into tough troubling times.
This weekend a good friend stood up and broke her foot. All
she did was stand up, her leg had gone to sleep, she stumbled and fell forward breaking a bone in her foot.
The whole pace of life changes with
one step.
Work
can suddenly surge and seem to consume our lives, family relationships can flare and burn others as the issues become white
hot, illness can suck away our strength and leave us with no energy to move in even normal ways.
These and other aspects can hit us blindsided and slow us down.
What do we do?
The bible suggests despite
all this the apostles who were like us continued and those they led did as well in fact those men said...
“...give attention to
reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by
prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give
yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine.
Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” 1 Timothy 4:13-16
Firstly there
is an instruction to read the bible. We cannot apply God wisdom in our life if we don’t know it. God
is love and compassion, but he is also just and the avenger of wrongs. How do these go together? The bible holds the answers.
We need to know what it says.
Next we need to give ourselves to “exhortation”. This funny
word is not used much today so we don’t really get an understanding of it do we. It means urging someone
to do something. Rather like I have been urging people to read the bible.
Have you noticed when we spend time urging others, we somehow
find we have gained energy ourselves|? It’s as if ,by urging another, we speak into our own lives and get ourselves
going. E
xhortation is powerful. Exhortation to do the things God wants done is even more powerful!
Then there is
doctrine. Another word with no meaning in the modern content (maybe a negative feeling goes
with it though). What does it really mean?
Doctrine is the set of beliefs held and taught. It is our beliefs we hold to, and then
teach about God.
It
is important!
When we hold to truth, it releases us from bondage and sets us free. We get to
say..
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that
sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in
the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That
person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and
whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers. Psalm 1I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes,
I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will consider all your works
and
meditate on all your mighty deeds.” Psalm 77
Remembering what God has done reminds us of what he can do.
Then by prayer and
pleading for His help, we can be victorious over the life circumstances that seemed to be drowning us a few minutes or hours
earlier.
God
is very good, but he needs our participation to make our lives good. We are all evil and do wrong things and it is
only by God’s grace any of us can rise above the evil, even momentarily.
Meditation on God’s word
will lift us up and float us above the hurt level giving us comfort and peace. Glory be to our amazing God and may he bless
you with His glory today.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Should Christians dance? “Without
music, life would be a mistake.... I would only believe in a God who knew how to dance.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
God commands
us to dance!
Psalm
149:3 (NIV)
3 Let them praise his name with
dancing
and make music to him with timbrel and harp.
Also
Psalm 150
1 Praise the Lord.[a]
Praise
God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for
his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him
with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise
him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
5 praise
him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath
praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
It seems that natural response our body has
to music is not only approved by God, but it is commended by God!
We respond physically to rhythm and music and as human dancing is a form of ex[pressing joy and appreciation
of life.
We can use it to express joy and appreciation of God.
It is a form of adoration and a way we can lift our spirits.
Psalm 30 says
11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 that my heart may sing
your praises and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise you forever.
God can turn our lives around if we let him
and when he does one of the ways we are expected to respond is in the joyful abandonment of dancing.
We don’t dance all the time. There are
times of sadness where our bodies cannot dance. Ecclesiastes 3 in our bible explains this
There is a time for everything,
and
a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
...
4 a
time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,..
Most of us know how Samuel describes that ancient King, David, loved by God danceing publically and vigorously in the streets in front of his subjects.
Now all these references
so far are from the older part of the bible, the Old Testament.
Is there any dancing references that Jesus himself referred to?
Arguably the greatest parable he told is the
parable of the lost or prodigal son. In this ,the story of the wayward son who abuses his father and then returns having discovered
his failing, the son is welcomed by the loving father in one of the deepest revelations of God the Father's love for
us.
How does
the father in this Parable of the lost son respond? With great love and joy, a great party...
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring
the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf
and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again;
he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came
near the house, he heard music and dancing.
The older brother returns sees what’s going on and comments on the dancing.
Dancing at the Fathers command, and in this parable there is no doubt the Father represents God the Father.
“The older brother became
angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.
Yet many people feel dancing is uncomfortable and
wrong. They
claim it is a sensually seductive activity that pulls people down.
I am sure dance can and is abused, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good or
approved by God in it’s correct forms?
Food
is good, but is also wrong when abused. Do we simply avoid food? No! That would be foolish! Why do we apply this harsh
restriction to dancing?
Ignoring the joy of dancing is almost as silly and we should not go against the natural joy God gave us.
Some people say, “but dancing was good in the past...today it’s
evil”
Let’s
remember past also had negative dancing. John the Baptist lost his head because Herod was seduced with dancing.
People abused dancing in the past,
but that didn’t stop the early church from taking part in the joy of dancing.
Today when you hear that favourite tune and your hips start
to sway, your foot starts to tap and you feel the joy rising within you, you can let it do so. God would want that joy in
your life.
We
are creatures that are built to enjoy music more than any other living creature. We create it, and use it and God expects us to do so.
How about we turn on the
music and enjoy the day.
May our God bless you richly!
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If you want to see a short blog describing a perspective on what I believe click here
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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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on XML Click here =>  to be told of new blogs
| 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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| Good advice for students living on limited $'s. Click on the image! |
May you be blessed today!
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