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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, April 4, 2014
People of integrity...do we get seen to have integrity?People of integrity...do
we get seen to have integrity?
 “Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.”
~ Oprah Winfrey
I was at a corporation standing in the office of the director involved with the human resource
task of hiring people for the company and having a discussion.
“I wish people would just tell it like it is, have a true understanding
of themselves, of their strengths and weaknesses, and do what they say they will do. That would make my job so much
easier.” was a comment.
Another was “now days people seem to think they need to make out they are better than they are...”
Another was “Why
people tell us they can do something by a certain time I don’t know. When they get tested, as they surely would, they
fail. Then they try to blame it on anything other than the real reason!”
Does any of this sound familiar?
Many people now days seem to lack integrity. What is
integrity?
In a simple definition it could be said to be speaking the truth and doing what you
say you will do.
I would add that it is not exaggerating things or adding explanations or promises that we cannot be sure of.
It’s being reliable in support of others and the work of God in this world.
James, the
brother of Jesus, puts it very simply. “My brothers and sisters, don’t take an oath
when you make a promise. Don’t call on heaven or earth or anything else to back up what you say. Let your ‘Yes’
be yes. And let your ‘No’ be no. If you don’t, you will be judged.”
Let’s speak truth and do
as we say we will do.
There is more we can do as well. If we are part of a group that needs our support, let’s turn up even when it
sometimes is not easy to do. If others are relying on us being there we need to be there.
Lack of integrity is very visible when a team agrees they have a task to do together
and one does not turn up. The strain on the others shows the lack of integrity by the one. (This is our problem
as modern youth isn’t it?
We really don’t want to be responsible as a group but only as an individual. This is not the Christian way either.
Early
Christians had responsibility when they became a part of a group. In fact there is one story where someone promised something and only gave part and died as a result. We
are responsible as a group).
We often look at lack of integrity as a problem,
but how many times do we look at integrity as an advantage.
People of integrity
are hired more often, get promoted more, have easier and less anxiety filled lives. Never have to remember what lie they told,
because they simply don’t lie. Other like and trust them.
That’s what Christian’s should experience.
Stand by truth in the power of Holy Spirit
and do as you say you will and God will help you through to success.
Have a blessed day!
Fri, April 4, 2014 | link
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Fault finding…hobby, habit or to be ignored?Fault finding…hobby,
habit or to be ignored?
“It is easy to find fault,
If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
Try to look inside you,
try to improve yourself first
before trying to improve others !
and finally remember,
Love is the Key !!”
~ Sham Hinduja
Here is a CHALLENGE…can we go for one day without finding fault in anything!
It’s
a really good practice for us to do now and again as it shows us just how easily we drop into this fault finding habit without even knowing it.
Our tongues lead us into this
trap easily. Our annoyance or selfishness can fuel our desire. Our feeling of superiority can make us judgemental.
Hard as it is
for us, going for a day actively trying to find no fault in anything helps us. We may start to see those areas where we easily drop into bad habits
and use our slight influence to change things for the worse.
There is a difference between finding fault and encouraging another.
Encouraging
another means coming alongside, becoming a peer in circumstances (even if we are more able), and together with them moving
them forward to a better place.
Fault finding is a tearing down, a pointing out of inadequacies, a scourge to
can rip people and hurt them if they are not wise. Not all of us are wise are we?
Patience helps us in not finding fault. Being willing to give people time to accommodate
change is critical. We need to have patience.
James, Jesus brother says “Brothers and sisters,
don’t find fault with one another. If you do, you will be judged. And the Judge is standing at the door!”
Our
bad habits are difficult to break, but
if we let the Spirit of God work in our lives, these habits will be stopped and our patience with others will grow.
In today’s life
we seem to want instant gratification, yet the truth is that some things take a while. Jesus gives us time to deal with this. A lifetime! It’s
just enough and not to much. What we do depends on how much we release ourselves to allow Holy Spirit to change us. How much
we change is depending on seeing the need for change and accepting Holy Spirits guidance.
Today let’s realize that one area we need to consider
is fault finding.
Let’s apply patience, compassion, respect for others and the power of God to encourage rather find fault.
Have a wonderful day!
Thu, April 3, 2014 | link
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Does the excesses of the rich kill others? Does
the excesses of the rich kill others?
“If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we
have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor
and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it.” ~ Stephen Colbert
I was reading James 5 where it says
“You have lived an easy life on earth. You have given yourselves everything you wanted. You have made yourselves fat
like cattle that will soon be butchered. You have judged and murdered people who aren’t guilty. And they weren’t
even opposing you.”
It got me reflecting on whether those statements would be true today. Considering who James was, the brother of Jesus,
and that he was Jewish in a Roman world, it was easier to see the meaning in those days. However, the letter doesn’t
seem to be aimed only at Romans so it suggests that he was addressing a cosmopolitan crowd of wealthy in the statement.
It’s
hard for a poor person to become fat. So he was talking of those who had sufficient excess income that they could become fat.
Here is a test we should all take. We need to ask ourselves…
“Can
I, if I want to, eat sufficient to make myself fat?”
If so, we are wealthy. By this biblical definition, most of North America
is wealthy, most of Europe, selected parts of Asia and the other continents. In fact a huge part of the world is wealthy,
and getting more wealthy each day.
That’s the sad part about our world. There is enough wealth and food to ensure nobody on this earth needs to be poor. Yet millions die in poverty.
Why?
Simply because many of the wealthy do not pay fair wages,
employ fairly or charge just prices for services and goods.
James puts it this way…
“You rich people, listen to me.
Cry and sob, because you will soon be suffering.
2 Your riches have rotted. Moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your
gold and silver have lost their brightness. Their dullness will give witness against you. Your wanting more and more will
eat your body like fire. You have stored up riches in these last days.
4 You have even failed to pay the workers who mowed
your fields. Their pay is crying out against you. The cries of those who gathered the harvest have reached the ears of the
Lord who rules over all.”
Wealth
can easily become like a disease of the mind, driving a person insane while they still have their wits about them. Craving security they don’t
realize the more you have the more insecure you can find yourself. A person who has little has little to lose and so enjoys
other aspects of their life instead of looking for ways of protecting and storing what they have. Those with a look are like
squirrels storing nuts for winter. They hide their money away and yet when they come to get it, its not quite where they thought
they had left it. It has moved and changed.
Fearful, the wealthy spend more money to protect what they have. Soon the management and protection of wealth and the posturing
to show others they are important (in an attempt not to be exposed and perhaps loose face and money) absorb inordinate amounts
of time and introduce anxieties.
It’s far simpler to let God have control of our life and finances, to look to helping those around us and that means trying to
do something for the poor instead of judging them.
We need to have compassion for those in need. That’s God’s way! He has compassion for the needy
even when we, the needy in spirit abuse him (and by sinning we do that daily).
Let’s understand who we are, what God has
enabled us to have, and to have compassion and love for those less well off than ourselves. Mostly let’s respect those with less ability, wealth,
strength or physical ability.
Our God loves us so much, let’s be in his image and love others the same way.
God bless us all!
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
The Lord will soon come back.The Lord will
soon come back.
 “Hooray! Hooray! The end of the world has been postponed! ” ~ Hergé, The Shooting Star
Noah the movie is out.
In it there is a postponed end
of the world as Noah’s family re-inhabits the earth.
This was a basically non-biblical movie from my perspective.
The tracking to the bible truths was almost non-existant and I really don’t get why the Christian
community thinks this is great.
Here are some of the incorrect things. We have evil guys hiding away on the ark in the movie, God doesn’t close the ark. They have a “lifeboat”
raft (that gets burned in the movie). Magical seeds from the Garden of Eden and a grade of angels called watchers.
None of this is biblical folk!
Remember the bible says
in it’s final words…I am warning everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of
this book. If you add anything to them, God will add to you the plagues told about in this book. If you take any words away
from this book of prophecy, God will take away from you your share in the tree of life. He will also take away your place
in the Holy City. This book tells about these things.
The guys making that movie will be in trouble I think!
Anyhow enough about that. End of time is coming
and Jesus is coming back. That we know.
James 5 says” You too must be patient. You must stand firm. The Lord will soon come back.”
We have been patient
for 200oyears and need to be patient for a few more. The important part of that patience is that it must be resting in truth
as we wait. Truth folk! Not fabricated facts. Read Genesis 5 onwards about the Noah account.
Let’s trust the bible and not the movie makers!
Tue, April 1, 2014 | link
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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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Click
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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