Has life ever been so overwhelming that you just want to run away or hide? You can be sure of Gods eternal protection and ability to be your refuse. Psalm 61:3-4 Wheather we need the streangth of a rock or the comfort of His arms around us , we can cry out to God He will answer in our time of need.
Om Jesus 'Here' van jou lewe te maak, beteken Hy moet die eerste en laaste woord hê in alles wat jou raak. Dit beteken jy word geroep om met Hom saam te loop, om jou waarde vir Hom te bewys, om te doen wat Hy verwag, wanneer Hy wil en op 'n manier waarop Hy dit gedoen wil hê. Hieruit kry jy drie groot voordele. 1) Wanneer jy nie weet wat om te sê nie, sal Hy jou vertel. 'Die Here my God het my geleer om die regte woorde te gebruik sodat ek die wat moeg is, kan moed inpraat. Elke môre laat Hy my opnuut weer luister... Die Here my God het my geleer om te luister: ek was nie teen Hom opstandig nie, ek was nie ontrou aan Hom nie' (Jesaja 50:4-5 NV). 2) As jy jouself nie kan verdedig nie, sal Hy vir jou veg. '...Die Here is my toevlug, vir wie sou ek vrees? As misdadigers op my afstorm om my dood te maak...dan is dit juis húlle wat struikel en val. Al sou 'n leër teen my stelling inneem, sal ek nie bang word nie. Selfs al sou die aanval op my begin, sal ek nog steeds vertroue hê' (Psalm 27:1-3 NV). 3) As die las te swaar word, sal Hy dit vir jou dra. 'Laat jou sorge aan die Here oor, Hy sal vir jou sorg. Hy sal die regverdige nie in die steek laat nie' (Psalm 55:23 NV). Hierdie voordele is joune as jy Jesus 'Here' van elke deel van jou lewe maak.
Sielskos: 2 Kor 1-4; Luk 5:12-26; Ps 102:18-28; Spr 15:4-7 Several years ago, a preacher from out-of-state accepted a call to a church in Houston,
Texas. Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change. As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, 'You'd better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it.' Then he thought, 'Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a gift from God and keep quiet.' When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, 'Here, you gave me too much change.' The driver, with a smile, replied, 'Aren't you the new preacher in town? I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. I'll see you at church on Sunday. 'When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, 'Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter. 'Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read. This is a really scary example of how much people watch us as Christians and will put us to the test! Always be on guard -- and remember -- You carry the name of Christ on your Shoulders when you call yourself 'Christian.' Watch your thoughts; they become words Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. I'm glad a friend forwarded to me as a reminder. God bless you; I hope you are having a wonderful day! This little story reminds us to listen to that small quiet voice from
within. You never know where it will lead you. As a teacher of origami (the ancient Japanese art of paper folding) at the LaFarge Lifelong Learning Institute in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Art Beaudry was asked to represent the school at an exhibit at a large mall in Milwaukee. He decided to take along a couple hundred folded paper cranes to pass out to people who stopped at his booth. Before that day, something strange happened. A voice told him to find a piece of gold foil paper and make a gold origami crane. The voice was so insistent that Art actually found himself rummaging through his collection of origami papers at home until he found one flat, shiny piece of gold foil. "Why am I doing this?" he asked himself. Art had never worked with the shiny gold paper; it didn't fold as easily or neatly as the crisp multicolored papers. But that little voice kept nudging. Art tried to ignore the voice. "Why gold foil anyway? Paper is much easier to work with," he grumbled. The voice continued. "Do it! And give it to a special person." By now Art was getting a little cranky. "What special person?" he asked the voice. "You'll know which one," the voice said. That evening Art carefully folded and shaped the unforgiving gold foil until it became as graceful and delicate as a real crane about to take flight. He packed the exquisite crane in the box along with about 200 other colorful paper cranes he'd made over the previous few weeks. The next day at the mall, dozens upon dozens of people stopped by Art's booth to ask questions about origami. He demonstrated the art. He folded, unfolded and refolded. He explained the intricate details, the need for sharp creases. Then, suddenly, there was a woman standing in front of Art. Was this that special person? Art had never seen her before, and she hadn't said a word as she watched him carefully fold a pink piece of paper into a crane with pointed, graceful wings. Art glanced up at her face, and before he realized it, he found himself reaching for the "gold-foil crane" he'd labored over the night before. Carefully he picked up the gold crane, and gently placed it in the woman's hand. Art said: "I don't know why, but a voice told me to give you that golden crane. The crane is the ancient symbol of peace," Art said simply. The woman didn't say a word as she slowly cupped her hand around the fragile bird as if it were alive. When Art looked at her face, he saw tears filling her eyes. Finally, the woman took a deep breath and said, "My husband died three weeks ago. This is the first time I've been out. Today..." She wiped her eyes with her free hand, still gently cradling the golden crane with the other. Then she said very quietly, as tears streamed down her face. "Today would have been our 'golden' wedding anniversary." Then the lady said in a clear voice, "Thank you so much for this beautiful gift. Now I know that my husband is at peace. Don't you see? The voice you heard, it was the voice of God, and this beautiful crane is a gift from Him. It's the most wonderful 50th wedding anniversary gift I could have received. Thank you for listening to Holy Spirit within your heart." And that's how Art learned to listen very carefully, when the Holy Spirit speaks to him within, and tells him to do things he may not understand. Now or even later. Are you listening, my friend? God may be speaking to you. "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2:14 Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day.
~Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. A smile confuses an approaching frown.~Author Unknown People seldom notice old clothes if you wear a big smile.~Lee Mildon A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.~Phyllis Diller Smile. Have you ever noticed how easily puppies make human friends?Yet all they do is wag their tails and fall over.~Walter Anderson, The Confidence Course, 1997 The world always looks brighter from behind a smile.~Author Unknown Start every day with a smile and get it over with.~W.C. Fields Before you put on a frown, make absolutely sure there are no smiles available. ~Jim Beggs A smile is an inexpensive way to change your looks.~Charles Gordy Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.~Mark Twain, Following the Equator The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief.~William Shakespeare, Othello A smile is the light in the window of your face that tells people you're at home. ~Author Unknown If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it.~Andy Rooney If you smile at someone, they might smile back.~Author Unknown Life is like a mirror, we get the best results when we smile at it ~Author Unknown Always remember to be happy because you never know who's falling in love with your smile. ~Author Unknown Everyone smiles in the same language.~Author Unknown If you don't have a smile, I'll give you one of mine.~Author Unknown I've never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful.~Author Unknown Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles. ~George Eliot Smiling is infectious,You can catch it like the flu.Someone smiled at me today, And I started smiling too. ~Author Unknown A smile appeared upon her face as if she'd taken it directly from her handbag and pinned it there. ~Loma Chandler A laugh is a smile that bursts. ~Mary H. Waldrip Smile - sunshine is good for your teeth.~Author Unknown The shortest distance between two people is a smile. ~Author Unknown If you don't start out the day with a smile, it's not too late to start practicing for tomorrow. ~Author Unknown Smiling is my favorite exercise.~Author Unknown Wear a smile - one size fits all.~Author Unknown No matter how grouchy you're feeling,You'll find the smile more or less healing.It grows in a wreath All around the front teeth -Thus preserving the face from congealing.~Anthony Euwer Every day you spend without a smile, is a lost day.~Author Unknown Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. ~Mother Teresa A friendly look, a kindly smile, one good act, and life's worthwhile.~Author Unknown A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity freshen into smiles. ~Washington Irving Beauty is power; a smile is its sword.~Charles Reade A smile is the universal welcome.~Max Eastman Keep smiling - it makes people wonder what you've been up to. ~Author Unknown You're never fully dressed without a smile.~Martin Charnin A smile can brighten the darkest day.~Author Unknown It takes seventeen muscles to smile and forty-three to frown. ~Author Unknown Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important. ~Janet Lane All the statistics in the world can't measure the warmth of a smile. ~Chris Hart If you would like to spoil the day for a grouch, give him a smile. ~Author Unknown Smile - it increases your face value. ~Author Unknown Peace begins with a smile.~Mother Teresa A smile is a powerful weapon; you can even break ice with it. ~Author Unknown Most smiles are started by another smile.~Author Unknown A smile is something you can't give away; it always comes back to you.~Author Unknown A smile costs nothing but gives much. It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that he cannot get along without it and none is so poor that he cannot be made rich by it. Yet a smile cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give. ~Author Unknown It takes a lot of work from the face to let out a smile, but just think what good smiling can bring to the most important muscle of the body... the heart. ~Author Unknown May your kingdom come and what you want be done, here on earth as it is in heaven. --Mat_6:10
To pray, "Thy will be done" is to seek the heart of God. The word will means "strong desire." … what is his heart? His passion? He wants you to know it. Shall God hide from us what he is going to do? Apparently not, for he has gone to great lengths to reveal his will to us. Could he have done more than send his Son to lead us? Could he have done more than give his word to teach us? Could he have done more than orchestrate events to awaken us? Could he have done more than send his Holy Spirit to counsel us? God is not the God of confusion, and wherever he sees sincere seekers with confused hearts, you can bet your sweet December that he will do whatever it takes to help them see his will. The Great House of God(by: Max Lucado) From the quietly confident doctor whose advice we rely on, to the star-quality confidence of an inspiring speaker, self-confident people have qualities that everyone admires.
Self-confidence is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives, yet so many people struggle to find it. Sadly, this can be a vicious circle: people who lack self-confidence can find it difficult to become successful. After all, most people are reluctant to back a project that’s being pitched by someone who was nervous, fumbling and apologetic. On the other hand, you might be persuaded by someone who spoke clearly, who held his or her head high, who answered questions assuredly, and who readily admitted when he/she did not know something. Self-confident people inspire confidence in others: their audience, their peers, their bosses, their customers, and their friends. Gaining the confidence of others is one of the key ways in which a self-confident person finds success. The good news is that self-confidence really can be learned and built on. Whether you’re working on your own self-confidence or building the confidence of people around you, it’s well worth the effort! All other things being equal, self-confidence is often the single ingredient that distinguishes a successful person from someone less successful. How confident do you seem to others?: Your level of self-confidence can show in many ways: Your behaviour, your body language, how you speak, what you say, and so on. Look at the following comparisons of common confident behaviour with behaviour associated with low self-confidence. Which thoughts or actions do you recognise in yourself and people around you? Self-Confident Doing what you believe to be right, even if others mock or criticise you for it. Being willing to take risks and go the extra mile to achieve better things. Admitting your mistakes and vowing to learn from them Waiting for others to congratulate you on your accomplishments. Accepting compliments graciously. “Thanks, I really worked hard on that proposal. I’m pleased you recognise my efforts.” Low Self-Confidence Governing your behaviour based on what other people think. Staying in your comfort zone, fearing failure and avoid taking risks. Working hard to cover up mistakes and praying that you can fix the problem before anyone is the wiser. Extolling your own virtues as often as possible to as many people as possible. Dismissing compliments offhandedly. “Oh that proposal was nothing really, anyone could have done it.” As you can see, low self-confidence can be self-destructive, and it often manifests itself as negativity. Self-confident people are generally more positive – they believe in themselves and their abilities, and they also believe in the wonders of living life to the full. Balanced Self-Confidence: Self-confidence is about balance. At one extreme, we have people with low self-confidence. At the other end, we have people who may be over-confident. If you are under-confident, you’ll avoid taking risks and stretching yourself; and you might not try at all. If you’re over-confident, you may take on too much risk, stretch yourself beyond your capabilities, and crash badly. You may also find that you’re so optimistic that you don’t try hard enough to truly succeed. Getting this right is a matter of having the right amount of confidence, founded in reality and on your true ability. With the right amount of self-confidence, you will take informed risks, stretch yourself (but not beyond your capabilities) and try hard. Building Self-Confidence: How do you build this sense of balanced self-confidence, founded on a firm appreciation of reality? The bad news is that there’s no quick fix, or 5-minute solution. The good news is that building self-confidence is readily achievable, just as long as you have the focus and determination to carry things through. What’s even better is that the things you’ll do will build success – after all, your confidence will come from real, solid achievement which no-one can take this away from you! Here are three steps on your journey to build your self-confidence: Step 1: Prepare for your journey: You need to take stock of where you are, think about where you want to go, get yourself in the right mindset for your journey, and commit yourself to starting it and staying with it. In preparing for your journey, do the following: - Look at what you’ve already achieved: Think about your life so far, and list the ten best things you’ve achieved in an “Achievement Log.” Perhaps you came top in an important test or exam, played a key role in an important team, produced the best sales figures in a period, did something that made a key difference in someone else’s life, or delivered a project that meant a lot for your business. Put these into a smartly formatted document, which you can look at often, and then spend a few minutes each week enjoying the success you’ve already had! - Think about your strengths: Use a technique like SWOT Analysis to take a look at who and where you are. Looking at your Achievement Log, and reflecting on your recent life, think about what your friends would consider to be your strengths and weaknesses. From these, think about the opportunities and threats you face. Make sure that you enjoy a few minutes reflecting on your strengths! - Think about what's important to you, and where you want to go: Setting and achieving goals is a key part of this, and real self-confidence flows from it. Goal setting is the process you use to set yourself targets, and measure your successful hitting of those targets. Set goals that exploit your strengths, minimise your weaknesses, realise your opportunities, and control the threats you face. Having set the major goals in your life, identify the first step in each. A tip: Make sure it’s a very small step, perhaps taking no more than an hour to complete! - Start managing your mind: At this stage, you need to start managing your mind. Learn to pick up and defeat the negative self-talk, which can destroy your confidence. Learn how to use imagery to create strong mental images of what you’ll feel and experience as you achieve your major goals – there’s something about doing this that makes even major goals seem achievable! - Commit yourself to success!: The final part of preparing for the journey is to make a clear and unequivocal promise to yourself that you are absolutely committed to your journey, and that you will do all in your power to achieve it. If as you’re doing it, you find doubts starting to surface write them down and challenge them calmly and rationally. If they dissolve under scrutiny, that’s great. However if they are based on genuine risks, make sure you set additional goals to manage these appropriately. Either way, make that promise! Step 2: Set Out: This is where you start, ever so slowly, moving towards your goal. By doing the right things, and starting with small, easy wins, you’ll put yourself on the path to success – and build the self-confidence that comes with this. Once again, follow these simple guidelines: - Build the knowledge you need to succeed: Looking at your goals, identify the skills you’ll need to achieve them. Then look at how you can acquire these skills confidently and well. Don’t just accept a sketchy, just-good-enough solution – look for a lasting solution, a program or a course that fully equips you to achieve what you want to achieve, and ideally gives you a certificate at the end. - Focus on the basics: When you’re starting, don’t try to do anything clever or elaborate. Don’t reach for perfection – just enjoy doing simple things successfully and well. - Set small goals, and achieve them: Starting with the very small goals you identified in step 1, get in the habit of setting them, achieving them, and celebrating achievement. Don’t make goals particularly challenging at this stage, just get into the habit of achieving them and celebrating them. Little by little, start piling up the successes! - Keep managing your mind: Stay on top of that positive thinking, keep celebrating and enjoying success, and keep those mental images strong. On the other side, learn to handle failure. Accept that mistakes happen when you’re trying something new. In fact, if you get into the habit of treating mistakes as learning experiences, you can (almost) start to see them in a positive light. After all, there’s a lot to be said for the saying “if it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger!” Step 3: Accelerate towards success: By this stage, you’ll feel your self-confidence building. You’ll have completed some of the courses you started in step 2, and you’ll have plenty of success to celebrate! Now’s the time to start stretching yourself! Make the goals a bit bigger and the challenges a bit tougher. Increase the size of your commitment, and extend the skills you’ve developed into new, closely related arenas. As long as you keep on stretching yourself enough, but not too much, you’ll find your self-confidence building. What’s more, you’ll have earned your self-confidence – because you’ll have put in the hard graft necessary to be successful! Remember that internal misjudgements are six times more likely to cause business failure than external factors. If you forgive others for their sins, your Father in heaven will also forgive you for your sins. Mat 6:14
Bitterness is its own prison. The sides are slippery with resentment. A floor of muddy anger stills the feet. The stench of betrayal fills the air and stings the eyes. A cloud of self-pity blocks the view of the tiny exit above. Step in and look at the prisoners. Victims are chained to the walls. Victims of betrayal. Victims of abuse. The dungeon, deep and dark, is beckoning you to enter… You can, you know. You've experienced enough hurt… You can choose, like many, to chain yourself to your hurt… Or you can choose, like some, to put away your hurts before they become hates… How does God deal with your bitter heart? He reminds you that what you have is more important than what you don't have. You still have your relationship with God. No one can take that. He Still Moves Stones (Max Lucado) “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8).
Did you know that our eyes are connected to our hearts? It's true. Whatever your heart is set upon, your eyes will search out and find. Whatever your heart dismisses as meaningless will always be passed over by your gaze. For example — have you ever noticed when you buy a new car and start driving it around, you then start seeing it each time someone else is driving the same model? Why? Because it matters to you; and because your heart is set upon it, your eyes will seek it out. Have you seen God lately? If not, the problem is not with your eyes.....it's with your heart. In another place the Bible says, "To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled" (Titus 1:15). In other words, we do not see things as they are, we see things as we are. And if we are broken, then we will not see things right — even if they are right in front of us. This is why we must turn to the Lord for cleansing whenever we are defiled by the awful things that happen in a fallen world. Otherwise we will carry the defilement within our hearts and find ourselves unable to even receive the words of the Lord, much less believe them. A corrupted and broken heart can distort the words of God in the same way that a defective radio receiver distorts a good signal. The signal from the station is perfectly clear but the message being heard in the living room is garbled and disturbing. Suppose, for example, that an individual had a particularly cruel father who treated him with such harshness that it warped how he viewed himself and the world around him. One can imagine the difficulties that would arise within that person's heart as he was introduced to the notion that God wanted to be his "Father!" "God wants to be my Father?" he might ask, inwardly thinking: "He wants to beat me and belittle me?!" Mistreated sons and daughters unwittingly project onto God the awful failures of their own earthly fathers. Aloof, absent, and angry men have done so much to give God a bad name through their distorted examples of fatherhood. As a result the world is filled with broken children who are in desperate need of a true revelation of the Father heart of God. Perhaps you are one of them? Jesus will heal you, and make you whole if you but ask Him — and you will see God! It is my wish for each of you that this day be one of Gratitude. I hope
that you have a Happy, Joyous and wonderful day full of Love. That today, you may know Peace and Be Content, Fully Alive to the Sufficiency of God's Grace. Gratitude is the Master Key that opens all doors of possibility. Gratitude is a feeling of thankfulness for blessings or benefits we have received. Grateful people are quick to acknowledge the kindness and help they receive from our Heavenly Father and others around them. Where there is gratitude, there is courtesy; there is a concern for the happiness and well-being of others. Give thanks to God, all day today. |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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