“But God demonstrate His own love for us in this: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
“Greater love has no one than this, that He lay down His life for His friends.” (John 15:13) “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” (Ephesians 5:25) God showed us what true love is, by giving His Son to die in our place. God’s love for you and me cost His son’s life. If we want to love like this, we will have to give our “life”, this is what it costs to follow Jesus. We all have the ability to love in our hearts; but this is a natural love and it is not immune to selfishness. Selfishness always, and at one time or another it triumphs over natural love. Godly love flourishes in an atmosphere of humility and brokenness. How does the natural human being acquires this godly love? Only by being born again through God. He pours out this type of ‘agape’ love into our hearts supernaturally, by His Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). WE CANNOT GENERATE IT BY OURSELVES. The Bible teaches us that God is love; so when He pours out His love into us, He pours Himself out into our hearts. God’s love sets a standard: “My command is this: love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, as you have shown your love for us, help me show love to others according to Your standards in Jesus Name…amen
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"But of that day and hour no one knows..." Matthew 24:36
One of the teachings of Jesus is that He will come again. He very clearly teaches about signs of His coming: An increase in false teachers and messiahs. False teaching is contrary to God's written word; we see this today not only in cults, but also inside and outside the church. Wars and rumors of wars. The 20th century was the bloodiest and worst century in all history. What will the 21st century hold? Increase in natural disasters. Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, famines and floods. He says these occurrences are like birth pangs. With the onset of labor, birth pangs increase in frequency and intensity as birth approaches. This is very revealing in reflecting on the "signs" of which Jesus speaks. Yet He clearly states, "No one knows the time." If someone sets a time, you can be sure he is a false prophet because no one knows the time. We need to be ready all the time. One thing is for sure, however, birth pangs keep increasing. “Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God…this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is…his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2)
Jesus says, “I am the living water…I am the Bread of life…I am the Light of the world…I am the way…I am the truth…I am the life…I am the Good Shepherd…I am the source of al steadfastness and encouragement…I am wisdom…I am always here ever present…I was, I am and I always will be.” Moses spent forty years in the wilderness until nothing remained in him from the previous forty years he spent growing up in the ways of the known world at the time. When confronted in the ‘burning bush’ experience, God revealed Himself to Moses by saying, “I am who I am…” when Moses asked: “Who are you?” Paul calls out in Galatians 2:20…”I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” A new life begins for us when we reach the point when we understand: I am not…I can do nothing without Him. How often do we say, I have no one to help me…I don’t know what to do…I have no plan… Who will help me? Nothing around me is genuine…my situation is impossible…nobody cares…who can I trust…I am so tired…I have reached a dead end. BECAUSE GOD IS, HE CAN. He has all the answers to all our questions and this is why we should always confess: I can’t but HE CAN…I don’t know, BUT HE KNOWS EVERYHTHING…I don’t have a plan, BUT HE HAS…I cannot help myself, BUT HE IS THE ONE WHO CAN HELP ME. Prayer: Heavenly Father thank You that I am able to rely and trust on You in everything in Jesus’ Name…amen Evil. God. Good
It’s the repeated pattern in Scripture. Evil. God. Good. Evil came to Job. Tempted him and tested him. Job struggled. But God countered. He spoke truth; declared sovereignty. And Job, in the end, chose God. Satan’s prime target became God’s star witness. Good resulted. Evil came to David and he committed adultery. Evil came to Daniel and he was dragged to a foreign land; to Nehemiah and the walls of Jerusalem were destroyed. But God countered. Because He did, David wrote songs of grace; Daniel ruled in a foreign land; and Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem with Babylonian money. Good happened. The Bethlehem innkeeper told Jesus’ parents to try their luck in the barn. That was bad. God entered the world in the humblest place on earth. That was good. With Jesus, bad became good like night becomes day; regularly, reliably, refreshingly. And redemptively. Evil. God. Good. When God gets in the middle of life—evil becomes good! Psalm 27:5
'In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; He shall set me up upon a rock.' - You can find a refuge with God in times of trouble. - When the world seems as if it is against you, He is not. - When you face challenges on every side, He is still with you. - He is the rock and He remains your final refuge, Andre. PRAYER: Lord, may my soul find rest in You alone. May the fact that You are my rock carry me through the storms and the challenges of life! Amen. After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am. John 14:3
Someday, according to Christ, he will set us free. He will come back. In the blink of an eye, as fast as the lightning flashes from the east to the west, he will come back. And everyone will see him—you will, I will. Bodies will push back the dirt and break the surface of the sea. The earth will tremble, the sky will roar, and those who do not know him will shudder. But in that hour you will not fear, because you know him. When Christ Comes (Max Lucado) "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing..." Romans 15:13
What's going to happen next year, next week, fifteen minutes from now? Many people waste time worrying about what might happen. The Bible gives us a wonderful promise: "[God says] I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." We don’t know the future, but we can face the future with confidence when we know God is in control and is working for our good. No matter what circumstances come our way, we know He's there for us. When I put my trust in God, knowing He is in complete control, I have hope for tomorrow and strength for living each and every day. 1. Thou shalt not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities. 2. Thou shalt not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass. 3. Thou shalt not cross bridges before you come to them, for no one yet has succeeded in accomplishing this. 4. Thou shalt face each problem as it comes. You can only handle one at a time anyway. 5. Thou shalt not take problems to bed with you, for they make very poor bedfellows. 6. Thou shalt not borrow other people's problems. They can better care for them than you can. 7. Thou shalt not try to relive yesterday for good or will. It is forever gone. 8. Thou shalt be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear ideas different from your own. It is hard to learn something new when you are talking, and some people do know more than you do. 9. Thou shalt not become "bogged down" by frustration, for 90% of it is rooted in self-pity and will only interfere with positive action. 10. Thou shalt count thy blessings, never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessings add up to a big one. Author Unknown “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” - Franklin D Roosevelt
The emotional feeling of FEAR is an experience we often prefer to avoid as it brings up from deep within us, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, which can often stop us in our tracks. Along with this can come a plethora of physiological and psychological effects such as rapid and irregular heartbeats or palpitations, chest tightening, sweaty palms, increased blood pressure, all of which are due to the activation of the fight and flight response in our physiology. From a psychological perspective, fear can cause us to make irrational or illogical decisions, and cause pre-rational behavioral characteristics and reactionary emotional based decisions. In extreme cases fear can cause temporary paralysis or even complete immobilization of the physical body. So just what is fear, what causes it, and is there anything that can be done to reduce or eliminate it? These are just some of questions we will attempt to answer throughout this short article. F.E.A.R – Acronyms The word FEAR has many different Acronyms that are commonly used to describe some of the various meanings Fear has for different people. Some of the more common Acronyms people use are listed below: Future Emotions Appearing Real False Emotions Appearing Real False Expectations Appearing Real False Experiences Appearing Real For Everything A Reason Finding Excuses And Reasons Failure Expected And Received Future Events Appearing Real False Expectations About Reality Forget Everything And Run As you can see from above, the many different Acronyms used to represent the word FEAR pretty much all have certain facets of truth within them to what FEAR actually is. Dr John Demartini gives us a definition for Fear, which in my opinion is the most accurate definition for Fear I have come across: “Fear is the assumption that in the near or far future you are going to experience through your passive senses or imagination, more pain than pleasure, more negatives than positives, more losses than gains, more challenge than support from self or other(s).” Fear is an incomplete awareness of what actually is. Every event in the universe is a neutral event until someone comes along and evaluates that event with an incomplete awareness due to their finite value system. That finite value system evaluates and judges the event as either positive or negative depending on whether it supports or challenges their own unique value system. Nelson Mandela said this exact thing when delivering his inaugural speech, he used Marianne Williams quote from her book ‘A return to Love’ which said: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” What is Fear? Fear is a future imagined emotional feeling that originates from within the mind and it is then felt and experienced within the physical body. To briefly explain how this occurs, every person has their own unique hierarchy of priorities or values, their own hierarchy of what’s first most important, second and third most important all the way down to what’s least most important to them. The things that are most important to us, we bring order to, and we are focused, disciplined and reliable in that particular area, as we go down our list of priorities we have a lower probability of taking action and because it is of less importance to us, we have more disorder and disorganization around it and we tend to hesitate, procrastinate and feel frustrated when having to do it. Because of this, we filter our reality through our sensory and motor responses in accordance with these values, or in other words, our values determine how we see and act upon the world. An example of this is, if a person who has as their highest values say, in business and finances, technology and sports, as they go through their daily life, these are the things they focus on and when walking through a mall they will spot opportunities or events or shops that support their hierarchy of values and priorities, whereas this persons partner, who may have as their highest values, children’s education and clothing, their own fashion accessories, looking good and making the home look good, then as that person walks through the mall and filters their reality, they don’t notice the sports stores or business and financial opportunities. Instead, they notice children’s books and clothing stores, ornaments and furnishings to make the house look good and so forth. So we are each, in every situation filtering our reality through our own unique hierarchy of values, and we are constantly on the lookout for what supports our particular values structure. In any situation where we see more support than challenge to our value system or more benefits than drawbacks, more positives than negatives or more perceived pleasures than pains to something or someone, we form an emotional attachment and attraction towards that, and because we have an attraction or attachment toward it we will therefore now fear the loss of it, because you now perceive through your senses or imagination more losses than gains or more pains than pleasures if you were to lose it and no longer have it. Whereas in the opposite situation if you see more challenge than support to your value system or more drawbacks than benefits to something or someone, you will be resentful and repelled from that and you will now actually fear the gain of that, and so you won’t mind losing it. You don’t fear the loss of that which you resent, you only fear the loss of that with which you infatuate, and you fear the gain of that which you resent or are repelled by. Fear is an Incomplete awareness The truth of the matter is, that from the very smallest or infinitesimal unit of space to the largest astronomical unit or entity of existence there is an inherent conservation of equilibrium. The smallest unit of space, called plancks dimension Is a unit of energy, a unit of energy is called a ‘Quantum’, and absolutely everything in manifest existence is a quantum or a quantum multiple. Every unit of energy is a wave length and every wave length has a peak and a trough, the peak is the positive phase of the wave length and the trough is the negative phase of the wave length. What this means is, is that every event, every situation that can ever happen in the universe always has a balance of positives and negatives, a balance of all complimentary opposites. There can never be a one-sided event, as we can never have half of a wave length. Our finite value system, because it is looking for what supports it’s highest values and attempts to avoid that which challenges it’s values, sees only one side at any given moment, even though in actuality both sides exist simultaneously. When we do this, we have an incomplete awareness, and we don’t see the truth, and instead we create our own distorted version of the truth which in turn brings about either positive or negative emotions, these in turn lead to our fears of gain or loss. Emotions distort the fabric of space-time Just as Gravity distorts the fabric of Space-Time, so too do our Emotions. Albert Einstein pointed out that when we are kissing a girl for the first time, two hours can feel like two minutes and we are oblivious to those around us in our space. So time appears to speed up and space shrinks. When, however we are sitting at the train station waiting for a train, two minutes can feel like two hours and we see and are aware of everything occupying our space, and so it appears that time slows down and space expands. Therefore our emotions distort the fabric of space-time, and like the example used by Albert Einstein, whenever we are doing something congruent with our highest values, or something we perceive as being more supportive of our highest values and having more positives than negatives or more benefits than drawbacks, time appears to speed up and space shrinks, and vice versa. When we are in a situation where we are having to do things that are lowest on our values or we perceive our highest values as being challenged or we see more negatives than positives or more drawbacks than benefits, time appears to slow down and drag on and everybody and everything in our space tends to annoy or bug us. The same is true for when we live in fear, When we live in fear we are therefore gravitationally pulled down towards the earth & we shrink, contract, constrict & restrict ourselves from ever attaining our full potential. Fear symptomologies Fear can also be a great motivator and in times of Fear we can over stimulate the sympathetic nervous system which in turn activates the fight and flight response, which can motivate us to stay and fight if we perceive we can handle the perceived threat, or motivate us to ‘flight’ if we perceive the threat to be more demanding than our current threshold allows us to deal with. When the fight and flight response is activated our blood moves away from the center or visceral part of the body to the periphery part of the body ready for action which then in turn leaves our internal organs and immune system vulnerable. Blood also moves away from the forebrain and moves towards the hindbrain, and because of this we now become incapable of making logical and rational decisions, and instead we often re-act with primitive behaviours and reflexes. This perpetuates a repetitive cyclical situation between the mind and body, overtime producing signs and symptoms which manifest as dis-comfort and ultimately dis-ease in the body or psychological pathologies within the mind. These signs and symptoms are actually feedback mechanisms letting us know of an imbalanced perception in the mind. These signs and symptoms are pointing and directing us to look for the other side of the equation, they are there to bring us back to the truth of love, that every event is balanced event or a quantum event. Just one example of this can be noticed when we suffer from a stiff neck, this is our physiology giving us feedback to our consciousness letting us know we are being rigid in our thinking and not looking at the other side or perspective of something. Conclusion Because fear is an assumption that in the near or distant future you are going to experience more drawbacks than benefits, or more negatives than positives, the way to dissolve your fears is to ask the opposing question. “If what I am anxious or fearful about were to happen, what would be the benefits, or how would it serve me?” Begin listing as many benefits as you can, and with each benefit you list, notice how the gradation or amount of fear you had begins to lessen. When you reach the point where the preconceived drawbacks and the now new conscious benefits come to the point of equilibrium, your fear dissolves, the imagined and illusionary boundary between the known and the unknown no longer exists and you are free to expand yourself to a greater concentric sphere of being and you allow your light to shine where darkness once resided. Courage is recognizing your fear and wisely acting upon it anyway. When you do this, as Nelson Mandela and Marianne Williamson both said, you unconsciously give other people permission to do the same, and as we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. We are all magnificent beings. When we let our fears dictate our lives we play and feel insignificant and lead a life of desperation rather than a life of inspiration. Remember it is our light that most frightens us. Embrace your fears, don’t repress or suppress them. Learn and grow from them. Your fears are here to serve you and guide you back to the truth of your own magnificence and God's truth of love. |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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