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Grief And Loss Healing Actions – Not Unkept Promises

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When grief and loss smack you in the face – what do you do? There are five needed keys to help you heal your sorrow circumstance. It is vital to have a certain attitude and follow a proper beneficial path. The following five keys are essential enabling action solutions to help you reconcile your grieving, gain back your happiness – and again be engaged in a more fulfilling and wholesome life.

Key #1 Do What You Say You Will Do

“You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.”

~ Carl Jung

There have been times in life for each of us when we have not done what we said we were going to do. In retrospect perhaps the reason we didn’t doesn’t matter. Yet, now, in times of horrendous grief what you say you are going to do really matters. What you are in your new-you-grief-loss-circumstance is determined by what you say you will do. Choose carefully.

Key #2 Follow A Beneficial Path

At first a grief healing path may appear to be fully and permanently detoured. As stifling grief and loss happenings encompass your life. Hope and joy can temporarily disappear. Yet, happiness and joy are within your grasp. There really is a blue sky behind every dark ominous cloud of sorrow. Unwanted circumstances cause you to wonder about life and the future. Sorrow and loss situations can cause you to search for understanding, strength and will. As you wonder and search for new understanding you will discover a new purpose, a helpful path. Life’s detours provide you with meaningful innovative potential assistance. A beneficial solution healing path is essential to your wellbeing.

“The key to success, and to happiness, is being fully engaged in life – leading yourself with inspiration and committed action – setting your own fine and honorable example.”

~ Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You can discover beneficial inspiration and an action path to follow. Every success experienced is dependent upon on your actions. Choose your path for hope and peace.

Key #3 Don’t Make Excuses

Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.

~ George Washington Carver

Unwanted and annoying grief causes change. Often grief conditions can bring you feelings of hopelessness and uncertainty. Your healing journey is a grief reconciling expedition. Failing to take steps to disallow permanent mourning to remain can detour your healing efforts. An excuse only satisfies the one making an excuse.

No excuses – seize the moment – your challenge is to grow by establishing new harmony and reconciling your sorrowful circumstance. Now is the time to discover a new fulfillment in living and loving your life. Growth requires you to use your inner most potential to find new purpose and happiness. Consider how you can grow emotionally and spiritually. What specific actions can you put in place? Can you be more diligent in your efforts? Recognize that personal grief can provide avenues to inspire and lift you. Make a list of 3 things you can implement into your daily activities to inspire more direction and hope. Decide how you will use those 3 things to grow in happiness and hope now! Begin today!

Key #4 Make A Unwavering Commitment

The words: “If It Is To Be It Is Up To Me” ring true to life and your success in meeting challenges. Once you make a personal unwavering commitment to take specific actions you will become aware of potential possibilities and solutions to heal your grieving. Beneficial solutions will appear. You can discover the essential wisdom, strength, and insights if you seek them. You will discover immediate resources to help you overcome your loss and sorrow.

Key #5 Seek And Engage In All Beneficial Sources

Many will seize each moment of possibilities and opportunities. They will live their life to the fullest. Why don’t you? Today can be your new day. You can gain transformative insights to help reconcile your grieving. Seek healing sources and engage in all solutions beneficial to you. You can heal your grief and have new peace and hope. You can survive and thrive after grief and loss.

“When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that… [God] is able to make a way out of no way, and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Don’t forget God as an additional inspiration and strength in healing your grief. For some – at the time of serious sorrow – the first place they turn is to their God. Others fail You can discover the essential wisdom, strength, and insights if you seek them. You will discover immediate resources to help you overcome your loss and sorrow. Commune with God nor do they seek additional inspiration and strength and help from their God.

Today ponder deeply what you can do to make your life happier and more joyful. Write down five actions you can take to contribute to your well-being. Always take into consideration any limitations you may have. Then realize you have within your grasp the power to say: “This I am today; that I will be tomorrow. Joy and happiness is within my reach.” Embrace all positive available social media, technology, internet, and all other beneficial and essential resource solutions.

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Source by Duane Marchant

Views: 1

November 12, 2022
Am I Ordained To Marry?

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One common question people ask us during counseling is whether they are ordained to marry or not. Few weeks ago, a sister walked up to me to ask if she was ordained to marry or not. I asked why she thought so. She said, her pastor taught them that it is written in Matthew 19:12 that some people were made to be eunuchs and therefore, not everyone is expected to marry. And now she was worried because of the series of disappointments she had experienced in her relationships. When I asked her whether they were equally taught how to differentiate between both groups she said that was why she came to ask me. I said she should have gone to her pastor to ask but she said she would not because they were more interested in how many souls they had won to Christ than their marital plans.

Her vehement refusal to go to her pastor for counsel was a clear indication that she had gone through some elements of frustration. I don’t know how many people are in the same situation today. All I know is that someone will be free from this bondage today.

Before I address the core issue, let me tell you that Christianity is a balanced relationship. The same God that says he that wins a soul is wise also says marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral, (Hebrew 13:4 NIV). The practice of holding back mature adults in church from marriage because you don’t want to lose them to other churches or distract them from actively engaging in church growth is unbalanced and unhealthy for the growth you desire. Marriage is an honor before God. It brings glory to God. Anyone that desires to marry should be encouraged before they begin to defy themselves right under your pulpit.

My counsel is that while encouraging them to continue winning souls they should also be counseled on the right way to find the right kind of spouse and the right way to marry. Teach them to let their marriage become a plus to the church instead of minus. If you alone could chase one thousand souls, let you and your spouse join in marriage to chase after ten thousand souls.

Matthew 19:12 says: ” For there are some eunuchs, who were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, who were made eunuchs of men; and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it let him receive it.”

The above scripture clearly defines the three categories of eunuchs. Our point of emphasis here shall be on those born eunuchs from their mothers’ womb. The other two are those forced into it and those that became so by their choice.

When God created man in His image and likeness, He decreed that he should go into the world and multiply. That declaration is for you and me. The only approved way to achieve this multiplication is to marry legally and keep the matrimonial bed holy. You don’t need an angel to whisper into your ears that it is time to marry. The rules are there in the bible. That is not our focus for today anyway.

Take example from Abraham, the father of faith. He didn’t need any prophecy to discern whether his son Isaac, needed a wife or not. All he needed was simple wisdom drawn from the Word of God. God told him during his call that through him the earth shall be populated with His new generation of children. He settled it in his mind to get a wife for Isaac to make that calling and purpose come to fruition. At the appointed time, he sent his servant, Eleazar to go to his kindred to get a wife for Isaac. You know the rest of the story in Genesis chapter twenty-four.

God designed man with all the features required to perform all that He wants him to do on earth in the same way a manufacturer will not put his products in the market place without the inbuilt features to function. Signs of puberty, sexual emotions and strong attraction towards the opposite sex are some indicators that you are ordained to marry. When His due season is near, He begins to impress His desires in your spirit for onward transmission to these dormant sexual potentials in you and suddenly you will awaken to certain pressure in that direction. The bible says, ” it is God who works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure”, Philippians 2:13. Marriage is one of the good things that bring pleasure to God. When you start feeling the urge or willingness to get married just know God has begun this good work in you. Anybody that has this urge or desire to marry is one of those God has ordained to marry. Period!

To become a eunuch or to marry is your choice. God has given you the free will to decide it. He will not choose or impose any one on you. Apostle Paul chose not to marry because he wanted to use his life to serve God and not because God said he should not. His case should not become a doctrine to dissuade people from fulfilling God’s purpose for their lives. He even admonished anyone that is unable to bear it to marry instead of burning in lust. If you choose to live a life of celibacy or choose to marry as you have desired, God is pleased with you. Do not allow previous disappointments dissuade you or make you start thinking that it might be that you are among the chosen eunuchs. You are ordained! If things are not working well, find out what you have not been doing right, keep correcting and working on yourself so God can connect you with the right kind of spouse.

However, it does not mean you should rush into anyone because God has willed it so for you. There is period to find the right kind of spouse and there is time for preparation. My stake here is to let you know that these signs put you in the category God has ordained to marry. You do belong to the group of those made eunuchs from their mother’s womb.

Parents should watch out for these signs in their children and wards. When these signs begin to show up, it is a signal to parents to start preparing their children or wards for the next phase of their lives. Unfortunately, many parents and guardians around these children do not always prepare them on time, and sometimes they misdirect them through wrong information. We owe the upcoming generation this responsibility as guardians. Those who fail at this level of parenting always regret it because late stitches steal real good time.

Those made eunuchs from their mother’s womb do not have and will never have the urge to get married because they do not have the features in them. I do not mean those incapacitated by sickness, diseases and infirmities like down syndromes, depression or paralysis. These are healthy and virile folks who are repugnant to the site of the opposite sex. They never have any amorous feelings towards the opposite sex even when they are both nude in a secret room.

Whether we choose to marry, remain single or born incapacitated, it does not make us sinners or better before God. He loves all of us equally, but it will please Him to see us fulfill His desires for us. I have cleared the obstacles before you. The onus is now on you to decide what you want. Apostle Paul chose not to marry because it was his choice. Apostle Peter did not divorce his wife because of God’s work, yet God accepted them all. Decide your case by yourself.

Remain Blessed!

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Source by Christopher UI Ogholoh

Views: 0

July 25, 2022
The Year Our Marriage Grew

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AT around our tenth wedding anniversary, we had a realisation.

The realisation we had was this: despite all the quality marriage counselling we had received from our wonderfully gifted and skilled marriage counsellor early on, we were, at that time, still not enjoying satisfaction.

We now knew the principles, but now we had to apply them. Knowledge of principles provides no satisfaction, only application provides satisfaction.

The year our marriage grew coincided with application. Instead of believing in concepts and talking about them, we decided to commit to working the concepts out in our marriage. This inevitably meant adapting the marital wisdom we had learned so it worked for our unique coupling, for our inimitable family structure.

We had had twenty counselling sessions, and I think our counsellor was at pains to say, ‘Go and do what we’ve been talking about; what I’ve been showing you’… initially it even got worse. It had nothing to do with the standard of our counsel – it was like growing pains in our marriage. Things tend to get worse before they get better.

Inevitably, we as partners had to learn to commit to each other in ways we had never thought we would need to. Our covenant to each other was solid, but we now had to commit to love this other person in ways that worked for them, not simply ourselves. Without even recognising it at the time, we began to accept each other like we had never done before. That is true love: unconditional acceptance at the deepest level. And it takes time.

The year our marriage grew was Year 4. Indeed, the previous three simply proved our commitment to each other. We hadn’t torn each other apart. But there were some horrible experiences. Whilst those first three years were unbelievably tough, they set us up as we pressed on into the hard work required in finding our way into the space of marital peace (which is punctuated with conflict that is managed well in the main).

My wife and I are believers in marriage; that marriage is not only wonderful but hard work. We believe, as we experienced, that counselling works; but not only that, there’s a limit to what counselling can do. I say that as someone who gives marital counsel.

It must be applied. There needs to be a time where a couple weighs anchor and begins the work of reconciling the problems on the high seas of their marriage. It can take years, but don’t be despondent. You learn to survive when it’s just you and your spouse. Sure, we all need tune-ups, prayer and support, but others’ help is limited.

This is what we learned: marriage seems best when the foibles of one are acceptable to the other. What seems like an easy concept can demand years of work to arrive at.

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Source by Steve Wickham

Views: 0

July 25, 2022
The Difference Between Good Success and Bad Success

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Do you desire to be a good success here on this beautiful earth?

Do you need the secrets that can ensure you record good successes in everything you do?

If you answer YES to these questions, then i believe you need to know the difference between good successes and bad successes

“This book of the Law shall not depart out

of your mouth, but you shall mediate therein

day and night that you may observe to do

according to all that is written therein: for

then you shall make your way prosperous,

and then you shall have good success” – Joshua 1: 8 (KJ2000).

The first time I read the above portion of the bible, I was inspired to understand that, there is a good success and a bad success.

Nothing support this fact other than the passage quoted above from the Scripture. The Word of God says if “you will hearken to the Voice of God, Obey His Commandments, Study and Meditate daily on His Word, you will have good success”.

The Word of God qualifies the noun “Success” with the adjective “good”. This simply means you will not have a bad success if you follow God’s rules during your success journey in life.

What then, are a good success and a bad success? How do you differentiate a good success from a bad success? How do you recognize someone with a bad success and someone with a good success?

Good Success

I have tried to carefully study the lives of people in the bible days and those of present times and I found out that there are actually some people with good successes.

I was able to reach a conclusion using my definition of success stated earlier on as a basis of analysis.

God

God Almighty enjoyed good success during the creation of heaven and the earth. He actually set the pace at creation, showing us how to obtain good successes in whatever we do.

“And God saw everything that He had

made, and behold, it was very good.

And the evening and the morning were

the sixth day.

-Gen 1:31 (KJ2000)

There were lots of obstacles which stared HIM in the face when HE was creating heaven and the earth but HE never allowed them to stop HIM.

“And the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters”

-Gen 1:2 (KJ2000)

Yes, even a formless earth and the darkness would not prevent Him from achieving His aim.

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:

and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,

and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

-Gen 1:26 (KJ2000)

He also transferred His “breath of Life” into Adam for him (Adam) to become a living soul.

What a loving and selfless God who strongly desired somebody to act like Him

There are countless numbers of people in the Bible who had good successes: Jesus, Moses, Apostle Paul, King David, Joseph, John the Baptist, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob all had good successes.

One thing is however, common with all these people and that is the fact that they fear God.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom:

and the knowledge of the Holy one is understanding.

-Prov 1:10 (KJ2000).

You can become a child of God by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior and begin to live a life that has the fear of God.

You can expect to record good number of good successes in your lifetime as you do this.

Bad Success

I may not need to bother you with the stories of people who recorded bad successes in the Bible or even in our societies today but you will observe with me that this set of people also have something in common – they lived a Godless life.

You can study the stories of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt when the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt.

Cain who killed his brother Abel (Gen 4:8)

Herod the king who ordered the killing of all new born babies when Jesus was born (matt 2:13-23)

Satan who fell from grace to grass because of pride (Luke 10:18)

Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus ( Matt 26:36-46)

These People all recorded bad successes. One thing is also common to these people: they lacked the fear of God.

My dear reader, I want to believe you desire to be a good success. You need the fear of God in you to be successful in all you do.

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Source by Sesan Oguntade

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July 25, 2022
Love One Another (A Sermon on John 13: 31-35)
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We are in the 13th chapter of the Gospel according to St John's this week, and I'm going to unpack our reading verse by verse as it is a difficult passage.

"When he had gone out, Jesus said," Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. " (John 13:31)

The person who had 'gone out' was Judas, and the sentence seems to suggest that Judas' leaving somewhat brought glory to Jesus, which sounds really odd.

"If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once." (John 13:32)

I really have no idea where to begin with that statement!

"Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.'" (John 13:33 )

That statement makes sense to us as Jesus speaking about his own impending suffering and death, though at the time it made no sense at all to His disciples.

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. "(John 13: 34-45)

That concluding pronouncement, I suspect, is the most difficult to understand of all!

"All you need is love!" – so said the Beatles.

When I read statements like these from the lips of Jesus, I can almost hear the soundtrack of that well-known Beatles song playing in the background.

"Love is all you need. Love is all you need …"

It's not true, of course. Love isn't all we need – not in relationships, not in families, not in governments.

We had an election yesterday. Did you vote for the most loving candidate? Should you have?

I tried to give some thought after reading this passage as to who the most loving candidate for electoral office was. It wasn't obvious.

It didn't take me long to come up with the names of politicians who were definitely NOT full of love and sweetness, but it seemed less obvious to me which candidates actually were.

Did the candidate who loves us the most win? Do we care?

In truth, in as much as we might say, "all we need is love" , I don't think we really care whether our political leaders love us, any more than we really care whether our boss at work truly loves us. Love is not all we need. A good capacity for management is probably far more important in cases like this than is love!

Love is not all we need in government or in families, and it's not even all we need in a system of morality! This might sound counterintuitive. Is not all of morality – all our statements about what is right and what is wrong – really an extension of that basic ideal of love?

Certainly, over the generations, scores of philosophers and other great thinkers have suggested that all of our moral intuitions can be reduced to one simple exhortation – if not 'to love' exactly, to something very akin to that.

The British philosopher, John Stuart Mill, saw all of morality as a system of increasing pleasure for people and reducing harm. He is probably best remembered for his 'harm principle' :

"That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others."

I have a feeling that if you'd asked Mill what the essence of morality was, he might not have said 'love one another' , but might well have said 'don't' harm one another ' , which is pretty similar.

Likewise, the great 18th century German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, believed that morality could be reduced to a single maxim – the 'categorical imperative' :

"Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law."

That's always sounded to me like a really complex way of saying 'love your neighbor as you would love yourself " , which, of course, was Jesus' 'golden rule' that many people see as being His one-line summary of the moral law , along with the first and great commandment, of course, that you have to love God:

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. " (Matthew 22: 37-40)

We are familiar with these commandments. We hear them every week in church, and they do seem to suggest that everything in the law of God comes down to love, and that the rest is just commentary.

Is that really what Jesus was saying? St Augustine thought so, and in my previous sermons on these passages, I have suggested exactly that – that there is really only one law of God – that we love – and that the rest is just application. My more recent reading though has suggested that it's actually a lot more complicated than that, at least if Jesus really was being true to His Hebraic tradition.

The Hebraic law centers around the Ten Commandments – the ten words of God to the people of Israel – and while it seems straightforward to see commandments like "thou shalt not steal" and "thou shalt not murder" as being extensions of the commandment to love , other commandments like "honor thy father and thy mother" do not seem to be so easily reducible. Honoring your father and your mother seems to be more about respecting authority than it is about love .

I've been reading a very interesting book lately by moral psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, called "the Righteous Mind" , in which he outlines what he calls 'moral foundation theory' .

I'm not suggesting that everyone should rush out to get a copy of this book. It is not an easy read and could prove difficult if you don't have an academic background in the study of philosophical ethics (which, thankfully, I do).

The author's key point, at any rate, is that our moral intuitions can't be reduced to any one simple maxim such as 'love one another' as morality is invariably more complex than that.

Haidt suggests that there are five reasonably independent dimensions to our moral awareness, and 'caring' for others is just one of those dimensions. The others are:
- Fairness (which is all about justice, rewards and punishments)
- Loyalty (which is associated with values such as faithfulness and patriotism )
- Authority (where you honor your father and your mother, king and country)
- Sanctity (which involves respecting your body and potentially embracing things like chastity, temperance and cleanliness)
Forgive me if I'm now sounding more dry and esoteric than the book I mentioned. My point is actually a simple one – that 'all you need is love' is both simplistic and inadequate. We don't only need love – not if we are going to be successful in our relationships or in all of life. We actually need a lot of things – courage, self-discipline, wisdom, nurture and support and a good education, and more!

Of course, Jesus didn't say "love is all you need". That was ' The Beatles' . What Jesus did say was "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" . In other words, Jesus didn't say that love is all we need to live a full and productive life. What He said was that it was all we needed in order to show the world that we are His disciples. That might sound like much the same thing but it's actually quite distinct.

The life of love is not a strategy for success, despite what any number of tele-evangelists might have told you. Indeed, if it's right to consider it a strategy at all, the life of love could only be a strategy for getting yourself killed. That's certainly how it worked for Jesus.

I'm sure I've mentioned before that friend who said to me "I'm sick of hearing people tell me about all the problems they had before they met Jesus and how He solved them all for them. till I met Jesus! "

That's difficult to hear, I think. We don't want to think of Jesus as the one who leads us down a path of suffering and misery. We want to think of Jesus as one who elevates us to heavenly places.

Isn't that what religion is for after all? Isn't good religion supposed to benefit our lives and help us live more fully and peacefully with a great sense of purpose and fulfillment? Surely, it's not just about suffering in this world so that we can enjoy a better life in the next? Surely there's more to it than that?

I don't think Jesus is saying that discipleship is all about suffering any more than it is all about success. Discipleship, Jesus says, is all about love, and everything else depends on what Jesus means by love .

Jesus says His command to love is a new commandment, and that's a surprise. Certainly, the commandment to love is as old as the Scriptures themselves, so it must be the latter part of the commandment – to love one another ' as I have loved you' – that makes it new.

When we hear those words, I suspect most of us immediately think of the cross and Jesus laying down his life for us. That makes sense, and indeed the same Gospel writer, John, writes in his first letter "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us" (1 John 3:16). Even so, without wanting to press the issue of the timeline too heavily, the exhortation we have in today's Gospel reading -to love one another "as I have loved you" happens before the cross, suggesting that the model on view here may not be the death of Jesus but the life of Jesus!

Further, as noted, today's reading begins with a reference to Judas – "when he had gone out" – and Jesus' exhortation to love each other as He has loved us comes immediately before the two terrible betrayals from disciples whom Jesus had just broken bread with and whose feet Jesus had just washed – the one betrayal being from Judas, of course, and the other one being from dear Peter!

Jesus loved Peter, was betrayed by Peter, and would eventually be reconciled with Peter. Jesus loved Judas but would never be reconciled with him. Even perfect love does not guarantee a perfect ending to the story. Even so, love anyway – that's the new commandment .

Yes, "greater love has no one than this – to lay down one's life for their friends" (John 15: 3). That is true, and bodily self-sacrifice is indeed the ultimate example of love, but most of the time love is not so grandiose and (thankfully) not quite so painful. The far more common (and in some ways more difficult) labor of love is the ongoing work of having to forgive those who fail us, and sometimes fail us very badly.

This, I believe, is the love by which everyone will now that we are His disciples – it's the love that breaks bread with those who betray us and that washes the feet of those who turn their backs on us. It's the love that finds its ultimate inspiration in the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross, but which likewise finds daily encouragement in the simple acts of grace shown by Jesus towards those whom He knew would radically fail Him.

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. "(John 13: 34-45)

It's not a strategy for success. It's not a means to a better life or more successful relationships. It's just the way that we demonstrate to the world that we are followers of Jesus. We break bread, we wash feet, we empathise, we forgive. We love one another just as He loved us.

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Source by David B. Smith

Views: 0
July 25, 2022
Wisdom For Living

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Do you have wisdom? Wisdom is the key to successful living on earth. Lack of it is to be groping in the dark and be surrounded by great woes, wailing and destruction. Wisdom makes the difference between success and failure, life and death, poverty and prosperity, health and sickness. Possession of wisdom is to possess life.

“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge and discretion… I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring riches and righteousness… The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old… Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him… – Proverbs 8:12, 17-18, 22, 30 (NKJV).

The Lord founded the earth by wisdom (Proverbs 3:19) and so man needs wisdom to be able to occupy her successfully. Wisdom is the principal thing to possess in order to enjoy living on earth. Every challenge in life is basically a wisdom problem and to have wisdom for any challenge is to have 50% of it solved.

Wisdom was God’s master craftsman in creation. He utilized wisdom to successfully create all we see, use and enjoy. With wisdom you have prudence, knowledge and discretion; a complete package that will help you not to stumble or make mistakes in your words and action.

The choices you make are measures of the wisdom available to you. The more the wisdom you acquire the better your choices and the outcomes you get. It is your responsibility to go for wisdom in all areas of your life. You need wisdom to live a victorious Christian life and also to live every phase of your life very well and remarkably: as a child, student, worker, spouse, parent, friend, leader, neighbour, colleague, group member, boss, employee and client. The list can go on and on. Your level of wisdom will affect your relationship with others and so is important that you possess it.

Your tomorrow is a product of your application of wisdom today. The wisdom seeds you plant today grow and add up to give you a glorious future. The wisdom steps you take today will take you to your ultimate peak tomorrow. The prize you pay today to get wisdom cannot be compared to the returns that will come to you in future. The outcome of wisdom is worth all you have to put in or sacrifice to get it. The success of your life depends on it, so go for the wisdom for living.

The word of God (The bible), which is the bag of wisdom seeds, has all the wisdom you need to live a triumphant life on this earth. Search the word for them, for whoever finds wisdom finds life and obtains favour from God.

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Source by Ngozi Nwoke

Views: 0

July 25, 2022
Your Personal Healing Journey

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As you journey precious New Year Healing Moments are within your grasp.
Can you believe another year has come and gone? After the busy Christmas and new year celebrations are over is a great time for personal contemplation and resolve. You have most probably, already indulged in retrospection and re-evaluating some of your life choices.

Are you looking forward to beginning a year of opportunities and ground-breaking possibilities? Can you see today as if it were a new-born? Will you choose to dress your new born year, with zest and enthusiasm?

"To every season there is season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, …" ~ Ecclesiastes

Each bright day is given to you and I to live with renewed vigor – to daily grow and try to be your best and highest self. Don't wait to respond to your thoughts and impulses.
May this year be full of love, laughter, happiness and good health!
Can you react to your longings and dreams? Can this day, this year, be filled with precious moments? Don't wait!

If you are looking for effective ways of changing your life for the better, then you'll be sure to find useful information in the following Fifteen Precious Moment Ideas:

1.Get In Shape:

It's easy enough to start an exercise and diet program, but the trick is to find one that will give you results and that you will stick to over the long run.
2. Eat Healthier Food and Less Overall:

With dedicated determination (Even though you are surrounded by cheap junk food) you can slowly develop healthier eating habits.

3. Become More Active:

You may or may not have a big weight problem. Nonetheless, you need is to find ways of moving around more throughout the day instead of simply setting around or staying hunched over the computer or in a soft chair using your mobile phone.

4. Quit Procrastinating:

The biggest barrier that keeps most people from reaching their goals is relaxing and doing fun things and not work on their goal. Once you get used to procrastinating it's difficult to snap yourself out of it and change your bad habits.

5. Improve Your Concentration:

Finding ways to focus and stay focused is a constant challenge. It isn't easy and requires a daily effort to the task you have assigned yourself. This is one of those – if it is to be it is up to you.

6. Be Sociable And Outgoing:

Don't get stuck in a rut of staying at home most of the time. Or if your condition doesn't allow you mobility seek the companionship and sociability of others. Meeting with old friends or new people can be beneficial to your mental well-being.

7. Reduce Stress:

Stress is one of the biggest people killers causing strokes, heart attacks and death. It can have very destructive on your health. Some stress may be an unavoidable side effect of our hectic modern lifestyles. However, it can be effectively managed. Seek all sources for effective stress control and then introduce effective stress management into your daily action plan.

8. Learn To Be Happier With Your Life:

Attitude is such a powerful empowerment. Is your glass usually full or are you regularly on a petty party? You can control your happiness. It takes time and patience to learn how to find joy in the little things and not to let problems bring you down. Try counting your blessings naming them one by one.

9. Spend More Time With People That Matter:

One of the most difficult challenge you may face is to disavow your association with the wrong people. There is just too little time in this life for us to waste it on insincere, duplicitous and toxic people. You should focus on the people who care about you deeply, as this is the best way to stay happy.

11. Reinvent Yourself:

In Life it is often essential to re-boot your life. If you don't feel quite happy no matter what you do, it is perhaps time to make some serious changes in your life. Reinventing yourself can give you a whole new perspective on life and take you in directions you may never have dreamed were possible.

12. Learn How To Be More Self-reliant:

Technology, government programs and handouts offering cheap ready-to-eat food and all manner of useful tools have made us somewhat spoiled. We often get well into adulthood without having what it takes to be independent. You can learn from the disabled a great lesson on how to fend for yourself. Do what you can without the assistance from others and you will learn to enjoy self-sufficient and self-reliant.

13. Face your fears And insecurities:

You will find this particular point masked beneath other resolutions, but fear and insecurity are often the cause of several problems that we want to address. You need to think of it as surviving and controlling your fear rather than overcoming it, and it will enable you to shed off a lot of the insecurities that you have.

14. Stick To Healthy Unique Personal Habits Developed:

The most important point to mention is that all the positive changes you make have to be permanent. Work on sticking with the good habits you have adopted, until they are a natural part of who you are. There is no other way to achieve true self-improvement.
Well, there you have it – a key list of precious moment advice, tips and tricks to help you see your New Year's resolution through and make some long-term changes in your life.

Please accept my hope for happiness and healing for the beginning of your new year … (And as a grieving person I hope your year begins as you desire to understand and move through your grief).

It is my prayer for you, each day this year, will be filled with a deep sense of belonging whether or not you have the blessing of being with all those you love.

15. May You Be Granted Serenity And Wisdom:

"God grant me the serenity; To accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference."
~ Reinhold Niebuhr (Serenity Prayer)

It is my sincere wish your life will be filled with fulfillment, meaning, and connection to what matters most. Most of all, may your connection to the source of all things be strong and clear so that you can be an embodiment of happiness and healing. May you experience many precious healing moments this year.

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Source by Duane Marchant

Views: 0

July 24, 2022
The Metaphors Within You Are Here to Heal You

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Metaphors have always been there, reaching out to guide me – even when didn't notice, or when I tried to push them away. And, now, when I open to their call, I begin to see them everywhere. In every challenge, every pain, every place of beauty. They're here for us each day, in every moment.

The poetry of life, waiting for us to embrace its eternal, loving guidance.

It was one day, many years ago, when I realized the power of what was inside me, begging to be seen. It was a hot day in August, and as I listened to the cicadas sizzling in the trees, it dropped, right smack into my consciousness. A neat little package of metaphors, it was the answer to the questions I had been asking for over 15 years. Finally, I knew, without a doubt, why I had gotten sick, over and over again.

My heart, my body, my spirited inner child, were all in it together, creating the poetry that would guide me back to health. Urging me to open my heart. Showing me where I had shut down. Painting the picture I needed to see to finally wake up from my pain.

It turned out, that each symptom, each autoimmune illness, each heart surgery, were all pieces of the same puzzle. When I saw them all together, they revealed the divine map I needed to heal from the trauma I had experienced many years earlier, when I lost my sister to suicide.

In my work with clients, metaphors appear everywhere. They show up as a restriction, or pain in the throat, for a client who's afraid to speak her truth. Or as a tight heaviness in the shoulders, for someone who feels as though she carries the world on her shoulders. Sensitive digestion, is often a sign of deep sensitivity, and an inability to digest all the worries of the world.

Though these metaphors can sometimes seem obvious, it's usually not that simple.

Layers of meaning abound, and for each one of us, they are uniquely personal. It's where we go next after that first glimpse of the metaphor. What lies underneath? What guidance do we need to follow? What pain is asking to be loved and released?

Both EFT Tapping and Matrix Reimprinting are the perfect tools to help my clients uncover hidden metaphors within their pain. As we gently unwrap the layers, pain is released, and messages are discovered. Wisdom emerges, leading to even deeper healing.

The way I see it, it all comes back to a call for love. The metaphors within us, the metaphors all around us, are beckoning us to love ourselves more. To forgive, to let go, and to open up to the love that's all around us. Simply, and profoundly, they are love poems, ready and waiting to be read.

In Love and Courage,

Marian

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Source by Marian Buck Murray

Views: 0

July 21, 2022
7 Thoughts From Scripture for Struggling Christian Business Owners

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I have seen a lot of articles that list scriptures for Christian business owners, but rarely do they have practical wisdom that goes with them. Yes, scripture can speak for itself, but when we are struggling Bible verses seem to get glossed over by our stressed out mind.

I want to share with you seven Bible verses with seven thoughts and seven insights. I know when I am going through a tough time, it helps me to ‘hear’ from someone who understands what I am going through. It makes the Bible come to life when someone shares it from a perspective of a Christian entrepreneur.

Worries are like butterflies, they need to be released.

It is easy to worry. There are so many things to think about it can be overwhelming. Take heart… and mind. When we look at the way we try to handle our problems, we often leave God out of the solution. He cares about all the things you go through and is there to help when we ask Him. We must learn to release our worries to God so that He can work wondrous things for us.

Philippians 4:6-7 “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Humility lets us bring others into our struggles.

Sometimes when we get caught up in tough times we try to take on everything ourselves. We must learn to delegate and let others help us. We must bring others in to pray for us and with us. We are leaders in our business, but more than that, we are part of a faith community. God wants us to help us with our anxieties and He may have placed people in your life to do just that. We must remember that God cares for us.

1 Peter 5:6-7 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

Our reaction to our struggles defines our success.

We don’t like to go through hard times, but when we do our reaction to those tough times can make or break us. When we redefine our struggles in light of what God is doing and has done in our lives, we find God’s power working even in the tough times.

James 1: 2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Perspectives help us define our problems.

When we go through tough times, we get caught up thinking about all the bad things that could happen. I have an elderly lady at my church tell me, “Quit sowing worries.” If you look at your troubles in light of all the things that others are going through, your problems may seem a lot less. Across the world people are starving, being beheaded for their faith and their homes are being destroyed by bombs. How does your problem look compared to those?

Psalm 46: 1-3 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and mountains quake and with their surging.”

We can praise God even when times are tough.

David went through some horrible trials. His boss tried to kill him. His best friends betrayed him. His kids killed each other. Yet, through all of these things, he always took time to worship. He looked to God in the good and the bad. There are so many Psalms that start out talking about how bad thing are only to end by focusing his attention back to praising God for all he has.

Psalm 37: 3-6 “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this; He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”

Action trumps worry almost every time.

Worrying is what happens when we are not taking action. Christian business owners are people of action. Instead of worrying about the things you cannot change, take action on the things you can. Action will lead to better results than thinking and worrying about your struggles. Take time to write out your problems, get them out of your head and plan a strategy to take care of business.

Matthew 6:25-27 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

You have a purpose

If there is one thing you will see over and over again on this webpage, it is the fact that you have a purpose. You are a Christian. You were created to be an entrepreneur. God placed a desire in your life to help other and you are a Christian business owner who can make a difference in the world. Go and do what God has called you to do.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

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Source by Lyle H

Views: 0

July 21, 2022
Wisdom For Living-Consider The Poor
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Do you consider the poor? Is giving to the poor part of your budget? This is an important wisdom for living. It is a wisdom key which many believing Christians are neglecting to their own detriment. This post expounds on considering the poor as wisdom for living.

Blessed is he who considers the poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, and he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed – Psalm 41:1-3 (NKJV).

The poor are important to God. While He waits for them to learn and overcome poverty, He also would want them to be well taken care of, because He cares for them. God will not come down in person to help the poor; He will need human beings to reach out to them. So, God is ready to bless anyone who will offer himself or herself as a channel of blessing to the poor.

Whoever considers the poor does so on behalf of the Almighty God and lends to Him, and He will repay back. Imagine when God is repaying back what He will give! You give with your little hand and God repays with His big hand! Awesome investment! Give to the poor and you will never know lack in your life.

Giving is living. Making giving your lifestyle is to live a purposeful life; putting smiles on the faces of many people and giving them a reason to live on is what life is all about. Among many other blessings that come your way, joy unspeakable and peace of mind become your portion. This cannot be quantified. Also, you tend to keep living even when you are gone.

In Psalm 41:1-3, the Lord stated the things He was going to do for whoever considers the poor.

These include:
- Deliverance in time of trouble.
- Preservation and long life.
- Blessings, which includes financial blessing.
- Protection from enemies.
- Healing and health
All the above will be yours if you will consider the poor as a lifestyle.

As a believing Christian, giving to the poor whatever you can: money, time, energy, food and clothing, expresses the love of Christ to them and will endear Christ to them, convicting them to surrender totally to Him. Indeed, it is a perfect way to win souls for Christ.

Truly, considering the poor is wisdom for living. It gives you the reason to live and continuously changes your level to higher places. It gives you what money can never purchase for you; it gets the living God to be for you, your defense, provider and keeper.

Job was a man who considered the poor and every ear that heard him blessed him and every eye that saw him approved of him. These were because he delivered the poor who cried out, the fatherless and the one who had no helper. He was eye to the blind, feet to the lame and father to the poor; and God blessed him greatly and preserved all that belonged to him (Job 29:11-16, Job 1:10). This can also be your story.

In conclusion, are you in a state that needs to be changed or do you desire to change your level to a higher one? Consider the poor around you, reach out to them and the Lord will reach out to you too. Let God use you to bless the poor and He will cause men to bless you too.

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Source by Ngozi Nwoke

Views: 0
July 20, 2022