Decisions, Decisions!

So many things to consider; giving an allotment of thought time to. Some are simple, while some cause frustration. This is what happens to me when something of a substantive issue enters my mind. Either by the randomness of thought itself, or by one the five senses, it enters and demands attention. I have made an effort over the years to compartmentalize every area of my life, on and with purpose. This works very well for me, and a lot of others I’m sure, and one of the reasons is that the use of this system helps one to be of solid character and not act on a whims. When you make a decision about something that will become a point of your character, you can stand in a strong comfort-zone. A zone you built based on real understanding of not only the issue itself but, that this issue was tested against the appropriate compartments’ supporting thoughts and developed beliefs. An established decision making process becomes a powerful tool to manage the bombardment of random thoughts you receive each day. And the application of established beliefs and principals, the guardrails of each of life’s compartments, becomes the backbone of your character, the strength of your stance on any issue.

    The frustration comes in the first area of consideration. Analogues of a hospitals ER, I call it thought-triage. That simply means that I gather the thoughts that came into my life today, or this week, by whatever means, and make the first decision. That being, which ones have a priority deserving of more thought time, which ones are not likely to change my stand on that issue and, which ones may do exactly that but?

ORIGIN:

Is anything faster than thought? Is it faster than light, slower, or does it have no speed, because it just “appears”? Inquiring minds want to …well, sorry. What if you had the chance to see the transmitter that was sending thoughts to your mind’s receiver? Is it God, is it random, is it real? Random just does not work for me, at least not by itself. Very few thoughts “pop up” in an uncontrolled manner. They have a cause, a reason for being but, is it the “sending” of those thoughts that is controlled, or is it some sort of thought triage that happens in our receivers? These things that occur at the incipient stage of every thought will not answer to our desire to know. Whether they are created and sent to us or created in us, we may never find out – as our “own” thoughts seem unable to provide us with the instructions to do so. You can see in this observation that from the very beginning of the slightest mental activity, from any small single thought, if you will, that we are designed reactionaries. We can only react to the thought that enters our consciousness. And only speculate at where it was the split moment before. Was there a before? There is an obvious exception to this premise however, and that would simply be the thoughts that are generated thru the senses; you heard something, saw something, felt, touched, or tasted. All of these create thoughts.

MANAGE:

You’ve heard the term “compartmentalize”, before. In the topic of managing things “mental”, it usually refers to suppressed memories; blocked out pains, sights and sounds. Guarded from entry into the conscious where they play out again, and injure, again and, not without its own ill effects, “usually”. Psychiatrists and the like tend to want to open up those places, get the pain out, suffer it again and “Now, let’s defeat it!” Not being one of those persons I’ve always wondered why you would allow someone “in” that wants to overcome the natural defenses of the most magnificent marvel on the planet, our brain. While some come away from such battles with a new empowered position in life, others end up worse than when they began. And rarely is it found to be due to the inadequacies of the mental “professional”, but rather the inability of the patient. In any case, I have realized that to compartmentalize is a natural function of the mind. And like all natural abilities, this one, too, can be manipulated and enhanced for the good of the individual. Like running for developing the strength of legs and endurance of lungs, so can the mental capabilities of the mind be enhanced! Let me say here, to be more clear than my earlier eluding, I am not connected in any way to the mental medical field. I speak only from my own common sense and practice. Having said that, and being in this environment of very diverse subject offerings, I will also state that this is not an offering in the science fiction genre. And, moving along….

Compartmentalizing our minds is something we should endeavor to achieve. Doing this prepares us to act in a consistent manner toward any thought or observance entering our mind, especially the ones deemed as “stray”. In order to initiate this practice, you must first create your compartments. I would suggest that it is necessary to do this on paper, first. Actually, when I did it, I used large poster boards! On each one I put a large print title, one poster for each compartment, and each compartment holds exactly one major life area. Major life area? The basics would be spiritual, family, financial, business, etc… Now, the next thing you must do is to develop that compartment. But, first:

I want to offer a sort of personal factor here. If it helps you, I’m glad, and if it does not, then, by all means, please continue and hopefully no harm done. This has to do with terminology. When I studied the materials and writings of various authors to develop my own personal version of this “system”, I, and they, sometimes used the word area. I now use, as you’ve seen, compartment. When I say this word, my mind immediately shows me two solid walls, one on each side of the subject of my focus. This tends to enhance that focus and block out interference from non-relative things that may be present in my minds vision. It’s like watching someone in a park full of people, you want to focus on someone playing catch with their dog, perhaps, but, your reflexes cannot help but move your eyes toward the violence of a Blue Jay swooping on a squirrel, or toward some other distraction. So, you put up your hand to block your vision, or rather to direct your focus. The point is word variants can vary the pictures, perceptions, and the abilities, of your mind. With that knowledge, and the rest of this paper, you shall have to proceed on your own to develop your compartments. Shall we continue, then?

FOUNDATIONS:

Inside each compartment you start with the cornerstone of a solid foundation. That should be your life’s goal for this compartment. If you’re in the finance compartment you may want to start with your financial goals for retirement. You will want to know what really is going to be needed according to your projected family situation, health considerations, inflation and the lifestyle you want to maintain at that time. Next, you’ll want to take a hard look at your current income(s), and determine if you need to aggressively change something, or if you’re right on track.

And then, I would recommend that once the foundation is laid, you halt your efforts in this area, and move on the next compartment. You will want to establish the foundations in all of them as soon as possible. The reason being is that you must compare each one with the others to find and eliminate any contradictions. You do not want your actions to be viewed as inconsistent, or “waffling”, as some call it. It is a natural occurrence in the mind that you see two, or more, distinct ways to do something. And, perhaps, when you look around to your friends to see what they’re doing in this area, you see them split evenly on both paths, and with great intent; because the “other” choice must be avoided! And this is why you need a decision process. When you review each choice, and apply your well defined foundations, that do not contradict each other, you will most likely see the choice you want; the choice that will not, in itself, bring further contradiction. Self-contradiction destabilizes character!

The last note on developing your compartments; it is vitally important that you do not leave this out of your development stage! As I mentioned before, the term compartmentalize has been used toward those thoughts that one may want to avoid, to put them so far away from you they can’t harm you, OR influence your actions in any way! If you have any of these thoughts or situations, you must not ignore them, AT THIS TIME. Now, why emphasize that? Because in the future you will learn to react to those thoughts in a very specific way, and some people, if you share your process with them, will try to tell you that you are just ignoring your problems. THAT IS A LIE!! If you’re following this system, it’s a lie. But, I’ll get back to this in a bit, just be sure that you have a compartment, or poster, for the issues you want to avoid or be removed from your life.

Compartments:

    On the inside of each compartment, your values and beliefs must act as your boundaries or side rails. You must establish these with great care and intention because once in place, you must intend to never cross them! Yes, the day may come that you choose to modify the boundary itself but, that’s very different than crossing or violating your own character. As you stand at the entrance of each compartment, you must look forward and see a progressive set of goals. These will act as stepping stones toward the major goal of each compartment. And if you will raise your head, get on your toes, and look beyond each compartment, you should see your compartment is actually a vehicle, and it’s on a path. This view must be the same from every compartment. At the end of the path is your destination. This is called your Definite Major Purpose in Life! That phrase came from, I think, Dale Carnegie via Dr. Napoleon Hill. (In fact, let me say that you may find most all this comes “from” somewhere or somebody. I’m not here to promote my intelligence but, rather to share my understanding.) So, therein is the last thing you must do in the development stage of your compartments; what is my life’s purpose, and how will I direct each life area, each compartment, to get me there. By using your compartments you will get there, and you will have no regrets about having crossed your boundaries, violated your values, or compromised your character. That in its self should be the first major life goal of anyone!

Process:

    When a thought enters your mind, you must immediately place that thought in the “thought triage” area, the foyer, as it were, to all compartments. You will probably see right away into which compartment this thought “may” be advanced. But, before you decide to do so, and allot it that thought time, you must eliminate it from disqualification of entry into your mind. This is done by comparing it against a basic list of rules and/or principles applicable to ANY thought. Is it blatantly immoral, illegal or detrimental to any of your goals? Is it un-Godly, hurtful to your fellow man, or your family, yourself? Whatever your’ personal criteria, put your first amount of thought time into producing this qualifying list, engrain it into memory. When a thought enters, in just a split moment you must know whether to immediately reject and destroy this thought, or just let it hold its place for processing.

    Now, the next step, assuming that your new thought survives triage, is to place it into what I would call the compartment common area. This means only that you have you have placed in the proper area for review, as it has not yet been accepted. Acceptance should never be just automatic! For example, I most certainly believe in my God, and His Word, the Bible. But, not even from the Bible is everything accepted automatically. SHOCK!? WHAT? HOW COULD YOU?!?! It’s really very simple; can I trust the source of the thought, even if it’s me? If someone quotes a scripture to me, I must consider the source, them. I must consider their understanding of the scripture, their application of the scripture, the context they use. None of these, again, produce automatic rejection or acceptance; they simply cause necessary careful consideration. To conclude this analogy, if a scripture is finally accepted as being presented in truth, in true context and with the true understanding that God intended, THEN IT IS automatically accepted, and in this case, may be used to challenge and, maybe, requalify previous thoughts in this area. Can you see, now, I never question Gods’ Word, just everyone that handles it, including me.

    However, coming back to reality, the point is no thought gets automatic acceptance or rejection, once past the triage area. What it does get is more testing. Use your side rails, your values in this compartment to start with. This is not the final acceptance test, but may produce the rejection. If a thought is rejected in this area, some things must happen immediately: that thought must be bombarded with your values, beliefs, and a release of your established success aligned thoughts. You do this for the immediate dilution of a potentially poisonous affect. Furthermore, you must take a direct action in your mind, to satisfy your inherent need to be in control thru a physical action. This can be done in various ways by the individual but, here’s two I like to use. Every thought produces some kind of picture in your mind. If a thought is to be absolutely guarded against and destroyed, I see that picture as a piece of glass or of paper. One is violently crumpled and thrown away, while the other is shattered all the way to sand-dust, and sent hurling at warp speed into oblivion, as I help the process by turning away and stating out-loud, if appropriate, “NO! This thought will NOT enter!” or something appropriate. I use the word enter realizing that it already entered. But the purpose is to gain some control. It is said that a thought never really goes away, I agree. This is why you must dilute and destroy, and continue to do so until your thought sender/receiver finally stops the reoccurrence of that thought. This does happen.

    Now, barring rejection of the thought, you further the process. Can you see yet why there is a real thought time allotment! Furthering the process on to acceptance, you again flow out your previous knowledge, your established thoughts and compare them to the new one and re-store them, noting the absence of contradiction or conflict, the presence of agreement; and this confirms or acknowledges your acceptance of this thought.

This acceptance process can be used even if you find the thought already existed as accepted and stored in the proper compartment. The purpose of reprocessing a thought would be to give acknowledgement to or record an attachment of credibility to the source of the thought, be that a person, or God. Either way, you have just made a deliberate decision, based on your established values. The process for acceptance or rejection is mostly the same process, but you must emotionalize your choice. Don’t be confused; do NOT let your emotions make the choice. And then moving the process onto the physical realm isn’t any more difficult.

When, for example, you must make a business decision your values must be the side rails, your goals the stepping stones and you definite major “business” purpose the destination.

1. Compartmentalize the situation to one of your major business areas.
   
2. Know your values, goals and definite major purpose for this area.
   
3. Look at all the potential results of both a yes or no decision. And
   
4. Look for a positive effect in one or both of two places:
   
   1. Does it clarify, strengthen or otherwise positively build or add to your values? Or,
      
   2. Does it, within you values, further your success?
      

I would like to give you my accepted definition of success: the progressive realization of a worthwhile dream or goal. So, repeating 4.b. above with these words: Does it, within you values, further your realization of your worthwhile dream or goal?

The final process item, going back to an earlier mention of a specific compartment, the one that will contain thoughts that you must guard against. The side of this compartment that contains such thoughts must be kept under lock and key at all times. Weld the doors closed and melt the key! Even so, you may have to wad or shatter these thoughts daily, with violent emotion to subdue their appearing! Just do it, and keep doing it! And on the other side, let flow freely, under high pressure, the thoughts that you want to define you in this area. Don’t deny the area, the compartment, control it! You will have to develop or seek out thoughts that are positive and uplifting and that apply to the person you want to be! After using this process for a while, I realized the importance of this. Some use a particular technique called self-talk, I fully agree. State out-loud positive affirmations and then positively affirm and accept what you just “heard”! I’m about to go against somebodies teachings but, this is the way I see it. If, for example, you have a problem with alcohol, don’t spend every thought minute on affirming that. Spend them building the character of a non-alcoholic, sober individual. Every time you see a mind picture of a bottle, a tumbler or anything you connect to drinking, wad it, shatter it, utterly destroy it with emotional emphasis. And, if you must, scream at the top of lungs, “I DO NOT DO THAT!!” I’m not kidding, and I’m not kidding here either; after a while, you can calmly respond to such thoughts with a simple instant voice, “No.” and move immediately and intentionally to a new mind subject. This takes time to get engrained in you, don’t deny yourself this time. And if these thoughts get any stronger, you can always raise your voice, AGAIN!

The last thing I wish to offer in this posting is something that just seems proper to add under this contextual umbrella; a two part process for problem solving. Again, I will say that I did not develop this process, though I did personalize it. If you happen to recognize the source, give them due credit for me but, I myself never really knew. Anyway,

Part one:

Detail the situation: Take two steps outside of yourself and look around at the problem situation, the environment of the problem, if you will.

1. What was the event? A social gathering, a workplace environment, family meeting, etc…
   
2. What happened? Come in one step to the point of the problem. Be factual, not emotional and don’t try to read someone’s mind. That means don’t assume anything, if someone else is involved, KNOW the purpose of their actions.
   
3. What I did. Coming back to yourself, now, state clearly what you did. Do not justify it, apologize for it, or deny it, just write it down, or have it revealed if you’re applying this to someone else.
   
4. My thoughts. Before, during and after. What were and are your thoughts on this situation?
   

Part two:

Formulate your plan: Someone in the future may want to know just what went into your solution of this problem, and that someone may be you! So,

1. List the important facts. Again, avoid speculation.
   
2. Clearly identify the problem. Don’t look for why the problem is, who the problem is, just focus only on what IS the problem.
   
3. List possible solutions. Brainstorm if you have to but, the key word is list, have more than one option.
   
4. State the positive AND negative consequences of each solution. If it takes you a while to do this, so be it. You may assign each possibility to a person or team to formulate the possibilities but, they must all be brought forth and considered appropriately. And last,
   
5. State your plan. What is the solution you have accepted and will implement? Put it in your mind (or offer it to your superiors), disseminate it, and stand by it.
   

As always, I hope this will be of help, in part or in whole, to someone in need of it. Thank you for considering my offering, may the Lord bless you!

 

The Salvation Steps; in brief

This was an email I sent out to someone, thought I may as well send it to all:

I am totally saved and have had witnesses to the evidence of that salvation.  I was trying to find out if we were on the same page as to how that is accomplished.  Your email was enough to tell me we are not.  While you must believe, you CANNOT believe yourself into heaven.  Maybe you agree with this and are not saying it, or maybe, like so many others, you have been mislead into disregarding nearly ALL the Disciples works.  Here’s the way I see and know it to be, 1.) repentance - Yes you must do this, but you can’t just say it, OR DO it.  You must perform the outward act that was laid down by Jesus, John the Baptist and all the disciples as your public statement that this is in fact your day of repentance from sins against God and turning away from the ways of the world and following the ways of God, and, yes you must go forth from that point in true belief that the Lord has forgiven your sins thru this act-statement. Which, by the way is the Water Baptism, by full immersion and the words “I Baptize you in the Name of Jesus Christ” called over you.  Not one baptism in the bible ever used the three titles that some use.  2.) You must seek to be filled with the Holy Ghost – and you cannot claim that of yourself or because you had even a genuine “touch” from God, which would make one feel pretty good but, it is not the sign.  There is a definite sign, it happened every time someone received the Holy Ghost in the Bible and it must happen today! That would be, while you’re praying and seeking this gift of in-fillment from God, that your prayer begins to come forth from your mouth in another language, that you have not previously learned or practised, this is the evidence and it must happen!  You don’t even need a witness to it if you can honestly say that this has happened to you, besides, it’s likely to  happen many times once you receive the initial filling.  The other things you stated, the believing that He did die and rose again, etc… all good and correct.

While I’m here, I may as well mention, there is a third Baptism.  Some in my own circles are so scared to embrace this that, like other scriptures, it just gets ignored.  This would be the Fire Baptism.  It is a real full imersion baptism like the first two, with one Major difference!  YOU and everyone on the planet WILL go thru this Baptism of Fire!!! No exceptions.  Many falsely believe that the fire baptism was either the cloven tongues of fire in the upper room, or the “fiery” trials we go thru here on earth.  While both of those are very real, they are NOT the fire baptism.  That baptism will be the very very last act that God will perform toward us, yes HE will DO this baptism, before entry into the true eternity He has waiting for us. In fact, that IS the entry into eternity, for all! You will either go thru the fire with Him, emerging into His “world”, or you will simply enter into the fire, and you will have entered “your” eternity, the fire itself!

Now, like I said, I could be wrong about your position on this, but I am not wrong about mine.

May The God of all creation guide you most correctly with all love, regardless of our positions.

 

The Measure of Faith!

             I have heard, so many times, people talk about the measure of faith that God gave each man.  I’ve heard long sermons given on several different concepts of the phrase and most of them focus on the measure being an amount.  And then they try to tie it to other verses about increasing that amount.  I must say that never made sense to me.  I can’t remember, of course, every sermon I’ve heard but, if someone got it right it sure slipped by me.  On the occasion the Lord let me in on this I couldn’t believe how simple yet, how extreme the answer really was!

 

Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

 

             Have you ever heard the saying ‘If you love something, let it go. If it returns to you, then it’s yours; and if it does not, then it never was.’?  Well, when you read Romans 23:3 above, that’s exactly the situation Paul is trying to get across to you.  Every man did get an ‘amount’ of faith but, to measure that amount would be absolutely unfathomable!  Because, as I have said with several other Bible terms now, it’s not your faith! It’s God’s Faith. And He didn’t “give” any of it.  That, of course, means it would not be a unit of measure for our faith but, a unit of measure for all the Faith that God possesses.  The unit of measure could not be a volume amount but, if the strength of it could be measured…  I could not begin to imagine yet, I know it’s more than most people even give thought to.

            I would like you to consider, or imagine, for a minute that you are the responsible person in the lives of your children.  You’re a parent, you love them with all your heart, and you would die for them, if that would save them in a moment of danger.  However, there are some dangers that are much more subtle in their damage to a child, or anyone else, really.  For instance, due to your child’s associations and new-found after school activities, you start to see less of them at home.  The situation turns into staying out late, not getting up in the morning, missing school, and avoiding the authority figure – you.  And, thru some source, or another, you are made aware that your child, your offspring that you know so well, has sneaked out of the house at night and is becoming part of a growing group of no less than seedy characters!

            Now, you suddenly have a rejuvenated desire to protect your child from further harm and correct your lack of attention.  You want to jump in with both feet and stomp the evil right out of their life!!  Only, alas, if you take your anger to that group, you may at the very least lose your chance to help your child, as you’re carted off to jail.  You soon realize that the only place to effect a change, and it’s the correct place, is with your child.  If every parent did that there would be no ‘seedy’ groups.  So, now, the question is “What will you do?!”

            Will you ground them? Will you lock the doors, board up the windows? Will you request a transfer from your company and move away.  Here is the question that may bring this lesson into focus.             To what lengths will you go, to rescue your child from this danger?  What measures will you employ to ensure their safety, and that they live to have a long life.  Would you do these drastic things or, perhaps, after you calm down and think it thru, you realize that your child will be 17, 18 or so, in just a few months.  And you think hard on what measure you will use to convert their ways, because the last thing you want is for their hatred for the establishment to become a hatred for you.  So, what measure will you deal them?  And then you decide!  You’re going to explain your love for them, your fear for them.  You’re going to educate them on the truth of the situation, or at least expose them to both sides, because they probably haven’t been.  And you are going to tell them that they are always welcome home, when they leave the evil behind.  And last, but certainly not least, you are going to express clearly, perhaps emotionally, your faith, in them.  Now, you must show them that you have faith that they will make the right choices, and return to their upbringing.  So, you give them a hug, and say “Good luck, you’re free to go.”

 

Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

 

            God loves us with a love that we are not even capable of.  But, He had to let us go, to see if we would return.  He also had to give us other choices and even temptations else, our choice would be meaningless.  The Bible says God tempts no one.  I see that as just making sense; do you think you could resist a real temptation from the creator of the universe?!  And, again, it would defeat the purpose.  But, knowing it had to be done, Satan was allowed in.  In the world of the Old Testement, Satan had gained a lot of ground.  The false teachings of the “religeous powers” were begining to become the accepted truth.  But God has a plan.  And after a while, just as you had done, it was time for God to reassert His faith in us.

            While we were yet young and unaware of the dangers to come, God came robed in flesh in the form of the Man Jesus.  Whether or not he would die for us was not left to question or debate.  He went to the cross and died there to give us a way to return to Him!  And in so doing, He reaffirmed the faith, His Faith, that He has had in us, all along!  Yet, before He went He, too, through His Gospel and His Disciples, educated us.  About Himself, the cunning of Satan and the choices we have.  He taught us that the measure he went to, to gain us back, was to put His faith in us, and let us go.  And also, as Paul said here, that no one is above another, because God has faith in everyone you see, the same as you!  That’s the measure He went to.  What measures will you go to, to get back? 

           Will you express your desire by leaving your ungodly ways and seeking the life of the righteous?  Will you provide God and your peers with a public statement of your choice by simply going under the water to be baptized, believing all the while that God wants this done and that He will wash away your sins for it?  With that you also take on His name; will you lift it up before others?  And will you seek the free gift of His Spirit, the in-filling of the Holy Ghost until you have the absolute sure evidence of it, the speaking of other tongues, a language you’ve not learned. 

            God didn’t just put His faith in us.  I have said already, that  since it was actually Gods Faith in that scripture, it could not be measured.  And even though he did not “give” us any, by measurement, the faith He is holding in us, the faith He holds toward us, for us, expects us to do exactly these things. 

            What measure will you deal Him?  Lord Bless you always!

 

Rick Warren’s Surprising Advice to Pentecostal Churches

While I question the understanding of an “outsider” of the particular Pentecostal form I follow, it does not lessen the validity of the observation posed herein.  I think we should look closely at our church surroundings and make hard decisions about - everything; from the motive of our gathering to the accuracy of our teachings, to our personal contribution to the Kingdom.  As I do not know the heart of Mr. Warren, nor anyone else, I cannot deny or endorse anything in this report.  But I am here to bring myself and you to a point of ponder and consideration of the issues as they pertain to God and His purpose toward us.  I think both this report and it’s content do exactly that.

Thank you, and just click on the title below:

Rick Warren’s Surprising Advice to Pentecostal Churches.

 

What’s In a Name??

        In the name of God - there is much. Help, hope, comfort, healing, life and the way to salvation are all in the name of the Lord. Today, and for last 2044 years, his name has been Jesus. And there was a reason for having a name. This offering isn’t about the name, that name, but, rather about God having a name. Let me explain further. Before the name Jesus there was another name used by the Hebrews and it still is today; the name YEHWAY. The story of that name obviously deserves a study and telling of its own but, this is not it. What’s in name, in a name for God? I believe there were ignorance and insult and shame! 

        I want to go back to the first encounter of God by Moses. The story is of course famous and involves the burning bush that just burned and was not consumed. Moses approached the bush and God spoke to him. God told him to not come close, to remove his shoes, and:

 Exodus 3:6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the    God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

       Was Moses paying attention? I’m sure he was but, it would seem that he had a problem with comprehending what God had just said. In Moses’ defense I have no doubt what-so-ever that he stood there with not only gapping mouth but gapping mind as well, trying to fathom what was happening. His focus had to be affected by the enormity of the moment. And God apparently did not stop to let Moses catch up, He continued with what He came for. In short, He told Moses that He had come down to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. Moreover that He was going to send Moses to accomplish this task. Not legions of angels, not an earthly army, just Moses. He did finally agree to enlist the help of his brother Aaron.

        Now, as I “imagine” again, I can certainly conceive of Moses just having to take a breath, to gather himself. And I can see him conversing within himself ‘How am I going to convince anyone that I even talked to God, little lone rescue all of Israel.’ So, perhaps this was his thought, and his unfocused frame of mind, as he posed the question:

Exodus 3:13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?

         Although he was raised by the Pharaoh’s daughter and in the “Egyptian way”, Moses by this time certainly had become a Hebrew of the times. He probably knew the people would ask exactly that question. But, do you think he would just simply ask it for himself, for his own knowledge. God thought he did. Look at the next verse, in two halves:

Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

        I think God knew this was a question for the benefit of Moses himself. OK, sorry, of course He knew! What I mean to say is that I think the verse shows us that fact. If you look at it you’ll see that God didn’t tell Moses what to say until after He had addressed the question. Not answered but, addressed the question. Looking at this further, there is more to see. I see ignorance on the part of Moses for posing the question. I see indignation on the part of God, mild anger, if you will. You may have noticed Gods’ reply is in all capital letters. It’s in the Book that way, I didn’t make that up. There must have been something in the scrolls that compelled the translators to put a clear emphasis on this statement. I have to say I agree with this because, while I do not study the scrolls, I can clearly feel the emotion of that moment. I know that it was a burning bush and not a storm cloud but, every time I read those capital letters the rumbling in my mind is loud and clear!

       The fact that Moses and/or the people wanted a name for God had to be of great insult to God. I can see that, too, in His response. I am THAT I am; THAT being – God! Not a God, not just your God but, The God, the only God. Think about your own name for a moment; not what it is but, why you have it, why you need it? I need to know your name so I can address you in a crowd. I need to know it to identify you as the one I’m talking about when conversing with others. You need to be identified so the bank will cash your check. And ALL of this is simply because you are NOT the only human on the planet. We have to separate ourselves from each other in a way that is individual to each of us, and that is the purpose of a name.

       Can you see God’s anger yet? Can you feel the shame I feel when I think about this passage. The people wanted to name God! Oh, I suppose they were kind enough to let Him choose His own but …still. Why give God a name? Give Him a name so you can call Him out from all the other Gods? Give Him a name so you can label Him on the shelf among all your false idols? Instead of lifting God up you would lower Him to these levels? It was not until some time later that God made these statements but, they were certainly true at that moment:

Isaiah 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.  

Isaiah 45:21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.

       Many people have chosen to call God ‘The Great I AM’, after the second half of verse 14. I think this honors God’s sovereignty and singleness but, it was still not given as a name. It was a furtherance of His “one God only” declaration. I AM hath sent you. The ONE that exists among NO others has sent you.

       Now, God did finally did give a phrase that He Himself called a name but, it was clearly more a descriptive statement of who He was. It also provided an attachment from God to the generations of the three persons named therein. Not an attachment, or relationship, they claimed but, that God claimed.

Exodus 3:15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

    The word memorial, as used here, means a remembrance, a record, and account. God was saying this statement is a record, an account, of who I am. And you may call me, and converse about me, by this record. And by use of this record, each time you will bring to your remembrance THAT I AM, and not just a name!

       Remember back at the beginning I asked if Moses was paying attention? If you’ll look at verse 6 again you’ll see that God already told Moses His “name”, and then had to repeat Himself. It would seem the Lord really is long suffering with those He loves.

       May the Lord Bless you all, In Jesus Name! (Oh, another name.)

 

Holiday Trees ???

This is from a Facebook post, I had to share it.  It fits the purpose of Messages from God.

Jon Rudman

Apparently the White House referred to Christmas Trees as “Holiday Trees” for the first time this year which prompted CBS presenter, Ben Stein, to present this piece which I would like to share with you. I think it applies just as much to many countries as it does to America . . .

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish.  And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejewelled trees, Christmas trees.  I don’t feel threatened.  I don’t feel discriminated against.  That’s what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, “Merry Christmas” to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto.  In fact, I kind of like it.  It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year.  It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu.  If people want a crib, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians.  I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period.  I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country.  I can’t find it in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way:  where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren’t allowed to worship God?  I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too.  But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different:  This is not intended to be a joke;  it’s not funny, it’s intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham’s daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her:  “How could God let something like this happen?” (regarding Hurricane Katrina).  Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.  She said:  “I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.  And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out.  How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”

In light of recent events… terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.  Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school.  The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbour as yourself.  And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock’s son committed suicide).  We said an expert should know what he’s talking about.  And we said okay.

Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out.  I think it has a great deal to do with ‘WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.’

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell.  Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.  Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.  Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it…. no one will know you did.  But if you discard this thought process, don’t sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

UnlikeLike · Share · October 18

 

Thank You, and A Repost Request….

First let me ask that you repost the link that brought you here so all those that connect to you may have at least one chance to have a look around for themselves. Thank you for that.  Now….

I’m writing this post primarily to thank all you who have confirmed on Facebook, Twitter and the others.  Although my primary purpose is to spread my writing as far as I can, and gain readers in the process, it is not lost on me that none of you had to do this and some of you most certainly hesitated.  I would ask that you read the Who Am I page at the top and you may begin to know me, or know me again.  Some of you and I share ancient history, and neither of us are the same today.  So, feel free to send me an email about you, your life, whatever.  And if you don’t feel close enough, or just don’t want to, that’s ok. I’m not really asking anyone to, just saying, feel free.  Let me know if you have a blog!

If you clicked on this post, in whatever application, you’ve found one of my blogs. The second one can be accessed via the buttons at top.  Please, look around, and tell me what you think.  I really want comments of your opinion on the topics and content of each post that interest you.  Obviously, I feel the Bible studies are important but, here is the most important thing I could tell you; anything to do with God and your relationship with Him must come about as an act of your own free will!  So, I’m not here to push, convert, convince, beg or plead.  I am here to share, teach, discuss and discover.  And most importantly, find as many as I can that would have a look at what flows out, so possibility exist of having a seed planted.

If you really don’t want the religious side of me, I’m ok with that.  I am not a religious fanatic, not at all!  Just a normal guy with normal memories like you but, sometime I like to write them down,too.  So, like I said, go check out my short stories.  None of this is meant to be professional, it’s just sharing.

Thank you very much, who ever you are, and I hope that all this, any of this, will be of benefit you all!

 

I NEED you to see this, please.

I just added and managed some social media settings.  It’s all intended to help make sure YOU have been invited to partake of my blog posts.  And now you have!  Welcome.  Stop by often.

Check out some of the posts by clicking on the categories there to the right, or go to my short story blog thru the button at the top.

 

The Journey to Reclaim Godly Femininity Part I

Top of Form

I was doing some “tag surfing”, following some links to key words that were posted for my site to find similar sites, and I found this posting that I was very impressed with. I found two actually; I’ll get the other one up momentarily, by the same author. Her blog is The Gentle Home. Check it out!

On the next two posts that you’ll see here, from this author, I have included the comments. But, not on this one.  Brittany, if you read this, I must say I’m even more impressed that you have been confronted by Satan‘s zombie soldiers, the ones that don’t even know they’re doing his work, and yet you have still pushed on. I call that the power of the Holy Ghost! Paul, and a lot of others, had and have that. Keep studying, keep praying, and keep writing. I don’t back down from Satan, but neither will I help him by pushing that extreme negative forward. 

*Somehow I was confused about Brittany’s name, it has been corrected and I apologise to her.

The Journey to Reclaim Godly Femininity Part I

29
Sep
2011
14 Comments

by thegentlehomein Motherhood, my journey with GodTags: Baby, Bible, children, Christian, Christianity, faith, God, God & Faith, kids, motherhood, parenting

We have lost so much.

I write this with a burden on my heart to reclaim something I didn’t know I was missing… until now.

I’ve been reading lately scriptures that paint a portrait of how Godly women ought to conduct themselves in speech, dress and actions. It is so much more than how we present ourselves physically (although that is important and I will share my thoughts about that later). One very beautiful description of a Godly woman is found in 1 Peter 3: 3-4:

“Do not let your adornment be merely outward, arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel- rather let it be the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.”

Portrayed here is just one lovely example of Godly femininity. She does not draw attention to herself by wearing overly fancy and expensive clothing; she is humble. She knows her true self is hidden within her (and not determined by how she looks), so she does not strive to make herself known but waits to be sought. She does not get upset when others misjudge her but has a soft and quiet way about her. Her confident beauty radiates from within, making her shine bright.

As I sit back and imagine such a beautiful creature, I am immediately convicted of my own shortcomings in my marriage, speech and conduct. But at the same time, I am inspired and uplifted by this image, filled with hope and invited to draw closer to understand and become all I was created to be.

Thinking about Godly femininity, one of the first things I asked God was, “Why is femininity so important anyway?” Especially in this world where women are encouraged to do anything a man can do. The verse that I thought about goes back to the beginning, back to Genesis where God said,

“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…So God created man in His own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:26-27 (emphasis mine)

God could have made everyone the same, but He didn’t. In His beauty He made them male and female; He made them different. (Thanks to Above Rubies for providing this insight). And in making them male and female, God chose to reveal something of His heart and His character to the world. In man, God reveals his warrior quality, His heart of action, strength and provision, and in woman God reveals His tenderness, compassion, beauty and intimacy with His beloved creation. (Isaiah 42:13-14) Oh, just to meditate on this would be enough! God is exceedingly beautiful, deep and mysterious. He is constantly, yes, lavishly pouring Himself out for us, if only we would take notice.

Two tremendously important aspects of femininity are
bearing children and breastfeeding. It is something only a woman can do, and God meant for it to be that way. His design will never change. When we go to put our baby to our breast to comfort and sustain her, we tell our children and others “God wants to comfort you, He wants to sustain you with Himself.” (Isaiah 49:14-15) Each time we conceive life and nourish it within our bodies we tell the world, “God is in the business of giving life and desires to give you new life through Himself.” Just as a baby lives and moves and has its being inside its mother, so this verse describes us as we are in Him:

“For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ “

Acts 17:28

I believe the Adversary, the devil, strives eagerly to stamp out this revelation of God’s tender compassion and care by trying to deceive us into believing that femininity is not very important and we’d do well to live our lives in search of something more fulfilling. But dear women, we have been fed a great lie! As I look at the people around me and the “pattern of this world,” it becomes clear to me that the devil, in many ways, is successfully extinguishing the beautiful, inviting, comforting light of femininity that God revealed through woman.

As women who want to embrace the call of God on our lives, who want to live deep in the design of our Maker, who want embrace with a whole and cheerful heart our feminine heart and body that were given to us- what do we do now? How do we get back to this place where being feminine is a good thing? What I know for sure is that we must renew our minds.

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (emphasis mine)

Romans 12:2

Did you catch that? All around us as women we are being told by the world and others what is good, what is nice, what we should live our lives for, what’s important. We are told that you really shouldn’t have too many babies because they are a financial and physical burden. We are told that in order to look attractive we need to wear the latest styles and fashions. We are told aging is bad thing and to be avoided as best we can. We are told that what all men care about is sex and we should display our sexuality in order to attract the man that we want. We are told submission to our husbands is outdated and ridiculous. We are told most of the Bible is ancient text and not meant for our day to day living in this modern world. We are told that God is still waiting for us to get our act together. We are told you will be beautiful if… And then we even have our own thoughts on matters, our own opinions and perceptions, misguided and based on past experiences and lies of the Enemy. So how can we ever really know the beautiful plan that our adoring Maker made for us?

“But be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

This, dear sisters, is of utmost importance in reclaiming our Godly femininity. God made you. He knows you and loves you, deeply though you’ve made mistakes and had a rebellious heart. He couldn’t stand to be apart from you, so He sent His Son into the world, through a woman and she gave birth to a little baby boy, Jesus. He took your punishment for your mistakes and rebellious heart on Himself and died on a cross to win you back for His own, not so we could continue living in fear that God wants to punish us… no, but to live with Him in right relationship to be all we should have been before the fall of man, to be all we are meant to be now, and to enjoy the fellowship of our Creator.

“…You have also become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another- to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.”

Romans 7:4

Is that not the most beautiful picture of God calling our feminine hearts to Himself? I have caught a beautiful shimmering glimpse of who I was really made to be as a woman, and it is taking my breath away. I pray this post will draw you closer to the heart of God, not to the God you think you know, but to the real heart of God. To the only One that can satisfy our feminine hearts. I pray you seek eagerly God’s word on matters such as femininity, being a wife and bearing children. I pray you will find what your precious feminine heart has always been searching for.

 

The Journey to Reclaim Godly Femininity Part II

I was doing some “tag surfing”, following some links to key words that were posted for my site to find similar sites, and I found this posting that I was very impressed with. I found two actually; I’ll get the other one up momentarily, by the same author. Her blog is The Gentle Home. Check it out!

The Journey to Reclaim Godly Femininity Part II

03
Oct
2011
6 Comments

by thegentlehomein Bible verses, my journey with GodTags: Bible, bible verse, Bible verses, faith, God, Jesus, love, marriage, scripture, woman

Last week I shared with you how my heart had been stirred to find out what Godly femininity really was- that is, what does God, as our Creator, have to say about His female creation? Surely, as our Designer He would have a few things to say to us. (Read Part I here) As a Christian woman, I knew there were certain ways I should conduct myself, but after studying a few scriptures that described femininity as God truly intended it to be (Ephesians 5: 22-24, 1 Timothy 2: 9-15, Titus 2: 3-5, 1 Timothy 5:14, 1 Peter 3: 1-6, Proverbs 31) I was shown by the perfecting light of God’s word how far I was from His original and beautiful design. And why was it I failed to find very many women who I could also look to and say- ”Yes, she follows the word of God. She is modest, loving, discreet, gentle and quiet, submissive to her husband- yes that is a Godly and feminine woman.” Although I am blessed to know some lovely Godly women! (And by submissive I just mean living in the order of the family as God made it: Christ the head of the husband, husband the head of his wife. It is not a bad thing! See Ephesians 5:22-33)

I was also shown in His word that God’s standards for maintaining purity in this world are much higher than I realized, but the end result of becoming a Godly woman much more glorious than I could have imagined! I began to have a deep “heart hunger” to reclaim the life of Godly femininity that our society has rejected but God has wondrously and clearly defined in His word, the Bible, and through Jesus given me the power to walk in it. And not only that, but to see other women also throw off all else and eagerly pursue this journey of knowing, understanding and walking in the light of the Biblical definition of what it means to be made female.

There are a lot of things I thought I would write about here in Part II…none of which I am going to do. I realized anything that I wanted to say I could not give justice to in just one or two posts. I thought I would simply leave you with some verses that may inspire you, encourage you, convict you, or just make you think. I pray you continue to study the Bible and allow it to transform you.

“Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.” Proverbs 31: 10-12

“The older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things- that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their husbands, that they word of God may not be blasphemed.” Titus 2: 3-5

“Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.” 1 Peter 3:1-2

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification…that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor.”

1 Thessalonians 4:3-4

“And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So shall your God rejoice over you.” Isaiah 62: 5

“So the King will greatly desire your beauty; Because He is your Lord, worship Him.” Psalm 45: 11

[God talking to Jerusalem, but also to us, His beloved] ” ‘You were exceedingly beautiful and succeeded to royalty. Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you,’ says the Lord God.” Ezekiel 16: 13-14 (emphasis mine. Read all of Ezekiel chapter 16- it is stunning)

There is a radiant vision of womanhood, of femininity that we have lost so much of and now are continuing to lose in this society. I am on a journey to reclaim it- for myself, for my daughter especially, but also for all the women everywhere who don’t yet know how they long to step into this place of rest. This place of Godly femininity.

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6 Comments (+add yours?)

• Linda
  Oct 03, 2011 @ 15:38:19
  

Beautiful. You do a wonderful job of writing about this subject. I will share this one also if you don’t mind.

Reply

• thegentlehome
  Oct 03, 2011 @ 21:31:47
  

Oh thank you, yes that is fine with me!

Reply

• Trackback: The Journey to Reclaim Godly Femininity Part II | Booksphotographsandartwork’s Blog
  
• Mea
  Oct 05, 2011 @ 03:04:30
  

I think you should just write. write write write! so what if you end up with Godly femininity part 1000. I think you should just do it. I think it is great you are discovering the woman God wants YOU to be! I think the only thing that made my heart sink was Identifying godly women. Its wonderful to see other women just like us but we also have to keep in mind that just because there are women not like us that doesn’t mean they are not Godly themselves. Like you I am building myself. Im doing it differently but I am still following a calling. And even though yours is different then mine, I can still see the same divine quality in you as I see in myself and many other women. Girl go deep with this. If not on your blog then in a special diary that’s for you and God. ( my mom has mountains of these journals lol). Heck write a book!. Yes you are going to piss off alot of people but atleast you are following your heart and following a greater calling rather than the latest issue of Cosmo.

Reply

• Lloyd Duncan
  Nov 05, 2011 @ 13:05:21
  

Oh, my! Your friends are correct; you have a natural talent for writing. I’m not sure how much study, if any, you put into this but, the scriptures aren’t as important as having in your heart an understanding of what God wants and that you can freely express that in your writing. I don’t know you, either, and I’m not doubting you but, if you wrote all of this out of your thoughts, whether your own or divinely inspired, you have a gift. This is the very gift I’m trying develop my self. I simply mean that what I just described happens to me some, too, and by writing more it may happen more often.

Now, here’s the important part; Even though I did like your modesty post this one seems to be, and let me explain this, more righteous! You may say what’s the difference. I’m about to post a study, a revelation, on the core, deeper understanding of righteousness in about a week or so, come see it. And I wish I had mentioned this in the comments to you and your friend Mea yesterday. Anyway, here’s the point, righteousness is much more than “just right living”, as I have often heard it explained. The core definition is to put God first! And that’s what you’ve done here. In modesty for yourself it is ok to help your brothers not to lust, as the other blog you linked to pointed out. It is ok to want to fit in at church, or make a statement of your femininity. However, those things MUST be the after-thought. You must do all things for God first. In this post you stayed right on track with stating what God desired in these issues and that you were wanting to do these things for Him. I’m glad you see the ways that you can help others by living for God but, helping men not to lust, being submissive to your husband and ALL that other stuff HAS TO BE the beneficial by-product of doing it because The Lord wants it done. Have a great day, and thanks. PS: I’d like to put some of these on my site, if you don’t mind?

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• thegentlehome
  Nov 05, 2011 @ 14:59:03
  

Thank you again for your honest comments, I appreciate them! I certainly don’t mind if you want to share the posts, I am encouraged knowing that my writing may be an encouragement to someone else. I think I do understand what you are saying…that everything should be done because you love the Lord first, because more than anything you are listening to the Holy Spirit and following what He says, not because of any other reason- no matter how well meaning.