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Getting somewhere requires effort, it takes
faith to push on, it's easy to screw up,
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Friday, July 13, 2012
Distributing God’s love, a week of mission
What if we discovered a cure for HIV or cancer? What would we do with it?
Would we put the document describing it into a drawer, close it and walk away?
No way!
We would do whatever we could to
ensure those needing the cure could get it right?
That’s the way I feel about the good news of Jesus.
I really want to get it out there. One of the ways we can show this is through helping those who through lifes circumstances
are unable to help themselves.
That’s why this week my wife and I are taking some young people to Tijuana Mexico into the slums to build
homes for unfortunate Mexican people. It will be hot hard work in a thirsty environment. We will be sleeping on the
ground and working every day.
You prayers are desired as we expect that God will send us into unusual situations and work in special ways. It is challenging,
hard terrain and also not the safest area so we need God’s protection as well.
Blogging will only continue on 23rd July
since the place we are going to has not internet coverage. In fact it has very little electricity!
If you wish to follow what we will be
doing, blogs from a previous trip are listed in day order below explaining typical events that happen.
May you have a wonderful week, enjoy some
of the historical blogs or review the top ten and I will be back with fresh insights on the 23rd.
Baja Mission 2010 – Day one
Baja Mission 2010 - Day 2
Baja Mission day three
Baja Mission – Day four
Baja Mission – Day fiveBaja Mission - Day 6
May God work mightily!
God bless you today!
Thursday, July 12, 2012
May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing in your eyes
The teenage girl stood glaring at her mother! How dare her mother speak to her
that way! What right did her mother have to say that she could not go out to the party? Anger flashed in her eyes
but she hid it quickly.
Her mother standing at the sink washing the dinner plates didn’t see it and so didn’t respond.
The teenager went up to her
room, locked the door, changed, put her music on loudest she could and then crept out her window and went to the party anyway!
That was the night the police bust up the party and a number of teens were taken in for underage drinking and causing public
disturbance. She was among them!
Doesn’t rebellion sometimes turn against us?
All of us have times when we just want to turn away and rebel. All of us have times when we decide that
we just don’t want to do the right thing.
Most of us regret it later!
Psalm 19 says the following
7 The law of the Lord
is perfect.
It gives us new strength.
The laws of the
Lord can be trusted.
They make childish people wise.
8 The
rules of the Lord are right.
They give joy to our hearts.
The
commands of the Lord shine brightly.
They give light to our minds.
9
The law that brings respect for the Lord is pure.
It lasts forever.
The
directions the Lord gives are true.
All of them are completely right.
10
They are more priceless than gold.
They have greater value than huge amounts of
pure gold.
They are sweeter than honey
that is taken from
the honeycomb.
11 I am warned by them.
When I obey them,
I am greatly rewarded.
12 Can I know my mistakes?
Forgive
my hidden faults.
13 Keep me also from the sins I want to commit.
May
they not be my master.
Then I will be without blame.
I will
not be guilty of any great sin against your law.
14 Lord, may the words of my mouth and the thoughts
of my heart
be pleasing in your eyes.
You
are my Rock and my Redeemer.
The direction
of the Lord are perfect, completely right and more priceless than gold.
Like the teenager, we can ignore them! Sometimes we get away with it,
the results seem to be beneficial, but over time, ignoring them gets us into difficulties.
On the other hand following God’s instruction always leads
in the right direction for a positive rewarding life.
The choice is ours! No-one makes it for us. The consequences are ours as well!
So today,
lets know that God’s laws are to be trusted.
Let’s live life fully knowing we are heading to eternal reward.
Lord, may the words
of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart
be pleasing in your eyes.
Have a wonderful, God blessed
day!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Is it humanly possible to live a good, right and pure life?
“May you grow up to be righteous, may you grow up to be true.
May you always know the truth and see the lights surrounding you. May you always be courageous, stand upright and be strong.
May you stay forever young.” ~ Bob Dylan
A young man was overheard on the phone in a crowded airport
terminal saying “My life is all $#@!$ and now I have screwed up again!” He went on to explain to the unseen listener how he had lied, been caught, lost his job, that he
was in debt and that he didn’t know what to do.
We may not be in as bad a situation as that, but sometimes we also get a view of ourselves
that shows up the negative traits we have.
These are not good times! The darkness of life can close in on us and suppress our joy, dragging us into the depths of despair.
Often we can start asking what is the value of our life. Circumstances seem to attack us and often there seems to
be no way out!
This has been an experience of mine in the past,
but fortunately now, as the years mount up, I have learned the value of living in righteousness.
What does that mean?
It means now I try to do what I believe God wants in light of my understanding of all
the guidelines he has given us in his book of life, the bible.
The darkness that threatens us comes due to the selfish, ignorant and nasty things
we do, the sin!
God’s
guidelines show us the way out, not the easy way, but the right way.
To live in this right way means living in the power of Holy Spirit on a minute-by-minute
basis, telling God of our screw-ups, being forgiven, and then putting them aside with the focus of never repeating them.
Even with this right living,
sometimes situations of darkness seem to overtake us doesn’t it?
That’s when it is worth reading Psalm 18.
It shows how God steps up to push aside these insidious nasty dark forces. It shows how much he love to help those
who love him. Part of it says...
20 The Lord
has been good to me because I do what is right.
He has rewarded me because I lead a pure life.
21 I
have lived the way the Lord wanted me to.
I haven't done evil by turning away from my God.
22 I keep
all of his laws in mind.
I haven't turned away from his commands.
23 He knows that I am without blame.
He knows I've kept myself from sinning.
24 The Lord has rewarded me for doing what is right.
He
has rewarded me because I haven't done anything wrong.
25 Lord, to those who are faithful you show that you
are faithful.
To those who are without blame you show that you are without blame.
26 To those who are
pure you show that you are pure.
But to those whose paths are crooked you show that you are clever.
27
You save those who aren't proud.
But you bring down those whose eyes are proud.
God wants to help those who do their best to live life
doing what is right!
Christians
can do this! We can ask for forgiveness the moment we slip up and then move on in purity and right living. To do
this we have to know what God’s word says and that means reading that rather complex book, the bible. Then we can follow
the commands given to keep us safe.
Living
each day blameless and in a good solid manner is hugely rewarding.
Stepping out to help others do the same gives solid placement of ones feet as we step through life to our eternal reward.
God is good! It takes courage to admit it and start the journey to power and light! Nevertheless, it is worth it!
Today, if you started
out feeling a bit down on yourself, know this...God created you and it was good! You have eternal value in the eyes of the eternal God. All we have to do to claim this is talk to
God, admit our failings, and ask him to help. Then our day can resume with eternal guidance.
Have a wonderful God filled day today!
Wed, July 11, 2012 | link
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Honeymooners, the bible suggest make it an event of a year! “Honeymoon lasts not nowadays above a fortnight.”
~ Samuel Richardson
Thinking of getting married? Excited, some trepidation,
but elated that you have found that right someone for your life, or at least think so? These are some of the thoughts
and driving emotions experienced in that time before the marriage event.
Today
however, this is period of high enjoyment and excitement is reduced by the living together before marriage .
It is reduce by that casual sex occurring before marriage meaning that the excitement and anticipation of something new,
wonderful and special is replaced by a rather deflated “oh, it will be good, but I already know that!”
type of attitude.
We could argue the rightness and wrongness
of this, but that’s not the point of this blog.
The point is that God wants great sex for Christians and wants us to get the most out of it from the first
time we experience it.
Why do we think
that?
Well, there is a guideline that says wait to have
sex in a relationship where you are sure (as is possible) you won’t get dumped. Where there is a price for dumping ones
partner! It says get God involved in that commitment and make it a serious non-revokable commitment. It promotes marriage!
Security and a feeling of safety
and intimacy definitely enhance the sexual experience.
Then,
by establishing this period of anticipation, the excitement is increased and this makes that event something
special. This makes that first sexual experience at least a bit more special that the more customary sweaty first sex somewhere
around the locker room, or on the back seat of a car, or secretly listening for the sound of returning parents!
God wants more for us in mutual sex than these lesser valuable first events just described.
Then, when we are married and have that first period of sex, God wants the honeymoon to be a period where we focus on each other for a YEAR!
Yes! Read Deuteronomy 24:5
5 Suppose a man has just gotten married. Then don't send
him into battle. Don't give him any other duty either. He's free to stay home for one year. He needs time
to make his new wife happy.
That’s right!
God wants young couples focusing on each other without other interferences that can lessen the events for a whole
year. He wants our employers to know this.
Wow, what a different world that would be if people could do this!
I guess financial reasons get in the way, but if young couples plan not to leave each other in a different city for work reasons
or anything else, they would probably be complying with the guideline in a modern sense.
God
wants time for good bonding between husband and wife.
Also, notice the guy must make the
girl happy! Guys, this means you have to learn loving is more than satisfying oneself, and then assuming our women
are satisfied. Right? It takes a year of commitement and practice to get this skill, according to God. He wants us guys
to spend that first year finding new ways to make her happy! Isn't that great ?
That puts that week or two of honeymoon vacation into perspective, doesn’t
it? All that week or two of honeymoon represents is the opening curtain to
a year of entertainment, followed by a lifetime of love and caring for each other.
Our God understand how important sex is in our lives! He even understands how to increase
the satisfaction of mutual sex to higher levels than non-spiritual people can experience. See my blog on Great erotic lovemaking and why Christians can do it better!
Somehow, the media has more prevalently portrayed the negative
aspects of Christian sex. They are down on it because many Christian men and women want to save themselves for the special
person that they want to spend their lives with. In the modern turmoil of today perhaps this is seen as negative. Are the
media perhaps wrong? I think so!
The
media avoids revealing all the wonderful positive aspects of sex that many Christians enjoy!
I do so hope that today’s blog has revealed some new perspectives on this ancient discussion.
Have a wonderful day, and then if you are married go home, and hug
your spouse. Perhaps even start with an unexpected phone call just to communicate they are important and you are thinking
of them sometime before you get home. Then, perhaps with true love, the evening could be quite special!
Enjoy! Praise God!
Tue, July 10, 2012 | link
Monday, July 9, 2012
Those pre-prepared prayers... what is their value anyhow?
“There is a vast difference between saying prayers and praying” Have
you ever picked up one of those books full of “inspirational” prayers and thought about their worth?
I
have!
To understand how I feel. you will have to imagine you
have children (even if you don’t), and consider my comments from that perspective.
I look at pre-written prayers and think...what if someone prepared a series of responses or requests for
my kids, so they could read them to me. How effective would that be?
How
effective would it be, if they were prepared for my neighbours kids and I knew that my kids had got hold of it somehow, and
now were re-peating them to me, at a time when we should be talking to each other?
I wonder if you can understand
the feelings that could be aroused by that type of behaviour?
Yet, isn’t that just what we do with pre-prepared prayers?Jesus said...
5 "When you pray, do not be like those who only pretend to be holy. They love to stand and pray
in the synagogues and on the street corners. They want to be seen by others. What I'm about to tell you is true. They have
received their complete reward.
6 "When you pray, go into your room. Close the door and pray to your Father, who
can't be seen. He will reward you. Your Father sees what is done secretly.
7 "When you pray,
do not keep talking on and on the way ungodly people do. They think they will be heard because they talk a lot.
8
Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need even before you ask him.”
Key point to understand is perhaps “Your Father knows what you need even before you ask him ”
When we write out a prayer, it is a bit like writing an email to a person with intensely
personal content. It is between God and us.
So a prayer for our own use is fine but one written
by another is different isn’t it?It is as different as a personal letter
is from a public notice. We need the public notice, but when we want to be personal, we don’t really put it in a public
format.
Yet, even Jesus understood a need to explain how people should pray,
because directly after he had made the statement quoted above, he goes on to explain how to pray by giving the example of
the prayer we all now know as the “our Father”
"This is how you should pray.
" 'Our Father in heaven,
may your name be honored.
10 May your kingdom come.
May what you want to happen be done
on earth as it is done in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our sins,
just as we also have
forgiven those who sin against us.
13 Keep us from falling into sin when we are tempted.
Save us from
the evil one.' 14 "Forgive people when they sin against you. If you do, your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you. 15
But if you do not forgive people their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Jesus understood we needed an example to help us to pray correctly.
I guess in my analogy, it’s a bit like having a six or
seven year old, who gets some writing or statement from a neighbour that they have heard and think it would be really nice
for me to know. Then they come to me and to carefully try to read it out, because they want me to understand that is a better
way of saying what they would find difficult to say.
In this case, I think any of us would appreciate the effort
and honesty of this approach and would think well of the little child.
Similarly,
when we get these inspirational prayers, it is the reason and depth of our feelings for God, and the intimacy of our relationship
with God, that makes them worthwhile, not the words!
Simple regurgitation
of others words (and worse, repeated regurgitation) does not establish any of the correct responses and attitudes that
we should have in place in talking to God.
That’s
why I am so very careful of pre-written prayers!
I know God has appreciated their construction
at the time they were constructed. He knows why we are praying and what it will be about. The value of prayer is in the connection
with God and how the prayers change me at the time.
That young child
who finds something special to read for the parent gains from that reading as much as the parent does.
To both,
the moment is precious, but to the young child there is an added value of gaining words so that next time they can use them
spontaneously in the correct manner.
Perhaps, that’s the real
value of these pre-written prayers? Perhaps they give us words to use in our intimate discussions with God.
Something to think about as we pray today isn’t it?
Mon, July 9, 2012 | link
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If you want to see a short blog describing a perspective on what I believe click here
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Rift in Evil
By Ken
X Briggs - Published: September, 2010
- Format: Perfect Bound Softcover(B/W)
- Pages: 208
Size:
6x9 - ISBN: 9781450250894
Available from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iUniverse. |
Credit cards are acceptable on sites having Ken's books: 
:)
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Click
on XML Click here =>  to be told of new blogs
| Ken's book covers are displayed below. . . | |  This
suspense thriller centers on Kiara, a beautiful young woman pursued by a murderous group of people, who relentlessly and ruthlessly
hunt her and her sisters. Kiara has no idea why she is being targeted! When Kiara and her family turn to the law for help,
this fails. Her pursuers’ powers reach deeply into the political and law enforcement world. Family support for her dwindles
when they too have to flee her pursuers. Can Kiara escape the clutches of both the law and dishonest big business? With the
media broadcasting that Kiara and friends are dangerous and subversive, can Kiara clear her name and bring her pursuers to
justice?
| | | | | To purchase Kiara's Pursuer ebook
@ $1.99 kindle version click here, To contact the author contact Author@KenXBriggs.com | | | | | | | | The town of Zinaville is dropped into a spiral of evil causing a young man and a beautiful but abused woman
to launch into an investigation that unveils an evil conspiracy. A horrific mining accident results in Joshua
Robyn's father being killed. Joshua struggles both with himself and his townsfolk as he tries to make sense of an incomprehensible
situation. Is it an accident or a murder? Why is there a seeming link to evil? Why is his work environment suddenly threatening?
What is the conspiracy about and what are they trying to do? As action moves dramatically from exotic African grasslands to
the heart of North America's cities, the plot unfolds and the pace quickens. Will there be time? Why is a beautiful abused
young woman in the center of this plot? Evil tendrils tighten on their lives and the interplay between the visible
and invisible world shows opposing forces at work. Will there be a rift in evil? Will they be able to stop the
evil in time? | | - Published: September, 2010
- Format: Perfect
Bound Softcover(B/W)
- Pages: 208
Size: 6x9 - ISBN: 9781450250894
Available
from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iUniverse. Chapters | | | | |
| Frugal Eating Advice |
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| Good advice for students living on limited $'s. Click on the image! |
May you be blessed today!
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