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Getting somewhere requires effort, it takes
faith to push on, it's easy to screw up,
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Thursday, June 19, 2014
Beating Anxiety Search
me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. ~ Psalm 139:23
The difference between anxiety and fear?
Answer: the
reality of the event occurring.
Fear
is a response to a real or imminent threat but anxiety is
an expectation of a threat to come.
Fear is important to avoid danger, anxiety has little value
other than to drain us of our strength, overload our emotion and drag us into depression.
Being a little anxious is normal but extended period of anxiety
are dangerous and to be avoided.
How do we avoid anxiety as Christians?
We need to remember God controls the universe and loves us. Really!
Think about
what that means. God controls the universe. Is the cause of our anxiety in this universe? Probably!
God controls it!
What should we do?
How about we do what Peter says we should do with it, in relation
to God…
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.-1 Peter 5:7
Pray!
Tell God about what is making us anxious and ask him to take control of it.
Let it go!
Otherwise as Solomon warns us….
What do people get for all the toil and anxious
striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not
rest. This too is meaningless. Ecclesiastes 2:22
We don’t need that!
In fact Paul gives us the advice, “Do not be anxious about anything,
but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6
Wise words!
Whether
it is a self-conscious anxiety, a test or performance dread, a fear of strangers, crowd and social interactions, a trait picked
up from parents and family, choice indecision, please reject it all and hand it over to God who can deal with it.
Accept
God as the family member that makes the difference, ask
him to help with the specific things we need to have dealt with, let’s step into life and lovingly help others instead
of focusing on ourselves, lets ask for medical help if we need it but know that God’s Holy Spirit with us makes the
huge difference. We are not alone. The God of the universe is right with us. In fact within us to guide us.
Now isn’t that great!
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
What do you think, should young people submit to elders?What do you
think, should young people submit to elders?
 "We live in a decaying age. Young people no longer respect their parents. They are rude and impatient. They frequently
inhabit taverns and have no self control." ~ attributed to an inscription in an Ancient Egyptian tomb
People often say to me that young
people today tend to be disrespectful.
I always ask them to observe how teenagers get treated by staff in shops and stores and see the disrespect that is fed
into them. Particularly if they are dressed differently sporting body art and metal. I ask them if those young people have
had the joy of living in a home where parents have respected each other and stayed together or have they lived in divorce
abuse and rejection. I ask if parent try to buy affection with money instead of respect.
Teenagers often disrespect elders. Elders
however disrespect teenagers too!
Why?
Why do we disrespect each other?
I know that I’m still a teenager at heart but being at the age I am loosing
hair and my youthful 4min 40s a KM run has turned to 5min 3s, I am actually quite a bit older.
I spend time each week doing things with young people as we
have them in our home doing rock climbing and we do things together. They are wonderful and I never feel disrespected or would
even consider disrespecting these wonderful people.
Yet I see them abused by other adults. I also see them get sullen and angry when others
treat them badly. Some of them respond by disrespecting these other adults.
Why?
One of the reasons is people judge from appearances and do not take
time to get to know people.
That’s more an older folk problem!
Another
reason is some older folk seem to think that age gives them the right to spin stories without having to validate them, or establish rules and regulations that
favor themselves unfairly.
Today young people pick up their phone and check out information for truthfulness.
You lie, you lose! We need to remember that and as a Christian we should not lie.
Next we are the generation that has abused wealth at the expense of our world creating
a place that is endangered for our next generations. How respectful is that?
Yes, youth should respect elders. They should respect loving, truthful, concerned, and wise Christian
men and women who uphold God’s law in their hearts with love.
Is that the type of adults we see around us?
Really?
That’s the type of adults Peter references as elders when he says..
You who are
younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.
Good advice to young people, provided those of us who are “elders” do our part.
Right?
Wed, June 18, 2014 | link
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Shepherd leaders … that’s the Christian wayShepherd leaders
… that’s the Christian way
 A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.~ John C. Maxwell
Shepherd leaders are servant leaders.
“The
servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious
choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the
need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are
two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.”
Robert Greenleaf (Wikipedia)
What he was saying is supportive of what the great man Peter, who led the church and who also said in 1 Peter 5…
“Be
shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are
willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you,
but being examples to the flock.”
People are under the care of a leader. Entrusted to them by God. Christian leaders must also watch over them as God does.
Love must be the first aspect of this. Love for God first and others second. No one that is a Christian leader must be in
that position by force, it is one that grows naturally from our love of God that seems to extend out to those around us and
then as God enables us with gifts, we want to provide them to others and in the service of others.
Christian leaders do not lead in return
for being paid money,
although all leaders need to be correctly cared for themselves and should be given a good wage(the churches often pay leaders
like paupers, and that is sinful). A true leader looks first to their peoples own good rather than their own. As leaders our
love grows daily and with it, we grow into the area where God provides special anointing’s of his power and love, so
we can extend these to others.
Righteousness with God is the prime quality and the prime strength is love.
There are a number of areas that get developed
and are central to servant leadership. Servant leaders are known to be good listeners and for having empathy. They have a
focus on building and healing. They want to see others become whole and strong. For them to grow spiritually, emotionally
and be able to take care of themselves. They want others to understand and be persuaded by truth. They understand the complexities
of life with god and find ways of making the complex simpler so others can understand. They can link the now to the future
and explain current actions by relating them to biblical principles from the past. They have a deep understanding of where
to go and why. An intuitive (spiritually led) understanding of directions and paths to take.
They have a solid financial understanding of life and yet also
understand the depths of working this with God’s leading. They grow those around them carefully considering their communities
needs and the need to build community.
Being a Christian leader is not a work, but a vocation.
The difference between a job and a vocation is in the calling. A Christian
leader is not there by their choice, but by God’s call.
The ancient shepherd knew each sheep’s name, called them and
led them by going out in front and they followed.
Our leaders need to do
this if they are to lead well.
We need to pray for our leaders. It can be a hard and strangely enough a lonely position sometimes.
Let’s pray for our leaders today!
Tue, June 17, 2014 | 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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