Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: listen to your Intuition. It is much wiser than you realise

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: others might be more similar to us than we realise

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: desperation blocks confidence and success

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: when you lose touch with Him, just ask for His presence and He will come.

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: exercise strengthens spiritual protection

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: you are wiser and stronger than you realise.

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: letting go of the past is a process. Sometimes all you need to do is go through it.

Notes from Billy Graham's "Angels"

This book caught my attention at the church library a couple of weeks ago.

This subject has come up a few times in conversations with a good friend of mine (who is a liberal Muslim by the way) and online through people's posts (yes, I do believe God works through social media!).

I'm not a fan of Billy Graham. In fact, I don't know much about him. From the little I've heard, it seems like he is a bit of an extremist. But I believe in listening to everyone with a critical mind instead of jumping into conclusions, pigeonholing people and shutting them off.

Anyway, I found a few interesting quotes on this book that I wanted to keep for myself (and maybe others might enjoy it too).

So here it goes:

p.27

"Christians must never fail to sense the operation of angelic glory. It forever eclipses the world of demonic powers (...)".

" (...) expect powerful angels to accompany you in your life experiences."

p. 28

"(...) his [the devil's] evil activities are countered for the people of God by His ministering spirits, the holy ones of the angelic order. They are vigorous in delivering the heirs of salvation from the stratagems of evil men. They cannot fail."

Psalm 91:11-22

p. 36

"(...) angelic presences are in control of the battlefield about us, so that we may stand with complete confidence in the midst of the fight."

Romans 8:31

"(...) angels have a beauty and a variety that surpasses anything known to men."

"The joy of sex in this life may be only a foretaste of something that [people] will enjoy in heaven which is far beyond anything man has ever known."

p. 41

This is a quote from John Calvin's "Institutes": "The angels are the dispensers and administrators of the Divine beneficence toward us; they regard our safety, undertake our defence, direct our ways, and exercise a constant solicitude that no evil befall us".

pp. 42-43

Angels can be classified as fallen (aka devils) and non fallen.
Angels fall on their own (they are not enticed to sin), therefore [? I don't get the rationale behind that] their sinful state cannot be altered. Their sin cannot be forgiven, their salvation cannot be achieved, they cannot be redeemed (by the Father [via Jesus' death on the cross]). They are in revolt against God and will never voluntarily accept His sovereign leadership, except in Judgement Day (Philippians 2:9-10).
"Father" is normally reserved in Scripture for lost men (as opposed to angels) who have been redeemed. Moreover [according to Billy's denomination (?)] only men who are born again should use the term.

p. 43

"Christians are joint heirs with Christ (...)" (Romans 8:17) and angels are not.

pp.99-101

Stories about how angles protect people. Read them here.

pp. 101-102

"Every true believer in Christ should be encouraged and strengthened! Angels are watching; they mark our path. They superintend the interest of the Lord God, always working to promote His plans and bring about His highest will for us.(...) God assigns angelic powers to watch over us"

Psalm 34:7

p.103

"(...) individual guardian, guiding angels attend at least some of our ways and hover protectively over our lives."

p. 104

"Angels never minister selfishly; they serve so that all glory may be given to God as believers are strengthened."

p.105

"(...) angles will minister to all the heirs of faith."

"If we, the sons of God, would only realise how close His ministering angels are, what calm assurance we could have in facing the cataclysms of life."

"While we do not place our faith directly in angels, we should place it in the God who rules the angels (...)".

Verse of the Day

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. Romans 8:5 NIV

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: focus on what you can do and have faith that God will do what you can't.

Quote of the Day

Prayer of Thanks (by Joyce Meyer): I am grateful that You are always doing special things in my life, Lord, and I pray that I will recognize them and be generous in my praise and gratitude. Help me to live amazed!

New Year's Resolutions

I was doing one of my annual rituals: replacing my 2015 wall calendar with the 2016 one.
I noticed the resolutions I jotted down (and never got around to writing them as SMART goals).

I read them and discovered that I achieved 4 out of the 12 resolutions I made one year ago.
Some are on the way to being accomplished in 2016.
Others I changed plans throughout the year.
Some were too vague ("eat more fish").
Others were postponed because life got in the way.

But you know what? I'm not bothered by the ones I didn't achieve.
I used to be a perfectionist, but I've learned to love myself as I am (a big part of that is knowing that I don't have to be perfect in order for God to love me).

Instead, I chose to focus on the resolutions I did achieve.
Some of them had been on my to do list for a long time ("get G drivers licence").
I chose to be proud of myself, and what I have accomplished.

Life is about choices. Being happy is a choice.
Start practising with the small things and you will be able to do it with the big ones - like resolutions.

Lesson of the day

The more you follow your Intuition, the better you get at hearing It - and the better your life gets.

Quote of the day

Quote of the day: Most Christians spend more time watching TV than they do with the Word of God. It should be the opposite. - Andrew Wommack

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: wishing success to those who have taken advantage of you is hard. It takes time to turn hate into love. But when you are able to change the feelings you have towards them, it is extremely gratifying.
Keep asking God/the Universe to help you get there.

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: when you are in touch with God, He can answer your wishes almost immediately

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: every moment is a great moment when you are focused on thankfulness.

Reflections on Remembrance Day

(C) Lynne Kirton

I attended a Remembrance Day service on Sunday.

As they read the name of fallen soldiers from the community, I was surprised and sad. There were so many names! It felt like the list would never end.

I kept thinking of those young soldiers. Did they know what they were getting themselves into? How brave they were! But also probably conflicted (from the movies I've seen it seems there was a conflict between going to war and preserving one's life - a natural human instinct). How hard it must have been for them to make the choice to serve.

What horrors they must have seen. I remembered scenes from shows like Downtown Abbey and Land Girls: bullets hissing, bombs exploding on the ground, dead bodies all around.  How scary that must have been. I also wondered how they dealt with the conflict between defending your country and not taking someone else's life. I know that God forgave them, but how did they forgive themselves? It must be hard.

Then I thought of the mothers and wives. How powerless they must have felt. There was nothing they could do to save the lives of those men. I understood their urge to become nurses, work in bomb factories, and so on.

I felt their grief. The pain and the anger. The anger I've felt so many times when I lost someone close to me. The "why, God, why" feeling. I thought of my own life's purpose and what I've been focusing on in the last 2 years: spirituality, religion, helping churches so that they in turn can help people be happier. What's the point of all this? If in the end we couldn't save those poor men's lives?

I kept trying to think of a theological explanation for that. Why did those men die? Why didn't God save them? I know that "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." (Isaiah 26:3 KJV) I've been able to overcome a lot of problems in my life by searching for Inner Peace. I've been able to heal a lot of things in my own body by trusting in Him (more on that on another post). But it must be hard to stay focused on peace while you are trying to kill someone else, while bombs are exploding all around you, while dealing with all those conflicting feelings, while trying to forgive oneself. Is that why they died?

I know the devil led us to war (or in secular terms, fear and negativity led us to war). Did those men unknowingly attract the devil (or in new age terms, did they attract negative energy) which increased their chances of death by choosing to go to war?

My current mode of living is to avoid dwelling on negativity (or in Christian terms, avoid thinking about the devil) as much as possible. I imagined God whispering in those soldier's ears, to dock down as a bullet was about to hit them, to take a wider step as they were about to set foot on a mine.  Or an even better thought: God was screaming at them, as loud as He could. Some could hear His voice (as an Intuition) and others couldn't. Is that why some of them died? That is the only theological explanation I can find that fits with my "God is 100% good" philosophy.

As I muddled through these feelings, of grief, fear, conflict, I thought of the comfort that focusing on God's love has given me throughout the past 2 years. I realised that I might not be sure as to why so many men died, but I do know that He was always there to comfort us. I imagined God comforting a soldier as he tried to forgive himself for killing another human being. I imagined God comforting a mother as she dealt with the loss of her son.

As we stood up and sang "O' Canada", I felt a strong sense of community and belonging. And then, the verse "we stand en garde for thee" finally came alive in me. Those soldiers stood en garde for Canada, for our Sovereign, for our freedoms. That verse is in the anthem because of them. From now on I will think of them when I sing it.

After the service, I had the pleasure of hearing the stories of Major Alan Haywood. I intentionally went up to him and asked him to share his stories with me. I'm a good listener and I love being there for people. So I thought that was the best way for me to honour a veteran and truly be a part of Remembrance Day. He made history come to life for me and I helped him keep the memory alive.

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: known your limits and learn to respect them

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: do what is within your power to fix a problem and then let The Universe take care of the rest.