Simply Spiritual

There is a solution to every problem, no matter how difficult or hopeless it may seem.  When faced with serious problems, sometimes the “if only” complaint is the order of the day:

“If only I had gone to College”, “if only I had listened to my parents”, “if only I had taken that other job”, “if only I had married someone else”, etc.

Sometimes the blame is placed on other people rather than ourselves, but at the end of the day it is still up to us to find a solution to the problem.

Laying blame, making excuses or running away from the problem will not accomplish anything.  Even if we get advice from friends or family or seek professional counselling, we must still take the initiative to make the change, to actually do something about resolving the issue.

Being proactive makes you a better person.  It helps to build self confidence and self esteem, it even draws you closer to God.

When problems get out of hand, God is your final lifeline.  When you feel hopeless, when it seems as there is no solution whatsoever, God is there to help.  But you must call on Him.  You must take that stand and reach out to Him and everything will be alright in the end.

Always remember that, and problem solving, no matter how difficult the issue is, will become a breeze.

“Give all your worries and cares to God for He cares about what happens to you.”  I Peter 5:7

You know the only way to lead a successful spiritual life and to achieve total righteousness is to open up your whole life to God.  Sometimes there is one thing in our life that we are not willing to change, something that we hold back for ourselves.

Sometimes we are not even aware that we are holding back something from God because the attitude is so ingrained in us that it becomes second nature. It may be something simple as laziness, selfishness or pride.  Or, it may be a grudge against someone that is very hard to forgive.

Our spiritual life will not be made perfect if we keep certain aspects of it closed to God.  There is no other person in the entire world who understands us more than God.  If we don’t strive to get rid of bad habits and attitudes then it can totally destroy our lives.

This is what happened to King Solomon.  Solomon built a successful and thriving Kingdom.  In the beginning he was totally committed to God and built a beautiful temple to honour Him.  But Solomon’s greatest weakness was women.  He had a very large harem which included a large number of foreign women.  These women continued to practice their pagan religions and encouraged Solomon to do the same.  As a result the Kingdom he built was divided after his death.  (See Kings chapter 11).

It is a fact that we all have weaknesses and sometimes we don’t want to it out in the open.  We may successfully hide from others, but God knows what’s in our heart.  We need to confess and open up to Him if we are to effectively deal with those weaknesses.  It is imperative that we do so if we are to continue on the road to righteous living as smoothly as possible.

In life we are always learning.  As children we learn to walk, to talk, to read and to write.  As we grow into adults, we learn to develop different skills as we choose a career, to play an instrument or play a sport.  Life is all about learning.

At first, you will make mistakes as it is not possible to get things perfect at once. After a while, you will get better until you are a pro.  Then you are no longer a student, but have reached the level when you can now teach others.

It takes time to develop any skill or talent and as each year passes by you will notice how much you have progressed from the year before.  For some people, the learning years are not easy.  There is frustration, boredom, monotony and sometimes even depression.  To give up might seem the only solution, but these emotions are only natural as this is all part of the learning process, and also a part of life.  If everything came easy then there will be no experience to learn from, no building of character.  If everything was easy then life will certainly be boring and less challenging.  Each year we progress, lifts us to a higher a plane, to a higher level of achievement and satisfaction.

In this life we are in training for a higher purpose.  There will be times of frustration yes, but a lot more times of accomplishments and success.  We must keep an eye on the goal and that goal is to be with God in His Kingdom.

The Apostle Paul put it nicely as he came to the end of his journey of life:

“As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God… I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.  And now the prize awaits me – the crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous Judge will give me on that great day of his return.  And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to His glorious return.” 2 Timothy 4:7

Make this year the one you get closer to the prize – the crown of righteousness.

Life Mapping: A Vision of Success

Well, another year has gone by.  The last time I made a post was in May 2010. Did not realize it was so long.  I have been busy with so many things, but most importantly my studies.

My Bachelor in Theology course is so intense it takes up a lot of time in terms of research and writing my summaries.  That, plus up-keeping my website and of course family duties.

This year though, 2011, I want to post more regularly and I will use material I gathered for my course.  I have learnt so much and written so much that I feel I must share it with others.  This is also encouraged by the Principal of Trinity, Dr. Johnson C. Philip.

I must say that this Ministry I have chosen has brought me so much blessings for 2010, I look forward to continuing God’s work and the blessings it brings for 2011.

Each year that passes brings us closer to Jesus’ second coming and the signs are certainly there.  So many negative things are happening world wide that no Christian can doubt we are living in the end times.  I fear that this year will be just as bad or even worse than last year, but the good news is, God’s Kingdom is near.

I wish everyone all God’s blessings for 2011 and I hope that we can all grow closer to our spiritual goals, not only for this year, but beyond also.

The road ahead is all that matters, there is no point looking back.  Dwelling on the past will only cause you to lose out on a bright and exciting future.  Admittedly, the journey ahead may be difficult and challenging and even sometimes scary, but there is no point turning back because that will only cause you to fail.

In the Christian life this is especially true.   Once you have made a commitment to serve God and leave behind a life of sin, that commitment is for a lifetime.  You can’t go back to your former life.  To do so means death – especially spiritual death.

Lot’s Wife Looked Back

The best example of this is Lot’s wife.  You will find the story in Genesis 19.

The Lord was about to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for their atrocious sins.  The Lord decided to save Lot and his family because of his righteousness.  The angel of the Lord told Lot to take his wife and daughters and flee the city immediately.  He also told them to not look back otherwise they will die (verse 17).  However, Lot’s wife could not help herself; she looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt (verse 26).

You see, by looking back essentially she was saying, “I will miss this place despite all the wrong acts it committed.”

Change for the Better

The Christian life means change for the better.  A life filled with blessings and accomplishments.  In Proverbs it states:  “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.”  (Proverbs 26:11)

Don’t be a fool and keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again, but keep working to improve your life and you will reap the rewards.

Road not Easy, but Rewarding

A Christian life may not be easy as you will not always get the things you want when you want it, as well as face persecution from those who are against your beliefs.  But despite the trials, it is a much better life than one lived apart from Jesus.  The bible teaches that:

“There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.  These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure… So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring much praise and glory and honour on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world”. I Peter 1:6-7

Your trials help you to build faith and not to mention the great reward you will receive when Jesus Christ returns.  If you give up, you will lose.

Keep looking at the road and ahead and at no time look back, because God is at the end of the road.

Recently on the Discovery Channel, there was a series called ‘Life’.  The series focused on the extraordinary life of plants and animals and was filmed across every continent and took four years to produce.  I must admit, the cinematography was brilliant, and it turned out to be a masterpiece of a show in my opinion.

The show was narrated by Oprah Winfrey who did a really great job of it.  The only thing though was during the narration you heard the words ‘evolution’ and ‘evolutionary’.  However what this series proved to me more than anything else was that there is truly a Creator God.

The actions of the plants and animals which the producers of the show captured told me that intelligent design is in force.  No way can evolution produce such antics and behaviours from these creatures.

The series on plants was truly magnificent.  Plants really have a life and intelligence of their own.  We take them for granted, but with the latest time-lapse technology, the producers showed how plants live and survive like any other creature.

There was this particular vine called the ‘Cat’s Claw Creeper’, that had claw like leaves that gripped unto the tree it used to climb up seeking light.  The filming of this was excellent as it showed you the vine literally climbing up to its destination.  They also showed how the famous Venus Flytrap captured its victim, imprisoning it in its ‘jaws’.  Truly amazing!

Then the episode on birds showed the male Vogelkop Bowerbirds building intricate structures and beautifully decorating them to attract a mate.  These birds spend 9 to 10 months building their ‘bachelor pads’ in order to make it perfect.

My favourite episode though was ‘Creatures from the Deep’.  Sea creatures are so amazing, beautiful and crafty and some even look prehistoric.  The most fantastic part to me was the segment where they went to Antarctica and went deep down into the ice to film Starfish devouring a seal pup carcass.  Again, they used time-lapse technology to speed up the sequence as in reality the Starfish moves very slowly.  They were also very colourful which made them look so beautiful.

The film makers for this series must really be commended.  They are really patient and skilled in their craft.  Truly admirable!  They must really love what they do to go to the extremes they did to make this show a reality.

I don’t know how anyone after looking at the ‘Life Series’ on Discovery Channel still believe in evolution.  You can clearly see there was thought put into life on earth in order for them to survive.  These creatures were deliberately made with intelligence and instinct, something that certainly could not evolve.

I suppose there will always be those who would deny there is a Creator God and stick to the evolution theory.  But for believers who witnessed this television series I am certain it just proved even more the existence of God.

“Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth.  He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see – kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities.  Everything has been created through him and for him.  He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together. “  Colossians 1:16

It seems as though Noah’s Ark may have been found.

A group called Noah’s Ark Ministries International led a Chinese and Turkish team on an expidition to Mount Ararat in October 2009.  There they discovered a wooden structure at an elevation of over 4,000 m.  The structure was embedded partially in ice and volcanic rock which helped to preserve it.

One of the reasons they believe it is Noah’s Ark is because no human settlement has reached past 3,500m on the Mount.  Also, carbon dating puts its age at approximately 4,800 years, around the time of the Flood.  The team admits it is not 100% certain it is the Ark, but is 99.9% certain.  Further scientific search and study will  be conducted.

For many, Noah’s Ark is a myth, a story handed down from generation to generation.  If this find is proven to be true, many Christian believers will be vindicated.  Let us hope the further research proves positive.

To find out more about the discovery visit: http://www.noahsarksearch.net/eng/

One of the things a Christian has to be mindful of is not meddling in other people’s business.  This can be in the form of gossiping or getting involved in an argument that does not concern you.

When you involve yourself in gossping and slandering another person, this can impact negatively on your spiritual life.  You spend so much time minding other people’s business, you don’t have time for your own.

I have had the experience of people taking an interest in my personal life.  You see, I am a very reserved person.  In my workplace, I keep to myself and hardly really mingle with others.  This is not to say I am ’stuck up’ as some people think, it is I just prefer to be on my own than get involved in matters that does not concern me – office politics for one, and gossiping of other coworkers being the other.

Because I am such quiet person, people tend to take an unsettling  interest in me and ask questions of my closest friend which really does not concern them – am I married; does my husband work; where does he work; who is the father of my baby (when I was last pregnant);  etc, etc. 

I would tell her that because they don’t have a life of their own, that’s why they are so interested in mine.  Then there is the other aspect where they say nasty things about me because they don’t know anything about me.  Sometimes it just takes one person to say something and someone else expands on it and then it becomes so nasty and degrading you really wonder how some people could be so malicious.

I don’t take them on though.  I do what I have to in terms of my work and I make sure that all my conversations to others are about work and nothing more.  I think that is one of the reasons I happen to keep so young and happy.  I don’t worry unnecessarily and concern myself with only what concerns me.

If I am in the company of others and the topic happens to gravitate to gossiping about another person, I just excuse myself and go somewhere else, or just listen and have nothing to say.  I don’t like it for myself so I won’t do it someone else.

The bible says:

“Like one who seizes a dog by the ears is a passer-by who meddles in a quarrel not his own”.  Proverbs 26:17

What happens when you seize a dog by the ears?  It is likely to bite you.  When you meddle in matters that does not concern you, you are likely to be bitten.  This can happen by:

1. you getting hurt physically;
2. you worrying unnecessarily about something that has nothing to do with you;
3. you end up holding a grudge against someone because they refuse to take your advice;
4. you are so concerned about someone else’s problems your own life with its own problems are neglected.

Jesus Christ commanded that we love one another.  When you love, you do your best to see the good in everybody.  Don’t join in gossiping about others and don’t involve yourself in matters that don’t concern you directly.

We must all look at the positive side to any matter and pray for someone in a difficult situation for this is the only way we can truly help them.

Grapevine

Many of us live a life of boredom, mediocrity, and unproductivity.  Something is missing but you just don’t know what it is.

We are built with so much potential that we can only dream of fulfilling only half of it.  But the only way of achieving full potential is by staying connected to your source and that is Jesus Christ.  As our designer and creator, He alone can help us be all that we can be.

“Yes I am the vine; you are the branches.  Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.  For apart from me you can do nothing.  Anyone who parts from me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers… But if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted!  John 15:5-7

What do you want out life?  Success does not necessarily mean making a lot of money.  Money might be one of the benefits of being successful, but it must not be the goal.  If you focus too much on money, then you are sure to fail.

Whatever your dream in life, make Jesus the focal point of that dream and you are sure to succeed.  Of course, it still requires hard work, but you will find things go quickly and smoothly much more than if you were to do it on your own.  As a matter of fact, make Jesus the focal point of every aspect of your life, marriage, career, finances, children – whatever – and success would be yours for the taking. 

Even when you succeeded in accomplishing your goals, remember that it is still not the end.  You still can accomplish more as long as you are alive and have strength.  The Apostle Paul understood this.

“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection!  But I keep working to that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be.   No dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is callinig us up to heaven.  Philippians 3:12-14

Fruits of the Spirit – Are you Bearing Them?