The places in your life where you feel the most adequate or self-sufficient are the more dangerous spots. (There- untimely failures are likely.) On the other hand, the places where you feel the weakest or the most dependent on God are the more sure spots. (There- timely victories are absolute.) – Inspired by Charles Stanley. 2 Corinthians 3:5 - Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.
DsW
June 16, 2010
June 4, 2010
Extend The Grace
"Freely you have received, therefore freely give."
Just a quick note on extending grace to others...
All too often, in a moment of frustration or dissatisfaction with someone (e.g. relative, co-worker, friend, etc.) we fail to extend to them the same grace that God consistently extends to us. This day, make a conscious effort to renew your mind in the spirit of grace. Let us not be too hard or critical concerning another's failure to honour a command of God or even a personal request. At that moment, let us become consciousness of God's grace in our own lives and then extend such grace to others. Writer and theologian C.S. Lewis captures our human, nonetheless adjustable condition concerning this:
"This year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practice ourselves the kind of behaviour we expect from other people."
--The Case for Christianity
C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)
A Final Note:
Since we are living in the dispensation of grace: from God toward man. It should be then reciprocated from man toward man!
DSW
Just a quick note on extending grace to others...
All too often, in a moment of frustration or dissatisfaction with someone (e.g. relative, co-worker, friend, etc.) we fail to extend to them the same grace that God consistently extends to us. This day, make a conscious effort to renew your mind in the spirit of grace. Let us not be too hard or critical concerning another's failure to honour a command of God or even a personal request. At that moment, let us become consciousness of God's grace in our own lives and then extend such grace to others. Writer and theologian C.S. Lewis captures our human, nonetheless adjustable condition concerning this:
"This year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practice ourselves the kind of behaviour we expect from other people."
--The Case for Christianity
C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)
A Final Note:
Since we are living in the dispensation of grace: from God toward man. It should be then reciprocated from man toward man!
DSW
May 21, 2010
Prelude: What From Hell Happened To Your Mind?
Greetings everyone,
Just a few days ago after sharing some things about appreciation on FB I began to ponder again about the mind. Apart from the biological and psychological aspects- what's really up with the mind? What happened spiritually with it when Adam fell in the garden? Was the mind altered in some way at the fall that it now requires spiritual repair?
Basically, what from hell happened to your mind?
- There must be an answer! Let's get into the Word.
To introduce this I'd like to share part of a FB conversation that a friend and I had earlier this week.
"Why is it that people remember what you do to them but not what you did for them or what they did to you?"
"Marcus, the Lord led me to pose a question similar to this last week in Youth Bible study. There are a few spiritual answers (practical ones exists also) to this, but I'll just mention one for now.
PART of the issue lies with the sensitivity of the old man (e.g., sin nature, flesh, old mind, etc.). The old man, although crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6), is often too "alive" to sin, wrong, offense, etc. done to it but not done by it. When wronged, if not stopped, the old man will choose to respond with retaliation, even if it's just in the mind and never acted upon. Unfortunately, in the process the offence and accompanying effects are rehearsed over and over being stamped further into the sub-conscious for quicker recalling later. EVEN IF YOU FORGIVE THE PERSON, YOU MUST MINIMIZE HOW MUCH YOU MENTALLY (and verbally) REHEARSE THE OFFENSE.
ON THE OTHER HAND, when someone does something good to (or for) us- we acknowledge it, celebrate it, and go on after a while. The same mental effort is not expended rehearsing the good deed and its affects, thus minimizing the likelihood of remembering it quickly. After the passage of much time this is certainly the case. Often, we have to be externally reminded of a good deed done, particularly if it didn't mean a lot to us at the time it was done.
But thanks be to God there are some things in the Word that can help. For starters, we can pray that God would help us remember the good done to (or for) us more readily. Also, we can begin making a bigger deal out of the good done because God was behind it."
- excerpt of a conversation between me and Mr. Marcus Barnhill
In the next segment we'll dive deeper into the Adamic past and discover what actually happened to the mind. Stay tuned...
In His Service,
DsW
Just a few days ago after sharing some things about appreciation on FB I began to ponder again about the mind. Apart from the biological and psychological aspects- what's really up with the mind? What happened spiritually with it when Adam fell in the garden? Was the mind altered in some way at the fall that it now requires spiritual repair?
- There must be an answer! Let's get into the Word.
To introduce this I'd like to share part of a FB conversation that a friend and I had earlier this week.
"Why is it that people remember what you do to them but not what you did for them or what they did to you?"
"Marcus, the Lord led me to pose a question similar to this last week in Youth Bible study. There are a few spiritual answers (practical ones exists also) to this, but I'll just mention one for now.
PART of the issue lies with the sensitivity of the old man (e.g., sin nature, flesh, old mind, etc.). The old man, although crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6), is often too "alive" to sin, wrong, offense, etc. done to it but not done by it. When wronged, if not stopped, the old man will choose to respond with retaliation, even if it's just in the mind and never acted upon. Unfortunately, in the process the offence and accompanying effects are rehearsed over and over being stamped further into the sub-conscious for quicker recalling later. EVEN IF YOU FORGIVE THE PERSON, YOU MUST MINIMIZE HOW MUCH YOU MENTALLY (and verbally) REHEARSE THE OFFENSE.
ON THE OTHER HAND, when someone does something good to (or for) us- we acknowledge it, celebrate it, and go on after a while. The same mental effort is not expended rehearsing the good deed and its affects, thus minimizing the likelihood of remembering it quickly. After the passage of much time this is certainly the case. Often, we have to be externally reminded of a good deed done, particularly if it didn't mean a lot to us at the time it was done.
But thanks be to God there are some things in the Word that can help. For starters, we can pray that God would help us remember the good done to (or for) us more readily. Also, we can begin making a bigger deal out of the good done because God was behind it."
- excerpt of a conversation between me and Mr. Marcus Barnhill
In the next segment we'll dive deeper into the Adamic past and discover what actually happened to the mind. Stay tuned...
In His Service,
DsW
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