Showing posts with label Reflections on the Times. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reflections on the Times. Show all posts

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Things That Make you go AHHHH!

I was  scanning through some  inspiring blogs and  came upon  my  dear friend, Kelly Marie  at Belle Ame,  A Beautiful Soul..   who  posted on this topic  and  I  felt an urge in my  spirit to join  in  this....    to tell the honest truth  I am so tired of the news and the  trouble in the world,  I need to  just take a step back and  look for the "aahhhh" moments of life,  for my health's sake, if for no other reason....  
1...   Sitting  by the window  and realizing that life goes on in peace and tranquility even when   all else seems to be running amuck
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2.  The details in the small things of life  sometimes    matter most,,  so  it's a good thing to take time to notice  and be thankful
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3.  Then sometimes it's a good thing to  just get away  up high as you can  and  try to see things from God's point of view...     since we only see our small piece of the puzzle or tapestry of life....  it's  good to  step out of the equation  for a bit and  just  rest in the knowing  that in all thing's  God is in control.
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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Reflections of our Times - The Church

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  Outside of the family, the church is the next most precious  part of our lives...and I believe it is  such a crucial part of life  that  every    bit of scripture  must be studied  and applied to be able to function in our world today....  I know  that  I did not  nearly  exhaust the issues that  families  are dealing  with  in  the family segment of  this    theme,  but, today for me I am concerned about our churches...   how  we are  commanded in scripture to  guard  against   divisions and factions in the church...  pride and  judgmentalism,  complacency, and lack of  true worship characterize many churches... at one time or another...     and    we must know  that  there is one  who  seeks to rob kill and destroy everything good  and his  main objective is  the  church....once he gets a foothold in the door,  his work is  so insidious it  can  go undetected and unchecked, even  for years .   No church is   exempt from this attack of the enemy,  especially churches    that  by all appearances are  serving  God's purposes   successfully....     The author of confusion,  satan ,     can  and has   brought  down many ministries and denominations are  on a decline in these trying  days...  


  I was listening to Jentezen Franklin 's  video of  July 4, 2011  of this year..   He  said  the churches today  need revival  to survive.....  what a statement... but how very true...    what is holding revival back from  our churches.... could it be that  the enemy of our souls has  a foothold in our churches and   God is  waiting for a wave of repentance to sweep  across   this nation...   Please view this video and   share your thoughts by comment or  better still  share with me  by posting  with me on Reflections on our Times. 

Friday, July 22, 2011

Reflections on the Times The Family

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One of the most powerful impacts on the family today is the influence  media has on us...    By media I am referring to television,   electronic communication and devices,  and radio, music, etc.    I firmly believe  that satan is the ruler of  the air,,,,     that it is by his deception and influence that  television as we see it today has  fallen so short of the wholesome quality  it  exhibited in   its infancy...  Music,  by the same token  has  deteriorated  to the place where  often times lyrics are actually  unintelligible   which is probably a good thing as many lyrics today are lewd  and  purport ungodly themes.   Electronic games, often times,  display  a level of  violence and sexuality that  at least I find very shocking,     The quality of films and the free use of profanity  add to the  slippery slope on which we find our society.  Yet,  look at our families....  as a retired  elementary  school teacher  I know  how  families work hard to  provide homes for  their  children...  wanting to give them the  things  that they think will  keep them happy....   So  both parents  are working  while  children   spend   time in  day care centers  and  then when  families are at home  the children are  relegated often times to the tv,  the internet,  or electronic games to  entertain them while  parents  do their thing... it is no wonder that  the evils that  are so prevalent  on the screen are  being  devoured and are corrupting the minds of our youth...   there is  an insidious seed  of  disrespect, entitlement, confusion of gender, rage, fear, and discontent planted in the hearts of  our children that  festers and grows and influences  them in later years....and parents are basically unaware of it  until  it manifests itself in action...
Oh  be careful little eyes what you see!   Be careful little ears what you hear!

Ephesians 2:1-10
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
   The Holy Spirit  pointed me to a website last night  that is affiliated with Focus on the Family  called the Truth Project.   There I found some amazing helps for  family issues  in these times. 

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Reflections on the Times - The Family

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But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.  Isaiah 40:31

In these troubling days  it is  difficult to wait on the Lord...  we see the  families    in distress all around us...   the breakdown of the family  unit,  divorce   rates actually  declining  because  people  are forsaking  the marriage contract  at all...  children  being raised in single parent homes  where the bread winner  has to necessarily  spend  too much time    making ends meet and  keeping  the home together to properly  spend the time it takes to  give  their children the training and oversight they so desperately need.   Joblessness and financial woes  are putting many through the winepress of oppression and despair... with apparently no end in sight...    a government that appears to put political  gain    and  agendas  before   seeking to  quell the  distresses  in our nation...    there is so much more that  could be written here  but  that is for another day... the point is  this is America,, the land of opportunity...  the home of the brave, the land of the free,  yet  our families   are facing dire straits...    many have lost hope and face each  new struggle  in silence...   too often  they listen to the rhetoric  from the media   and put their  hope in  the government to fix their  problems  hoping for  sustenance to come  from handouts and entitlements...   but  that is not  God's way... 
God gave us everything we need  in His  Word ...  and  this  coming week  I  encourage us to look for  scriptures to share that  give us hope   from  on High  regarding  these many issues .  Please share your insights on  how  families  can  find the  strength, peace, and hope  for  their condition  from  God's  Word and  be an encouragement to others  who are  struggling in these  ways...    and  for those of us who are  blessed to  not be enduring  these issues,   share  ways  that  we can help those around us...  physical as well as spiritual help  along the way.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

De Profundis ( Reflections on the Times)

Latin for  the  first words of Psalm 130,  Out of the depths, I cry out to God.....
  Blogging  is and always will be a wonderful  expression of life's journey,,,   my online journal  documenting    some details along the way... but  the Lord  is leading me to a  new bent .. a new  path  in  journaling  the impressions  that arise  in the  echoes  around me..  The echoes of discontent,  fear, loss,     a sense  spiraling  out of control,,,   in our families, homes,    communities,  churches,   our nation and the world....  What  constitutes  this fear of loss...  a loss of stability,  the loss of integrity  in society as a whole, the loss of freedoms, the loss of quality, loss of respectability  and honor,  loss of gentility and grace... 
Scripture  explains  it fully and    succinctly:
John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

We ask ourselves, then,  who is this thief  who  is after our very well-being?   The context of the passage    refers to a predator  of a pasture, a wolf,,  a  deceiver  and  a liar,,  evil    bent on  destruction.   This could only mean  satan himself, the author of confusion , despair,   suffering.. 
   The "I" of the passage  is the Good Shepherd,  the Lover of our souls,  the One who  loves us  best and Most...  Jesus Christ...  God's on Son and the Redeemer of the world.
  Therein  lies the age old premise of  good vs. evil ...   a battle that has been  raging  since before time.. and we see this  devastating battle occurring all around us  today...

  I am feeling a move in my Spirit  to  spend some  time blogging  about   my 
Reflections  on the Times  
in which we are living... 
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  For I think discourse on this topic will strengthen  us to  really think about our world view... whether it is based on that of the world which is so  prominent  in our lives,  our entertainment, our media, our government, our education, even some of the churches across this land... or  is  your   view  rooted on  Rock solid prinicples from  God's Word , the Unshakable, Unchanging, Unmovable Word of the Father  in heaven and creator of all things?


Now as a new blogger to  attempt to use a linky tool  I am  very  excited and hopeful that  this will  work!    But I would love  to see other thoughtful  and concerned bloggers  share in this discourse...  
Reflections on the Times
The topics  are far reaching   from  what is happening  in  our  society, government, families,   media,  etc..   But the  premise is  not to focus just on  the circumstances   that are  surrounding us, but to bring them into the light of  the Truth and how  we are to cope with and overcome  them in our lives..   


You are free to use  my  button on the sidebar and please link back to my page  in your post.


Together  we may  bring clarity to this  upside down world.



Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Reflections of the Times

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This is perhaps one of the most important themes on which I have heretofore attempted to write...   I even to  decode pn the title  has been  complex  as  this  topic  will incorporate  many ideas   as I  attempt to  bring clarity into my thinking on  what is going on in our world today!
  A good friend and contributing  essayist  in this endeavor, Allan Matthes,  suggested  the following  and I think it is a grand  jumping off place for this  journey....
De Profundis
Latin for the beginning two words  of Psalm 130...

Psalm 130

My Soul Waits for the Lord
A Song of Ascents.
 1Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!
 2O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
   to the voice of my pleas for mercy! 3If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
   O Lord, who could stand?
4But with you there is forgiveness,
    that you may be feared.
 5I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
   and in his word I hope;
6my soul waits for the Lord
   more than watchmen for the morning,
   more than watchmen for the morning.
 7O Israel, hope in the LORD!
   For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
   and with him is plentiful redemption.
8And he will redeem Israel
   from all his iniquities.

  I really   think this is a fine beginning,  for  without  the  mercy, guidance, and help of our  Lord,  we can do nothing..  Putting Him first,  will  be  my only  hope in  being able to move forward in attaching any meaning to  what  I am seeing in these times in which we live...
  So  I believe  it is good to begin by  focusing on this psalm of ascent and seeking    what it is the the Lord has,  before going any further!
I look forward to any and all comments on this theme, for I am sure that  many are just as  intrigued by  the times,   by  what is happening in our  world, nation,  our society, even our homes and families.     By God's grace we will unlock  these mysteries,  shed light on the truth  beyond what  the mainline media wants us to know, and try to wrap our minds around  what it all means to us personally.

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