21 Thursday Jul 2011
Posted in Family Tree, General, Generational Healing
≈ Comments Off on Being Freed from Generational Bondage
For those interested in further information to do with generational healing you’ll find the following link very helpful:
Christian Healing Ministries – Being Freed from Generational Bondage.
Many have been been blessed through the ministry of Francis and Judith MacNutt, and I recommend them highly.
02 Thursday Jun 2011
When trouble comes our way, what do we do? Depend on God and look to him to help us in the midst of the trouble? Blame him or someone else? Have a pity-party? I’ve just started another study on Job and am reminded yet again that the why’s of our sufferings are known only to God… and only as we trust him for who he is can we hope to make sense of anything. I thought this little snippet from Paul is helpful. It comes from Reading for Today:
“… But that happened so that we would not depend on ourselves but on God. He raises the dead to life.” 2 Corinthians 1:9 NIRV
Anything that causes us to turn to God and lean harder on Him is an asset, not a liability. It’s when we lose a job, a marriage, a loved one, our health or our peace of mind that we can turn to God and discover what He can do.
And, for inspirational daily messages, check out www.thewordfortoday.com.au
27 Thursday Jan 2011
Posted in General
≈ Comments Off on More on old age…
In Christianity Today is an Q & A article of an interview with Billy Graham on Aging, Regrets, and Evangelicals. Among other things he says:
What advice would you give to people who are aging?
First, accept it as part of God’s plan for your life, and thank him every day for the gift of that day. We’ve come to look on old age as something to be dreaded—and it’s true that it isn’t easy. I can’t honestly say that I like being old—not being able to do most of the things I used to do, for example, and being more dependent on others, and facing physical challenges that I know will only get worse. Old age can be a lonely time also—children scattered, spouse and friends gone.
But God has a reason for keeping us here (even if we don’t always understand it), and we need to recover the Bible’s understanding of life and longevity as gifts from God—and therefore as something good. Several times the Bible mentions people who died “at a good old age”—an interesting phrase (emphasis added). So part of my advice is to learn to be content, and that only comes as we accept each day as a gift from God and commit it into his hands. Paul’s words are true at every stage of life, but especially as we grow older: “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6).
The other piece of advice I’d give is the other side of the coin, so to speak. It’s this: As we grow older we should focus not only on the present, but more and more on Heaven. This world, with all of its pains and sorrows and burdens, isn’t our final home. If we know Christ, we know we have “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4). I know it won’t be long before I’ll be going there, and I look forward to that day. Heaven gives us hope, and makes our present burdens easier to bear.
I thought his take on old age worth repeating here. I hope it encourages you.
25 Tuesday Jan 2011
Posted in General
≈ Comments Off on Old Age
“Good people will prosper like palm trees, grow tall like Lebanon cedars; transplanted to God’s courtyard, they’ll grow tall in the presence of God, lithe and green, virile still in old age.” Psalm 92: 12-14 MSG
We can produce our greatest harvest of fruit in our final years. When the sun goes down the stars come out – we can shine brightest in the closing chapters of our life. So why not live right up till the moment you die?
Old age is not a disease that needs healing but rather a normal progress of our life. God has promised that we will still be fruitful in old age. Are we able to live with that promise? Or, do we like so many, try (vainly) to avoid the inevitable and so waste our energies on fretting about what’s happening to us, attempt to turn back the clock, or use some other denial strategy.
God has good things for us in old age!
05 Wednesday Jan 2011
Posted in General
≈ Comments Off on Angry at God?
Tags
Anger, Atheism, Case Western Reserve University, God, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
A recent article at EurekaAlert! reports on studies being undertaken by psychologist Julie Exline at Case Western Reserve University:
Angry at God? If so, you’re not alone, says CWRU psychologist.
This complements a post of mine written back in 2006 — Angry at God?
Anger can be a healthy response to troublesome experiences (death, sickness, suffering, disappointments, etc). Stuffing anger is not a healthy response in any situation… it will pop up again, and maybe more intensely.
Whether a person believes in God or not, anger at life’s situations is directed “out there” at some “force” that is somehow causing our grief or suffering. It pays to look at it.
Healing Prayer 