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Whatever lack or personal struggles you are facing in life be encouraged by the provision of God during difficult circumstances until they are gone or remedied.

PSALM 62

I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.

So many enemies against one man— all of them trying to kill me.
 To them I’m just a broken-down wall or a tottering fence.
 They plan to topple me from my high position. They delight in telling lies about me.
 They praise me to my face but curse me in their hearts.
                       

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone.
 He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times.
 Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.

Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind, and the powerful are not what they appear to be. If you weigh them on the scales, together they are lighter than a breath of air. Don’t make your living by extortion or put your hope in stealing. And if your wealth increases,
don’t make it the center of your life.

 God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times:
 Power, O God, belongs to you; unfailing love, O Lord, is yours. Surely you repay all people
 according to what they have done.

 Be Encouraged!

Back in January 2011 the breaking news about zodiac signs hit the air waves on major media stations such as The Today Show and ABC News along with The Seattle Times, local news stations and many major magazines.  There had seem to be a shift of some kind of. According to reporter BRIAN BRAIKER of ABC Nightline, he mentions:

“What has changed, subtly and very gradually, is the tilt of the earth’s axis as it revolves around the sun. If you watch a spinning toy top, explains Kunkle, you will see its axis wobble. That’s called precession. The Earth’s axis does the same thing. It’s currently facing Polaris, often called the North Star, but 3,000 years ago it was pointing at an obscure star called Thuban.

“Three thousand years ago the sun was ‘in’ whatever it was in,” says Kunkle, who is also a professor at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. “Now it’s about a whole constellation off from that.”

In an August 2009 Pew poll, 25 percent of Americans said they believed in astrology; 71 percent said they did not. Kunkle falls into the latter category (”I’m a scientist,” he says drily.)

But, he says, “You could predict when to harvest, when to plant, by the stars. So there is some predictive nature there. Then they took it too far, using it to determine when to go to war and people’s personalities.”

The ‘New’ Dates

See if your Zodiac sign was said to have to have changed:

Capricorn: Jan. 20 - Feb. 16
Aquarius: Feb. 16 - March 11
Pisces: March 11- April 18
Aries: April 18- May 13
Taurus: May 13- June 21
Gemini: June 21- July 20
Cancer: July 20- Aug. 10
Leo: Aug. 10- Sept. 16
Virgo: Sept. 16- Oct. 30
Libra: Oct. 30- Nov. 23
Scorpio: Nov. 23- Nov. 29
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29- Dec. 17
Sagittarius: Dec. 17- Jan. 20”

Full article: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/zodiac-signs-2011zodiac-astrological-controversy/story?id=12623103

 I believe things sometimes experience change within the world and the universe for that matter, however, I believe that God’s standards never fluctuate. It may take some time to grasp but His righteousness, love, and justice are stately above anything that opposes His standards. There are many debates about astrology and what the bible says about it. Conclusively a person usually responds to what his or her faith is rooted in. With that said, are you defined by your zodiac sign? If you are not an atheist, understanding God’s perspective of the matter is vital to be considered before answering the question.  As zodiac signs tend to be a type of philosophy the bible states:

                        Colossians 2:8 (NIV)

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

To find out more about the philosophy of astrological zodiac signs and the opposing view of them according to Christ, check out www.zodiacattackbook.com. This book provides basic information about zodiac signs and spiritual principals as it relates to life and social compatibilities of relationships along with other interesting information.  

If you love God, keep Him first.

Be Encouraged!

How often do we think about evaluating what comes out of our mouths before speaking?

Ephesians 4:29 states:

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them (NLT).

This is good to reflect upon consistently. Although some people choose what language to express be it on purpose or by mistake in a negative way, a good and helpful word has the ability to restore.  As I attempt to work on this concept, I notice the results of it are appealing to others and vice versa. Of course on the other hand saying things that are opposite of good and helpful has its effects in many ways depending upon the circumstances.  Encouragement has the ability to lift the soul, build confidence, and strengthen one’s stride along with many other benefits. So in the midst of discouraging circumstances and statements, I encourage you as well as myself to focus on speaking good and helpful words.

Be Encouraged!

The bible makes many references toward those in need such as:

“Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,”  have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” ( James 2:2-4, NIV)

“Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:12-14, NIV). 

“The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me” (Mark 14:7, NIV).

People who are blessed with the necessities of life can be hindered by their own problems and issues which sometimes detour their attention from people in need. I have heard some people say how it’s hard to know who really needs genuine help and who doesn’t because of the lies portrayed by false claims. On the other hand, I have witnessed some people who are blessed and display no regard for people in need by the comments they make. When you personally know what it feels like to be in need, the compassion toward someone else needing help can develop.  When talking to people who were in need whether they asked for help or not, I would hear most of them say, I trust the Lord to provide. Some had smiles in the midst of their lack and some lived day by day waiting. Scripture states:

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Philippians 4:12).

In any event, the bible makes reference that God will never leave or forsake those who trust in Him. As God works through people who believe and apply His principals as mentioned in Mark 14:7, those truly in need will be helped. The blessings of the Lord follow those who are compassionate toward the needy:

“Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor! The Lord rescues them when they are in trouble. The Lord protects them and keeps them alive. He gives them prosperity in the land and rescues them from their enemies. The Lord nurses them when they are sick and restores them to health” (Psalm 41:1-3).

Be Encouraged!

Once you decide to be in Jesus Christ, when you learn to see yourself the way God sees you, you won’t have to limit yourself to the negative opinions, judgments, criticisms, gossips and unforgiveness of others. Entertaining these actions is suicide. Jesus death made provisions for you to live in peace. However, you won’t know it unless you understand it, believe it, and apply it. The spiritual power of His blood cleanses, protects and restores.

1 Peter 1:2
who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

John 8:35-36 

 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Check this Link out from Billy Graham Library below. It provides interesting insight more about Jesus and how to make a closer connection to Him.

http://www.billygrahamlibrary.org/PGView.aspx?pid=13

Love you guys, Thanks for the posts, I do read them….

Be Encouraged!

Cognition develops all throughout one’s life. The level of expansion depends upon the type of education, experiences and interests one acquires. Throughout the development process these things help to formulate the patterns of reasoning that eventually shape personal motives.  As motives steer certain behavior patterns acted out in society, it is imperative to pin point the cognitive source of any negative behavior pattern. The bible states:

Romans 1:21
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Luke 5:22
Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?

Job 21:27
I know full well what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me.

“Moral reasoning cannot be reduced to equivalence with religious involvement because it depends on the type of religious motivation one has” (Fiske, 2010). Pure acts of love, righteousness, and justice acted out by Christians are obvious as the brilliant light from the moon at night. Tainted acts of these attributes are as the dimming light of a fading star.  The strength of religious motivation is key regarding these examples. In any event, all reasoning isn’t moral reasoning. Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg conducted research on moral education and reasoning and created a theory for levels of moral development.  “The preconventional level operates in an egoistic fashion, with concern only for short-term self-interest. Level two is called conventional, the conventional level operates in a collectivist, belonging fashion, with concern for group standards. A person reasoning conventionally would worry about upholding the group’s rules.  Stage three is called postconventional, the postconventional level operates according to abstract principles thought to be universal, consistent with the understanding motive. A person reasoning in a postconventional fashion would worry about equality, dignity, and justice, also consistent with an understanding motive” (Fiske, 2010). Whatever cognitive influence is shaping your motive, it will ultimately be displayed by your actions. The bible states,

Proverbs 16:2
All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD.

1 Corinthians 4:5
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

So, whatever is going on in your head, make sure its pleasing to God. As selfishness, group standards, and universal justifications formulate, intertwine them with the Word of God so that your motive and actions will be pleasing to both God and humankind.

Be Encouraged!

Reference:

Fiske, S.T. (2010) Social Beings: Core Motives in Social Psychology (2^nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

When considering the phases of life, there are many avenues to take. Attempting to take the right avenue should become the ultimate goal before dealing with the next phase of life. It is obvious that the expectations of life can sometimes detour to something unexpected and figuring how to rebound from it can sometimes be hard. In general most avenues used by people come from the advice of others or by past experiences. Depending upon a person’s moral standards and motives the end result of the avenue chosen will be obviously displayed.  This process has the ability to develop us in many different ways. With the problems, successes, and stagnancy life can bring, resulting from uncontrollable situations or personal decisions, love, hope and faith in God are vital for a positive result. As this is not always an easy task to accomplish, these Godly principals take time and practice to develop. Because human nature centers on selfishness before spiritual principals are truly practiced, the avenues of life can be constant turbulence if a wrong choice is made. As we all grow to this level by choice, faith and practice, the avenues of life can become less detrimental. Below are a few scriptures that can help along the way. If you are interested, read the bible, pray, turn from sin, attend church and get to know your wonderful Creator.

1 John 1:8-10

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us” (NIV).

Proverbs 3: 5-8

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones” (NIV).

Isaiah 41:10

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (NIV).

Be Encouraged!

I believe that God’s goodness is limitless throughout life. From my observation His goodness is expressed in many different ways. Those ways consist of methods in which our human nature can and cannot relate to, depending upon one’s spiritual maturity. In any event, I believe the essence of God’s goodness is created for the pleasure, growth, and gratitude of all humankind by his grace.

Psalm 116:5 states, “How kind the Lord is! How good He is! So merciful, this God of ours” (NLT)!

As God is the creator of every human in existence, He is faithful with kindness and goodness to all, both good and bad. In the book of Luke 6:35 of the bible, Jesus mentions how God is kind to the unthankful and wicked as an expression of His unconditional love.

 Psalm 31:19 states, “How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.”

Since it is obvious that God’s goodness is offered to all, don’t doubt God when the setbacks, oppositions, and disappointments of life occur, go to Him in prayer by the name of Jesus with faith, patience and true repentance and His goodness will manifest in your situation. Sometimes the blows of life can be overwhelming, but God is ready to act when you come to Him during these times. Sometimes, issues can put you in a place to develop trust, patience and dependence on God. Either way His goodness will come forth so don’t be discouraged.

Exercising faith in God is mandatory for true Christians. In the book of Isaiah 7:9 as God gave a message through his prophet to the people, God made a comment that said, “Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.”

As it takes a willing person or people to act out on this, developing faith is essential for success. It is good for others to have faith and pray for you, but if you lack the individual fortitude to do it for yourself how firm will you stand? Let’s continue to develop our faith and watch Him work.

I have personally experienced the goodness of God in my life and can attest to his faithfulness. He makes me happy!

Psalm 145:7 states, “Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness; they will sing with joy about your righteousness.”

If you have a testimony about the goodness of God please feel free to share it if you like. Submit it to zurdill@yahoo.com and it will be posted on the site.

Celebrate God’s goodness in your life.

Be Encouraged!

For those who desire to live morally the temptation of sin is a constant presence that should be avoided. There are many situations in life that can occur expectantly and unexpectantly where the choice to commit a sin is up to the individual.  As no one is perfect, sometimes feelings and emotions can lead to such an action due to pressure, unfair treatment, negative feelings and emotions and other notions because of discontentment. When a person gives in to sin, the nature of it takes a form of domineering control that leads to ruin. Galatians (New Living Translation) 5:16 states,

“The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.”

Once sin is given into, if not hindered it will spiral out of control to the point of death if practiced long enough. The developments of sin can come in many forms. Forms that the average person can be seen doing on a daily basis. The events of life can sometimes affect one’s mood throughout the day such as attempting to juggle multiple tasks and responsibilities when things don’t go as planned or when dealing with a difficult person who is unhappy about something and becomes offensive. With circumstances such as these, the human nature tends to respond to its environment naturally and sometimes that natural behavior can lead to unpleasant acts. Focusing on controlling your mood, feelings and emotions in response to such situations for most people isn’t easy. Galatians 5:19-21 states,

“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.”

The good news about all of this is that sin can be controlled. However, it is up to the individual to have an interest to do so. Sometimes feelings and emotions can become strong and hard not to express because of hurt or disappointment. In any event, God doesn’t condone humankind to allow those behaviors to take place as He is a God of love, justice and righteousness as our creator. He is very clear regarding the matter and gives direction as to how to handle such issues. Genesis 4:6-7 states,

“Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”’

Learning to master sin and taking control of behaviors that can lead up to sin is what God wants us to focus on while living life. As situations occur that will provoke such negative behaviors, when keeping God’s concept in mind regarding mastering sin, those situations turn into opportunities to oppose and develop in mastering it.

As we are all a work in progress I join in with you in mastering sin.

Be Encouraged!

Some people struggle with Christianity or belief in Jesus Christ. As the struggle or disbelief varies from one person to the next, it is important to make sure that the cause of the discontentment isn’t from people who display hypocritical attributes that contradict biblical principles that they are suppose to represent.  You know the “so called” Christians that consistently waver between righteous and unrighteous acts.  The overall focus should be on God and getting to know him by reading the bible and communicating with Him in prayer as well as fellowshipping with other like-minded individuals. As it relates to Christians, people are on different spiritual levels and of course no one is perfect, but the best thing about Jesus Christ is that He’s knows that and because of it, provisions were made for faulty human attributes such as falling into temptation and other things that contradict righteousness. One example of the standards He provides is repentance.

However, it is vital to remember that those standards were not created to be taken for granted. When a Christian takes for granted God’s grace, the results are clear, consistent obvious sin and everyone sees it or will see it no matter who the Christian may be. Unfortunately, sometimes this causes unbelievers to become disinterested or critical of Christianity. In the book of Matthew chapter 23, Jesus displays his aggravation and discontentment with hypocrites. Please read it or reflect on it again if you already have read it, it’s quite interesting and informative. When you get to know Him for yourself, you will truly see that He is who He says He is and not how a hypocrite may represent His standards to be. He loves everyone, but He does not tolerate a rebellious sinful heart.

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”.

Be Encouraged!