Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD on how to reverse …: http://youtu.be/sl97IvbfUNQ
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His Grace reaches me, but who does my grace reach?
I feel so good when I think about all that God has done for me. I think about it often. Having received something so precious as grace (and understanding it), I can’t help but be moved with compassion to help others.If we looked at Christianity from a vocational perspective, it would fall under the category of “helping professions”. We have been called to be servants fit for the Master’s use. I don’t think we all see that as our mission. Furthermore, I don’t think we generally look at ourselves as missionaries. There are too many differing views about our purpose.
It is clear to me that God’s grace was given to me that I may make a difference in this world. How big of a difference? That depends on my gifts and how I use them. My motivation? It’s not because the recipients deserve my grace, but because of how freely I accepted God’s grace. In my most difficult times, He reached out and touched me and I can’t help but want to reach out and touch someone else. As a therapist I have heard many, many sad stories and in my lifetime I need not complain. I now know first hand that there is always somebody going through something worse.
Here’s my point: The ability to give is a gift. We were not born giving, in fact it was more the opposite. Giving is a learned behavior and there are some people who are really good at it. There are others who need to learn more about it and then there are those who could care less. God gave us a choice to decide who we would be. I know to some it doesn’t seem like a huge deal to have driven an elderly person to the doctor or paid a bill for someone or even spent personal time in a nursing home. What if just those people with twitter accounts reached out to someone — not for selfish reasons (telling someone off, borrowing money, etc.), but to extend grace? Can you just imagine unconditionally helping someone as a way to tell God thanks? He can.
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Praise for our First Lady!
It’s time to praise everyone’s first lady. The woman who you first fell in love with; the woman who will forever be in your corner; the woman who knows how to make things right: Mama.If you are as fortunate as I am to still have your best girl alive, I would ask that you show her a little extra love for Mother’s Day in honor of the mothers who have passed on. And if your mother is alive, make sure you share her with those you know have lost their mom.
If your mother is no longer with you I believe it would be fitting to adopt a mom. You see, just as there are sons and daughters without mothers, the converse is true. This is why the “adopt a mother” concept makes so much sense.
Find her within your church; at the closest nursing home or Assisted Living facility; or take a stroll through your neighborhood — she’s out there.
And once you find her, make her day special. Flowers are always welcomed as would be something sweet. Mother’s also like cards of appreciation. Whatever you choose make sure on Mother’s Day you offset some of the evil in the world by showing unconditional love to a mom.
Happy Mother’s Day!
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The someone who is worse
There is so much pain in this world.From spiritual pain to physical pain, we struggle to deal with reality. We all utilize some coping mechanism for others to judge. We can’t seem to understand that we hurt.
You have heard people say, “no matter what you are facing, someone is going through something worse.” Well, I wonder who is on the tail end of that statement? Who is the final worse? Is it the man in Iraq who lost his family during the bombings? We called it collateral damage. I wonder what he called it. Or is it the person whose siblings are all strung out on crack cocaine? Or maybe it’s the mother in Africa who watched seven of her 10 children die of starvation? Maybe it’s the 11-year-old boy who repeatedly got raped by his uncle. Could it be the teenager who gave herself an abortion on the bathroom floor? The gay guy who was beaten to death? The recent Black man who suffered lethal injection in Georgia for a crime that seven of his nine accusers recanted their testimony and no physical evidence connected him to?
I know it’s difficult to read these things. All of these are actual events that appeared in a newspaper within the last 6 years. Unfortunately, there were many more. I keep wondering who would be on the tail end of that quote. Who could be doing so bad as to trump every other bad happening in the world?
It’s gotta be the person who denies Christ.
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Our response to the resurrection
Speaking of the resurrection, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” And then he said, “Do you believe this?”This is the time of the year where there is somewhat of a unified effort among most Christians to talk about, remember, celebrate and observe Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. It’s like the other time in the year where everyone wants to remember the “reason for the season” and celebrate peace on earth.
I don’t have a problem with these times as much as I have a problem with how we interpret the meanings. Our beliefs should be the center of what we shape our way of life from. If we believe something then our lives should be consistent in that which we believe.
For example, if things like compassion, integrity and excellence are things that I truly believe in, then the people that interact with me should experience these characteristics in me. I should not look down on anyone if I have compassion. I should not make it a habit to lie and cheat if I’m a man of integrity and my employer should not have to speak with me regarding my commitment if I seek excellence.
I’m afraid that too many people celebrate Jesus as a seasonal holiday and have not made the commitment to him for life.
Jesus ends the 26th verse of the 11th chapter in the Gospel according to John by asking the question concerning belief. He simply uses these four words that deserve a response. “Do you believe this?” If he were saying this today it would sound more like “If you believe this, then why …?”
If we truly have been crucified with Christ and now as a result we are living by faith, our works should show what we believe. Faith without works is still dead.
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The resurrection and the life
Easter Sunday is a day that we enjoy hearing about the resurrection. We enjoy the story of Jesus’ resurrection as well as others whom he saved from death. This power is always an attention grabber because it goes far beyond our human abilities.
Jesus made this statement to Martha in the Gospel of St. John: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live”. I know, at face value the statement doesn’t make sense. Give Martha a break because we know the rest of the story, but she lived it. She saw her brother wake up from the “death sleep” and walk among them as if nothing happened. We don’t read where Lazarus laments about being dead or that the experience was even horrible. He just takes his place among the living. I’m sure he was thankful for what happened. The question I have is that if you die once like Lazarus and you get a second chance, are you afraid of the death the second time?
I mean the fear of death has to not bother you as much. For those who survived Hurricane Katrina a few years back, would they be as worried about the next big hurricane? If you have been shot before should the sound of gunfire bother you as much? If you were about to walk away from a deadly car crash, should you be afraid to drive a car or ride in a car again?
I want to attempt to crack open this scripture for everyone to have a better taste of its fruit. If Jesus is the resurrection and the life (and he is), then this ability would work on everything, not just death. This understanding was given to us under the death category, but I contend that this verse is more like the master key — it fits every lock!
So, If I lose my job, I am dead to the job that I lost and I can surrender this dead to the resurrection and the life (A.K.A Jesus Christ) and he will raise up (resurrect) a new job for me that I may dwell (live) in. If I lose my marriage, home, money, self respect, or mind, the Jesus who resurrects will replace the old with something new for me. You see, it was difficult for Mary, Martha and the others to fully understand the power of the resurrection. We struggle with it today as well.
Let’s not limit the resurrection and life to just a wonderful biblical story. Let’s not limit God’s power to only the measure we understand. Let’s surrender everything in our lives that is dead and allow him to breathe life into it again because he truly is the resurrection and the life.
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Watch “Lauryn Hill I GET OUT MTV Unplugged” on YouTube
Lauryn Hill I GET OUT MTV Unplugged: http://youtu.be/xrDMRFvHK18
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Birthdays are bigger than we think
I think we all know people who, when asked about their birthday, say that they don’t celebrate it anymore or that it’s just not a big deal.What are we really saying about ourselves when we make these statements?
One of the things I love about spring is that in addition to the season in the Midwest beginning to change, I have two lovely daughters who celebrate birthdays in March and in April.
My girls are special to me. They know that they are special, but on their birthdays, I have an extra opportunity to celebrate the fact that they exist.
This is a fact of life that is often overlooked in childrearing.
The stability, security and self-esteem for any daughter are wrapped up in her daddy. A father is the first man that a daughter should be in love with. The number one reason is because this would be the daughter’s first taste of TRUE love – unconditional, never-ending, God-like love.
Codependent women, for the most part, did not experience a strong interpersonal relationship with their fathers.
I have counseled a variety of women who have said that even when their father was there, he really wasn’t there. He lived at the house, they ate dinner together sometimes and he was a great provider of physical things.
But how often they exchanged intimacy was in question.
There were no tender moments. They would say things like. “I know my Dad loved me, he just doesn’t express himself that way.” Or, “Dad loves me, he’s just very busy.”
The effects are devastating.
The daughter that doesn’t have the strong interpersonal relationship with her dad will always struggle with her relationships with men. The codependent part comes in her defining moments. She will always wonder is she beautiful, does she matter, who loves her.
And she will look for a male to supply her with these answers.
Just imagine the teenage boys willing to tell these girls that they are beautiful, they are important and they are loved.
What do you think these codependent girls will do in return for these simply words that should have come from her dad?
If you have ever wondered how some guys ended up with these very beautiful and intelligent women – you guessed it, codependency.
The point here is this: Every little girl needs to know that she is loved and that she matters. In fact all of us do. These two things are directly attached to her inner conscious which she will then use to fight off the voice that tell her no one loves her or she’s ugly.
This is why birthdays are especially important to all of us. They should be used as a tool to express love and to celebrate the life of a person we love. Everyone should have at least one day a year where people make a fuss, go out of their way and express their love all because of the birth of that special someone.
It is also for this reason that my two little girls will always know that they matter, that I love them more than life itself and that they are smart and talented enough to do whatever they put their little minds to. They need to understand that our spirits are forever connected and death can’t even separate us. That our love is everlasting – which means from the day they were conceived, it was in love and that their life and death will be spent in love.
Make sure the people you love know it. This must be demonstrated and said out loud often enough to make it a habit. This is how we live with no regret.
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Christian restoration
There is a need for those in Christ to renew their strength. This should be a daily renewal for those who believe. Well what about those of us who have sinned? How shall we be restored when we fall a guilty distance from God?There are three things that need to happen for restoration. It is essential that restoration happens, but we have to do our part.
Nehemiah is probably one of the best stories in the bible on this topic. We see Nehemiah once finding out that the wall in Jerusalem needed to be rebuilt, he did three things that needed to happen to restore the wall. First, he cared enough to do something.
His life was going well. He could have turned a deaf ear to the plight of Jerusalem, but instead he wept. He showed great compassion for those who were suffering. The next thing he did was pray. He talked to God and he came clean about the condition of Israel saying “Lord we have sinned.” It is essential in restoration to come clean with God. Often times we try (as crazy as this sounds) to not give God the truth. Not because we think he needs to hear it, but because we hate to admit it. It’s a very humbling experience to come face-to-face with our guilt. God expects us to though. He wants his children to be this vulnerable with him.
Next Nehemiah began to work. He put his compassion into action despite the opposition he faced. This is because in the fourth chapter of his book, Nehemiah declares that the “people had a mind to work.” Nehemiah was able to get that wall built because he cared, prayed and worked. So we need to care enough to change, be honest enough to take our burdens to the Lord and leave them there and then go to work. We have to put action with our caring.
These actions will lead to the restoration of any child of God would needs to be restored.
Praise God for making a way for us!
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Comfort one another with these words
Some people have the natural ability to tear people down. And I don’t mean tear them down physically as in a beat down or something UFCish. I mean with words.We do not understand how destructive our words really are. Prisons, mental health institutes and cemeteries are filled with people who were destroyed by the words of others. There are people walking around right now and some may even be reading this blog who have allowed someone in their life to make them feel less than. Someone told you that you were ugly, fat, stupid or weak. Others may have implied it which to me is worse. The bottom line is you did not deserve to be told those things.
On the bright side, today’s blog is designed to help us become builders – builders of people. We need to understand the power of the spoken word and let compassion be our safe guard for the things we say. We should be spraying words of encouragement all over the place.
Encouragement includes the giving of courage, hope, confidence, support and help. It is not compliments or catch phrases, but words and deeds born out of actions from a loving heart. The Greek language indicates the word comes from the same family of words used to describe the Holy Spirit as our paraclete (Comforter), “one who comes alongside us to help.”
In the book of Hebrews 3:13 the bible says, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” Compassionate hearts encourage and they look for opportunities to do it daily. The way in which we encourage is important as well. When society or even Satan gives you reasons to be anxious, it is the encourager who comes with words from the holy writ and calms you. Where we are overcome by fear, the encourager stabilizes us with scripture. And when Satan tells us a lie, the encourager brings God’s truth.
What a great week to spend time searching for those who need a word of encouragement. If nothing else, tell them that there is someone who is listening and he hears everything that we say. Tell them that there is someone who answers every prayer that we secretly pray. And then tell them that there is someone who loves us and he will NEVER turn us away. It’s Jesus the Savior from Mt. Calvary and he hears everything that we say!
ClydeStyle 