Showing posts with label control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label control. Show all posts

Thursday 18 April 2013

Control and change





“You cannot control what happens to you,
but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you,
and in that,
you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.”
Brian Tracy


"The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear."
Brian Tracy

"Every great success is an accumulation of thousands of ordinary efforts that no one sees or appreciates."
Brian Tracy


You have within you, right now, everything you...
You have within you, right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you. -Brian Tracy (Photo credit: deeplifequotes)

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Tuesday 31 August 2010

Know Who goes with us and don't try to control life


Stop trying to control life.
Let the Spirit lead us through the mystery like children
being led along a path where every turn reveals a new surprise, some pleasant and some not
but our guide is always with us
and He knows what is around the next corner.
We don’t always know where we are going
but we know Who goes with us
and that is all that matters.
Explore the mystery with Him.
Dutch version / Nederlandse versie: Weet wie met je gaat en stop te proberen je leven te controleren

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Thursday 10 June 2010

Be ye angry and sin not



"Be ye angery and sin not"

The Greek philosopher Epictetus said many years ago that "any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him."

When talking to my staff at work over the years, I often used Epictetus’ observation after a client had really upset them. I would tell them that no one can make you angry without your permission. One day a gentlemen came into my office, and we had a discussion with my door open, and they heard his conversation with me. Later, after he left, I walked out and they all looked up at me smiling and reminded me that no one can make you angry without your permission. I replied, "That is true and I just gave him permission." We all had a good laugh.

We are in control of our emotions, and we must control them if we hope to please our heavenly Father. Anger itself is not a sin. We are told that "God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day." We know that God cannot sin, so His anger is righteous, His judgments are just, and it is right for Him to feel indignation over the failings of mankind. Our anger is not always justified, and often we sin when we react while we are angry.

We know that what made the Lord Jesus angry on many occasions was the hardness of the hearts of those he had come to save. In one instance, a man with a severely deformed hand was brought before Jesus by the authorities who hoped to use the man’s deformity to discredit Jesus. Mark tells us, "And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other." Jesus was angry but he did not sin. We need to take care not to sin when we are angry.
What should we do when we begin to feel the flush that anger brings, when our heartbeat quickens and our temper rises? We must take immediate action to take control of ourselves, and many times the action to take is to retreat and not respond. Back away, turn around, bite the tongue, but do not react. It is when we respond too quickly to the anger that fills us that we use inappropriate words and excessive actions that are sinful.

We can do something in anger that cannot be undone. They tell the story of Alexander the Great who in a fit of anger grabbed his spear and threw it at his best friend. It hit a vital spot and the friend fell down dead. Overcome with grief, Alexander fell on the dead body weeping, bitterly regretting not having controlled his fit of anger. We know that King Saul many times cast his spear at David as he was playing the harp trying to soothe Saul’s feelings of depression. In a moment of anger, Saul even attacked his own son, Jonathan, with a javelin. Fortunately the LORD was protecting David and Jonathan and they were able to escape the fate of Alexander’s best friend.

When angry, we can say things that hurt, we can act in a very un-Christlike way, and sadly, we can do it towards those we love the most. We need to learn to be in control of our emotions. While anger is not a sin, we must be very careful that we do not react in anger and sin in the process. We must be in control of our emotions at all times. We need to plan how to bring our emotions under control when we feel anger.

There is a story about a time when Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, was accused of inappropriate actions by a general. Lincoln suggested that Stanton respond by writing the general a letter. When Stanton finished the letter, he showed it to Lincoln who praised him for the strong, direct language he used in the letter. "What are you going to do with it?" Lincoln asked. "Send it," Stanton replied. Lincoln shook his head. "You don’t want to send that letter," he said. "Put it in the stove. That’s what I do when I have written a letter while I am angry. It’s a good letter and you had a good time writing it and feel better. Now, burn it, and write another."

Abraham Lincoln’s method for avoiding an angry knee-jerk reaction was to write a letter, which gives cooling off time and a chance to plan a more balanced response. It has been said, Speak when you are angry and you will give the best speech you will ever regret. Rather than blurting out our thoughts, we need to walk away from a situation when we’re angry, count to ten, take some deep breaths, and perhaps write a letter so that we don’t react hastily and sin. Usually, as Lincoln found, that letter written in anger should never be sent. We should rip it up and then rewrite it to soften our language, remembering as Solomon tells us, "A soft answer turneth away wrath." So often the actions we contemplate when angry are actions we would later regret if we acted on them.

We can read in the book of James how to control our emotions by listening more and slowing down our reactions: "My dear friends, you should be quick to listen and slow to speak or to get angry." Let us keep in mind this good advice, and remember the words of Paul who tells us, "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath".
Robert J. Lloyd

The Christadelphian
TIDINGS
OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
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Monday 22 February 2010

God is my refuge and my fortress in Him I will trust

“I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in whom I trust.”
(Ps 91:2 ASV)

Trust In God
“I will say of Yahweh, \@He is\@ my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.” (Ps 91:2 KJBPNV)


What do we do when we are in trouble or when we find our circumstances are out of control? 

One of the best things about being a father is learning from our children.  In a child's life things often go wrong and events happen that leave them feeling out of control.  Until a child is grown they are not equipped to face everything the world throws at them.  They lack strength, confidence and skill.  This is where mum and dad come in.  At those out of control moments the first thing a child does is to cry, "Mum!" or "Dad!"  It is the first thing they think of.  It is a totally natural response to difficulty and fear.  To a small child a parent is an inexhaustible supply of strength, wisdom and skill, so it is only logical that their mum or dad should be their first port of call.  It comes from a total trust in their parents who care for them.

The Psalmist wrote the following: "I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.'"  (
Psa 91:2) The LORD should also be our refuge in the same way that we are a refuge for our children.  We must have the same sort of faith in God as our young children have in us, and with that, put all our trust in him.

Let's make God our first port of call, relying on his wisdom and strength to help us in our times of need.

Robert Prins [Auckland - Pakuranga - (NZ)] 

Dutch translation / Nederlandse vertaling > God is mijn toevlucht, mijn fort en sterte, op Hem zal ik vertrouwen

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Thursday 21 January 2010

Control your destiny or somebody else will


"Control your destiny or somebody else will."
- Jack Welch

There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity.
- Douglas MacArthur

If you miss a chance it is if someone who lets a bird
fly away;
you will never get that change again.
- John of the Cross

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today,
that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.
So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,
by loving the Lord Jehovah, your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him."
Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Lord, give me the skill to undertake the correct actions,
and let me always take the right decisions,
always taking into account your wishes and regulations.



Dutch version / Nederlandse versie > Controleer uw lot of iemand anders zal het doen

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