Good time to sort out your friends and contacts

In these corona times we have to limit our contacts, keep social distance and have to keep ourselves healthy and safe.

In life we meet lots of people in lots of different situations; We encounter good but also bad things. Bad events we best forget as soon as possible, but even better for the next time we better avoid such bad things.

Today we have come in a time where it should be easier to avoid bad things, bad people and bad events. All negativism we can miss as toothache.

Got a friend causing problems in your life? Before you cut him or her out have a look at this so called 'friend' and check if it is really a person to have as friend or a person you should be concerned about his way of life and would be some one who could use your help more than you need him or her.

Someone in your small group says insensitive things? Leave that small group and find a new one, if you are not able to bring that person to reason.

Someone at work doesn’t understand or respect your faith? You could avoid that person but you also could try to find out what he or she knows about your faith and come to get to know your faith better. Often people have no idea about someone's faith and go by 'sayings' or ideas which float around.

Tired of being made fun of in the public square? Some would withdraw into their Christian bubble.

Parents in your kid’s class not raising their kids the way you like? (Corona-aside: Remember classes?) Surround yourself with people who make you feel safe and comfortable.

In life, there are too many things to cope with. Too often we lose too much energy on worthless cases. At this time of restrictions, it is ideal to make it done with all the negativism which may be around you. Concentrate on the positive things and keep contact with positive people.

But do not forget if possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. With the restrictions, it can well be that you do not have many contacts, and when on the street some people may look strange at you or take an offensive attitude. Forgive them and think they are in a 'corona fear mood'.

We should be aware of the fact that denying someone your presence can also be considered as the ultimate punishment. Then you should think about that matter if this isn’t that God’s final judgment?

But now we can keep the distance of many people without having to hurt them. We can leave those aside with whom our relationship is not evolving positively. We best invest now in positive relationships and do not lose to much time with the wrong contacts.

A living Word giving confidence

In these particular times people look for solutions for their restricted life. Because of the corona measures, many feel very restricted in their liberty. Some therefore want to go to court to reverse or stop the corona restrictions. They do forget that protecting the citizens in our society is the responsible role a government should take care off. Protecting everybody habiting in their state, should be the priority of a state.

People may be annoyed that they have to stay in the house or may not meet with so many people, but they should look it from the positive side. Now they can have more time for themselves.

In that extra time given, people also could use some more time with the One they can not see, but Who is always there. That Unseen God has given His Word. And now we could take some extra time to look at that Word, given to us with The Bible.

The Bible is not just a book of theological doctrine and premises; it is the living, breathing Word of God. In it, we encounter the very Voice of God—the same voice that created the stars, our universe with water, plants and animals. The same Voice which led a lot of people, guiding them through difficult situations, helping them when they needed help.

Scripture is not just about learning ancient truths. It is about God speaking to us, in real-time, with real direction. Without that, our souls will shrivel and die.

In “Word of God”  we can find the words of many prophets. one of them was the Nazarene Jesus christ (Jeshua)  Also his words are meticulously notated by his closest disciples, the apostles.
In the Word of the gospel, we can meet the promised one from God, Jesus who is also called the 'son of God', 'the sent one from God' and the Messiah or Christ.

That great preacher wanted to show to everybody (who wanted to hear) Who the Only Real God is. He also wanted others to know that he is the Way to God, the gate to God's Kingdom. He who gives us a taste of the goodness of God and teaches us that, in all things, we can trust him. In Jesus, we see that at our worst moment, he still loved us, and we know that if he loved us then he will never leave us now.

The apostle Peter advises us to nourish ourself constantly on that good gospel Word. We should drink it like the milk a baby drinks to survive and without which it will remain severely undernourished.

For many people, the only Bible they get is from the preacher on Sunday. Not having a daily quiet time, where you pour God’s Word into you, means you will shrivel up spiritually — and it won’t matter how long you’ve been a Christian or how many facts you know. We need the constant intake of the imperishable, life-giving Word of God. Even Jesus was saturated in it.

Let us not forget that all human teaching passes away but God His teaching shall stay forever. In times of crisis, lots of people bring up lots of questions and often also start doubting God, Who they suddenly seem to know as the One to blame. When there are no services any more in your church, please do not forget to regularly read the Bible and to meditate on it. If you have a partner or when you have children, please do take time with them to read the Bible and talk about what is been read. Make sure the Word of God can be echoing in your house at regular times. that way you also shall feel how God can also with you and your family and give you confidence to cope in this particular time.

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Additional reading 

1. Honest-hearted people are losing faith in humanity and humanity losing faith in God
2. All human teaching passes away
3. God Statements recorded in a book
4. The God speaking out providing provings, signs and miracles
5. God’s Blog recorded in a Book
6. God’s Self-Revelation
7. the Bible – God’s guide for life #1 Introduction
8. the Bible – God’s guide for life #2 Needs in life
9. Creator and Blogger God 3 Lesson and solution
10. Creator and Blogger God 4 Expounding voice
11. the Bible – God’s guide for life #3 Fast food or staple diet
12. the Bible – God’s guide for life #4 Not to get the best from our diet– or from ourselves
13. Today’s thought “Word of the Only One God – To be read and listened at” (November 21)
14. Today’s thought “Jehovah God makes us dwell in safety and confident trust” (January 02)

A new start when the lockdown comes to an end

For weeks, we have been limited in what we could do and where we could go. It looked like one life or one period or age had come to a close and another way of living came to the forefront.

Several countries loosening the restrictions of the lockdown offer a totally different world than before the corona crisis. Many people had now several weeks to think about their way of life and are wondering how they shall have to continue in this world where nothing shall seem to be the same as before.

“Most of us think that we can change our lives if we just summon the willpower and try even harder this time around,”

says Alan Deutschman, the former executive director of Unboundary, a firm that counsels corporations on how to navigate change.

 “It’s exceptionally hard to make life changes, and our efforts are usually doomed to failure when we try to do it on our own.”

For New Year's resolutions it is well known that mostly when Spring arrives they are all gone or forgotten. To suggest that most people will never change, no matter how much they want to, seems almost giving no opportunity to believe positively in mankind.

In many of the so-called civilised countries, you may find bookstore shelves swollen with the latest self-help books, and life-change gurus like Anthony Robbins, Dr. Phil and, yes, Oprah are pop-culture icons. There are the Experience, Observation, Awareness, even a Fear Guru next to the guru who tends to demoralize us. And for all these gurus there was a lof of screening time on television lately. Bounded to the house, many also came hooked tot the screen wich brought all the bad news about corona, but also brought programs about people who had difficulties with coping with themselves as well with others.

For many people, it also looked difficult to accept themselves for who and what they are.

We noticed also that in this period of the CoViD-19 pandemic several people looked on the net for answers about the role of God in this matter. Many also sought for a spiritual guru. Others looked on social media to others to find out how they were coping with this present situation. Some also tried to learn from the one who hasn't reached the top. It was as if they needed a sibling to relate to their father.
What does not seem bad, is that some people went looking for themselves, and after knowing self, God, world drama history,... they found themselves more related to the divine Creator God. They came to feel that though at other times we are so busy to have contact with other people, that we forget a much more important contact.

In quarantine many become confronted with That Higher Being, coming to feel there is no one between them, there also not being restraints, Someone Who accepts them the way they are.

I t can well be that in this period we took more time to try to impress Him by moulding our character to the one He loves i.e imbibe virtues and give up our bad habits. Did you felt also closer to HIm? So that's kind of evergreen feeling because you are growing with Him and not just getting prepared to showcase self in front of Him after end of the present life. (?)

It is well know we all want to do some things our own way. 

"What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies. The mind doesn’t direct the will. The mind is actually captive to what the will wants, and the will itself, in turn, is captive to what the heart wants." 

Having been captive now for some weeks, in our own cocoon, we had enough time to think about ourselves and about our relationship with others and with our Maker.

Having had so much time, many considered if this would not be the moment to go to do it differently. The 8th of June was for the kids as for the parents like a new schoolyear, or a new start of a new and a different life.
This new situation made some people making a resolution and summoning up all their willpower does little good if, ultimately, their heart isn’t in it. Does this mean you should abandon any hope of change? Not at all. If you’re going to make a resolution, you should determine if the resolution is actually good. always you should check what is the driving desire. Is it a good one?

If your resolution is actually a good one, just do it. Go ahead and work out more, smoke or drink less, read your Bible more, pay down your debt and save more for retirement, focus on your marriage, spend more time with your children.
In all cases, we shall have to place ourselves in the surroundings with others. Our interaction with them is always going to influence our aims and actions.

Jesus gave us an example to follow and provide a helper, the Holy Spirit, who can change our desires and empower us to love God and neighbour. As Paul tells us,

 “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

 With us and our willpower, Jesus says, change is impossible,

 “but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

 As Cranmer realized, our wills are captive to what our hearts love, and we are powerless to change ourselves without the work of God’s Spirit changing our desires.

When you think through the resolutions you want to make for after Corona, here’s a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer as you ask God to work on your heart:

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Preceding

 Catholics facing a totally different Holy Week

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Additional reading

1. Social media, sympathy & shocks
2. The unseen enemy
3. Broken daily routines
4. Staying at home saves lives
5. A virus giving the world an opportunity to re-evaluate and change the way we live
6. Unlikely silence
7. Covid-19 Psalm 19 Isaiah 26 and the Evangelical Proof-Texters
8. 7 Ways To Boost Your Immune System in Lockdown
9. So many being afraid – reason enough to step in the boat with Christ
10. Love in the Time of Corona
11. Hosting a Virtual Seder During a Pandemic
12. 2020 World Time to pause

Declining commitment to democracy : What’s going on around the world ?

The European Parliamentary Research Service organised a roundtable on the global state of democracy as seen by citizens on 7 March 2018.
We should carefully look at those politicians who recruit so called fighters for human rights who want the freedom of religion and freedom of clothing limited as well as the right of parents to decide over their children. By bringing in restriction on what people may do with their family or not allowing them to decide what clothes their kids have to wear, they endanger the fundamental rights of liberty and go in again the human rights in general.

The EU is at the forefront of efforts to support democracy in third countries in the world but shall have its hands full the coming months to secure the democratic rights in its own phalanxes.

People expect democratic systems to deliver a good system to live in peace in which the economy booms. Economic success and good governance (and EU aid can play an important supportive role) is important for the strength and resilience of democracies. In this respect, EU development aid, as well as the human rights and democracy conditionality enshrined in many of its bilateral relations, can ensure that democratic and economic progress go hand in hand.  But people do have to be made aware of the danger of the extreme right groups which become more and more popular.

Please read about it:

1. Populism endangering democracy
2. Pushing people in a corner danger for indoctrination and loss of democratic values 
3. It’s Time real lovers of God to Stand and Speak Out!