Showing posts with label self. Show all posts
Showing posts with label self. Show all posts

Wednesday 10 June 2020

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

Sunday 9 October 2016

Knowledge of Christ and fear for God

Heart of Jesus
Heart of Jesus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)




We do have to come to know Christ Jesus and his heavenly Father.
In Jesus we should put our faith to be able to come closer to God.
Not so much should we fear ordinary man and therefore keep to the traditional sayings,
But we should dare to really listen to Jesus' teachings and come to follow the Law of God, fearing Him more than man.


"One aspect of wisdom is recognizing your need for My help in all that you do.
When your mind is sluggish, it’s easy to forget about Me and simply dive into your tasks and activities.
But eventually you bump into an obstacle.
Then you face an important choice:
to push ahead full throttle or to stop and ask Me for insight, understanding, and guidance.
The closer to Me you live, the more readily and frequently you will seek My help."
— Jesus Always
by Sarah Young 




"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction."
—Proverbs 1:7

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Monday 28 December 2015

No curtain placed over tomorrow





Don't throw a curtain across tomorrow... the star of its performance just may be you !



'I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made... my frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret...Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me when as yet there were none of them.' Psalm 139:14-16

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Nederlandse versie / Dutch version: Gooi geen doek over morgen

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Wednesday 24 June 2009

There is no true and constant gentleness without humility


"There is no true and constant gentleness without humility;
while we are so fond of ourselves, we are easily offended with others.
Let us be persuaded that nothing is due to us, and then nothing will disturb us.
Let us often think of our own infirmities, and we shall become (forgiving) towards those of others."
- Fénelon

"How blest are those of a gentle spirit;
they shall have the earth for their possession."
Matthew 5:5

Teach me to look over the shortcomings of others
and let me always be gentle.


Dutch version / Nederlandse versie > Er is geen ware en constante zachtheid zonder nederigheid
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2013 update:

"True Humility": Bishop: "I'm afraid you've got a bad egg, Mr Jones"; Curate: "Oh, no, my Lord, I assure you that parts of it are excellent!" George du Maurier, originally published in 1895'' (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
 
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Monday 27 April 2009

Only the contrite self, sick of its pretensions, can find salvation


"Only when all our pretensions to self-sufficiency have been shattered,
only when we have given up all our schemes of achieving security in some larger whole which is but the self writ large, only when we have finally realized that we cannot save ourselves even through our noblest aspirations and most exalted ideals, only when we come forward with not only empty hands but contrite heart and humble spirit, only then is there hope. Only the contrite self, sick of its pretensions, can find salvation."
- Will Herberg (Judaism and Modern Man, 1951)

"Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians. 4:6-7 (RSV)

Lord God teach me to overcome my fears. I realize that the man I can not do anything that ever would destroy me, but my choices can destroy me. So I ask you for giving me guidance on the correct path to eternal life.
I have many questions and many applications and dare to ask it to grant me those in line with your wishes.
I humbly offer myself to you to receive me into your world of peace.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.


Friday 13 March 2009

For those who make other choices

“If you were from the world of humankind, the world of humankind would certainly have affection for their own. But, because you are not from the world of humankind–but rather I chose you [apostles] out of the world of humankind–for this reason the world of humankind continues to hate all of you.” (Joh 15:19 MHM)

 “For a certainty the time is coming when they will no longer tolerate healthy teaching, but instead they will appoint their own teachers to suit their fancy and to tickle their ears. They will turn away for sure from listening to the Truth, and instead they will turn aside to myths. As for you, [Timothy], always be sober-minded in everything–be willing to suffer difficulties, do the work of an evangelist, completely fulfill your ministry.” (2Ti 4:3-5 MHM)

 “And now because you do not continue running with them in their headlong rush into a licentious course, they think you the strange ones and speak abusively of you.” (1Pe 4:4 MHM)

Dutch version / Nederlands > Voor hen die andere keuzes maken