Ever feel whacked out? Overloaded? Too many details? Go to the Brunswick All-night Bowl of heaven and roll your heavy ball of gruff toward Our Great Father and Care Solver, right away! Heave the ball vigorously and make it rotate far afield; make sure it does not boomerang. Squash the pins which fasten you to disquiet, and burst through with finesse to the back wall of resolution. Post your score! Then, steady yourself on His revealed mind of comfort and peace and ready for the next frame. Some tips to fine rolling: practice your release point, follow through, and avoid too much spin on the ball. Don’t choose a ball that is too heavy, (because you waited too long), or too light, (because you’re a whiner). Don’t allow your fingers to get caught in the ball-grips, but let go. Don’t slip and fall on your delivery. Taking aim crucializes here,…
Tag: <span>discipline</span>
“One thing we know about our panic —we own it.”“What else?”“We are directing it.”“Really?”“Yes, it receives its cues from us in various ways —weakening, strengthening, ebbing, and flowing at our unconscious movements.”“Tell me more.” “It thrives on attention!” In a word from Viktor Frankl he teaches: “a university student complained about being anxious with regard to an oral report to be given —let us say –on Friday. I advised him to take his appointment calendar and to write on every page of the week, with large letters, the word ‘ANXIETY.’ As it were —I asked him to plan for an anxious week. He was much relieved after doing this because now he was suffering from anxiety only, but not from anxiety about anxiety.” “Pressure induces counter-pressure, and counter-pressure, in turn, increases pressure” —another Frankl quote. Let’s reflect: This above example of “paradoxical intention” does what? It relieves a person from…
If a shower of drops on our yard can represent an infiltration of falsehood into our sphere of God’s Reality, we have a picture. The sometimes flood can be overwhelming, and feelings of compromise project their self. They threaten to do a decisive final slaying of that reality. The thought of evil then seems to outweigh the good, pressing us towards its identity. Eventually, assuage and pressure-release pose themselves in the most attractive way; toward giving in. Well, we have weapons, extra- fleshy, spiritual, and powerful. One of these is the strengthening unto patience and long suffering with joy, in Colossians 1:11. The God-endowed ability to stand still, wait, and delay our impulsing emotions, looms mighty. Moses did it at the Red Sea, Nehemiah on the wall; both saw “joy” as a critical war devise, and too, the authority that comes from meekness; two supernaturals. How do we get these endowments? Well, having done all, we stand, Ephesians 6:13. What…
Liberty empowers people to become who they are in Christ. Authority edifies folks toward that empowerment. Authoritarianism (abuse of authority) badgers a man to fixate on one thing and then lose free-volition. On the other hand, neglect of liberty-producing-authority can also abuse, as in the case of a child. A young lady or man may not have the equipment yet to accept a “self-starter” mode, and the majority do not. They need a lot of teaching and guidance. On that line, the nurture and admonition of the Lord are both vital for healthy growth. Nurture fertilizes the soil, while admonition pulls out the weeds and rocks. It pictures the Shepherd with rod and staff as He leaves the 99 to rescue the one. He shepherds his flock to green pastures. Father’s authority effects itself in the flock by the working of The Holy Spirit. Unfortunately this authority is attacked. Jesus…
Storage bins: they hold stuff. They serve best when dry, unbroken. Where many accumulate, markings identify each…maybe they are color-coded or tagged. These bins survive in protected cargo space. I worked a small warehouse once, primarily because I lacked production side skills. My job was to label and categorize things previously “hit and miss.” In my case, this meant putting steel with steel, or copper with copper. Sometimes I put red with reds, and yellow with yellows. I took boxes of arbitrary screws or nails and sorted them, marked them, and placed them in individual jars on shelves. I threw out a lot of useless junk. Indexing and making things readily accessible to the production engineers started saving time on their projects. I so enjoyed the job. An outside business evaluater complimented my work, and encouraged me about how vital it was to the company. Nevertheless, she said, most employers…
Do we have to have rules? External government or self-discipline, is that the question? Throw off restraints, or buckle under, poses the paradox? Cannot I just trust my own conscience? If so, where do I get one that guides trust-worthily? Ah, guidance; how do I stay on the right road, how about my hunches, my intuition? What is true liberty? How do I discern the right way? In the last days we will have “lawlessness” and it will be sourced in a godless philosophy. The Bible calls the spirit of the age a “lukewarm” one, neither hot nor cold. Characteristic of this time will be moral decline but also an apostasy from true meaning and departure of generationally established values and traditions. Totalitarianism gains feet when folks leave “true upper guidance” and go with the flow of their intuitions, senses, emotions and pleasure seeking. This spiritual and cultural phenomena,…
God may do a new thing and can we follow it? Maybe the lesson of the last 20 years ended and now we move on. Maybe, like Moses it has been 40 years. Can we flex? Let me tell you why we don’t really want to but nevertheless are able. I came to some conclusions while watching a video of a quadriplegic who loved God so much that every day just brought more desire for His presence. I sadly realized, watching, that what little suffering my life consisted of did the same, however, it didn’t really give me a desire for more of the suffering. I really don’t want to suffer anymore even though it did lead me closer to my Savior —this, a rude awakening. So, in suffering, two things may eventuate; one, we grow tired of the adversity; two, we accumulate great discipline for a life-style of pain,…
The mind is the most active part of the soul. It used to be like a wild horse, but now it is being restrained by the will. And the will is in cooperation with the spirit. The way to a spirit controlled soul comes about as follows: At the moment when the mind begins to think of questionable things and to wander, the first step of control is to discern, that is, to see the condition of the mind in the light of God. The second step is to drive out or cast aside such unhealthy thoughts. And the third step is to return to quietness in God’s presence. Watchman Nee If any man think that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought. A teachable and quiet spirit is of much value in the sight of God. Indeed, the meek will he teach, the humble will hear…
I have heard it said, often even, take ownership, Tom, take ownership. We can take ownership, we must; though we may not ever realize the necessity. We may gravitate in and out of a kind of ownership, all our lives, yet there’s more about it to be learned. First, what does it mean to take ownership? Well, it means to possess what is possessed. To take hold of a principal and make it my own, partitions it, but at the core remains owning up to my personal and intimate responsibility to the call and destiny of the individual life. It is the opposite of blaming others, it is the opposite of blaming self, it is the anti-thesis to all blame and disowning. Can you see the problem developing? It is an unconscious defense mechanism to deny personal responsibility through blame. Why can’t we just accept what happened? Why can’t we…
Knowledge …is a paradoxical thing. It must be acquired with diligence, but the more I get of it, the greater my sorrows and temptation to pride — Ecclesiastes. The wise man uses knowledge aright. The wise man studies to give an answer. He increases in learning. The fear of the Lord: …Births Knowledge and Wisdom. The application of knowledge is wisdom. Fools despise wisdom. With it, we get Understanding. Vanity cycles people around and around. Vanity is a mode of mind function. It simply thinks about, adopts, and lives out the natural mind of man. The concept of self-expression parallels the circling mind. He is the fool of Prov 18:2. He makes wrong decisions over and over. He has an opinion. He wants to discover his own heart. He has not learned how to think with God” thoughts. “The subjective mind” …Functions according to its own feelings and opinions. We might not believe…