A Christ Follower: The Journey

Where there is no guidance, the people fall, but in the abundance of counselors there is victory Proverbs 11:14       Go it alone wisdom is limited, and it  results in a greater opportunity to fail.  Even when Jesus sent out His disciples, He did so in pairs.  He gave all twelve the boundaries for their ministry to be, but He then made sure that they did not go it alone. Even the one paired with Judas Iscariot, as well as Judas,  went out with Jesus marching orders as their guide. So to them what was to be done was clear, and what Christ wanted was also clear. If something came up that required thinking about the circumstances, both made the decision based on Jesus' wisdom and guidance. And they did not do it alone.  They did so together.      As the Son of God, Jesus knew all too well what human beings can do when left to themselves to plan and act. So He sent them out together. Being alone can really be challenging...

One of the great things about choice is that we can choose to  p articipate in a "friendly" discussion  or not. We can choose to be  at peace (which only the Lord Jesus  can provide) or not.  We can care  about people who are determined to be right or not.  And we can  choose to enjoy the comfort of  God, when the storms  of life howl around us, or not. Personally today I choose all the above formers rather than  the  latters because, in doing so, we choose life. This is  what makes  building our "houses" of life on  the rock of  Jesus teachings and grace so wonder-filled.  People  who don't know this awe inspiring  relationship with Christ  will be   unnecessarily buffeted by each imagined or real storm because they have QUICKSAND footing for their journey. ...

People who do not understand the power & love God unleashes when a grandparent or parent prays humbly, consistently and secretly for grandchildren or children have no idea what constitutes healthy or HOLY parental influence or guidance. Over life's journey, a genuinely loving grandparent or parent will realize how much of the journey is out of our control ... But never out of God's control. Wisdom, therefore, dictates we go to our "closets" and take care of the truly im portant business of offering our loved ones to God In prayer through Jesus who is The Christ and who is  LORD OF ALL. SoJourner.

Isaiah 53:5 He was wounded for our law breaking, bruised for our pre-meditated sins.  His punishment that brought us peace was placed on him, and by his stripes we are healed .      Well here is another of my favorite scriptures that is definitely good news. Straight from the Prophet Isaiah's mouth, he talks about what would happen to the Messiah.  Hundreds of years later all of what  is described in this scripture happened to Jesus. He was indeed wounded.  Didn't Thomas examine  those wounds in Jesus body before he (Thomas)  would believe? When Herod's crowd beat upon Jesus, he most assuredly was bruised.  Jesus was without a doubt punished and the whip lashing Jesus' back most definitely left stripes on his back. It really is interesting how this was foretold hundreds of years before it happened, and yet it happened down to the very smallest detail ... ad...

Freedom Thinking 3# Identifying The A.N.T.s That Really Sting. You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free -- Jesus John 8:32. The truth of God's word is designed to help us think about those things that are holy and healthy.  According to Jesus, the word of God, which he called "the word of truth" in his John 17 prayer, is just that. When we believe the truth it sets us free.  When we let all kinds of negative thoughts permeate our minds, however, then we get into trouble. Once again, thanks and a tip of the hat to Dr. Daniel Amen, MD for some very compelling insights. Here are nine different ways that your thoughts lie to you to make situations out to be worse than they really are. Think of these nine ways as different species or types of ANTs (automatic negative thoughts). When you can identify the type of ANT, you begin to take away the power it has over you. Let's call these RED A.N.T.s  because these ANTs are p...

TAKING ON THE A.N.T.S As you think in your heart, so you will be. Proverbs 23:7  As we continue helping with freedom producing thinking, we are going to look a little more at those little stingers that we call A.N.T.s   or Automatic  Negative Thinking. Given it is true that your thoughts really can dominate your life, and they can  lead it to a place of either darkness or light, this is important. Indeed A.N.T.s can really complicate a persons life, especially if she or he does not realize that they are stomping daily in a whole bed of those hurtful little but powerful things.  Let's begin looking at a colony of A.N.T.s and see what we can learn.  Much thanks to Daniel Amen (Noted Psychiatrist and author) for these insights. Our overall mind state has a certain tone or flavor based largely on the types of thoughts we think. When the deep limbic system is overactive, it sets the mind's filter on "negative." If you co...

Finding Freedom By How You Think        Freedom thinking is an important accomplishment at which you can arrive. You can do so  by  giving yourself permission to not worry about what others may think or appear to think about you.  I can promise you that, once a person forms an opinion of you, it is highly unlikely that will ever change, and no amount of "dancing on a pin head, " or trying to convince them to change their minds, will be productive. So simply make a conscious decision that the person has your complete and full permission to think what they think.  If you disagree with those thoughts, it really won't matter because you have freed yourself by your permission giving to think and let think. You may have even freed the other person as well. Additionally, you may be misunderstanding how a person is thinking about you by reading them wrongly.  If you are reading them wrongly, and your thinking is way off base,...