No, I'm not going to the World Cup!
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
CaracterÃsticas de Deus
Uma compilação
As caracterÃsticas de Deus nos revelam o que e quem Ele é.—William Ames
*
Porque Deus é um espÃrito... buscarei um contato Ãntimo com Ele.
Porque Deus é onipotente... Ele pode me ajudar com qualquer coisa.
Porque Deus é onipresente... Ele está sempre comigo.
Porque Deus é onisciente... Apresentarei a Ele todas as minhas dúvidas e preocupações.
Porque Deus é soberano... Eu Lhe entregarei de boa mente a minha vontade.
Porque Deus é santo... Eu me dedicarei a Ele em pureza, adoração e serviço.
Porque Deus é a verdade absoluta... Eu acreditarei e viverei de acordo com Suas Palavras.
Porque Deus é justo... Eu viverei segundo Seus padrões.
Porque Deus é justo... Ele vai me tratar com equidade.
Porque Deus é amor... Ele está incondicionalmente compromissado com o meu bem-estar.
Porque Deus é misericordioso... Ele perdoa os meus pecados quando os confesso com sinceridade.
Porque Deus é fiel... Eu confiarei que Ele sempre guardará Suas promessas.
Porque Deus nunca muda… o meu futuro está seguro e é eterno.—Dr. William R. Bright
*
Entre as caracterÃsticas de Deus, apesar de todas serem iguais, a misericórdia reluz mais do que a justiça.—Miguel de Cervantes
*
“Quais são as caracterÃsticas de Deus?”
(Nota do editor: As referências bÃblicas neste texto estão em hiperlink para facilitar e agilizar a leitura.)
A BÃblia, a Palavra de Deus, revela-nos tanto o que Deus é como o que Ele não é. Sem a autoridade da BÃblia, qualquer tentativa de explicar as caracterÃsticas de Deus valeria tanto quanto uma opinião, o que muitas vezes é incorreta, principalmente para a compreensão de Deus (Jó 42:7). Nem faz sentido dizer que é importante tentarmos entender Deus, pois sem essa compreensão podermos determinar, procurar e idolatrar deuses falsos contrários à Sua vontade (Êxodo 20:3–5).
Podemos conhecer apenas o que Deus escolheu revelar acerca de Si mesmo. Uma de suas caracterÃsticas ou qualidades é “luz”, em outras palavras, Ele se revela nas informações a respeito de Si mesmo (Isaias 60:19; Tiago 1:17). Devemos considerar que Deus revelou a Si mesmo (Hebreus 4:1). A criação, BÃblia e a Palavra que se fez carne (Jesus Cristo) nos ajudará a entender a natureza de Deus.
Devemos começar entendendo que Deus é o nosso Criador e fazemos parte da Sua criação (Gênesis 1:1; Salmo 24:1) e fomos criados à Sua semelhança. O ser humano está acima do resto da criação e a ele foi concedido subjugá-la (Gênesis 1:26-28). A Criação está manchada pela queda, mas ainda assim oferece um vislumbre das obras de Deus (Gênesis 3:17-18; Romanos 1:19-20). Ao considerarmos a amplidão, complexidade, beleza e ordem da criação, podemos entender um pouco quão impressionante é Deus.
Ler algumas palavras usadas para definir Deus pode nos ajudar a entender como é Deus. Seguem-se:
Elohim Рfortaleza, divino (G̻nesis 1:1)
Adonai – Senhor, indicativa de uma relação entre um senhor e o servo (Êxodo 4:10,13)
El Elyon – AltÃssimo, o mais forte (Gênesis 14:20)
El Roi Рo forte que v̻ (G̻nesis 16:13)
El Shaddai РDeus Todo-poderoso (G̻nesis 17:1)
El Olam – Deus eterno (Isaiash 40:28)
Yahweh - SENHOR “Eu sou”, no sentido de que Deus sempre existiu (Êxodo 3:13,14).
Deus é eterno, ou seja, não tem princÃpio nem fim. Ele é imortal e infinito (Deuteronômio 33:27; Salmo 90:2; 1 Timóteo 1:17). Deus é imutável, ou seja, não muda; o que Lhe confere total credibilidade e confiança (Malaquias 3:6; Números 23:19; Salmo 102:26,27). Deus é incomparável, singular em todos os aspectos. Ele é inigualável e perfeito (2 Samuel 7:22; Salmo 86:8; Isaias 40:25; Mateus 5:48). Deus é inescrutável, inimaginável, insondável e incompreensÃvel (Isaias 40:28; Salmo 145:3; Romanos 11:33,34).
Deus é justo; Ele não faz acepção de pessoas, não tem favoritos (Deuteronômio 32:4;Salmo 18:30). Deus é onipotente; Ele é todo-poderoso e pode fazer o que Lhe apraz, mas Seus atos vão sempre coadunar com o Seu caráter (Apocalipse 19:6; Jeremias 32:17,27). Deus é onipresente, em outras palavras, está em todo lugar, mas isso não significa que Ele seja tudo (Salmo 139:7-13; Jeremias 23:23). Deus é onisciente, em outras palavras, conhece o passado, o presente e o future, inclusive os nossos pensamentos a qualquer momento. Visto que Ele tudo sabe, Ele sempre agirá com equidade (Salmo 139:1-5;Provérbios 5:21).
Deus é único. Não só não existe nenhum outro, como Ele sozinho pode suprir as maiores necessidades e anelos do ser humano. Só Deus é digno da nossa adoração e devoção (Deuteronômio 6:4). Deus é justo, ou seja, não pode e não fará vista grossa ao erro. É justamente devido à Sua justiça e equidade que Jesus precisou sentir a ira de Deus levando sobre Si os nossos pecados para nós podermos ser perdoados (Êxodo 9:27; Mateus 27:45-46; Romanos 3:21-26).
Deus é soberano, em outras palavras, supremo. Toda a sua criação junta não pode desviar os Seus desÃgnio (Salmo 93:1; 95:3; Jeremias 23:20). Deus é espÃrito, em outras palavras, é invisÃvel (João 1:18; 4:24). Deus faz parte da Trindade. É três em um, o mesmo em substância, poder e glória. Deus é verdade e permanecerá incorruptÃvel e não pode mentir (Salmo 117:2; 1 Samuel 15:29).
Deus é santo, distante e hostil à corrupção moral. Deus vê o mal e Se ira. Ele é mencionado como um fogo consumidor (Isaias 6:3; Habacuque 1:13; Êxodo 3:2, 4-5;Hebreus 12:29). Deus é gracioso, e a Sua graça inclui a bondade, gentileza, misericórdia, e o amor divinos. Se não fosse pela Sua graça, a Sua santidade nos excluiria da Sua presença. Ainda bem que não é o que acontece, pois Ele deseja nos conhecer pessoalmente (Êxodo 34:6; Salmo 31:19; 1 Pedro 1:3; João 3:16, 17:3).
Deus é um Ser infindo, portanto, nenhum ser humano é capaz de responder a esta pergunta relativa a Deus [sobre as Suas caracterÃsticas], mas por meio da Palavra de Deus podemos entender muito sobre Ele. Desejo que todos nós continuemos buscando a Deus de todo o coração (Jeremias 29:13).—site Got questions[1]
*
O amor de Deus jamais se revelou tão claramente como quando Ele deu a Sua vida pelas ovelhas. A justiça de Deus jamais se evidenciou tanto como quando Ele sofreu a maldição do pecado para este não passar impune e desonrar a lei. Todas as caracterÃsticas de Deus focam o sacrifÃcio na cruz. Aquele que tem olhos para olhar por meio das lágrimas e ver as feridas de Jesus contemplará mais da essência de Deus do que toda a eternidade ou a criação infinita poderiam revelar.—C. H. Spurgeon
*
Antes de nos aprofundarmos no estudo sobre a natureza, essência, personalidade e caracterÃsticas de Deus, é importante entender que jamais saberemos tudo a Seu respeito. Somos seres limitados e limitados em nosso conhecimento, enquanto Deus é um ser infinito e ilimitado em conhecimento. Essa é uma diferença que jamais será eliminada. A doutrina cristã ensina que Deus é incompreensÃvel, o que significa que Ele “não pode ser entendido plenamente.”[2] Isso não significa que Ele não possa ser compreendido, mas que não é possÃvel entendê-lo completamente.
Apesar de que jamais entenderemos tudo a respeito de Deus, podemos saber coisas sobre Ele que Ele mesmo revelou. Algumas sabemos em termos gerais, pelo mundo à nossa volta —Sua criação. Outras aprendemos mais especificamente, pelo principal veÃculo pelo qual Se revela à humanidade —a BÃblia. Em suas páginas lemos o que Deus disse à humanidade sobre Ele próprio e o que disse sobre Si é verdadeiro. Não nos contou tudo a Seu respeito, de forma que ninguém pode entender plenamente tudo sobre Ele. Mas o que Ele disse por meio da Sua criação e da Sua Palavra é o que revelou a Seu respeito para a humanidade. Essas revelações nos dizem muito sobre Ele, e o que elas nos ensinam nos fazem amá-lO, louvá-lO e confiar nEle.—Peter Amsterdam[3]
Publicado no Âncora em agosto 2013. Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli.copyright@tfi.org
[1] http://www.gotquestions.org/attributes-God.html.
[2] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Editora InterVarsity, 2000), 150.
[3] Publicado originalmente em agosto 201
As caracterÃsticas de Deus nos revelam o que e quem Ele é.—William Ames
*
Porque Deus é um espÃrito... buscarei um contato Ãntimo com Ele.
Porque Deus é onipotente... Ele pode me ajudar com qualquer coisa.
Porque Deus é onipresente... Ele está sempre comigo.
Porque Deus é onisciente... Apresentarei a Ele todas as minhas dúvidas e preocupações.
Porque Deus é soberano... Eu Lhe entregarei de boa mente a minha vontade.
Porque Deus é santo... Eu me dedicarei a Ele em pureza, adoração e serviço.
Porque Deus é a verdade absoluta... Eu acreditarei e viverei de acordo com Suas Palavras.
Porque Deus é justo... Eu viverei segundo Seus padrões.
Porque Deus é justo... Ele vai me tratar com equidade.
Porque Deus é amor... Ele está incondicionalmente compromissado com o meu bem-estar.
Porque Deus é misericordioso... Ele perdoa os meus pecados quando os confesso com sinceridade.
Porque Deus é fiel... Eu confiarei que Ele sempre guardará Suas promessas.
Porque Deus nunca muda… o meu futuro está seguro e é eterno.—Dr. William R. Bright
*
Entre as caracterÃsticas de Deus, apesar de todas serem iguais, a misericórdia reluz mais do que a justiça.—Miguel de Cervantes
*
“Quais são as caracterÃsticas de Deus?”
(Nota do editor: As referências bÃblicas neste texto estão em hiperlink para facilitar e agilizar a leitura.)
A BÃblia, a Palavra de Deus, revela-nos tanto o que Deus é como o que Ele não é. Sem a autoridade da BÃblia, qualquer tentativa de explicar as caracterÃsticas de Deus valeria tanto quanto uma opinião, o que muitas vezes é incorreta, principalmente para a compreensão de Deus (Jó 42:7). Nem faz sentido dizer que é importante tentarmos entender Deus, pois sem essa compreensão podermos determinar, procurar e idolatrar deuses falsos contrários à Sua vontade (Êxodo 20:3–5).
Podemos conhecer apenas o que Deus escolheu revelar acerca de Si mesmo. Uma de suas caracterÃsticas ou qualidades é “luz”, em outras palavras, Ele se revela nas informações a respeito de Si mesmo (Isaias 60:19; Tiago 1:17). Devemos considerar que Deus revelou a Si mesmo (Hebreus 4:1). A criação, BÃblia e a Palavra que se fez carne (Jesus Cristo) nos ajudará a entender a natureza de Deus.
Devemos começar entendendo que Deus é o nosso Criador e fazemos parte da Sua criação (Gênesis 1:1; Salmo 24:1) e fomos criados à Sua semelhança. O ser humano está acima do resto da criação e a ele foi concedido subjugá-la (Gênesis 1:26-28). A Criação está manchada pela queda, mas ainda assim oferece um vislumbre das obras de Deus (Gênesis 3:17-18; Romanos 1:19-20). Ao considerarmos a amplidão, complexidade, beleza e ordem da criação, podemos entender um pouco quão impressionante é Deus.
Ler algumas palavras usadas para definir Deus pode nos ajudar a entender como é Deus. Seguem-se:
Elohim Рfortaleza, divino (G̻nesis 1:1)
Adonai – Senhor, indicativa de uma relação entre um senhor e o servo (Êxodo 4:10,13)
El Elyon – AltÃssimo, o mais forte (Gênesis 14:20)
El Roi Рo forte que v̻ (G̻nesis 16:13)
El Shaddai РDeus Todo-poderoso (G̻nesis 17:1)
El Olam – Deus eterno (Isaiash 40:28)
Yahweh - SENHOR “Eu sou”, no sentido de que Deus sempre existiu (Êxodo 3:13,14).
Deus é eterno, ou seja, não tem princÃpio nem fim. Ele é imortal e infinito (Deuteronômio 33:27; Salmo 90:2; 1 Timóteo 1:17). Deus é imutável, ou seja, não muda; o que Lhe confere total credibilidade e confiança (Malaquias 3:6; Números 23:19; Salmo 102:26,27). Deus é incomparável, singular em todos os aspectos. Ele é inigualável e perfeito (2 Samuel 7:22; Salmo 86:8; Isaias 40:25; Mateus 5:48). Deus é inescrutável, inimaginável, insondável e incompreensÃvel (Isaias 40:28; Salmo 145:3; Romanos 11:33,34).
Deus é justo; Ele não faz acepção de pessoas, não tem favoritos (Deuteronômio 32:4;Salmo 18:30). Deus é onipotente; Ele é todo-poderoso e pode fazer o que Lhe apraz, mas Seus atos vão sempre coadunar com o Seu caráter (Apocalipse 19:6; Jeremias 32:17,27). Deus é onipresente, em outras palavras, está em todo lugar, mas isso não significa que Ele seja tudo (Salmo 139:7-13; Jeremias 23:23). Deus é onisciente, em outras palavras, conhece o passado, o presente e o future, inclusive os nossos pensamentos a qualquer momento. Visto que Ele tudo sabe, Ele sempre agirá com equidade (Salmo 139:1-5;Provérbios 5:21).
Deus é único. Não só não existe nenhum outro, como Ele sozinho pode suprir as maiores necessidades e anelos do ser humano. Só Deus é digno da nossa adoração e devoção (Deuteronômio 6:4). Deus é justo, ou seja, não pode e não fará vista grossa ao erro. É justamente devido à Sua justiça e equidade que Jesus precisou sentir a ira de Deus levando sobre Si os nossos pecados para nós podermos ser perdoados (Êxodo 9:27; Mateus 27:45-46; Romanos 3:21-26).
Deus é soberano, em outras palavras, supremo. Toda a sua criação junta não pode desviar os Seus desÃgnio (Salmo 93:1; 95:3; Jeremias 23:20). Deus é espÃrito, em outras palavras, é invisÃvel (João 1:18; 4:24). Deus faz parte da Trindade. É três em um, o mesmo em substância, poder e glória. Deus é verdade e permanecerá incorruptÃvel e não pode mentir (Salmo 117:2; 1 Samuel 15:29).
Deus é santo, distante e hostil à corrupção moral. Deus vê o mal e Se ira. Ele é mencionado como um fogo consumidor (Isaias 6:3; Habacuque 1:13; Êxodo 3:2, 4-5;Hebreus 12:29). Deus é gracioso, e a Sua graça inclui a bondade, gentileza, misericórdia, e o amor divinos. Se não fosse pela Sua graça, a Sua santidade nos excluiria da Sua presença. Ainda bem que não é o que acontece, pois Ele deseja nos conhecer pessoalmente (Êxodo 34:6; Salmo 31:19; 1 Pedro 1:3; João 3:16, 17:3).
Deus é um Ser infindo, portanto, nenhum ser humano é capaz de responder a esta pergunta relativa a Deus [sobre as Suas caracterÃsticas], mas por meio da Palavra de Deus podemos entender muito sobre Ele. Desejo que todos nós continuemos buscando a Deus de todo o coração (Jeremias 29:13).—site Got questions[1]
*
O amor de Deus jamais se revelou tão claramente como quando Ele deu a Sua vida pelas ovelhas. A justiça de Deus jamais se evidenciou tanto como quando Ele sofreu a maldição do pecado para este não passar impune e desonrar a lei. Todas as caracterÃsticas de Deus focam o sacrifÃcio na cruz. Aquele que tem olhos para olhar por meio das lágrimas e ver as feridas de Jesus contemplará mais da essência de Deus do que toda a eternidade ou a criação infinita poderiam revelar.—C. H. Spurgeon
*
Antes de nos aprofundarmos no estudo sobre a natureza, essência, personalidade e caracterÃsticas de Deus, é importante entender que jamais saberemos tudo a Seu respeito. Somos seres limitados e limitados em nosso conhecimento, enquanto Deus é um ser infinito e ilimitado em conhecimento. Essa é uma diferença que jamais será eliminada. A doutrina cristã ensina que Deus é incompreensÃvel, o que significa que Ele “não pode ser entendido plenamente.”[2] Isso não significa que Ele não possa ser compreendido, mas que não é possÃvel entendê-lo completamente.
Apesar de que jamais entenderemos tudo a respeito de Deus, podemos saber coisas sobre Ele que Ele mesmo revelou. Algumas sabemos em termos gerais, pelo mundo à nossa volta —Sua criação. Outras aprendemos mais especificamente, pelo principal veÃculo pelo qual Se revela à humanidade —a BÃblia. Em suas páginas lemos o que Deus disse à humanidade sobre Ele próprio e o que disse sobre Si é verdadeiro. Não nos contou tudo a Seu respeito, de forma que ninguém pode entender plenamente tudo sobre Ele. Mas o que Ele disse por meio da Sua criação e da Sua Palavra é o que revelou a Seu respeito para a humanidade. Essas revelações nos dizem muito sobre Ele, e o que elas nos ensinam nos fazem amá-lO, louvá-lO e confiar nEle.—Peter Amsterdam[3]
Publicado no Âncora em agosto 2013. Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli.copyright@tfi.org
[1] http://www.gotquestions.org/attributes-God.html.
[2] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Editora InterVarsity, 2000), 150.
[3] Publicado originalmente em agosto 201
Falling in Love with the Bible Again
By John W. Schmidt
The Lord had been showing me for some time that I needed to catch up on reading His Word and take more time with Him, but the constant flow of work had made it difficult to do so. Following a bout of bronchitis, which left me weakened, by His grace it worked out that I could take a few days off to spend time with Him and read His Word.
Something else He had shown me a while back was to read His Word directly, not commented on by other people, but straight from His own mouth—the Bible itself. Now I’m finally doing it, and what a joy it is! I started with the Gospels. I look up words I don’t understand, places I don’t recognize, and travel with Jesus through His life on earth with His disciples—His battles and victories until the final victory over death. What an amazing story! And from four different angles and authors.
The first time I read the whole Bible through was decades ago, when I had first started to serve the Lord. Since then I’ve relied on other people’s writings and teachings about the Bible instead of reading it myself. I do appreciate the different teachings, publications, and sermons by other teachers and preachers, as they help me to understand certain sections better, but I’m happy to also read the Bible directly myself now, asking His Holy Spirit to give me understanding. I find it to be simple and clear. I’ve heard it said that the reason people don’t read the Bible more is not because they don’t understand it, but because of all they do understand and get convicted by. Yes, there are some verses I don’t understand, but compared with all I do understand, I don’t worry about the rest. After all, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”1
There is just something magical about reading these words and meditating on them. If I tune out the earthly things around me, I can get transported directly into the scene of what actually happened. Reading these beautiful verses, stories, parables, and word pictures is truly a feast for the soul. Seeing how many of His outstanding promises have been fulfilled in my life makes me want to step out by faith more to see bigger miracles.
For example, this one about our rewards: Jesus tells us how we would get back a hundredfold if we leave houses, brethren, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, or lands for His sake, with persecutions, and in the world to come, eternal life.2 If I consider how He has fulfilled this verse in my life already, I know He will also fulfill the part for the next life. I also really like the Sermon on the Mount.3 It’s like drinking fresh mountain water; not easy reading, challenging, down to the bare bones, but when yielding to it, it lifts me up to the mountaintop.
As I am reading, I pull out the most inspiring, faith-building verses for further review and some special verses I want to go over later. There are some amazing ones, like how it took time for the disciples to understand things Jesus was trying to tell them.4 Even after they saw the miracle of feeding the multitudes, at one point “they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.”5 This encouraged me to not feel too bad if I blow it or don’t understand something or doubt sometimes. As long as I keep going, as the disciples did—faults, mistakes, and all—in the end, look what He was able to achieve through them. They changed the world and set it on fire for Him, after they got filled with the Holy Spirit.
The main thing I’ve taken away from these readings is a renewal of my love relationship with Jesus. It inspired me to try to be closer to Him and be more like Him. My faith in His power has also been renewed, as I read about how He healed people left and right, how many outstanding miracles of supply He did, how loving He was, comforting those who lost a loved one, even raising their loved ones from the dead. I was encouraged to keep standing up for the truth, no matter how odd it seems. Jesus was not afraid of facing danger. He was courageous in front of adversaries. He definitely was not of this world, didn’t have any earthly possessions, but He loved His Father and was faithful to communicate with Him and obey Him, even unto death.
His disciples followed His example the best they could, and they did a marvelous job of reaching the world, without college training, wealth and riches, but just stepping out by faith, following the Master wherever He led them. It makes me want to follow my Master and the examples of our forefathers of faith.6
I’ve enjoyed the journey so far, not wanting to miss any of its excitement, and I’m looking forward to more adventures with Him, helping others to get to know Him and enjoy the ride too. I’m looking forward to reading more of His treasures new and old, a book that can stand a thousand readings, always revealing new things unto the reader. I fell in love with reading the Bible again! From now on, it will be a steady part of my reading diet!
As an endnote, during the time when I was sick with bronchitis and was reading almost all day for a few days, I could feel the breaking point of my sickness, even if it still took a while to clear up all the way. His Word has healing power, for the spirit and body! “He sent His Word and healed them.”7
1 1 Corinthians 13:12.
2 See Mark 10:29–30.
3 See Matthew 5–7.
4 Matthew 16:6–12.
5 Mark 6:52.
6 See Hebrews 11.
7 Psalm 107:20.
The Lord had been showing me for some time that I needed to catch up on reading His Word and take more time with Him, but the constant flow of work had made it difficult to do so. Following a bout of bronchitis, which left me weakened, by His grace it worked out that I could take a few days off to spend time with Him and read His Word.
Something else He had shown me a while back was to read His Word directly, not commented on by other people, but straight from His own mouth—the Bible itself. Now I’m finally doing it, and what a joy it is! I started with the Gospels. I look up words I don’t understand, places I don’t recognize, and travel with Jesus through His life on earth with His disciples—His battles and victories until the final victory over death. What an amazing story! And from four different angles and authors.
The first time I read the whole Bible through was decades ago, when I had first started to serve the Lord. Since then I’ve relied on other people’s writings and teachings about the Bible instead of reading it myself. I do appreciate the different teachings, publications, and sermons by other teachers and preachers, as they help me to understand certain sections better, but I’m happy to also read the Bible directly myself now, asking His Holy Spirit to give me understanding. I find it to be simple and clear. I’ve heard it said that the reason people don’t read the Bible more is not because they don’t understand it, but because of all they do understand and get convicted by. Yes, there are some verses I don’t understand, but compared with all I do understand, I don’t worry about the rest. After all, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”1
There is just something magical about reading these words and meditating on them. If I tune out the earthly things around me, I can get transported directly into the scene of what actually happened. Reading these beautiful verses, stories, parables, and word pictures is truly a feast for the soul. Seeing how many of His outstanding promises have been fulfilled in my life makes me want to step out by faith more to see bigger miracles.
For example, this one about our rewards: Jesus tells us how we would get back a hundredfold if we leave houses, brethren, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, or lands for His sake, with persecutions, and in the world to come, eternal life.2 If I consider how He has fulfilled this verse in my life already, I know He will also fulfill the part for the next life. I also really like the Sermon on the Mount.3 It’s like drinking fresh mountain water; not easy reading, challenging, down to the bare bones, but when yielding to it, it lifts me up to the mountaintop.
As I am reading, I pull out the most inspiring, faith-building verses for further review and some special verses I want to go over later. There are some amazing ones, like how it took time for the disciples to understand things Jesus was trying to tell them.4 Even after they saw the miracle of feeding the multitudes, at one point “they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.”5 This encouraged me to not feel too bad if I blow it or don’t understand something or doubt sometimes. As long as I keep going, as the disciples did—faults, mistakes, and all—in the end, look what He was able to achieve through them. They changed the world and set it on fire for Him, after they got filled with the Holy Spirit.
The main thing I’ve taken away from these readings is a renewal of my love relationship with Jesus. It inspired me to try to be closer to Him and be more like Him. My faith in His power has also been renewed, as I read about how He healed people left and right, how many outstanding miracles of supply He did, how loving He was, comforting those who lost a loved one, even raising their loved ones from the dead. I was encouraged to keep standing up for the truth, no matter how odd it seems. Jesus was not afraid of facing danger. He was courageous in front of adversaries. He definitely was not of this world, didn’t have any earthly possessions, but He loved His Father and was faithful to communicate with Him and obey Him, even unto death.
His disciples followed His example the best they could, and they did a marvelous job of reaching the world, without college training, wealth and riches, but just stepping out by faith, following the Master wherever He led them. It makes me want to follow my Master and the examples of our forefathers of faith.6
I’ve enjoyed the journey so far, not wanting to miss any of its excitement, and I’m looking forward to more adventures with Him, helping others to get to know Him and enjoy the ride too. I’m looking forward to reading more of His treasures new and old, a book that can stand a thousand readings, always revealing new things unto the reader. I fell in love with reading the Bible again! From now on, it will be a steady part of my reading diet!
As an endnote, during the time when I was sick with bronchitis and was reading almost all day for a few days, I could feel the breaking point of my sickness, even if it still took a while to clear up all the way. His Word has healing power, for the spirit and body! “He sent His Word and healed them.”7
1 1 Corinthians 13:12.
2 See Mark 10:29–30.
3 See Matthew 5–7.
4 Matthew 16:6–12.
5 Mark 6:52.
6 See Hebrews 11.
7 Psalm 107:20.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Life Is a Trust
A compilation
Those who are trusted with something valuable must show they are worthy of that trust.—1 Corinthians 4:21
*
Jesus often referred to life as a trust and told many stories to illustrate this responsibility toward God. In the story of the talents, a businessman entrusts his wealth to the care of his servants while he’s away. When he returns, he evaluates each servant’s responsibility and rewards them accordingly. The owner says, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.”2
At the end of your life on earth you will be evaluated and rewarded according to how well you handled what God entrusted to you. That means everything you do, even simple daily chores, has eternal implications. If you treat everything as a trust, God promises three rewards in eternity. First, you will be given God’s affirmation: He will say, “Good job! Well done!” Next, you will receive a promotion and be given greater responsibility in eternity: “I will put you in charge of many things.” Then you will be honored with acelebration: “Come and share your Master’s happiness.”—Rick Warren
*
The Lord can be a pretty tough taskmaster sometimes, as in the case of the man who buried his one talent and lost it, and those who made more talents with more talents and had more to end with.3 He said, “To them that hath shall be given, but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”4
God goes very strongly on the merit system as to who deserves it and who doesn’t, not necessarily according to need. That’s one place where the Lord differs a bit from the old adage of “from each according to his ability unto each according to his need.” God doesn’t necessarily give to everybody in need. He only gives it if they deserve it, and sometimes He gives it because they deserve it even if they don’t really need it as much as another person.
He works largely on rewards, on a merit system as to whether people can be trusted with it or not. If they’re faithful in a few things, He gives them many things. But if they are not even faithful in a few things, He’s not likely to give them more.
God rewards hard work and merit and the deserving, but He doesn’t reward the lazy who bury what little talent they’ve got. God takes care of His own, especially the faithful ones, the diligent and the hard-working and the good stewards who work hard at developing and investing their talents where they’ll do the most good and get the best returns. God helps those who help themselves and those who can’t help themselves, but He is less inclined to help those who can help themselves but won’t.
God will always bless hard work, diligence, faithfulness, and good investment, and He’ll reward it with more. The faithful in the few things or in little will be faithful also in much and many things. But if you’re unfaithful in a few things, you may even lose what you’ve got.5
The servant who buried the talent and didn’t earn a thing or get a thing out of it, didn’t work at it, didn’t invest it, didn’t gain any more, and who said when he dug it up and gave it back to God, “Here, I was afraid I’d lose it, so I saved it,” He threw him out. He gave the talent to somebody who knew how to invest it and make good use of it. He took the one talent that the guy buried and wasted and didn’t use and didn’t develop and didn’t earn more talents with it, and He gave it to the guy who had the most talents because He knew he’d invest it well and he’d be even more successful.
Nothing succeeds like success, and God blesses those who are fruitful and get results, who are diligent, hard-working, truly trusting and genuinely obedient. I never saw God fail anybody who really did their best to get out and work hard and earn it one way or another, or just by the hard work of trusting God by faith.
Some people seem to have the idea that living by faith means loafing around and doing nothing. They’ve got an entirely wrong idea of living by faith. They seem to think that living by faith means living by nothing or living for nothing or with nothing. They’re mistaken.
Living by faith means putting faith into action, putting feet to your prayers and doing everything you can possibly do, as though everything depended on doing, and praying like everything depended on prayer! The people who sit around and expect God to drop it into their laps while they’re doing little or nothing are not likely to get much of anything. God is not going to invest His money or His gifts or His help in people whom He knows it’s going to be wasted on and who will do nothing with it. God’s a pretty tough taskmaster along that line. Jesus Himself told the story.
The Lord even commended the unrighteous steward, because at least he was a good steward and he worked at it.6
He says, “He that scattereth abroad, it increaseth.”7 We scatter it abroad—that doesn’t mean throwing it away or wasting it. It means giving it out where it will count, like “the sower goes forth to sow.” When he gives out like that, scattering the seed in fertile soil where he knows it’s going to bring fruit and get results and be profitable, it increases.
“But he that withholdeth, it tendeth to poverty.”8 The person who won’t even wisely use what little he’s got and selfishly hangs on to his one little talent for fear he might lose it, and doesn’t give it to God or others who could use it more profitably, he may well even lose what he’s got.
I’ve proved through years of experience that if we do our best, God will do His best to help us. I believe in that adage very firmly: God helps those who help themselves. And I add to that: and those who cannot help themselves.
The Bible says that some of you have not because you ask not, because you ask amiss. You ask for the wrong things out of the will of God, and God’s not going to supply those things that wouldn’t be good for you.9 But if you’re diligent and hard-working and deserving, faithful and fruitful, God has promised to supply all your needs according to His riches in glory.10—David Brandt Berg11
*
From the beginning, God intended that we work. The Bible tells us, “The Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”12 Work has its origin in God and is a means of serving Him. If the work we do is for any lesser reason than that, it will fall short. Paul says, “Work with reverence for the Lord. It is the Lord Christ you are serving,” and this applies to every strata of work.
There are many people who simply don’t like what they do and it’s a drudgery to do. Others are frustrated and discouraged; others victimized by prejudices which hold them back, and still others unable to attain the career they wanted. The key to turning any grievance around is not to be oriented around the circumstances of our work, but to be oriented around Jesus Christ in our workplace.
If we take the stand that we are not there primarily to serve our boss or ourselves, but that we have a much bigger agenda in serving our Lord, God dignifies our work and our reward becomes twofold. Paul writes, “…as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord.”13 Our reward from God is that where He has placed us, we can be sure He has a divine purpose for us there. When we work to serve God, He gives us the wisdom to know what it is He wants us to do … We will then see our jobs through the eyes of our Lord, and our work will become a mission and our workplace a mission field where God is revealed. And where God is revealed, the daily grind of our job is dynamically changed with immense possibilities.—Charles Price
Published on Anchor March 2014. Read by Jon Marc. Music by Michael Dooley.
1 NCV.
2 Matthew 25:23 NIV.
3 See the parable of the talents: Matthew 25:14–29.
4 Matthew 25:29.
5 Luke 16:10.
6 See Luke 16:1–12.
7 Proverbs 11:24.
8 Proverbs 11:24.
9 James 4:3.
10 Philippians 4:19.
11 Originally published July 1981.
12 Genesis 2:15 NIV.
13 Colossians 3:23–24 NIV.
Those who are trusted with something valuable must show they are worthy of that trust.—1 Corinthians 4:21
*
Jesus often referred to life as a trust and told many stories to illustrate this responsibility toward God. In the story of the talents, a businessman entrusts his wealth to the care of his servants while he’s away. When he returns, he evaluates each servant’s responsibility and rewards them accordingly. The owner says, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.”2
At the end of your life on earth you will be evaluated and rewarded according to how well you handled what God entrusted to you. That means everything you do, even simple daily chores, has eternal implications. If you treat everything as a trust, God promises three rewards in eternity. First, you will be given God’s affirmation: He will say, “Good job! Well done!” Next, you will receive a promotion and be given greater responsibility in eternity: “I will put you in charge of many things.” Then you will be honored with acelebration: “Come and share your Master’s happiness.”—Rick Warren
*
The Lord can be a pretty tough taskmaster sometimes, as in the case of the man who buried his one talent and lost it, and those who made more talents with more talents and had more to end with.3 He said, “To them that hath shall be given, but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”4
God goes very strongly on the merit system as to who deserves it and who doesn’t, not necessarily according to need. That’s one place where the Lord differs a bit from the old adage of “from each according to his ability unto each according to his need.” God doesn’t necessarily give to everybody in need. He only gives it if they deserve it, and sometimes He gives it because they deserve it even if they don’t really need it as much as another person.
He works largely on rewards, on a merit system as to whether people can be trusted with it or not. If they’re faithful in a few things, He gives them many things. But if they are not even faithful in a few things, He’s not likely to give them more.
God rewards hard work and merit and the deserving, but He doesn’t reward the lazy who bury what little talent they’ve got. God takes care of His own, especially the faithful ones, the diligent and the hard-working and the good stewards who work hard at developing and investing their talents where they’ll do the most good and get the best returns. God helps those who help themselves and those who can’t help themselves, but He is less inclined to help those who can help themselves but won’t.
God will always bless hard work, diligence, faithfulness, and good investment, and He’ll reward it with more. The faithful in the few things or in little will be faithful also in much and many things. But if you’re unfaithful in a few things, you may even lose what you’ve got.5
The servant who buried the talent and didn’t earn a thing or get a thing out of it, didn’t work at it, didn’t invest it, didn’t gain any more, and who said when he dug it up and gave it back to God, “Here, I was afraid I’d lose it, so I saved it,” He threw him out. He gave the talent to somebody who knew how to invest it and make good use of it. He took the one talent that the guy buried and wasted and didn’t use and didn’t develop and didn’t earn more talents with it, and He gave it to the guy who had the most talents because He knew he’d invest it well and he’d be even more successful.
Nothing succeeds like success, and God blesses those who are fruitful and get results, who are diligent, hard-working, truly trusting and genuinely obedient. I never saw God fail anybody who really did their best to get out and work hard and earn it one way or another, or just by the hard work of trusting God by faith.
Some people seem to have the idea that living by faith means loafing around and doing nothing. They’ve got an entirely wrong idea of living by faith. They seem to think that living by faith means living by nothing or living for nothing or with nothing. They’re mistaken.
Living by faith means putting faith into action, putting feet to your prayers and doing everything you can possibly do, as though everything depended on doing, and praying like everything depended on prayer! The people who sit around and expect God to drop it into their laps while they’re doing little or nothing are not likely to get much of anything. God is not going to invest His money or His gifts or His help in people whom He knows it’s going to be wasted on and who will do nothing with it. God’s a pretty tough taskmaster along that line. Jesus Himself told the story.
The Lord even commended the unrighteous steward, because at least he was a good steward and he worked at it.6
He says, “He that scattereth abroad, it increaseth.”7 We scatter it abroad—that doesn’t mean throwing it away or wasting it. It means giving it out where it will count, like “the sower goes forth to sow.” When he gives out like that, scattering the seed in fertile soil where he knows it’s going to bring fruit and get results and be profitable, it increases.
“But he that withholdeth, it tendeth to poverty.”8 The person who won’t even wisely use what little he’s got and selfishly hangs on to his one little talent for fear he might lose it, and doesn’t give it to God or others who could use it more profitably, he may well even lose what he’s got.
I’ve proved through years of experience that if we do our best, God will do His best to help us. I believe in that adage very firmly: God helps those who help themselves. And I add to that: and those who cannot help themselves.
The Bible says that some of you have not because you ask not, because you ask amiss. You ask for the wrong things out of the will of God, and God’s not going to supply those things that wouldn’t be good for you.9 But if you’re diligent and hard-working and deserving, faithful and fruitful, God has promised to supply all your needs according to His riches in glory.10—David Brandt Berg11
*
From the beginning, God intended that we work. The Bible tells us, “The Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”12 Work has its origin in God and is a means of serving Him. If the work we do is for any lesser reason than that, it will fall short. Paul says, “Work with reverence for the Lord. It is the Lord Christ you are serving,” and this applies to every strata of work.
There are many people who simply don’t like what they do and it’s a drudgery to do. Others are frustrated and discouraged; others victimized by prejudices which hold them back, and still others unable to attain the career they wanted. The key to turning any grievance around is not to be oriented around the circumstances of our work, but to be oriented around Jesus Christ in our workplace.
If we take the stand that we are not there primarily to serve our boss or ourselves, but that we have a much bigger agenda in serving our Lord, God dignifies our work and our reward becomes twofold. Paul writes, “…as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord.”13 Our reward from God is that where He has placed us, we can be sure He has a divine purpose for us there. When we work to serve God, He gives us the wisdom to know what it is He wants us to do … We will then see our jobs through the eyes of our Lord, and our work will become a mission and our workplace a mission field where God is revealed. And where God is revealed, the daily grind of our job is dynamically changed with immense possibilities.—Charles Price
Published on Anchor March 2014. Read by Jon Marc. Music by Michael Dooley.
1 NCV.
2 Matthew 25:23 NIV.
3 See the parable of the talents: Matthew 25:14–29.
4 Matthew 25:29.
5 Luke 16:10.
6 See Luke 16:1–12.
7 Proverbs 11:24.
8 Proverbs 11:24.
9 James 4:3.
10 Philippians 4:19.
11 Originally published July 1981.
12 Genesis 2:15 NIV.
13 Colossians 3:23–24 NIV.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Escolha Ser Positivo
Uma compilação
Quando você muda a sua perspectiva, as coisas mudam.—Max Planck
Muitos anos atrás, cuidei de um senhor com Alzheimer.
Por mais de seis meses eu o alimentava, dava banho, vestia, fazia companhia, limpava o seu bumbum e o levava para caminhar. Eu também suportava os seus Ãmpetos, como, por exemplo, quando ele tentou me bater o caminho todo de volta à casa e depois me impediu de entrar e ficou rindo feito um louco (Claro! Rsrsrs.)
Eu comecei a cuidar dele porque gostei de sua esposa logo na primeira entrevista. Eu gostei muito dela como pessoa. Suas olheiras mostravam o cansaço extremo por ter que cuidar dele 24 horas por dia, 7 dias por semana. Mas puxa, quanto amor por aquele homem. Ela olhava para ele com tanta ternura! Ele nem a reconhecia, no entanto ela permanecia inabalável. Eu queria ajudá-la, por isso entrei no time.
Aprendi muito nesse perÃodo. Eu estava tão sensÃvel que nem suportava contato fÃsico. Mas à s vezes, aquele senhor idoso só se acalmava quando alguém segurava suas mãos. Eu tinha que segurar sua mão e me retirar e encontrar um ponto de quietude no meu Ãntimo para energizá-lo. Só então ele sossegava.
Eu o observava passar horas olhando para fora da janela. Ele via coisas que eu não via, e eu ficava curiosa. Será que seus óculos eram mágicos e lhe permitiam ver outros mundos?
Seria possÃvel dizer que ele sofria, mas nunca saberei ao certo, e não acho que seja o caso. Ele vivia com a cabeça em outro lugar, mas parecia feliz e saudável a maior parte do tempo.
As pessoas que realmente sofrem com esse tipo de situação são os membros da famÃlia. Os seus muitos filhos e sua esposa, uma pessoa bastante animada. Mas sofrer era uma decisão que cabia a eles, e preferiram não sofrer. Optaram por incluir o mal de Alzheimer como um fator a mais na equação de suas vidas pelo meio do qual pudessem aprender e crescer em famÃlia. Eles ficaram muito mais unidos. Viram que precisavam pedir ajuda na hora da necessidade (nesse caso estou incluÃda), e criar uma rede de puro amor para amparar esse homem que era tão importante na vida de todos eles.
O mal de Alzheimer foi uma tragédia, pois retirou este homem, em vida, do seio familiar. Foi uma dádiva no sentido que lhes deu a oportunidade de crescer em espÃrito e como famÃlia, de uma maneira que não teria acontecido de outra forma. Eram todas pessoas adoráveis.
A minha filha tem um cromossomo a mais [sÃndrome de Down]. Muitas pessoas gostam de dizer que ela sofre com uma doença. Não acredito que seja isso, pois não é o que ela transparece. Mas vai saber, né?
Gosto de pensar que ela é uma dissidente que desejava vivenciar o mundo de uma perspectiva diferente. Gosto de pensar que ela me empurra na direção de entender o amor incondicional. Essa menininha jamais se encaixará em uma caixa, qualquer que seja. A natureza da sÃndrome de Down torna o futuro um incógnito.
Preciso amá-la como ela é, neste exato momento, e no future, como quer que ele se desenrole, e aconteça o que acontecer.
Considero isso uma lição digna de ser aprendida.—Meriah[1]
Uma atitude de louvor ou gratidão em situações difÃceis atrai o EspÃrito e o poder do Senhor na situação. Eleva o nosso espÃrito e o das pessoas ao nosso redor, pois nos ajuda a ter uma perspectiva positiva. Dá-nos fé – fé no Senhor e fé diante de circunstâncias negativas, e a fé é a vitória. Sem dúvida a fé muda a situação, mas em situações ruins muitas vezes é difÃcil ter fé para orar, pois nossa reação natural é se entristecer, ficar perturbado ou desanimar. Por isso o louvor é o contra-ataque a essas coisas negativas. Ele domina o nosso espÃrito e reação à s circunstâncias, dando-nos fé, confiança no Senhor e uma energia espiritual positiva.—Maria Fontaine[2]
Nós sempre enfrentaremos dificuldades nesta vida. As circunstâncias nunca serão perfeitas aqui na terra, enquanto estivermos na vida fÃsica. Por isso, à s vezes, somos tentados a temer e nos preocupar. Mas a maneira de superar tudo isso é olhando para Mim, concentrando-se na luz.
Concentrar-se na luz é deixar de olhar para as poças de lama dos desapontamentos, temores ou situações difÃceis, e olhar para o chafariz de águas borbulhantes que é a Minha perspectiva positiva. Em vez de fazer caretas por causa da lama, venha admirar o meu espetacular chafariz. Pode contemplar as lindas cores se movimentando nas águas refrescantes, juntar as mãos e matar a sua sede. Pode tirar os sapatos e pular na água borbulhante, jogar água pra cá e pra lá, e beber à vontade.
Mantenha os olhos em Mim, lembrando-se que Eu estou no controle. Absorva as Minhas promessas por meio da leitura e meditação. Brinque alegremente na água na Minha presença, Me louvando apesar do que acontece ao seu redor. Isso é concentrar-se na luz! Jesus fala em profecia[3]
Tudo tem o seu lado positivo. Toda pessoa e toda situação tem algo de bom, e a maior parte do tempo não é muito óbvio. É preciso procurar, e às vezes procurar com bastante atenção. O meu velho eu estava satisfeito em se recostar e observar ao meu redor. Se eu via algo negativo, seguia meus sentimentos. Não queria procurar ou pensar muito no positivo. Era muito mais fácil relaxar e apenas aceitar o que via (geralmente o lado negativo e ruim).
Agora, quando estou diante de uma situação difÃcil ou de um desafio, eu penso: “O que isso tem de bom?” Por mais terrÃvel que seja a situação, sempre posso encontrar algo de bom se parar para pensar a respeito. Tudo tem seu lado bom e ruim, e nos oferece aprendizado. Então, no mÃnimo, podemos aprender com as experiências ruins; mas geralmente não para por aÃ. Se observarmos com atenção, geralmente descobriremos algo bom e positivo sobre toda pessoa ou situação.—Dani[4]
A maior descoberta da minha geração é que o ser humano pode alterar sua vida se mudar suas atitudes. —William James
Escolher uma atitude positiva é um processo. Não é algo que se faz apenas uma vez e conta que tudo vai ser perfeito a partir daquele momento. Ainda sofreremos reveses, demoras, acidentes, frustrações, argumentos, fadiga, e medo. O segredo é a maneira como reagimos a tudo isso. Queremos deixar as situações arruinarem nosso dia, ou preferimos encarar o futuro com esperança? Temos o poder de escolher…
Ao optarmos por uma atitude positiva cada dia, na verdade estamos atraindo mais experiências positivas, e reduzindo a possibilidade de termos experiências negativas. Você talvez tenha reparado que cada experiência muitas vezes determina a qualidade da experiência seguinte, causando uma reação em cadeia em nossas vidas. Se uma coisinha der errado, pode desencadear uma série de problemas no resto do dia. Nesse contexto, é fácil perceber a força de uma atitude positiva. Em vez de deixar pequenas coisas arruinarem o nosso dia, deverÃamos ignorá-las e seguir adiante sem nos deixarmos afetar.—Autor anônimo[5]
O coração alegre serve de bom remédio.—Provérbios 17:22[6]
Publicado no Âncora em julho de 2013. Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli.
[1] www.mamapedia.com/voices/the-choice-to-suffer.
[2] Publicado originalmente em fevereiro de 2007.
[3] Publicado originalmente em agosto de 2008.
[4] www.positivelypresent.com/2010/03/train-yourself-to-be-positive.html.
[5] http://www.wingsfortheheart.com/consciously-choosing-a-positive-attitude.htm.
[6] NVI.
Quando você muda a sua perspectiva, as coisas mudam.—Max Planck
Muitos anos atrás, cuidei de um senhor com Alzheimer.
Por mais de seis meses eu o alimentava, dava banho, vestia, fazia companhia, limpava o seu bumbum e o levava para caminhar. Eu também suportava os seus Ãmpetos, como, por exemplo, quando ele tentou me bater o caminho todo de volta à casa e depois me impediu de entrar e ficou rindo feito um louco (Claro! Rsrsrs.)
Eu comecei a cuidar dele porque gostei de sua esposa logo na primeira entrevista. Eu gostei muito dela como pessoa. Suas olheiras mostravam o cansaço extremo por ter que cuidar dele 24 horas por dia, 7 dias por semana. Mas puxa, quanto amor por aquele homem. Ela olhava para ele com tanta ternura! Ele nem a reconhecia, no entanto ela permanecia inabalável. Eu queria ajudá-la, por isso entrei no time.
Aprendi muito nesse perÃodo. Eu estava tão sensÃvel que nem suportava contato fÃsico. Mas à s vezes, aquele senhor idoso só se acalmava quando alguém segurava suas mãos. Eu tinha que segurar sua mão e me retirar e encontrar um ponto de quietude no meu Ãntimo para energizá-lo. Só então ele sossegava.
Eu o observava passar horas olhando para fora da janela. Ele via coisas que eu não via, e eu ficava curiosa. Será que seus óculos eram mágicos e lhe permitiam ver outros mundos?
Seria possÃvel dizer que ele sofria, mas nunca saberei ao certo, e não acho que seja o caso. Ele vivia com a cabeça em outro lugar, mas parecia feliz e saudável a maior parte do tempo.
As pessoas que realmente sofrem com esse tipo de situação são os membros da famÃlia. Os seus muitos filhos e sua esposa, uma pessoa bastante animada. Mas sofrer era uma decisão que cabia a eles, e preferiram não sofrer. Optaram por incluir o mal de Alzheimer como um fator a mais na equação de suas vidas pelo meio do qual pudessem aprender e crescer em famÃlia. Eles ficaram muito mais unidos. Viram que precisavam pedir ajuda na hora da necessidade (nesse caso estou incluÃda), e criar uma rede de puro amor para amparar esse homem que era tão importante na vida de todos eles.
O mal de Alzheimer foi uma tragédia, pois retirou este homem, em vida, do seio familiar. Foi uma dádiva no sentido que lhes deu a oportunidade de crescer em espÃrito e como famÃlia, de uma maneira que não teria acontecido de outra forma. Eram todas pessoas adoráveis.
A minha filha tem um cromossomo a mais [sÃndrome de Down]. Muitas pessoas gostam de dizer que ela sofre com uma doença. Não acredito que seja isso, pois não é o que ela transparece. Mas vai saber, né?
Gosto de pensar que ela é uma dissidente que desejava vivenciar o mundo de uma perspectiva diferente. Gosto de pensar que ela me empurra na direção de entender o amor incondicional. Essa menininha jamais se encaixará em uma caixa, qualquer que seja. A natureza da sÃndrome de Down torna o futuro um incógnito.
Preciso amá-la como ela é, neste exato momento, e no future, como quer que ele se desenrole, e aconteça o que acontecer.
Considero isso uma lição digna de ser aprendida.—Meriah[1]
Uma atitude de louvor ou gratidão em situações difÃceis atrai o EspÃrito e o poder do Senhor na situação. Eleva o nosso espÃrito e o das pessoas ao nosso redor, pois nos ajuda a ter uma perspectiva positiva. Dá-nos fé – fé no Senhor e fé diante de circunstâncias negativas, e a fé é a vitória. Sem dúvida a fé muda a situação, mas em situações ruins muitas vezes é difÃcil ter fé para orar, pois nossa reação natural é se entristecer, ficar perturbado ou desanimar. Por isso o louvor é o contra-ataque a essas coisas negativas. Ele domina o nosso espÃrito e reação à s circunstâncias, dando-nos fé, confiança no Senhor e uma energia espiritual positiva.—Maria Fontaine[2]
Nós sempre enfrentaremos dificuldades nesta vida. As circunstâncias nunca serão perfeitas aqui na terra, enquanto estivermos na vida fÃsica. Por isso, à s vezes, somos tentados a temer e nos preocupar. Mas a maneira de superar tudo isso é olhando para Mim, concentrando-se na luz.
Concentrar-se na luz é deixar de olhar para as poças de lama dos desapontamentos, temores ou situações difÃceis, e olhar para o chafariz de águas borbulhantes que é a Minha perspectiva positiva. Em vez de fazer caretas por causa da lama, venha admirar o meu espetacular chafariz. Pode contemplar as lindas cores se movimentando nas águas refrescantes, juntar as mãos e matar a sua sede. Pode tirar os sapatos e pular na água borbulhante, jogar água pra cá e pra lá, e beber à vontade.
Mantenha os olhos em Mim, lembrando-se que Eu estou no controle. Absorva as Minhas promessas por meio da leitura e meditação. Brinque alegremente na água na Minha presença, Me louvando apesar do que acontece ao seu redor. Isso é concentrar-se na luz! Jesus fala em profecia[3]
Tudo tem o seu lado positivo. Toda pessoa e toda situação tem algo de bom, e a maior parte do tempo não é muito óbvio. É preciso procurar, e às vezes procurar com bastante atenção. O meu velho eu estava satisfeito em se recostar e observar ao meu redor. Se eu via algo negativo, seguia meus sentimentos. Não queria procurar ou pensar muito no positivo. Era muito mais fácil relaxar e apenas aceitar o que via (geralmente o lado negativo e ruim).
Agora, quando estou diante de uma situação difÃcil ou de um desafio, eu penso: “O que isso tem de bom?” Por mais terrÃvel que seja a situação, sempre posso encontrar algo de bom se parar para pensar a respeito. Tudo tem seu lado bom e ruim, e nos oferece aprendizado. Então, no mÃnimo, podemos aprender com as experiências ruins; mas geralmente não para por aÃ. Se observarmos com atenção, geralmente descobriremos algo bom e positivo sobre toda pessoa ou situação.—Dani[4]
A maior descoberta da minha geração é que o ser humano pode alterar sua vida se mudar suas atitudes. —William James
Escolher uma atitude positiva é um processo. Não é algo que se faz apenas uma vez e conta que tudo vai ser perfeito a partir daquele momento. Ainda sofreremos reveses, demoras, acidentes, frustrações, argumentos, fadiga, e medo. O segredo é a maneira como reagimos a tudo isso. Queremos deixar as situações arruinarem nosso dia, ou preferimos encarar o futuro com esperança? Temos o poder de escolher…
Ao optarmos por uma atitude positiva cada dia, na verdade estamos atraindo mais experiências positivas, e reduzindo a possibilidade de termos experiências negativas. Você talvez tenha reparado que cada experiência muitas vezes determina a qualidade da experiência seguinte, causando uma reação em cadeia em nossas vidas. Se uma coisinha der errado, pode desencadear uma série de problemas no resto do dia. Nesse contexto, é fácil perceber a força de uma atitude positiva. Em vez de deixar pequenas coisas arruinarem o nosso dia, deverÃamos ignorá-las e seguir adiante sem nos deixarmos afetar.—Autor anônimo[5]
O coração alegre serve de bom remédio.—Provérbios 17:22[6]
Publicado no Âncora em julho de 2013. Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli.
[1] www.mamapedia.com/voices/the-choice-to-suffer.
[2] Publicado originalmente em fevereiro de 2007.
[3] Publicado originalmente em agosto de 2008.
[4] www.positivelypresent.com/2010/03/train-yourself-to-be-positive.html.
[5] http://www.wingsfortheheart.com/consciously-choosing-a-positive-attitude.htm.
[6] NVI.
Russian Defiance Is Seen as a Confidence Builder for Syria’s Government
By Anne Barnard, NY Times, March 21, 2014
DAMASCUS, Syria—Russia’s growing rift with the West over the crisis in Ukraine has bolstered the confidence of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, pro-government analysts here say, emboldening him to press ahead with plans for re-election despite a three-year insurgency and making Syrian officials doubt that Russia will pressure him to compromise anytime soon.
The Syrian government is acting with new assurance as its ally Russia moves to take over the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine, dismissing American objections and signaling growing assertiveness against the West. Russia has been the Syrian government’s most powerful backer, vetoing measures against Mr. Assad that the United States has supported in the United Nations Security Council. And now, Syrian analysts close to the government say, that seems less and less likely to change.
The prospect of a compromise brokered by Russian and American officials to end the Syrian war seems increasingly remote, with no date set for the resumption of talks in Geneva. Instead, bonds are deepening, on both official and grass-roots levels, between Moscow and Damascus, Cold War allies that now see themselves standing together against Western aggression.
The strong relationship with Russia, combined with recent battlefield victories for the government, like its seizure of the hilltop Crusader castle Krak des Chevaliers on Thursday along a strategic highway, are reinforcing a sense here and abroad that Mr. Assad will stay in power at least for the medium term. A pro-government Syrian journalist assessed official views this way: “Frankly, their attitude is, ‘We don’t need Geneva.’”
To Russian and Syrian officials and their supporters, the Syrian war and the standoff over the Crimean Peninsula are essentially part of a single, larger battle, against post-Cold War American unilateralism. They see themselves as resisting Western conspiracies to topple inconvenient but legitimate presidents, Mr. Assad in Syria, and in Ukraine, the pro-Russian leader Viktor F. Yanukovych, whose flight in the face of street protests led to Russia’s actions in Crimea.
Russia’s stance has fostered a new Russophilia among a new generation of government supporters here, who, much as their elders flocked to Moscow to study in the Soviet Union’s heyday, applaud plans for new Russian classes in Syrian schools.
And it has brought displays of long-distance camaraderie between the two governments’ supporters—and their detractors, who see their own, different parallels between Ukraine and Syria. They see Moscow and Damascus as too quick to sanction the use of force against popular protests that the governments dismiss as the work of terrorists and conspirators.
Anti-Russian protesters in Ukraine and opposition activists in Syria have hoisted one another’s flags, as have pro-government demonstrators in Moscow and Damascus.
The Syrian government, not unlike President Obama’s critics in Washington, sees the recent events as part of a decline in America’s influence and a rise in Russia’s. By meddling in the affairs of other countries, from Iraq to the former Soviet countries, said one prominent businessman and political observer in Syria, the United States provoked the world and squandered its position as the sole global power after the Soviet Union’s collapse.
“Now there is Russia, China, and tomorrow God knows who else,” said the businessman, E. Ali Al-Ahmad, the general secretary of the chamber of industry in the city of Homs, emphasizing that he was offering his personal political analysis. “America is forcing the world to oppose it. Even a small country like Syria is standing up to the United States.”
The American system contributed much to the world by fostering creativity, he said, waving his iPhone to demonstrate. “But now,” he said, “that system is destroying itself from within.”
During the Cold War, Syria, led by Mr. Assad’s father, President Hafez al-Assad, was squarely in the Soviet orbit, with a planned economy like Moscow’s. Soviet engineers built dams on the Euphrates River. Apartment blocks much like Moscow’s sprouted around Damascus.
Studying in Moscow was a coveted privilege, and thousands of Syrians brought back Russian wives, many still here despite the war. Half of the university professors here were educated in Russia. Among Syria’s government and opposition alike are Soviet-era alumni who speak Russian fluently and fondly remember their days as students in Moscow.
After the Soviet collapse in 1991, Russia kept its naval base on the Syrian coast. But when the London-educated Bashar al-Assad became president in 2000, he turned westward, at least in a commercial sense, opening Syria to Western companies. English, not Russian, became de rigueur among the elite.
Then came the Syrian revolt. Opposing Western support for it was a natural extension of Russia’s long-stated aversion to international interference on human rights issues. With Iran and China, Moscow sustained the Assad government financially.
Most crucially, after chemical attacks last August, Russia helped avert an American military strike by brokering a deal to remove Syria’s toxic arms. “Thank you, Russia,” read fliers in Russian and Arabic taped to downtown Damascus walls.
Later, the Syrian government announced that next year, Syrian children could study Russian instead of French, in addition to required English. The goals, the education minister told Hezbollah’s Al Manar television channel, was to renew Soviet-era ties and build cultural bonds with “peoples who want to cooperate based on mutual respect and common interests.”
DAMASCUS, Syria—Russia’s growing rift with the West over the crisis in Ukraine has bolstered the confidence of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, pro-government analysts here say, emboldening him to press ahead with plans for re-election despite a three-year insurgency and making Syrian officials doubt that Russia will pressure him to compromise anytime soon.
The Syrian government is acting with new assurance as its ally Russia moves to take over the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine, dismissing American objections and signaling growing assertiveness against the West. Russia has been the Syrian government’s most powerful backer, vetoing measures against Mr. Assad that the United States has supported in the United Nations Security Council. And now, Syrian analysts close to the government say, that seems less and less likely to change.
The prospect of a compromise brokered by Russian and American officials to end the Syrian war seems increasingly remote, with no date set for the resumption of talks in Geneva. Instead, bonds are deepening, on both official and grass-roots levels, between Moscow and Damascus, Cold War allies that now see themselves standing together against Western aggression.
The strong relationship with Russia, combined with recent battlefield victories for the government, like its seizure of the hilltop Crusader castle Krak des Chevaliers on Thursday along a strategic highway, are reinforcing a sense here and abroad that Mr. Assad will stay in power at least for the medium term. A pro-government Syrian journalist assessed official views this way: “Frankly, their attitude is, ‘We don’t need Geneva.’”
To Russian and Syrian officials and their supporters, the Syrian war and the standoff over the Crimean Peninsula are essentially part of a single, larger battle, against post-Cold War American unilateralism. They see themselves as resisting Western conspiracies to topple inconvenient but legitimate presidents, Mr. Assad in Syria, and in Ukraine, the pro-Russian leader Viktor F. Yanukovych, whose flight in the face of street protests led to Russia’s actions in Crimea.
Russia’s stance has fostered a new Russophilia among a new generation of government supporters here, who, much as their elders flocked to Moscow to study in the Soviet Union’s heyday, applaud plans for new Russian classes in Syrian schools.
And it has brought displays of long-distance camaraderie between the two governments’ supporters—and their detractors, who see their own, different parallels between Ukraine and Syria. They see Moscow and Damascus as too quick to sanction the use of force against popular protests that the governments dismiss as the work of terrorists and conspirators.
Anti-Russian protesters in Ukraine and opposition activists in Syria have hoisted one another’s flags, as have pro-government demonstrators in Moscow and Damascus.
The Syrian government, not unlike President Obama’s critics in Washington, sees the recent events as part of a decline in America’s influence and a rise in Russia’s. By meddling in the affairs of other countries, from Iraq to the former Soviet countries, said one prominent businessman and political observer in Syria, the United States provoked the world and squandered its position as the sole global power after the Soviet Union’s collapse.
“Now there is Russia, China, and tomorrow God knows who else,” said the businessman, E. Ali Al-Ahmad, the general secretary of the chamber of industry in the city of Homs, emphasizing that he was offering his personal political analysis. “America is forcing the world to oppose it. Even a small country like Syria is standing up to the United States.”
The American system contributed much to the world by fostering creativity, he said, waving his iPhone to demonstrate. “But now,” he said, “that system is destroying itself from within.”
During the Cold War, Syria, led by Mr. Assad’s father, President Hafez al-Assad, was squarely in the Soviet orbit, with a planned economy like Moscow’s. Soviet engineers built dams on the Euphrates River. Apartment blocks much like Moscow’s sprouted around Damascus.
Studying in Moscow was a coveted privilege, and thousands of Syrians brought back Russian wives, many still here despite the war. Half of the university professors here were educated in Russia. Among Syria’s government and opposition alike are Soviet-era alumni who speak Russian fluently and fondly remember their days as students in Moscow.
After the Soviet collapse in 1991, Russia kept its naval base on the Syrian coast. But when the London-educated Bashar al-Assad became president in 2000, he turned westward, at least in a commercial sense, opening Syria to Western companies. English, not Russian, became de rigueur among the elite.
Then came the Syrian revolt. Opposing Western support for it was a natural extension of Russia’s long-stated aversion to international interference on human rights issues. With Iran and China, Moscow sustained the Assad government financially.
Most crucially, after chemical attacks last August, Russia helped avert an American military strike by brokering a deal to remove Syria’s toxic arms. “Thank you, Russia,” read fliers in Russian and Arabic taped to downtown Damascus walls.
Later, the Syrian government announced that next year, Syrian children could study Russian instead of French, in addition to required English. The goals, the education minister told Hezbollah’s Al Manar television channel, was to renew Soviet-era ties and build cultural bonds with “peoples who want to cooperate based on mutual respect and common interests.”
Your Kindness Is Good for You
By Casey N. Cep, Pacific Standard, March 19, 2014
Years ago, when I was not yet a teenager, my father nearly died. He had a series of heart attacks, but then a triple bypass saved his life. There is so much to say about the weeks he spent in the hospital and the months he spent in recovery, as well as the miracles of medicine and the mysteries of the human body, but I want to say something about when his failing heart first shot pains through his left arm.
It was early in the morning, but he knew exactly what was happening in his chest and woke my mother to ask her to call an ambulance. Our telephone was in the living room, but before she could leave their bedroom to use it, he asked for something else. My father asked that the ambulance not use its siren.
Weeks later, when the fear of death had receded like some strange tide, my mother asked him about the siren. My father said simply that he worried it would have woken and frightened his three sleeping daughters. It is true that we were all light sleepers and that our farm was usually blanketed by the polite silence that comes from having no close neighbors, but what impossible kindness there was in my father’s request.
Kindness is not always as heavy as action: it can be as light as speech or as invisible as inaction.
I have called it an act of kindness, which I think it was. It was considerate in a way I cannot begin to understand; generous in a way no one would expect, much less demand. Years later I still do not comprehend how in what very well might have been the final moments of his life, my father thought to ask for quiet so that his daughters might continue sleeping.
KINDNESS IS LIKE HOLDING an ice cube in your hands. It stings, but then the cold dissolves; what at first you could barely hold becomes something you cannot let go. My father’s request for a quiet ambulance came from a man so familiar with kindness that the sting was completely gone: the ice was no longer cold, but one with the flesh.
But how do we cultivate such kindness, learning to hold the ice in our hands? While the science of happiness may be the most popular these days, it is closely related to the science of kindness. Take Stephen G. Post’s 2005 survey “Altruism, Happiness, and Health: It’s Good to Be Good,” where he gathers a fascinating set of studies that show in various ways how altruism makes us not only happier, but healthier.
Post cites two studies that “confirm an association between altruistic activities and both well-being and life satisfaction in older adults”; another that links volunteerism to lower levels of depressive symptoms and higher levels of well-being; and two others that found moderate amounts of volunteerism were associated with lowered risk of death (even after controlling for variables like age, gender, chronic conditions, exercise, health habits like smoking, and marital status).
Post writes “that altruism is one of the factors that increases the odds of well-being, better health, or survival in many people,” though cautions, “it is no guarantee of good health.” The overall explanation for why altruism influences health so positively, Post states, is “that emotional states of unselfish love and kindness displace negative emotional states (e.g. rage, hatred, fear), which cause stress and stress-related illness through adverse impact on immune function.”
Post suggests that generous behaviors not only be taught in schools, but also prescribed by doctors in the interest of public health. In that way, whatever natural inclination we may have toward kindness might be nurtured and enhanced. But why wait for a prescription? Self-examination may be all we need.
CONSIDER GEORGE SAUNDERS’ CONVOCATION speech last year at Syracuse University when the celebrated author said clearly, “What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.” Saunders leads by negative example, revisiting missed opportunities for kindness, including one powerful memory from the seventh grade when he was nice, but not kind to a new girl who was “mostly ignored, occasionally teased.” It is, of course, easy for all of us to remember such examples from our own lives.
But kindness is not always as heavy as action: it can be as light as speech or as invisible as inaction. Sometimes the kindest thing we can do is to exercise self-restraint: not posting a nasty comment on an article, leaving a mean-spirited tweet in the draft folder, keeping quiet to listen to whatever unfamiliar or opposing opinion is being offered.
The Internet has offered us many facile ways of expressing approval (like, favorite, share) but few ways of being kind. It might be that the greatest act of kindness on the Internet is to be quiet. Not to be forever silent, but at least listen and learn before expressing outrage or anger, and to realize that kindness will not always take the form of approval. My father’s quiet ambulance was one act of kindness, but so too was rebuking me not long after when I fought with one of his hospital nurses about visiting hours.
It was kind to confront me with my own failure of kindness. George Saunders advised the graduates at Syracuse to reflect on their own balance of succeeding and failing to be kind: “in your life,” he said, “there have been High Kindness periods and Low Kindness periods, and you know what inclined you toward the former and away from the latter.”
Revisiting failure of any kind is chastening. But when it comes to kindness, such reflection can, as Saunders suggests, teach us about our own inclinations. A prescription to perform acts of kindness may seem like a silly thing, but perhaps simply revisiting our successes and failures is enough.
Years ago, when I was not yet a teenager, my father nearly died. He had a series of heart attacks, but then a triple bypass saved his life. There is so much to say about the weeks he spent in the hospital and the months he spent in recovery, as well as the miracles of medicine and the mysteries of the human body, but I want to say something about when his failing heart first shot pains through his left arm.
It was early in the morning, but he knew exactly what was happening in his chest and woke my mother to ask her to call an ambulance. Our telephone was in the living room, but before she could leave their bedroom to use it, he asked for something else. My father asked that the ambulance not use its siren.
Weeks later, when the fear of death had receded like some strange tide, my mother asked him about the siren. My father said simply that he worried it would have woken and frightened his three sleeping daughters. It is true that we were all light sleepers and that our farm was usually blanketed by the polite silence that comes from having no close neighbors, but what impossible kindness there was in my father’s request.
Kindness is not always as heavy as action: it can be as light as speech or as invisible as inaction.
I have called it an act of kindness, which I think it was. It was considerate in a way I cannot begin to understand; generous in a way no one would expect, much less demand. Years later I still do not comprehend how in what very well might have been the final moments of his life, my father thought to ask for quiet so that his daughters might continue sleeping.
KINDNESS IS LIKE HOLDING an ice cube in your hands. It stings, but then the cold dissolves; what at first you could barely hold becomes something you cannot let go. My father’s request for a quiet ambulance came from a man so familiar with kindness that the sting was completely gone: the ice was no longer cold, but one with the flesh.
But how do we cultivate such kindness, learning to hold the ice in our hands? While the science of happiness may be the most popular these days, it is closely related to the science of kindness. Take Stephen G. Post’s 2005 survey “Altruism, Happiness, and Health: It’s Good to Be Good,” where he gathers a fascinating set of studies that show in various ways how altruism makes us not only happier, but healthier.
Post cites two studies that “confirm an association between altruistic activities and both well-being and life satisfaction in older adults”; another that links volunteerism to lower levels of depressive symptoms and higher levels of well-being; and two others that found moderate amounts of volunteerism were associated with lowered risk of death (even after controlling for variables like age, gender, chronic conditions, exercise, health habits like smoking, and marital status).
Post writes “that altruism is one of the factors that increases the odds of well-being, better health, or survival in many people,” though cautions, “it is no guarantee of good health.” The overall explanation for why altruism influences health so positively, Post states, is “that emotional states of unselfish love and kindness displace negative emotional states (e.g. rage, hatred, fear), which cause stress and stress-related illness through adverse impact on immune function.”
Post suggests that generous behaviors not only be taught in schools, but also prescribed by doctors in the interest of public health. In that way, whatever natural inclination we may have toward kindness might be nurtured and enhanced. But why wait for a prescription? Self-examination may be all we need.
CONSIDER GEORGE SAUNDERS’ CONVOCATION speech last year at Syracuse University when the celebrated author said clearly, “What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.” Saunders leads by negative example, revisiting missed opportunities for kindness, including one powerful memory from the seventh grade when he was nice, but not kind to a new girl who was “mostly ignored, occasionally teased.” It is, of course, easy for all of us to remember such examples from our own lives.
But kindness is not always as heavy as action: it can be as light as speech or as invisible as inaction. Sometimes the kindest thing we can do is to exercise self-restraint: not posting a nasty comment on an article, leaving a mean-spirited tweet in the draft folder, keeping quiet to listen to whatever unfamiliar or opposing opinion is being offered.
The Internet has offered us many facile ways of expressing approval (like, favorite, share) but few ways of being kind. It might be that the greatest act of kindness on the Internet is to be quiet. Not to be forever silent, but at least listen and learn before expressing outrage or anger, and to realize that kindness will not always take the form of approval. My father’s quiet ambulance was one act of kindness, but so too was rebuking me not long after when I fought with one of his hospital nurses about visiting hours.
It was kind to confront me with my own failure of kindness. George Saunders advised the graduates at Syracuse to reflect on their own balance of succeeding and failing to be kind: “in your life,” he said, “there have been High Kindness periods and Low Kindness periods, and you know what inclined you toward the former and away from the latter.”
Revisiting failure of any kind is chastening. But when it comes to kindness, such reflection can, as Saunders suggests, teach us about our own inclinations. A prescription to perform acts of kindness may seem like a silly thing, but perhaps simply revisiting our successes and failures is enough.
