Song "He fed his body but starved his soul" - Andrew Green
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
God’s Delays
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Audio length: 8:54
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For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.—Ephesians 2:101
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We want our dreams to become reality yesterday. But I’ve come to appreciate what I now call divine delays. God wants you to get where God wants you to go more than you want to get where God wants you to go. So take a deep breath, enjoy the journey, and know that God will get you there when you’re ready to get there. Your current frustration will be cause for future celebration if you hang in there long enough. Don’t give up! God is building emotional endurance. And the key to emotional endurance is experiencing high levels of disappointment that break us down so God can build us back up with a holy confidence. Anytime I feel stretched emotionally, I remind myself that God is expanding my emotional capacity to be used by Him in greater ways.
You may not want to be where you are. Maybe you’re wrestling with depression or reeling from a mistake that seems unforgivable, or you’re just sick and tired of being sick and tired. Dare I suggest that God is cultivating character? How do I know that? Because you are His masterpiece! He is chipping and chiseling. And like a half-finished piece of art, it may not look beautiful yet. But God always finishes what He starts, as long as we don’t quit on Him. So you may not like your present circumstances, but they may be the key to your character development.
We so quickly forget the central fact of our faith: without a crucifixion, there is no resurrection. Those days between death and resurrection are long and dark, but that’s often when a miracle is about to happen. You never know how or when or where a dream will be resurrected, but if it’s God-ordained, then God Himself will bring it back to life, somewhere, sometime.—Mark Batterson2
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God has made promises in His Word, and when you pray, you should bring those promises with you to remind Him. When you remind God of His Word, it shows you have faith in it. And it’s a positive declaration of your faith and your knowledge of the Word which pleases Him. For “without faith it is impossible to please Him.”3
“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these (His promises) ye might be partakers of the divine nature.”4 You have to quote the terms of the Contract (the Bible) to the Contract Maker (God), and hold Him to it. He is bound by His Word. So remind Him of it, cling to His promises, memorize and quote them, and never doubt for a moment that God is going to answer—and He will!
But always remember His conditions, His terms of the contract: faith and obedience! Faith and obedience come first, then God answers prayer. If we are obeying the Lord and are faithful and trusting and believing, then God’s got to bless and answer. Of course, sometimes God allows our faith to be tested.
It’s helpful to remember that God’s delays are not necessarily denials, and that sometimes we just have to have faith and wait for Him to answer, which usually results in “the trying of our faith, which worketh patience.”5 Learning patience seems to be one of God’s most frequent lessons, yet one of our own rarest virtues, as it really tests our faith and drives us to the Lord and His Word.
God answers prayer, but not always our way. It takes Him time to make a baby, a flower, a tree, a sunset—or even a blade of grass. You can’t rush God. You’ve got to wait till it’s God’s time, until you have learned the lesson God is trying to teach you, or the conditions are ready for the result that God wants to bring. Like the man in the Bible who was blind from birth, who had to be blind all his life, so that everybody would know it, and so that Jesus could come along someday and marvelously heal him, that God might be glorified. It may take years before you know why, but the time will come, and you’ll know God was right! Give God a chance. Give Him time. Wait on the Lord.
The greatest darkness is just before dawn; the greatest desperation is just before salvation. The greatest hopelessness attacks just before rescue. If you can hold on one more breath, one more step, one more hour, one more day, you can have glorious victory. Trust God and thank Him for the answer, even if you don’t see it immediately. You’ll be glad you trusted Him tomorrow.—D. Brandt Berg
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In order to build your faith, God will give you a dream. Then, He’ll urge you to make a decision. But then He’ll allow a delay, because in the delay He matures you and prepares you for what is to come.
The truth is, you’ll have difficulties while God delays. This isn’t because He doesn’t care about you or that He’s forgotten your circumstances; rather, it’s one of the ways He pushes you toward the deep end of faith.
As God delays, you’ll face two types of difficulties: circumstances and critics. This is a natural part of life. God designed it this way because He knows we grow stronger when facing adversity and opposition.
When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt into the desert toward the Promised Land, he had one problem after another. First there was no water. Then there was no food. Then there were a bunch of complainers. Then there were poisonous snakes. Moses was doing what God wanted him to do, but he still had problems.
David was anointed king, and then for the next several years he was hunted down by Saul. Joseph had a dream of becoming a ruler, yet he was sold into slavery and thrown into prison on a false charge, where he languished, forgotten. Imagine the difficulties Noah had building a floating zoo!
The Bible says that when Moses died, Joshua was appointed the new leader. Moses led the people across the desert, and then Joshua led them into the Promised Land. Did he get the easy part? The Bible says that when the Israelites entered the Promised Land, there were giants in the land. Even in the Promised Land there were problems!
God does this because He is building our faith and character. When we finally come to a place where the difficulties become so bad, where we’ve reached our limit, where we’ve tried everything and exhausted all our options, it is then that God begins a mighty work through us: “This means tremendous joy to you, I know, even though you are temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials and temptations. This is no accident—it happens to prove your faith, which is infinitely more valuable than gold.”6—Rick Warren7
1 NLT.
2 Mark Batterson, Soulprint (Multnomah Books, 2011).
3 Hebrews 11:6.
4 2 Peter 1:4.
5 James 1:3.
6 1 Peter 1:6–7 PH.
7 http://rickwarren.org/devotional/english/how-god-builds-your-faith-difficulty.
Monday, February 1, 2016
Tesouros no Céu
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Eu estava começando a sentir pena de mim mesmo. Estava na arquibancada assistindo ao jogo de futebol da minha filha enquanto os pais atrás de mim não paravam de rir e conversar. No desenrolar do jogo, eles não paravam de falar sobre as coisas grandiosas que haviam feito, as casas que tinha comprado, as férias que desfrutaram, as diferentes aulas que seus filhos faziam. Um até mesmo falou do seu lindo e reluzente Corvette amarelo que estava estacionado meio que escondido ali perto.
A vida deles parecia muito boa. Parecia melhor do que a minha, se eu fosse comparar. Pensei no quanto deve custar fazer uma viagem cada ano para o Caribe. Pensei no quanto não custaria ter uma cozinha nova. Pensei na diferença entre ter um segundo carro tipo sedan para a famÃlia e razoável, e ter um segundo carro só para aventuras. E por um instante quis aquilo. Eu queria tudo aquilo.
Mas a minha festinha de comiseração patética só durou um instante antes de me acordar. O quanto aquilo tudo custava era a generosidade. Pelo menos é o caso com a maioria das pessoas que conheço. As doações para a igreja, os cheques para os missionários, as doações para os ministérios, o dinheiro que é dado discretamente à pessoa que precisa—tudo junto é capaz de somar o valor de umas férias a mais. Junte tudo e provavelmente terá o suficiente para reformar a cozinha este ano em vez de ter que esperar mais cinco anos, ou comprar um carro mais novo ou até um segundo carro. Os cristãos que conheço escolhem ter um estilo de vida mais simples para aumentar suas doações.
E acho que esse é o poder duradouro e reconfortante que Randy Alcorn chama de princÃpio do tesouro: Você não pode levar consigo, mas pode enviar adiante. O dinheiro não vai sumir ou ser mal usado. É simplesmente redirecionado para um novo tipo de investimento. “Se dermos em vez de guardarmos, se investirmos no que é eterno em vez de no temporário, juntamos tesouros no céu que nunca deixarão de render dividendos. O que quer que guardemos na terra ficará para trás quando partirmos. Quaisquer tesouros que tenhamos no céu estará reservado para nós quando chegarmos.” Quando nos dedicamos a este tipo de generosidade vemos que há grande alegria tanto agora como depois.
Não tem como competir com tudo o que os outros fazem se você se comprometeu a ser um generoso radical, e acho que é assim que Deus pretende que seja.—Tim Challies[1]
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Não acumulem para vocês tesouros na terra, onde a traça e a ferrugem destroem, e onde os ladrões arrombam e furtam. Mas acumulem para vocês tesouros no céu, onde a traça e a ferrugem não destroem, e onde os ladrões não arrombam nem furtam. Pois onde estiver o seu tesouro, aà também estará o seu coração.—Mateus 6:19–21[2]
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As Escrituras defendem claramente que seremos recompensados, tanto nesta vida como na próxima, por fazermos o que Jesus nos pede — apesar de serem difÃcil. Talvez o fato de ser tão difÃcil tenha algo a ver com a recompensa que recebemos de Deus por fazê-las.
Então, duas razões para fazermos essas coisas difÃceis são, uma, porque Deus disse que deverÃamos, e outra, porque seremos recompensados—aqui e depois. Então vamos dar uma olhadinha nas recompensas que receberemos depois.
O que estou para dizer pode soar um tanto voltado para o dinheiro, mas acho que vai ajudar a esclarecer esse ponto.
Imagine que para cada vez que você demonstrar amor ou gentileza a alguém, fossem depositados 100 euros na sua conta. Ou que cada vez que você testemunhar para alguém, aparecerem 500 euros na sua conta. E se emprestasse dinheiro sem esperar recebê-lo de volta, mas recebesse o dobro do que emprestou na sua conta? Ou se cada vez que virasse a outra face um cheque fosse depositado?
Se isso acontecesse, não ia parecer tão difÃcil fazer o que Jesus disse, não é?
Nós vamos viver para sempre. É sábio investir no futuro. — Mesmo se for difÃcil.—Peter Amsterdam.
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A vida—a verdadeira vida—não consiste das coisas que se possui, absolutamente, porque coisas não podem verdadeiramente nos satisfazer. Elas podem satisfazer seu corpo momentaneamente, mas nunca satisfarão a alma que clama a Deus pela alegria, felicidade e realização eterna que só Ele pode dar.
Se você acha que coisas o satisfarão, basta olhar para os ricos que não conhecem Deus. Eles têm tudo, e ainda assim falta algo. As coisas deste mundo podem satisfazer seus corpos, mas não seus corações. E quando satisfazem seus corpos, ainda assim essas pessoas não ficam felizes por muito tempo, porque a carne nunca é suficiente. As coisas não podem satisfazer as necessidades do espÃrito. Só Deus pode fazer isto.
A vida, como Jesus ensinou, é mais do que as coisas. Na verdade, não importa quantas coisas você tem. O que conta é o que você tem por dentro—amor, alegria e verdadeira felicidade no seu coração, e paz de espÃrito. A maior riqueza de todas está à sua disposição, basta pedir. A coisa mais valiosa que você pode ter é Jesus, e Ele é a chave para tudo o mais![3]—David Brandt Berg
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Viver para este momento é sempre muito mais fácil do que viver para a eternidade. Vocês estão presos à Terra, em frágeis corpos humanos, e é difÃcil ver além das circunstâncias. Querem se divertir, receber reconhecimento imediato e desfrutar o momento.
Mas bem-aventurados são aqueles que vivem, trabalham e investem no mundo eterno, no amanhã, Me servindo, Me amando, e vivendo por Mim. É um trabalho pelo qual nem sempre se colhe resultados imediatos ou notáveis, mas é um trabalho que está sendo edificado e que vai durar para sempre, do qual se orgulhará por toda a eternidade. É um legado infindável de amor e doação do qual nunca se arrependerá.—Jesus, falando em profecia
Publicado no Âncora em dezembro de 2015.
[2] NVI.
[3] Romanos 8:32.
Cultivating a Passion for God
Audio length: 12:20
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One of our core values is passion for God. “We love God with our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. We seek a close personal relationship with Jesus, and to grow in emulating His attributes and living His love.”1
Passion for God is a powerful statement. One of the definitions of passion is intense enthusiasm for something, a keen interest in something. So when we say that we have passion for God, we’re stating that we have an intense enthusiasm for God, a keen interest in Him. Some synonyms for passion are excitement, zeal, delight, fervency, desire, hunger, thirst, craving, conviction, drive. When we say we are passionate for God, we are speaking in terms of having desire, hunger, thirst, a craving for Him.—That we have zeal and drive, fervency and excitement, and of course, love.
When Jesus was asked, “Which is the most important commandment?” you can feel the intensity in His answer. He said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”2 That’s a powerfully passionate statement.
As Christians, we are to love God with all of our being—with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. That’s a call for rich, deep, and full love. A complete love, a love-Him-with-everything-you’ve-got love.
We seek a close personal relationship with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is relational. We say that God is “relational” because He is three persons in one: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They exist in relationship. God is a relational Being, and as such, He seeks relationship with us. We are made in His image, so we are relational beings as well.
The beautiful relationship God had with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was damaged because of their choice to sin. God is holy, so after sin came into the world, He could no longer have that same personal relationship with humans. Sin damaged the relationship and separated us from Him. This is why God made salvation possible through Jesus. He wants to repair the relationship that sin severed; He wants to bring us back into relationship with Himself. He is seeking to be in relationship with us, because He loves us.
God is so passionate about being in relationship with us that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to sacrificially lay down His life through His death on the cross in order to bridge the gap between Himself and humanity. That’s how much He loves us. That’s how much He wants to be in relationship with us. He’s passionate about humanity. He’s passionate about you. He’s passionate about all of us. And we feel the same passion about being in relationship with Him. As the verse says, “We love Him, because He first loved us.”3 We could rephrase this concept to say that we are passionate for Him because He was first passionate for us. We mirror His passion.
To convey His deep love and passion for us, God used language and imagery in the Bible which speaks of us as being married to Him. He said, “Your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name”; that we are “married to Jesus who was raised from the dead, so that we should bear fruit to God”; “as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”4
These and other marital metaphors describe the passion which God has for us. It represents the passionate union of heart, mind, and spirit that He desires to have with each of us.
Saint Augustine said, “To fall in love with God is the greatest of romances, to seek Him the greatest adventure, to find Him the greatest human achievement.”
Our love for Him results in our desire to build a deep relationship with Him, and putting effort into strengthening that relationship is something that we have to do. As such, we are committed to spending time communicating with Him through prayer, reading His Word, listening to Him as He speaks to us, and paying attention to what He says. He is an integral part of our lives, and what He says to us matters.
As we develop our relationship with Him, we get to know Him better, and as we do we start to become more like Him. We begin to understand what He likes and doesn’t like, and we make an effort to do those things which please Him, and as we do, we begin to change. Being in relationship with Him changes us.
Understanding God’s passion for us brings the awareness of His desire to bring others into relationship with Him. Realizing His passion for those who don’t yet know Him motivates us to do our best to let people know that there is someone who deeply loves them and wants to be a part of their life. God’s passion becomes our mission.
It is our love of Christ, our love for God that compels us, forces us, necessitates us, drives us, and requires us to love Him fervently—with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength—and to cultivate a close relationship with Him. It compels us to strive to be like Jesus, to emulate His qualities and to share God’s love with others so they can know Him too.
One of our goals, as followers of Jesus, is to imitate Christ. We want to take on His nature and attributes. As we grow in our relationship with Him, we become better people—we exhibit godly attitudes, we have godly ethics, we have integrity, we live His words. As we grow to be more like Him, He shines through us, and when He does—when others see us imitating Him—whether they know it or not, they are seeing something of God.
How can we cultivate such a close relationship with God? By:
Giving time and priority to the relationship.
Reading and meditating on God’s Word.
Having regular communication with God in prayer.
Obeying God’s Word and the things He tells us to do.
Having a clean heart through regularly confessing and asking for forgiveness for our sins.
Seeking to glorify Him by our commitment to follow Him as we seek His purpose and will for our lives.
Discovering what is important to God and making those things important to us.
Passion isn’t passive. Being passionate about something means you’re going to do something about it. Passion results in action. We who are passionate about God are active for God. We carve out time for God, whether that means getting up earlier in the morning to make that time possible or sacrificing some activity that we enjoy. We make choices that strengthen our close friendship with Him. If you want that passion, ask God daily to give it to you. It’s a prayer that He delights to answer.
And remember, deep love develops over time. As we see God’s faithfulness to us in our daily lives, His touches of love and blessing, His supply of our needs, and particularly His grace and sustaining power during times of trial and affliction, our love and trust for Him grows stronger.
Many people feel that they don’t have enough passion for God. They don’t feel an emotional passion, which may cause them to think that their level of passion is lacking. Not all of us experience feelings or highs in our spiritual life; some people are inclined that way while others are not. You don’t have to have feelings of passion to know that you love God deeply or to accept His calling for your life. Feelings aren’t the proper measuring stick for passion. It’s not a question of what you feel internally. What matters is that your passion moves you to action, that it urges you to take steps on His behalf, that it energizesyou to be a messenger of the Good News to those around you.
As you develop a closer relationship with God, one of friendship and intimacy, your passion will grow, and as it does, doing the things He asks you to do will naturally follow. Your passion will be manifested in your resolve or determination to follow Him, like some of God’s greatest missionaries who resolved to stake their lives and ministries on God’s promises, regardless of feelings.
I’ll close with a beautiful prayer for passion, by Amy Carmichael:
Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay,
The hope no disappointments tire,
The passion that will burn like fire;
Let me not sink to be a clod:
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.
If you have even a spark of faith, a hint of desire to draw near to God, He can blow on that little flickering ember in your heart and bring it to life, causing it to grow and finally burst into a beautiful, dazzling flame that reflects the heat and passion of God’s powerful love!
May we all grow in our passion for God!
Originally published September 2013. Excerpted and republished February 2016.
Read by Jason Lawrence.
1 From TFI’s Core Values.
2 Mark 12:28–30 ESV.
3 1 John 4:19 KJV.
4 Isaiah 54:5; Romans 7:4 paraphrased; Isaiah 62:5.
Israel Would Consider Invitation to Peace Talks With Palestinians
By Dennis Edwards: Reuters new service has reported that Israel would consider the invitation by the French to peace talks with the Palestinians. An Israeli official said that Israel felt France had done wrong by saying it would recognize a Palestinian state, if the peace talks failed. Why is that? Because as far back as 1974 Israel has done nothing but talk, talk and talk at the various peace negotiations. As long as they can keep the Palestinians talking, while they take more land, they are content.
Why are the peace talks of interest to the Bible student? In the prophecies of Daniel, we see the Antichrist confirming the Holy Covenant. Many Bible scholars believe the Holy Covenant will involve some agreement between the Palestinians and Israel, and will be implemented by the International Community. The Palestinians want peace, security and autonomy and or statehood. The Israelis want peace, security and the ability to worship on the Temple Mount by constructing the Third Temple. Could the Holy Covenant incorporate the wishes of both parties and allow Israel to rebuild their temple and begin prayer and sacrifice on the Temple Mount, while granting some sort of Statehood to Palestine?
The prophecies in Daniel indicate that temple worship, prayers and sacrifices will take place for around 2 years and ten months until they are stopped by the Antichrist at the invasion of Israel and breaking of the covenant. The sign Jesus gave for the beginning of the Great Tribulation, which many scholars believe could be WW3, included the breaking of the covenant. For some reason the Antichrist invades Israel, breaks the covenant, abolishes religious service and declares himself world ruler. This event initiates the mandatory computer identification implant, commonly called the Mark of the Beast, and precedes the Battle of Armageddon which occurs some 3 1/2 years later. That's why you need to be alert to the situation in the Middle East.
Why are the peace talks of interest to the Bible student? In the prophecies of Daniel, we see the Antichrist confirming the Holy Covenant. Many Bible scholars believe the Holy Covenant will involve some agreement between the Palestinians and Israel, and will be implemented by the International Community. The Palestinians want peace, security and autonomy and or statehood. The Israelis want peace, security and the ability to worship on the Temple Mount by constructing the Third Temple. Could the Holy Covenant incorporate the wishes of both parties and allow Israel to rebuild their temple and begin prayer and sacrifice on the Temple Mount, while granting some sort of Statehood to Palestine?
The prophecies in Daniel indicate that temple worship, prayers and sacrifices will take place for around 2 years and ten months until they are stopped by the Antichrist at the invasion of Israel and breaking of the covenant. The sign Jesus gave for the beginning of the Great Tribulation, which many scholars believe could be WW3, included the breaking of the covenant. For some reason the Antichrist invades Israel, breaks the covenant, abolishes religious service and declares himself world ruler. This event initiates the mandatory computer identification implant, commonly called the Mark of the Beast, and precedes the Battle of Armageddon which occurs some 3 1/2 years later. That's why you need to be alert to the situation in the Middle East.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Signs of Modern Astronomy Seen in Ancient Babylon
For people living in the ancient city of Babylon, Marduk was their patron god, and thus it is not a surprise that Babylonian astronomers took an interest in tracking the comings and goings of the planet Jupiter, which they regarded as a celestial manifestation of Marduk.
What is perhaps more surprising is the sophistication with which they tracked the planet, judging from inscriptions on a small clay tablet dating to between 350 B.C. and 50 B.C. The tablet, a couple of inches wide and a couple of inches tall, reveals that the Babylonian astronomers employed a sort of precalculus in describing Jupiter’s motion across the night sky relative to the distant background stars.
Until now, credit for this kind of mathematical technique had gone to Europeans who lived some 15 centuries later.
“That is a truly astonishing find,” said Mathieu Ossendrijver, a professor at Humboldt University in Berlin, who describes his archaeological astronomy discovery in an article published Thursday by the journal Science.
“It’s a figure that describes a graph of velocity against time,” he said. “That is a highly modern concept.”
Mathematical calculations on four other tablets show that the Babylonians realized that the area under the curve on such a graph represented the distance traveled.
“I think it’s quite a remarkable discovery,” said Alexander Jones, a professor at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University, who was not involved with the research. “It’s really quite clear from the text.”
Ancient Babylon, situated in what is now Iraq, south of Baghdad, was a thriving metropolis, a center of trade and science for more than a millennium. Early Babylonian mathematicians who lived between 1800 B.C. and 1600 B.C. had figured out, for example, how to calculate the area of a trapezoid, and even how to divide a trapezoid into two smaller trapezoids of equal area.
For the most part, Babylonians used their mathematical skills for mundane calculations, like figuring out the size of a plot of land. But on some tablets from the later Babylonian period, there appear to be some trapezoid calculations related to astronomical observations.
In the 1950s, an Austrian-American mathematician and science historian, Otto E. Neugebauer, described two of them. Dr. Ossendrijver, in his recent research, turned up two more.
But it was not clear what the Babylonian astronomers were calculating.
A year ago, a visitor showed Dr. Ossendrijver a stack of photographs of Babylonian tablets that are now held by the British Museum in London. He saw a tablet he had not seen before. This tablet, with impressions of cuneiform script pressed into clay, did not mention trapezoids, but it recorded the motion of Jupiter, and the numbers matched those on the tablets with the trapezoid calculations.
“I was certain now it was Jupiter,” Dr. Ossendrijver said.
When Jupiter first appears in the night sky, it moves at a certain velocity relative to the background stars. Because Jupiter and Earth both constantly move in their orbits, to observers on Earth, Jupiter appears to slow down, and 120 days after it becomes visible, it comes to a standstill and reverses course.
In September, Dr. Ossendrijver went to the British Museum, where the tablets were taken in the late 19th century after being excavated. A close-up look of the new tablet confirmed it: The Babylonians were calculating the distance Jupiter traveled in the sky from its appearance to its position 60 days later. Using the technique of splitting a trapezoid into two smaller ones of equal area, they then figured out how long it took Jupiter to travel half that distance.
Dr. Ossendrijver said he did not know the astronomical or astrological motivation for these calculations.
But, he said, “it shows a level of abstraction and insight into how you deal with motion.”
It was an abstract concept not known elsewhere at the time. “Ancient Greek astronomers and mathematicians didn’t make plots of something against time,” Dr. Ossendrijver said.
He said that until now, such calculations were not known until the 14th century by scholars in England and France. These mathematicians of the Middle Ages perhaps had seen some as yet unknown texts dating to Babylonian times, or they developed the same techniques independently.
“It anticipates integral calculus,” Dr. Ossendrijver said. “This is utterly familiar to any modern physicist or mathematician.”
The Surprising Secret to Aging Well
By Barbara Knickerbocker Beskind, Next Avenue, January 25, 2016
As an occupational therapist and someone in my early 90s, here’s what I recommend to age well: good posture and a brisk 30-minute walk daily from early childhood on. This builds bone density and balance reflexes that reduce the impact of falls and injuries in later years.
Walking has enormous benefits–emotionally and even creatively–as recent studies show. This is in addition to the well-known benefits to the pulmonary and cardiovascular systems. A sturdy gait pattern with alternating arm/leg movement helps maintain balance reflexes and strength in lateral hip muscles.
Good posture goes hand-in-hand with good walking, stride and vertical balance. It has been found that going out for a walk midday frees up the frontal lobes from the clutter of study or business. This can enhance creativity as well as reduce stress and/or depression.
Currently, with the reduction of physical education programs in public schools and the exponential increase in handheld technology, there is serious risk that children will not get sufficient exercise. The posture in children and young adults is compromised by the forward tilt to the head over prolonged periods when they use electronic devices. Because of this, it is recommended to leave such devices behind during these daily walks.
Poor posture, compromised gait patterns and less daily walking lead me to think that people under 30 in particular, but also others tied to electronic devices throughout their lives, have a heightened risk of early aging. Carrying heavy backpacks or sports bags causes the hips to thrust back to maintain walking balance when the shoulders are hunched forward. By age 50, people may already be at risk of losing their balance.
Now consider the more common ills of aging, such as loss of joint range and flexibility, loss of strength in lower extremities, loss of balance due to a variety of causes and loss of vision. There’s an even greater need for maintaining good balance from the proprioceptors of the weight-bearing joints as well as the vestibular system of the ear.
For those already in the aging arena, my motto is “stay vertical and moving forward.” This is best done by keeping “ears over hips and hips over heels.”
For the past three years, as my vision has decreased, I have depended on regular use of a pair of ski poles. The vertical grip promotes good posture and enables me to use the natural gait patterns. Ski poles have assured me of the terrain and protected me from stumbling. I apply rocker bottoms (available at sporting goods stores) to provide valuable push-off at every step so it feels like I’m “floating” down the corridor.
Ski poles seem to provide better stability than a cane. They also imply healthy, active aging and that one is fully engaged in life.
Having been an occupational therapist for 44 years, 20 of which were in the U.S. Army, I have seen the benefits of good posture and balance in the physical rehabilitation of service injuries and in treating children with significant learning differences. Now that I’m visually impaired, I realize even more that my own balance skills must be maintained. I watch elderly people in my retirement community and see the damage to overall health from poor posture and leaning heavily on a walker.
In summary, the path to healthy aging begins early. Good posture and good walking habits can optimize bone density, muscle strength and body balance–and are essential to safe mobility in vision loss.
France to Recognise Palestinian State Unless Deadlock With Israel Broken
Reuters news service has published an announcement from the French Foreign Ministry. France will go ahead and recognize a Palestinian state, if negotiation between Israel and the Palestinians fails. Why is this announcement important? Because the situation in the Middle East is a key indicator of where we are in Bible prophecy.
When asked by His disciples, "What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?"[1] Jesus responded with not just one, but various "signs," which most Bible students are well aware of. He said,
"Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows."[2]
Jesus then warns again, that many false prophets will come and deceive many.[3] That's the second time he has warned us about deception being rampant at the time of the end in just a few sentences. He then says, that because of the abundance of evil in the world, people would become hardened or colder.[4] Like Nietzsche's Madman who, when talking about the death of God and the results, yelled,
"Whither is God?" he cried; "I will tell you. We have killed him -- you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up or down? Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space?Has it not become colder? Is not night continually closing in on us?"[5]
It certainly seems as if the world is getting colder, as time goes by. Even with all the talk of "global warming," Jesus' and Nietzsche's prophecy is coming to pass.
My friend Simon in Uganda is working on helping to record many of the spoken, but rarely written, African dialects. A Christian Foundation has the goal of having the New Testament recorded in all the world's different spoken dialects to help fulfill the following prophecy by Jesus:
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."[6]
The goal is the have the job done by 2020. But another one of the key prophecies, or perhaps the cornerstone prophecy which Jesus gave, is related to the French Minister's announcement at the beginning of this article. Jesus said,
"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso reads, let him understand)[7]...For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days be shortened (or be brief), there should no flesh be save ( in other words, none left alive on the earth): but for the elect's sake (the believers in Christ) those days shall be shortened.[8]
Many Bible students believe the above prophecy is related to the Holy Covenant spoken of by Daniel the prophet. [9] The covenant begins the last seven-year period and ends with the return of Christ to the earth at the Battle of Armageddon. Some Bible scholars speculate that the Antichrist will initiate a peace settlement in the Middle East, giving the Palestinians some type of autonomy in exchange for Israel having the right to begin to reconstruct the Third Temple on the Temple Mount, where the Israelis will begin prayer and sacrificial worship. Something they have not done for nearly 1950 years. Their own Temple Institute is presently preparing for such an occasion with the blueprints for the new Temple and other preparations well under way.[10]
Therefore, the announcement by the French could represent pressure on Israel to recognize a Palestinian state, something that at the present seems contrary to Israeli wishes. But, although Israel seems to reject the idea of peace with the Palestinians, many Bible scholars believe that the Holy Covenant will have something to do with an accord between Israel and Palestine, fomenting a temporary peace. Such a future peace agreement could very well be the Holy Covenant of the last seven-year Biblical prophecy period, which would indicate that the Great Tribulation is on the horizon.
Keep your eyes open to the situation in the Middle East as the signing of the Holy Covenant and its breaking some 3 1/2 years later are the Prophetic indicators just preceding that terrible Great Tribulation period.[11]
[1] Matthew 24:3
[2] Matthew 24:4-8
[3] Matthew 24:11
[4] Matthew 24:12
[5] Friedrich Nietzsche, The Madman
[6] Matthew 24:14
[7] Matthew 24:15
[8] Matthew 24:21-22
[9] Daniel 9:27
[10] The Temple Institute
[11] Daniel 11:30-31
Termine a Corrida
Link to Anchor
Portanto, também nós, uma vez que estamos rodeados por tão grande nuvem de testemunhas, livremo-nos de tudo o que nos atrapalha e do pecado que nos envolve, e corramos com perseverança a corrida que nos é proposta, tendo os olhos fitos em Jesus, autor e consumador da nossa fé. Ele, pela alegria que lhe fora proposta, suportou a cruz, desprezando a vergonha, e assentou-se à direita do trono de Deus. Pensem bem naquele que suportou tal oposição dos pecadores contra si mesmo, para que vocês não se cansem nem se desanimem.—Hebreus 12:1–3[1]
*
Um atleta em treinamento para se classificar para as OlimpÃadas tem que manter essa visão e meta. Ele tem a “visão olÃmpica”, que o faz aguentar os treinos e exercÃcios difÃceis e exaustivos. Para ele não importa o fato de não ter tempo de folga, a fadiga do dia, ou as poucas horas de sono, porque a meta e a visão se tornam mais importantes do que as dificuldades momentâneas. Para sobreviver aos anos de treinamento, o objetivo tem que valer a pena para ele — tem de ser tudo para ele. E assim que ele decide que vale, então se esforça para se concentrar no objetivo e manter a visão.
Tem que decidir se vale a pena deixar tudo o mais de lado pela Minha Palavra e as Minhas promessas para o futuro para ganhar esse prêmio. Assim que decidir tem de lutar para manter sua concentração e a visão.
Muitos de vocês já tomaram essas decisões; mas agora é o perÃodo em que têm que ser tenazes e determinados, quando é preciso lutar para não perder o foco.—Jesus, falando em profecia
*
Eu estou com você e vou ajudá-lo a ganhar maiores vitórias para que, ao terminar uma corrida possa então seguir para outra e mais outra! —Até à corrida final, à hora final quando cruzará a linha de chegada nesta grandiosa OlimpÃada celestial!
Regozije-se e alegre-se por todas as corridas que ainda estão por vir, e anime-se, porque vou lhe dar muitas corridas. Cada uma tem uma linha de partida e uma de chegada, por isso fique encorajado com o seu progresso cada vez que terminar uma corrida e alcançar cada meta.
Lembre-se durante as OlimpÃadas celestiais que, depois de uma corrida você passará para a próxima. Com cada vitória ganha, progredirá e continuará a correr outras corridas, conquistando mais vitórias e ganhando cada vez mais terreno. Ficará mais forte e mais preparado para a corrida final, a linha de chegada final!
Nesse dia, você olhará para trás com grande satisfação e sentimento de realização, sabendo que valeu a pena! Você lutou e venceu, terminou a corrida, alcançou o objetivo e conquistou a coroa! Não existe emoção, satisfação nem excitamento maior do que cruzar a linha de chegada! E a partir dali nós juntos seguiremos para a próxima corrida, para as alturas e emoções que lhe preparei naquele novo dia quando então governará e reinará Comigo para sempre!
Então continue lutando, escalando e vencendo, e não desista! Continue olhando para Mim, Me ouvindo e recebendo a Minha estratégia, Meu plano, Meus sinais e jogadas. Eu jamais o decepcionarei. Você está na equipe vencedora!—Jesus, falando em profecia
*
Era a OlimpÃada de verão de 1992. Estávamos nas quartas de finais do sprint de 400 metros. O atleta britânico Derek Redmond era um dos favoritos da medalha de ouro. Toda uma vida de treinos o havia levado à quele momento. Deram o tiro de largada e os atletas partiram.
Na metade da corrida, Derek Redmond se encontrava na liderança. Foi então que aconteceu uma desgraça. Ele teve uma distensão muscular e caiu na pista. A agonia estampada em seu rosto coberto de lágrimas era tanto fÃsica como mental. Foi um golpe excruciante.
Ao ver os paramédicos correndo em seu auxÃlio Derek fez sinal para que fossem embora. Ele foi lá para correr e pretendia terminar a corrida. Ficou em pé e foi mancando em direção à linha de chegada.
A multidão ficou fascinada. As autoridades não sabiam o que fazer. Foi então que um senhor correu para a pista, desvencilhou-se dos que tentaram impedi-lo e, colocou os braços ao redor do atleta.
Esse senhor era o pai de Derek Redmond, Jim.
“Você não tem que fazer isto, filho,” disse Jim.
“Tenho sim!” respondeu Derek.
“Então vamos terminar esta corrida juntos,” foi a resposta do pai.
De braços dados, com agonia estampada no semblante de Derek e lágrimas nos olhos de seu pai, Derek e Jim continuaram pela pista. Derek enterrou seu rosto no ombro do pai. Os ombros largos de seu pai carregavam seu filho tanto fÃsica como emocionalmente. Jim fez sinal dispensando os que vinham detê-los.
Finalmente, acompanhado agora por uma multidão bradando e aplaudindo de pé, Derek Redmond cruzou a linha de chegada. Foi um momento decisivo nas OlimpÃadas de Barcelona.—De storiesforpreaching.com[2]
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Publicado no Âncora em agosto 2015.
[1] NVI.
[2] http://storiesforpreaching.com/derek-redmond-finishes-at-the-olympics.
