The document discusses the concept of blessing from God's perspective. It explains that God's blessing is unconditional but not automatic, and comes from developing a relationship with God and having the right perspective of putting Him first. It encourages taking time to wait on the Lord to renew strength, and expresses gratitude to God. It also discusses how blessing others through kindness and service allows one to experience God's blessing daily.
Grace is the divine influence on the heart of a man and it is reflected or expressed outwardly. In other words, it is the out-working of a divine inward influence in your heart through God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. Grace is the glory of God working in a man’s spirit.
Grace is the divine influence on the heart of a man and it is reflected or expressed outwardly. In other words, it is the out-working of a divine inward influence in your heart through God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. Grace is the glory of God working in a man’s spirit.
1. SRI SATHYA SAI Quotable Quotes - 003 A humble presentation by Prof. V. Viswanadham
2. Your duty is to pray for the welfare of the world and to work for it as far as it lies in your power.
3. True devotion must not get dispirited; nor elated or satisfied with lesser gains; it must fight against failure, loss, calumny, calamity, ridicule and against egoism and pride, impatience and cowardice.
4. A man who has no love in him is as barren as a cloud with no moisture, a tree with no fruits or a cow yielding no milk; he is ever far from God and can never earn His Grace.
5. Employ yourself usefully. Be like a trustee, holding on trust, on behalf of God, for the purpose which He likes and approves.
6. Hear good things, see good, do good, think good, then you get the Grace of God, as all the evil tendencies will be uprooted.
7. All are expressions of the same God, just as bulbs are lit by the same current through manifold colors and wattage.
8. The refinement of an individual is measured by the yard stick of sense control.
9. Prayer must emanate from the heart, where God resides, and not from the head where doctrines and doubts clash.
10. See God in every one you meet; see God in every thing you handle. Live together, revere each other, let not the seeds of envy and hate grow and choke the clear stream of Love.
11. Make your life a rose that speaks silently in the language of Fragrance.
12. Watch your W ords, A ctions, T houghts, C haracter and H eart.
13. The heart with compassion is the temple of God.
14. Just a moment please ... Sri Sathya Sai’s Quotable Quotes need no further explanation or any introduction. In my humble opinion, you have to FEEL – feel them, one by one, in your heart. Reflect on that single idea – let it sink into the depths of your heart, linger long enough to get internalized, so that in your Thought, Word and Action – and thus in your Character, get reflected transparently, convincingly, continuously, and may I be permitted to say, in a contagious manner. Live … Yes, LIVE in the light of the meaning of these words, and you would experience what it means to live a life of purpose.
15. A very humble presentation on the occasion of Swami’s Birthday on 23rd November 2009. In case you liked these quotes – tell your friends and help me to spread the message of LOVE. Your feedback, will be highly appreciated. Viswam.vangapally@gmail.com
How do you make good decisions as a Christian who earnestly wants to collaborate with God? In this presentation, Anne Pate explores what the Ignatian tradition of Christian spirituality has to say.
1. SRI SATHYA SAI Quotable Quotes - 003 A humble presentation by Prof. V. Viswanadham
2. Your duty is to pray for the welfare of the world and to work for it as far as it lies in your power.
3. True devotion must not get dispirited; nor elated or satisfied with lesser gains; it must fight against failure, loss, calumny, calamity, ridicule and against egoism and pride, impatience and cowardice.
4. A man who has no love in him is as barren as a cloud with no moisture, a tree with no fruits or a cow yielding no milk; he is ever far from God and can never earn His Grace.
5. Employ yourself usefully. Be like a trustee, holding on trust, on behalf of God, for the purpose which He likes and approves.
6. Hear good things, see good, do good, think good, then you get the Grace of God, as all the evil tendencies will be uprooted.
7. All are expressions of the same God, just as bulbs are lit by the same current through manifold colors and wattage.
8. The refinement of an individual is measured by the yard stick of sense control.
9. Prayer must emanate from the heart, where God resides, and not from the head where doctrines and doubts clash.
10. See God in every one you meet; see God in every thing you handle. Live together, revere each other, let not the seeds of envy and hate grow and choke the clear stream of Love.
11. Make your life a rose that speaks silently in the language of Fragrance.
12. Watch your W ords, A ctions, T houghts, C haracter and H eart.
13. The heart with compassion is the temple of God.
14. Just a moment please ... Sri Sathya Sai’s Quotable Quotes need no further explanation or any introduction. In my humble opinion, you have to FEEL – feel them, one by one, in your heart. Reflect on that single idea – let it sink into the depths of your heart, linger long enough to get internalized, so that in your Thought, Word and Action – and thus in your Character, get reflected transparently, convincingly, continuously, and may I be permitted to say, in a contagious manner. Live … Yes, LIVE in the light of the meaning of these words, and you would experience what it means to live a life of purpose.
15. A very humble presentation on the occasion of Swami’s Birthday on 23rd November 2009. In case you liked these quotes – tell your friends and help me to spread the message of LOVE. Your feedback, will be highly appreciated. Viswam.vangapally@gmail.com
How do you make good decisions as a Christian who earnestly wants to collaborate with God? In this presentation, Anne Pate explores what the Ignatian tradition of Christian spirituality has to say.
Adhiraa and Esther, Stamford Green Primary School in Epsom, Englang, has created this presentation to share with students in Santo Domingo Savio, Petrer, Spain.
Twitter Adoption and Use in Mass Convergence and Emergency Eventsguest8c177f
This presentation offers a descriptive account of Twitter (a micro-blogging service) across four high profile, mass convergence events—two emergency and two national security. We statistically examine how Twitter is being used surrounding these events, and compare and contrast how that behavior is different from more general Twitter use. Our findings suggest that Twitter messages sent during these types of events contain more displays of information broadcasting and brokerage, and we observe that general Twitter use seems to have evolved over time to offer more of an information-sharing purpose. We also provide preliminary evidence that Twitter users who join during and in apparent relation to a mass convergence or emergency event are more likely to become long-term adopters of the technology.
Slides for Week 1 of Healing the Heart and Freedom from Addictions Class. World Changers Equipping School. Offered by Blazing Fire Church. blazingfire.org
In order to have healthy intimate relationships with others, it helps to have a healthy intimate relationship with God. With God, there is absence of judgment and unconditional acceptance, unlike with a human partner. Through reference to biblical concepts and teachings from the Catholic Catechism, this presentation explains how to form a healthy intimacy with God.
Most of us have experienced rejection, shame, and blame while growing up. Cory experienced more of these things than anyone I’ve ever known.
Because Cory didn’t grow up with joy being a part of his life, he found that the interactive gratitude exercise from Jim Wilder, Anna Kang, John Loppnow, and Sungshim Loppnow’s book, Joyful Journey, was helpful in processing his internal dialogue of negative thoughts so he could experience joy from God through “Immanuel Journaling.”
Cory noted that his Immanuel Journaling has been enhanced by the “seven soul care principles” from Dr. Rob Reimer’s book, Soul Care: 7 Transformational Principles for a Healthy Soul.
He participates in the weekly soul care men’s group that I co-lead.
We cultivate these seven principles: identity, repentance, overcoming family sin patterns, forgiveness, healing wounds, overcoming fears, and deliverance.
See the profile of Cory, application of the seven soul care principles, and Immanuel Journaling in the attached “Year-End Sync Newsletter.”
Learn how to engage in dialogue with God in attached, “Immanuel Journaling Lesson.”
Slides for a talk given on July 7, 2018 at Blazing Fire Church blazingfire.org. To listen to the talk, go to: https://blazingfire.podbean.com/e/the-relational-gospel-russ-fochler/
This slide presentation is designed to assist pastors and other church leaders to facilitate a focused time of prayer that deals with specific issues related to the mission and purpose of the church. Supporting passages are provided with each prayer prompt.
saw a film that really disturbed me, and someone said that probably means it was a good film. yea maybe, maybe not, but just wanted to use some of the message to convey part 5 of our 43LG series on 'how can i change my life'.
Everybody is looking for a way out of hell.
The PBHP DYC ~ Reflections on The Dhamma (English).pptxOH TEIK BIN
A PowerPoint Presentation based on the Dhamma Reflections for the PBHP DYC for the years 1993 – 2012. To motivate and inspire DYC members to keep on practicing the Dhamma and to do the meritorious deed of Dhammaduta work.
The texts are in English.
For the Video with audio narration, comments and texts in English, please check out the Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF2g_43NEa0
The Chakra System in our body - A Portal to Interdimensional Consciousness.pptxBharat Technology
each chakra is studied in greater detail, several steps have been included to
strengthen your personal intention to open each chakra more fully. These are designed
to draw forth the highest benefit for your spiritual growth.
Lesson 9 - Resisting Temptation Along the Way.pptxCelso Napoleon
Lesson 9 - Resisting Temptation Along the Way
SBs – Sunday Bible School
Adult Bible Lessons 2nd quarter 2024 CPAD
MAGAZINE: THE CAREER THAT IS PROPOSED TO US: The Path of Salvation, Holiness and Perseverance to Reach Heaven
Commentator: Pastor Osiel Gomes
Presentation: Missionary Celso Napoleon
Renewed in Grace
The Good News, newsletter for June 2024 is hereNoHo FUMC
Our monthly newsletter is available to read online. We hope you will join us each Sunday in person for our worship service. Make sure to subscribe and follow us on YouTube and social media.
What Should be the Christian View of Anime?Joe Muraguri
We will learn what Anime is and see what a Christian should consider before watching anime movies? We will also learn a little bit of Shintoism religion and hentai (the craze of internet pornography today).
Homily: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Sunday 2024.docxJames Knipper
Countless volumes have been written trying to explain the mystery of three persons in one true God, leaving us to resort to metaphors such as the three-leaf clover to try to comprehend the Divinity. Many of us grew up with the quintessential pyramidal Trinity structure of God at the top and Son and Spirit in opposite corners. But what if we looked at this ‘mystery’ from a different perspective? What if we shifted our language of God as a being towards the concept of God as love? What if we focused more on the relationship within the Trinity versus the persons of the Trinity? What if stopped looking at God as a noun…and instead considered God as a verb? Check it out…
In Jude 17-23 Jude shifts from piling up examples of false teachers from the Old Testament to a series of practical exhortations that flow from apostolic instruction. He preserves for us what may well have been part of the apostolic catechism for the first generation of Christ-followers. In these instructions Jude exhorts the believer to deal with 3 different groups of people: scoffers who are "devoid of the Spirit", believers who have come under the influence of scoffers and believers who are so entrenched in false teaching that they need rescue and pose some real spiritual risk for the rescuer. In all of this Jude emphasizes Jesus' call to rescue straying sheep, leaving the 99 safely behind and pursuing the 1.
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian exile.
11. The blessing equation. Part 2 Behaviours that bring blessing … go beyond being ‘blessed’ in name and move towards feeling blessed in your every day experience…
12.
13.
14.
15. “ But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and be not weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.‘ Isaiah 40, verse 31: “ God has given you a conscience as your guide. ....It has complete knowledge of every action and step you take; it even knows your thoughts. Your conscience knows all these things about you before your teacher or pastor knows. It knows them before your parents know. It knows them even better than God. knows. “ Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, June13, 2006,
16. How to share God’s blessings The blessing equation: part 3 When I do what God shaped me to do, two things happen – I enjoy it, and I’m good at it. Never bury your dreams!
17.
18.
19.
20.
Editor's Notes
We live in a culture that tells us: we decide who we are, any success we may have is a result of our own efforts, our accomplishments belong to us. You need confidence in yourself, you need to know what you want, and my life starts with ‘me’ and ends with ‘me’. Everything starts from God. It is because of Him we have life. It is a completely different perspective on life. If we discover this reality it can mean we have the biggest backing out there. The biggest sponsor and back office team there is. But it means not putting ‘me’ first. So there is an equation here. For an equation to make sense it has to balance. For many of you this will be a review. You understand the value of God’s blessing. But you cannot build a structure without the foundation. And this is foundational. I think it's good periodically that we sit back and remind ourselves what a good deal we got when we received the God’s grace, and blessing. With out that awareness, I easily slip back into complaining, seeing the glass as half empty and limiting my life. Last night talking with Geros on skype I had to change my perspective. I need to say thank you to God more often.
parents give life to their children, they are separate beings and yet they are an expression of the parents love and so they are willing to give everything to them. They want them to be happy. In the divine principle we call these the three blessings. To become like God, to create his family and to take ownership over the natural world. (and God gave them a direction, guidance, a commandment to follow.) It was unconditional, and potentially limitless, but it was not automatic. God requires our response. We have to come forward to receive it. And we have to do that constantly. That is where we are challenged. Cosmic blessing was just opening the door. Everybody knows the story about how God made a big promise to Abraham, but how many know the back ground to it? 21 Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the Lord, God Most High, maker of heaven and earth, 23 that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours, so that you might not say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. Romans 4:18-24 18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." [a] 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." 23 The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness— It is about our relationship with God. He's saying that you don't get God's grace, that's His power and ability to do the right thing to make it in life, to be sustained, to become what God meant for you to be in the first place -- you don't get grace through religion. You don't get grace through ritual, not even baptism or communion. You don't get grace through rules. You don't get grace through religion, rules, regulations. But you do get grace through a relationship. And you think God is some unpleasable parent up there in the sky with a clipboard and pen watching your every move -- "That was good... that was bad" -- and you think you have to earn God's approval. You think if you do a certain number of good works God's going to say, "Good girl... good guy! You got it." And if you don't do those things, God says, "Forget it! You're worthless." You're saved by grace but you're actually living by works.
When u pick up your children out of bed, when you help them on with their clothes. When you relate to your spouse. When you put food in your mouth, when you pick up the phone, when you turn on the computer, when u get in the car, when u breath, when u run, when u walk. The essence of blessing is finding the right perspective, to tune into God’s perspective of love. You live in a big, busy, largely secular city. We believe we have no time, we are over run, we have too many commitments. The only way to solve this problem is by stopping. Taking time out from pursuing all the tangible goals and giving time to just be with God. That is what we are aiming to do here right now as a community. You need to do that as a family also, as a couple, as an individual too. ...then u can start to run again, but it’s okay cuz you are running with God. 1924 Olympics – Paris Liddell sees running as a way of glorifying God before travelling to China to work as a missionary. He represents Scotland against Ireland in a race, and preaches a sermon on "Life as a race" afterwards Eric Lidell: "I believe that God made me for a purpose ... [the mission], but He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure.“ Isaiah 40, verse 31: 'But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and be not weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.'
When we look at the root of why things are so complicated, why there is so much suffering in this world when there is a God who wants to bless us, we discover Lucifer’s determination to steal God’s blessing. He did not want to take it one time just to experience it, he wanted to take it for ever. He did not want a one night stand, he wanted an ongoing relationship with us. He wanted to prevent us as God’s children ever reconnecting to God. And so he wants to commit many sins, and to keep on sinning. That way he can be sure we will not reconnect to God. That is why the things God asks of us are also not one of requests. When we talk about Cheon Song, making conditions of prayer, of tithing, these are not things to do once and then kick back. These are things we do regularly to remind oursleves so that every other hour of our day, every other day of our week, and every year of our short life here can be a process to reconnect to God, to come into His realm of blessing. God is gracious. We should be gracious with others. Tiger woods: we shd be gracious to him, he is reminding us of how frail we are. He had values, he wouldnt have got to where he did if he was spineless. He has everything that could qualify for the three blessings that God promised us. Satan is an expert at hiding from us what is really valuable. Now despite all the blessings he has he desperately needs grace. Thank God for the little you have, and He will give you more.
His blessing is limitless, but how to access it, how to make it flow Living a life of blessing, it is not in the name, but in the life style. It is about a relationship. (it is not your religion, the fact that you believe you do a lot of good things, Any relationship needs a certain level of investment to work. It needs to go from your belief into action. That is why we have tradition to help us. To remind us, to give us a framework. When u go into any institution there is path there laid out for you to follow. U cannot just ignore it. The church is God’s institution, the family is god’s institution, the community is god’s institution. U cannot ignore it.
God’s blessing is written into every human heart. In order to access it we need to fulfil our part in the blessing equation. It is not automatic, but requires our response. It is through a personal relationship that God can bless us. Everything else: all the ceremonies, the donations, the traditions, are there to give that relationship a form, to also remind us of how to relate to God and think of God first before our self. But it is the relationship that is the well spring of God’s blessing. We need to stop and wait on God, not always make God wait for us. Isaiah 40, verse 31: practice 'But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and be not weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.' Satan hides God’s blessing away from us by persuading us to put ‘me’ first, to break God’s laws, and by preventing us from reconnecting to God through a personal relationship. In part 2 this Sunday, we will look at how we can recognise and practice the behaviours that bring blessing to our family and community, how God has been trying to teach us these things for a loooong time. How we can go beyond being ‘blessed’ in name and move towards feeling blessed in our every day life.
When we encourage each other we are blessing others, when we pray for each other, when we provide each other with constructive feedback, when we bring new ideas, when we are patient, when we serve, when we smile, when we trust each other, understand each other, know each other: these are the ways God is using to give his blessing to us. How can we be a blessed community not just in name but blessed in our daily life, constantly, consistently, limitlessly: by making a commitment to do some of the things in the list above. DID you experience any of these behaviours in your community this week? Are you not worthy enough to give these things? "Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." Matthew 9:17 (NIV)
57. Sermon on the Mount – The Beatitudes Objectives To become familiar with the sermon on the mount To understand some of it To want to live up to it Teaching points Sermon on the Mount was Jesus’ teaching about how to live in the kingdom of heaven. “ Blessed are” can also be translated as “happy are”. I guess the overall idea is that a perfect person should be filled with joy whatever the situation. 1. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The poor in spirit are those who realise that they don’t know much – they are not puffed up with pride and arrogance thinking that they know it all or don’t need anything least of all God. On the contrary they are deeply aware of their need of God. They are like children: eager to learn and filled with joy. “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Mt. 18:3-4 Children are happy and blessed. 2. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” These are people who are really sorry for the sins of the world. They feel sad when another person is hurt: they care about others and the suffering of the world. They feel God’s heart and so they will be comforted by God which will make them happy. 3 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” A meek person is someone who conscientiously fulfils his responsibility: he does his job/fulfils his duty and doesn’t go around criticising others and telling them how to do their job. Because he is responsible and doesn’t try to put others down or grab their jobs/responsibilities he is well liked and promoted because no one feels threatened by him. He isn’t ambitious in the sense of wanting power for himself. This is why he can be trusted not to misuse his position and this is why he will inherit the earth. He is happy because he enjoys what he is doing and doesn’t wish he was doing something more. Father was like this in his attitude in Hung Nam: he once said that when he was working there he worked as if that was what he was born to do: that is why he won awards. He didn’t try to escape or shirk his duty. 4. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” These are people who long to know God and do his will. They always play fair and stand up for fairness. Because they are so determined and never give up they will move the conscience of people and thus their desire for justice will be realised so they will be happy. Instead of complaining and criticising from the sidelines they actively get involved to change things, to make a difference. They enjoy this activity and are happy. 5. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Just like those who forgive others will be forgiven. Merciful people don’t get angry and accuse others when they make a mistake. Instead they always make allowances for others and are eager to give them another chance. They expect the best of others and won’t be the first to ‘cast a stone.’ They help others in their need. Because this is the way they think they are of a happy disposition and others will be merciful to them. 6. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” A person with a pure heart is not cynical or always looking for ulterior motives in everything. They are sincere – “without wax.” Where others might just see coincidence or they can see the hand of God. So when they see the Christ they are able to recognise him as the Christ whereas others will see him as a businessman, charlatan, or whatever. Being pure hearted they don’t do things with an ulterior motivation or try to manipulate others. So they are filled with a spontaneous joy seeing God in everyone and the good in everything. 7. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Children fighting and arguing make parents unhappy. A child that understands parent’s heart and tries to bring peace and reconciliation makes parents happy. They help enemies to be friends. The Messiah is called the “Prince of Peace.” (Is. 9:8) 8. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” These are people who stand up for what is true and right. As a result they might be mocked, made fun of and persecuted. But they have clear conscience. 9. “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.” The first person to enter paradise was a thief – the thief who stood up for Jesus when he was being crucified. So despite being a criminal he received a great reward because he defended Jesus. From God’s point of view defending Jesus more than wiped out any other crime. In the UC there are a lot of dodgy characters among the early members but Father loves them and overlooks these things because they defended and followed him when the persecution was most intense. Joy of being persecuted – feel God’s spirit very powerfully because much beloved by God. Activities 1. Pick one of the beatitudes and try to live it for a week. 2. Write a daily journal about how one has tried to keep it. 3. Word fill using a sheet with the beatitudes.
"Everything - and I do mean everything - connected with that old way of life has to go ... Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life - a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in you." Ephesians 4:22-24 (Message) What motivates you towards the heavenly way? Your conscience. What is conscience? 2 nd God, knows what you are doing before God does. Most of us our conscience is not in control. Our emotions rule us. Or other spirits rule us. God gave His children 3 blessings in a clear order. So they will always work and develop according to the order in which God gave them. I am going to become v rich and successful and gain power and dominion over a certain field of business, then I am going to find my eternal spouse and build a family, then I am going to really work on becoming a mature and loving person. ??? There is a natural order and when we follow it God carries us along, like the tide of a river.
“ God has given you a conscience as your guide. ....It has complete knowledge of every action and step you take; it even knows your thoughts. Your conscience knows all these things about you before your teacher or pastor knows. It knows them before your parents know. It knows them even better than God knows. “ Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, June13, 2006, If you practice such true love in your daily life, how can God do anything but bestow great blessings upon you? You will live for all eternity in blessing and happiness. True Love Then what is true love? Its essence is to give, to live for the sake of others and for the sake of the whole. True love gives, forgets that it has given, and continues to give without ceasing. True love gives joyfully. We find it in the joyful and loving heart of a mother who cradles her baby in her arms and nurses it at her breast. True love is sacrificial love, as with a filial son who gains his greatest satisfaction in helping his parents. When we are bound together in true love, we can be together forever, continually rejoicing in each other’s company. The attraction of true love brings all things in the universe to our feet; even God will come to dwell with us. Nothing can compare to the value of true love. It has the power to dissipate the barriers fallen human beings created, including national boundaries and the barriers of race and even religion. The main attributes of God’s true love are that it is absolute, unique, unchanging and eternal, so whoever practices true love will live with God, share His happiness, and enjoy the right to participate as an equal in His work. Therefore, a life lived for the sake of others, a life of true love, is the absolute prerequisite for entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
Summary of last two weeks: 2 weeks ago: what is God’s blessing? Unconditional, potentially limitless, but not automatic Essence of blessing: finding right perspective: tuning into God’s out look on love, that means putting God1st Being blessed is not about following religion, but about being IN a personal relationship with God. (saying thank you is a first small step) As any relationship requires time and effort. And as we seek greater spiritual maturity God is able to trust us more and His blessings flow in out life natually. Last week: behaviours that bring blessing (when u think of others more). Being blessed also means experiencing deep happiness because you walking the path that God has guided you to take. When we understand the standard or type of behaviour we should emulate then our conscience is a tool God gave us to teach us to constantly review our behaviour. Sharing God’s blessing: when we are unable to share God’s blessing it means we are not really aware of the fact that we are blessed, and we are not able to understand why we have the the things that God gave us. It is as if we are in fact not blessed. Sharing God’s blessings with others is a v natural process when we are clear about the purpose of all the good things in our life. Core Message: to share God’s blessing your UNIQUE heart has to be free and unblocked, because God’s blessing comes from the heart. Many of us here would like to share our faith with others more. But we are blocked by something.
You can only give to others when you know what you have to give. Find out what God gave you in your life, what he put in your heart. Your heart affects everything you say, it affects everything you do. It affects everything you feel. Your heart is different than everybody else’s heartbeat. This is true not just emotionally, it’s true physically. Did you know that your heartbeat is slightly different than everybody else’s heartbeat in the world? Just like you have a thumbprint and an eyeprint and a voiceprint and a footprint that’s unique, you also have a unique heartbeat. It’s slightly different than everybody else’s. When I do what God shaped me to do, two things happen – I enjoy it, and I’m good at it. These are two things that help you determine your heart, what kind of heart God gave you. The first evidence is you enjoy it. You get pleasure in the things that God wired you to enjoy to do. You get enjoyment. You get satisfaction. We were all made to shine. But as life goes on, you tend to get a little dimmer. You don’t stay as bright as God intended for you to be. What do I mean by that? Every person: God has put certain passions in your heart. Certain desires, certain dreams, certain ambitions, certain interests. We all are different in these ways. The problem is this: Most people have never ever really acted on or fulfilled or attempted or developed or utilized their God given passions, their interests, their dreams. In fact, we bury our dreams. God doesn’t want that. You can never really bring blessing to others if you are hiding from who you are meant to be.
What keeps you from following your heart? 1. The number one heart stopper is Disappointment. When you’ve been hurt, you tend to pull back into a shell and say, “I’m never going to let anybody else hurt me.” You give up on your dreams. You give up on your ambitions. You give up on your interests, on your passions. You pull back into a protective mode that says, “ Don’t get hurt is the number one goal of life.” It says in Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred [that means a dream, an ambition, a desire deferred] makes the heart sick.” If at first you don’t succeed… welcome to the human race. You’re normal. Almost nobody succeeds on the first try. But we often give up. When we allow disappointment to come into our lives, it stops our heart. Fear is the second heart stopper. It keeps you from being what God wants you to be. It’s another self-imposed prison. Jesus told a story about this. He called it the parable of the talents This is a big one. You cannot be guilty and go after your dream at the same time. Why? Because guilt take enormous amounts of energy. It’s like carrying a big sack of garbage on your back all the time. Friend, God never intended for you to walk around with a bunch of guilt and regrets. That’s what Jesus Christ came to do, to forgive it all. Bitterness will eat you alive. It’s worse that cancer. It is the worst heart disease you can have. Bitterness. When you become resentful, and you’re always thinking about how to retaliate and get revenge, and you’re always thinking about that person who hurt you in the past, it keeps you stuck in the past. You can’t get on with the present or the future because you’re so hung up about that person who hurt you. Let it go. Psalms On bitterness it says, “When my heart was bitter, and I was angry, I was senseless.” In other words, you don’t think logically when you’re either guilty or resentful. You think illogically. You do stupid things. On rejection it says, “They cut me down with sharpened tongues. [In other words they were attacking me verbally.] They aim their bitter words like arrows straight at my heart.” Some of you, when you were growing up, had people say things like this to you, either out on the playground or maybe even a parent or relative, “You’re not worth anything… You’re never going to amount to much… You’ll never be a success… You’re not good at [fill in the blank]… You’re uncoordinated… You’re this… You’re that… You’re worthless….” And on and on and on. And you believed them. They were the adult, and you were a kid, and you thought adults were right. They were wrong. They lied to you. They were lying to you at that moment.
God gave you a heart, and He has placed in you some passions, some desires, some dreams. Those came from God. Some ambitions. God put those in your heart, hardwired it into you to make you you . But – and this is very important – unless they are under His control, they will be misused, they will be abused, they will be misapplied, they will be misdirected, and they will be wasted in your life. God did not give you your heart and interests and passions for your own benefit so you can go, “I’m going to do whatever I want to do. Forget You, God!” No. God gave them for a purpose. Unless you use them for His purpose, they will be misused, wasted, misapplied. All around the world, there are millions and millions of passionate people, talented people, people with interests and dreams and ambitions and passions that are being misused and abused. And it breaks God’s heart. He’s saying, “I didn’t mean it for that!” That’s why in spite of their talent and ability and their heart and their passion and all these things, they are unhappy. Because if it’s not used the way it was intended, it makes you miserable. When your passions are misused, it makes you miserable. When you spend time with God on a daily basis, and you get with Him regularly, and you get plugged in, you can’t help but be passionate. You start to have a heart that God has for other people, for the world. You start to feel the things that God feels. And feel the way He does. You hang out with God, you’re going to be passionate. You’re going to be passionate about life. That’s what a passion is. It’s your heart. Would you like to have more energy in life? More enthusiasm? More get up and go? Let me tell you where to get it. The closer you get to God, the more energy, the more vitality, the more passion you have in life. The further away you get, the more bored and apathetic you become with life. You’ve got to open your heart to Jesus. “ I just wish I learned years ago that we serve God out of our design, not out of duty.”
When you start living your heart, you start following your heart, let me tell you what’s going to happen. You’re going to stop worrying about status, and you’re going to start enjoying significance. When you start following your heart, you’re going to stop competing for position, like climbing the ladder, and you’re going to start enjoying more pleasure because you’re being what God made you to be. And when you start living and following your heart, you’re going to stop obsessing over money, which really isn’t that important. And you’re going to start obtaining meaning. Meaning trumps money every day of the week. I just felt so blessed by God, I wanted to do anything I can to help Him reach more people, for Him to be able to free more people. That is why I am standing here today. Not because I am a good speaker, or because I am a very holy person. I just want to help God do more. I want to encourage people to help God more. Write down all the things that God has blessed you with. Write down all the ways that you can share those blessings with others. Make a plan on how you will actionise that sharing. (give some one a lift in your car…)