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firstumcschenectady · 3 years ago

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"God, Stress, and Abundant Lives” based on 1 Kings 19:4-8

I'm mad. Mad that we – the big collective we – might have beaten this virus if we trusted our experts and prioritized collective well-being. Mad that we “can't have nice things” still, EVEN THOUGH science provided amazing vaccines in an unbelievably short time. Mad that I have to make decisions no one– including me – likes because the first rule of John Wesley is “first do no harm” and I really believe we have to do that.

But, a friend sent an article this week that pointed out that I'm not mad. I just think I'm mad. Or, more so, that anger is a secondary emotion that works well to mask primary emotions. The article said the emotion that I'm actually feeling is fear. (Note: do not try this at home. Do not tell someone what they're “really feeling” when they tell you what they ARE feeling. Really, truly. DO NOT DO THIS. The article got away with it by taking about generic people and I personalized.) The article speaks about people choosing not to be vaccinated and vaccinated people's anger responses:

Though this new flavor of outrage might look and sound like righteous indignation, mental health professionals say that what’s behind it is fear.

“It’s scary to admit that somebody else has power over you and you’re at their mercy and you’re afraid of them, but showing that is not a very American ideal,” said David Rosmarin, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a clinician at McLean Hospital. “Instead of expressing that fear, it’s a lot more comfortable to blame somebody else.”

Anger is what people in his profession refer to as a “secondary emotion.” It’s a feeling that arises in response to a more primal emotion, like fear and anxiety over having some aspect of your life threatened. “The reality is that there are millions of people who are miseducated about something, they’re making a big mistake that will have massive consequences that might affect you and your family and that makes you scared,” Rosmarin said. “But nobody is saying that.”1

That article also says that part of what people are struggling with is that this was always going to be a “long war” but we didn't get that message from the outset. That fits for me too, I deal better when I have my expectations set correctly.

Two years ago I preached on this passage from 1 Kings 19, and afterwards several of you mentioned that you could hear in it my yearning for a break. (It was fairly soon before my renewal leave.) I hadn't meant to be that transparent then, and it makes me want to be a little bit cautious now, but....the story hasn't changed.

This remains a story of Elijah, prophet of God who has worked diligently for what he believed God wanted him to do. The response to his faithfulness has been a threat of murder that came directly from the palace.

Elijah is too tired to fight anymore. He fled for his life, but in the midst of the flight he lost even the will to live.

He prays, asking God to let him die, which would at least be less violent than the death otherwise planned for him. He'd walked into the desert for a day, and when he prayed he sat under a single broom tree, the only bit of respite he could find. The Bible seems to suggest this is a particularly sad story, it is the same one told of Hagar, having walked into the desert, exhausted her provisions, sat under a broom, and prepared to die. Just like with Hagar though, God meets Elijah there.

You may already know how much I love this story. He falls asleep, and wakes up when provisions have arrived. He eats, he drinks, he falls back asleep. When he awakes, provisions have arrived. He eats, he drinks, AND THEN he was able to go on.

I really love that he needs to sleep, eat, drink, sleep, eat, and drink before he can rouse himself. He has gone far beyond the “have a cup of coffee and keep going” point. He is exhausted. He is out of will power. He is out of a will to LIVE. If I were writing this story though, I'd add in some breathing. “He took intentional deep breathes until he was able to slow his body enough to sleep...” and then the rest of the story. It would make it just a smidge better.

Probably because of the book I just read, I'm noticing that the story as written (and more so as adapted), Elijah is given the chance to “complete the stress cycle” in this story. The book is “Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle” written by Emily and Amelia Nagoski. In their opening chapter, they distinguish between stressors and stress. They point out that we need to complete the stress cycle, no matter what is happening with the stressors. And they name, concretely, how to do that. The first and best option is to “do literally anything to move your body enough to get you breathing deeply” for 20-60 minutes a day.2 Elijah walking into the desert for an entire day seems to qualify.

The Nagoski sisters offer 6 other ways to complete the cycle though: 1. “deep, slow breaths down regulate the stress response”3, 2. positive social encounters (even causal ones), 3. laughter – but the real deep belly laughter kind, 4. physical affection from someone you trust (they suggest a 6 second kiss between partners or a 20 second hug with someone you like, snuggling a pet), 5. crying, and 6. creative expression. In other chapters they also talk about meditation and spiritual connection, so I'm going to add a #7 – whatever prayer practices work for you. They're suggesting that we do at least one of these, and better many of these, every day. Because the stressors keep coming at us. And their book was written in 2019, so it is WAY MORE TRUE today.

So Elijah. He took a long walk (check), I'm all for pretending he took some slow breaths, he maybe had a positive encounter with the angel? (does that count??), and I'm quite sure he cried a lot, the Bible just forgot to mention it. He also took care of his bodily needs for rest, nourishment, and hydration. (Chapter 7 of their book is all about rest.) He also named his despair to God, and naming emotions has a lot of power too.

This little story has a lot of good responses to despair and burnout. Which is good, because many of us are in despair and/or burnout in at least some aspects of our lives.

The pandemic has challenged all of us. The challenges have differed, because we're different, but we've all been challenged. Having another wave is definitely not helping anybody. We're mad, whether or not that's a primary emotion, sad, fearful, and maybe even detached. We're exhausted.

And most of us are comfort seeking. We want things to be easier. We NEED things to be easier. We're looking for things that sooth, ease, comfort, and console. Often, we're looking for things to be “back to normal,” familiar, and make sense like we're used to. We're human. That's how we work.

Another facet of how we work is that when we're in high stress, we revert to earlier and lower levels of emotional functioning. We blame. We over react. We fight. We flee. We gossip. We triangulate. We take all our anxiety and we try to get rid of it by sharing it with others or throwing it at them. This too is human. It is how we work.

No one I know is operating at their best right now. We can't.

What we can do is seek to complete the stress cycles – we can't change most of the stressors, but we can give ourselves the best possible chance to change the stress. Our bodies, minds, and spirits are all connected, they're all “us.” When we care for each of them, we give all of them a chance to do better.

I believe that God calls us all to life abundant. To full, meaningful, connected lives. To spiritual depth and work that matters and relationships that give life. Elijah went from that broom tree to the Mount of Horeb where he deepened his relationship with God, and then on to meet his protege Elisha and started to pass on his labor to the next generation. It wasn't God's intention that Elijah struggle alone, or burn himself out. It isn't God's will that we struggle alone nor burn ourselves out either. God wishes for full, abundant lives for us all. That's part of why we take care of each other, and share love in the world. So, dear ones, I encourage you to complete your stress cycles, name your emotions, connect with your dear ones, engage in prayer, and live life as abundantly as you can. God wants it for us, we want it for each other, and the world needs us as healthy as we can be! May God help us. Amen

1 https://www.statnews.com/2021/08/02/belated-realization-that-covid-will-be-a-long-war-sparks-anger-denial/

2 Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski Burnout: The Secret to Unlokcing the Stress Cycle (New York: Ballantine Books, 2019) p. 14.

3 Nagoski, 15.

#FUMC Schenectady #Schenectady #UMC #Sorry about the UMC #progressive christianity #Thinking Church #Elijah and the Broom Tree #Rest Food Hydration #Complete the Stress Cycle #DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME #Nagoski Sisters #fatigue #burnout #Delta Variant #Despair #Abundant Life

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lifeofresulullah · 4 years ago

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The Life of The Prophet Muhammad(pbuh): The Conquest of Makkah and Afterwards

The Siege of Taif: Part 3

Distribution of the Booty

After the captives were returned to their owners, the Messenger of God was going to start to distribute the booty.

Meanwhile, it was seen that some Bedouins disturbed the Prophet and pulled his garment by saying, “O Messenger of God! Distribute the booty of camels and sheep among us.” The Bedouins went so far that the Prophet had to lean back to a tree. Thereupon, the Messenger of God said, “Do you think I will not distribute the booty that God granted among you? By God, if the booty was as much as the number of the trees of Tihaman, I would distribute them among you without fear and stinginess.” Then, he picked a camel hair and held it between his fingers and showed it to them. He said, “O people! By God, apart from the one-fifth, there is nothing, not even something like this camel hair, that I have from the booty. And the one-fifth is spent on you when it is necessary.” After that, he had the booty items counted and distributed everybody their share.

Grants to the Muallafa al-Qulub

In the Islamic army in Jirana, there were about two thousand people who had just become Muslims on the day of the Conquest of Makkah and some notables of Makkah that had not become Muslims yet. The Prophet used a new method in order to strengthen the belief of the new Muslims and to gain over the hearts of people who had not become Muslims yet.

As it is known, the Prophet had the right to use one-fifth of the bounty. He could spend this one-fifth for necessary things and people.

Due to the purpose mentioned above, he gave abundantly from the one-fifth to the new Muslims and the notables of the Quraysh in order to soften their hearts.

He gave Abu Sufyan, the leader of the Qurayshis, his sons Yazid and Muawiya one hundred camels each and forty uqiyyas of silver each. Thus, Abu Sufyan and his sons received three hundred camels and one hundred and twenty uqiyyas of silver totally. Abu Sufyan, who was received such great generosity and grants said, “May my mother and father be sacrificed for you! You are so generous and charitable. When we fought against you, you fought so nicely. When we made peace, you made peace so nicely. May God reward you with good things.” Thus, he expressed the generosity and philanthropy of the Prophet.

Besides, the Messenger of God granted two hundred camels to some of the notables of the Quraysh and fifty camels to other notables each.

Safwan b. Umayya Becomes a Muslim

Safwan b. Umayya was one of the people who opposed and acted against the Prophet and Muslims severely. He was one of the people that had been ordered to be killed wherever they were seen on the day of the conquest of Makkah. However, when he took refuge in the Prophet, who was like an ocean of compassion, he was forgiven. He asked for a period of two months to become a Muslim. The Prophet gave him four months.

He also joined the Islamic army.

While the Messenger of God was checking the booty in Jirana, he spotted Safwan, who had not become a Muslim yet. He was staring at the valley full of camels and sheep.

The blessed eyes of the Messenger of God noticed this careful look and senses what he was thinking about. He said,

“Abu Wahb! Did you like the valley a lot?”

Safwan said, “Yes...”

Thereupon, the Prophet said, “Then, the valley belongs to you with all the things in it.”

Safwan was astonished; he could not believe his ears. After waiting for a while in astonishment due to the grants and generosity of the Prophet, who never said no to the requests of people, Safwan said, “The heart of nobody except a prophet can be so pure, good and generous.” He stated that his heart had been conquered.

Safwan was affected by the attraction of the light of Islam and the sun of the prophethood. He uttered kalima ash-shahada there and became a Muslim.

Thus, Safwan b. Umayya, who was the enemy of Islam for years and who was given permission for a period of four months to become a Muslim, embraced Islam at the end of the first month.

Safwan, who beautified his Islam through good deeds, later stated the following about the effect made by that generosity:

“The Messenger of God was the person that I hated the most among the people until he granted me the valley. However, after his grant, he became the most beloved person for me.”

This incident is an example showing clearly how skilled the Messenger of God was at knowing people and treating them accordingly. Sometimes one compliment of his, sometimes a sweet word, sometimes a smile, a nice act and sometimes a grant was enough to gain over people. Only this characteristic of his is a topic that can be researched. When this research is made, it will be seen that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) determined the rules and principles of making friends and gaining over the hearts of people more than fourteen centuries ago uniquely through his acts, attitudes and words.

To be able to make people loyal to you with one look, sign, word, smile or act is a characteristic of the Prophet that needs to be learned by the humanity.

The Objection of the Companions

Some Muslims who did not know the reason behind this act of the Prophet that aimed to affect the spirits of the people who had not become Muslims yet or who had just become Muslims felt disturbed by this act. They thought those people were preferred over them and that they were regarded superior. However, the Messenger of God did not do so with such thoughts.

As a matter of fact, when he was granting the people whose hearts he wanted to gain over (muallafa al-qulub), Sa’d b. Abi Waqqas, one of the Companions, went to his presence and said, “O Messenger of God! You gave people like Uyayna b. Hisn one hundred camels each instead of people like Juayl b. Suraka.”

The Messenger of God realized the reason of the opposition very well. Juayl was really poor in terms of money and goods but he was very rich in terms of belief. The Messenger of God knew that it was the reason of opposition; so, he answered Sa’d as follows:

“By God, if the earth was full of people like Uyayna and Aqra, Juayl would be better and more virtuous than them. However, I am giving them abundantly to make them like Islam and belief. I refer Juayl to his Islam and the rewards prepared for him in the hereafter.”

Some People from Ansar Talk Critically

What distressed the Prophet was what he heard from some Madinah Muslims. In fact, the Prophet had expressed his loyalty and love about them as follows: “My life is together with your life; my death is together with your life.”

The Messenger of God was granting abundantly to the people who had been fierce enemies of Islam and the Muslims until yesterday, who had not made a sacrifice for the religion and who had not undergone any troubles for the religion. That was what made the Companions think about it. They felt distressed by the act of the Prophet because they had not realized the real wisdom behind the act of the Prophet and they showed their distress by their attitudes. Some of them even uttered unpleasant words.

Sa’d b. Ubada told the Prophet about the distress and discontent of some Ansar. Thereupon, the Prophet summoned Ansar and addressed them as follows: “O Ansar! I heard that you uttered some words that you should not have uttered. You said this and that.”

Upon the words of the Prophet, some Ansar apologized; they said, “O Messenger of God! We did not say so; some of our young people spoke like that.”

Despite their apology, the Messenger of God continued speaking: “O Ansar! Did I not come to you when you were in the wrong path? Did God not grant you guidance through me? Did God not make you rich when you were poor through me? You were enemies of one another. Did God not soften your hearts and unite you?”

Ansar said, “Yes, O Messenger of God! You found us in darkness; we attained light thanks to you. You found us near a hole of fire; we got rid of it thanks to you. You found us in aberration; we attained the true path thanks to you. We accepted God as Lord, Islam as the religion and Muhammad (pbuh) as the Prophet. The rights and bounties of God and His Messenger on us are superior to everything. We are grateful to God and His Messenger. O Messenger of God! Do whatever you wish.”

Despite this, the Messenger of God continued speaking. He did not want any anxiety or resentment to remain in the hearts. He added,

“O Ansar! If you had wished, you could have said this and it would have been true: ‘You came to us when you were rejected by others and we confirmed you. You came to us when you were left alone and we helped you. You had been deported but we looked after you like our souls.’ Yes, if you had said so, I would have confirmed you.”

After this conversation, the Messenger of God expressed what he meant to say through the following laconic sentences:

“O Ansar! Do you not want to return to your land with the Messenger of God while some people leave with the goods, camels and sheep that they have obtained?”

The Muslims of Madinah answered this question by shouting, “Yes, O Messenger of God! We do.”

Upon this answer, the Prophet ended his speech, which changed the situation altogether, as follows:

“I swear by God, in whose hand of power is the existence of Muhammad that, if it were not for the virtue of the Migration, I would want to be a member of Ansar!

O God! Show mercy on Ansar, their children and the children of their children!”

Upon these sincere and loving words of the Messenger of God, the Muslims of Madinah sarted to cry sobbingly; their beards got wet due to the tears coming down.

They made their final decision. They said, “We consent to the Messenger of God as our share of the booty even if we do not receive anything else.”

A unique share of the booty!

God Almighty granted His beloved Messenger such unexceptional persuasive ability. On the one hand, he affected the spirits of his fierce enemies and attracted them to Islam through his words; on the other hand, he eliminated all of the resentment of his friends through one speech.

From Jirana to Makkah

There were twelve days left for the month of Dhulqada to end.

When the Messenger of God was in Jirana, he performed prayers in the mosque there; he went to the mosque again, performed prayers, prayed and entered ihram for umra. Then, he left Jirana and entered Makkah at night with his Companions. The Prophet uttered talbiya during the journey; when he saw the Kaaba, he stopped uttering talbiya. In the morning, he circumambulated the Kaaba with his Companions. Then, he performed sa’y between Safa and Marwa. After the seventh sa’y, he cut his hair near Marwa.

The Prophet did not sacrifice an animal during this umra.

Returning to Madinah

The Messenger of God wanted to return to Madinah.

He appointed Attab b. Asid as the governor of Makkah again. He ordered Muadh b. Jabal to stay there so that he will tell people about Islam and teach the Quran.

Then, he set off from makkah. He reached Madinah a few days before the end of the month of Dhulqada.

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audarkmist · 5 years ago

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So, I usually find comfort in God but I have this recurring problem where when I think about Hell and the fact that God sends people there to be tortured eternally I start to get this nagging doubt in the back of my mind about whether or not He is truly good and I'm worried this means I'm not really saved and I'm a false convert. Do you have any advice for overcoming this? I just can't wrap my head around the idea that sending ppl to hell could ever be just rather than cruel. Is this just me?

Dear anon,

A) Cruel or just.

“I just can't wrap my head around the idea that sending ppl to hell could ever be just rather than cruel. Is this just me?”

A lot of people feel this way usually it’s the unconverted who do not see the magnitude of the evil sin. A person is usually saved (not always) when they notice they are a totally depraved sinner that cannot stop sinning without divine intervention. The name “Jesus” was attributed to Christ because He promised to save His people from their sins not just from hell. In this life the freedom from sin comes gradually through sanctification. In an instant of the twinkling of an eye the saved will be made with new bodies that cannot sin. Not being able to see the reason for hell simply comes down to not being able to see the magnitude of evil in sin.

1. Who do we sin against?

Is it worse to curse a bug or a human? Is it worse to hate bugs or people? Is it worse to kill a bug or a human. In one way the reason sin is so bad is because God’s worth is far above our worth. The angels are before Him saying “Holy, Holy, Holy” every day with their eyes covered unable to even look upon Him. We are made in the image of God while God is Himself the one we are created to look like. How about this... Is it worse to burn a picture of someone or to burn that person? Maybe if we had a better grasp of the infinite worth and honor due of God we would see the magnitude of our evil. The extend of evil can be measured by the worth of the victim (be it picture, plant, bug, human or God).

Psalm 51:4 I have sinned against you—only against you— and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me.

1 Samuel 2:25 If anyone sins against someone else, God can defend the one who is wrong; but who can defend someone who sins against the Lord?” But they would not listen to their father, for the Lord had decided to kill them.

The devil likes to blind us to the worth and beauty of God. This has been his ploy since he cannot kill God. Instead it’s easier to destroy people’s perception of Him.

2. Is the punishment disproportionate?

It is normal for us to think it too severe if we have a man-centered worldview. Hell tears this humanistic down to see we are not the most important. Many have fancies the idea of aliens and the idea that we are insignificant and meaningless atomic arrangement. That drops to the opposite extreme of the supremacist of man. We are not worthless nor we are not most important. We view sin from the horizontal plane instead of both the horizontal and the vertical. In the bible Joseph did not ask “how can do do this sin against this man by sleeping with his wife?” instead he asked “how can I do this sin before God”. David was not sad he killed a man but that he sinned before God. I previously explained the way we sin against God.

Hell wakes us up to the fact it’s not all about us. We have made God into some man-centered image. So many people want to see God as a genie to see what God can do for them. They think God to be their servant who must come at their beckoning to answer prayers, make them rich, make them successful or so on. Some people literally say “pray for me I don’t think I have gotten all the blessings I can”. The mindset of so many people is how God can serve them. This is how people come up with the prosperity gospel where they think God just wants them successful, famous, rich, wealthy and healthy. The doctrine of hell it comes to the conscious to remind us that we cannot manipulate or minimize this Holy God. We can look to God for provisions but it must be done to His glory not our own.

3. What is the extend of evil?

The problem of sin goes much deeper than one might initially assume. Right now God is by His common grace restraining some of the evil in every one of us. In hell the restraints come off and people are their maximal possible evil without a conscious to keep them in check. God gave us our conscious to put a limit on human evil but once judgment day comes and we are at no risk of harming anyone all the evil will be demonstrated. In hell everything suppressed by our conscious will be unleashed and we will demonstrate the full extent of evil in our hearts. So much is the evil in the hearts of men that most people would never shown their face again if their thought life was projected from everyone to see. The sheer fact that we sin and have to battle not to think or do worse evil gives us just a taste of the evil within our hearts (and that is still restrained). The conscious is a gift from God to minimize evil on earth. This sin in the heart will only grow and last forever in hell.

2 Thessalonians 2:7 The Mysterious Wickedness is already at work, but what is going to happen will not happen until the one who holds it back is taken out of the way.

Proverbs 20:27 The Lord gave us mind and conscience; we cannot hide from ourselves.

Titus 3:11 You know that such people are corrupt, and their sins prove that they are wrong.

4. The cross.

We cannot even begin to comprehend “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. On the cross Christ bore the wrath of God the Father against sin. Christ wasn’t sweating drops of blood and feeling like He may die because of the roman cross. He was overwhelmed by the wrath of His own Father crushing Him. He still suffered it all on our behalf to offer salvation for anyone who will allow Him to take their place.

B) Is God good?

“I start to get this nagging doubt in the back of my mind about whether or not He is truly good”.

What do you mean when you say good? Jonathan Edwards wrote on hell:

I shall use only one argument, viz. that sin is heinous enough to deserve such a punishment, and such a punishment is no more than proportionable to the evil or demerit of sin. If the evil of sin be infinite, as the punishment is, then it is manifest that the punishment is no more than proportionable to the sin punished, and is no more than sin deserves. And if the obligation to love, honor, and obey God be infinite, then sin which is the violation of this obligation, is a violation of infinite obligation, and so is an infinite evil. If God be infinitely worthy of love, honor, and obedience, then our obligation to love, and honor, and obey him is infinitely great. Our obligation to love, honor, and obey God being infinitely great, sin is the violation of infinite obligation, and so is an infinite evil. Once more, sin being an infinite evil, deserves an infinite punishment. An infinite punishment is no more than it deserves. Therefore such punishment is just, which was the thing to be proved. There is no evading the force of this reasoning, but by denying that God, the sovereign of the universe, is infinitely glorious.

I am to show that it is not inconsistent with the mercy of God, to inflict an eternal punishment on wicked men. It is an unreasonable and unscriptural notion of the mercy of God, that he is merciful in such a sense that he cannot bear that penal justice should be executed. This is to conceive of the mercy of God as a passion to which his nature is so subject that God is liable to be moved, and affected, and overcome by seeing a creature in misery, so that he cannot bear to see justice executed: which is a most unworthy and absurd notion of the mercy of God, and would, if true, argue great weakness. - It would be a great defect, and not a perfection, in the sovereign and supreme Judge of the world, to be merciful in such a sense that he could not bear to have penal justice executed. The Scriptures everywhere represent the mercy of God as free, and not that the exercises of it are necessary, as if that God cannot bear justice should take place. The Scriptures abundantly speak of it as the glory of the divine attribute of mercy, that it is free in its exercises, and not that God cannot but deliver sinners from misery.

It is most absurd also as it is contrary to plain fact. For if there be any meaning in the objection, this is supposed in it, that all misery of the creature, whether just or unjust, is in itself contrary to the nature of God. For if his mercy be of such a nature that a very great degree of misery, though just, is contrary to his nature... And then a less degree of misery is contrary to his nature, and a still less degree of misery is contrary to his nature. And so the mercy of God being infinite, all misery must be contrary to his nature, which we see to be contrary to fact. Mercy would be contrary to the nature of God if justice was contrary to the nature of God.

However strong such kind of objections against the eternal misery of the wicked, may seem to the carnal, senseless hearts of men, as though it were against God's justice and mercy, yet their seeming strength arises from a want of sense of the infinite evil, odiousness, and provocation there is in sin. Hence it seems to us not suitable that any poor creature should be the subject of such misery, because we have no sense of anything abominable and provoking in any creature answerable to it. If we had, then this infinite calamity would not seem unsuitable. For one thing would but appear answerable and proportionable to another, and so the mind would rest in it as fit and suitable, and no more than what is proper to be ordered by the just, holy, and good Governor of the world.

That this is so, we may be convinced by this consideration, viz. that when we hear or read of some horrid instances of cruelty, it may be to some poor innocent child or some holy martyr - and their cruel persecutors, having no regard to their shrieks and cries, only sported themselves with their misery - we have a sense of the evil of them, and they make a deep impression on our minds. Hence it seems just, every way fit and suitable, that God should inflict a very terrible punishment on persons who have perpetrated such wickedness. It seems no way disagreeable to any perfection of the Judge of the world. We can think of it without being at all shocked. The reason is that we have a sense of the evil of their conduct, and a sense of the proportion there is between the evil or demerit and the punishment.

Just so, if we saw a proportion between the evil of sin and eternal punishment, i.e. if we saw something in wicked men that should appear just as eternal misery appears dreadful (something that should as much stir up indignation and detestation, as eternal misery does terror), all objections against this doctrine would vanish at once. Though now it seem incredible, [and] though when we hear of such a degree and duration of torments as are held forth in this doctrine and think what eternity is, it is ready to seem impossible that such torments should be inflicted on poor feeble creatures by a Creator of infinite mercy. Yet this arises principally from these two causes: 1. It is so contrary to the depraved inclinations of mankind, that they hate to believe it and cannot bear it should be true. 2. They see not the suitableness of eternal punishment to the evil of sin. They see not that it is no more than proportionable to the demerit of sin.

It is reasonable that they should be sensible of their own guilt, and should remember their former opportunities and obligations, and should see their own folly and God's justice. - If the punishment threatened be eternal annihilation, they will never know that it is inflicted. They will never know that God is just in their punishment. And how is this agreeable to the Scriptures, in which God threatens, that he will repay the wicked to his face, Deu. 7:10. And to that in Job 21:19, 20.

By the end... If you mean good as in “He is unable execute justice if people suffer and must save everyone” then he does not fit your definition. God is however “unable to” look upon sin (by His nature).

Habakkuk 1:13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

Meanwhile... if you mean God cannot sin, He cannot lie, He cannot break a promise, He is Holy, He is just, He delights to show mercy and He does love, He is wishing for reconciliation... Yes God is good.

C) False convert or not.

“I'm worried this means I'm not really saved and I'm a false convert”. Well let’s just start with a simple fact. Whether or not you are saved or not does not matter if you turn to God now in faith. God says “also now” and that today is the day of salvation (if you are not saved).

Joel 2:12-13 Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all you heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

James 4:9-10 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Ezekiel 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

2 Corinthians 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.

Now I cannot tell you if you are a false convert or not since I do not know you. I can just say God made all the promises listed above and that He does not lie. I have never been disappointed by the promises of God. He is the one I trust the most above anyone. I have faith in Him and every time I stepped out in faith He came through.

The good news is you don’t need “Holy Spirit conviction” to be saved. That is you do not need to fully grasp your sin in order to be saved. One is saved by faith alone in the finished works of Christ not their level of faith or assurance. It’s who you trust not how much or how well you trust. A sturdy bridge is just as sturdy for the fearful person as the courageous one.

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You may be sad that you seem to either have little faith or assurance not knowing which one (at least right now). In that you doubted God’s trustworthiness. It’s called faith because you do not see His trustworthiness but you’re willing to “take a leap of faith”. Sometimes the assurance part comes after and you just have to step out and trust Him. My only advice can be to have faith.

It does help to develop a relationship with God to know Him. Prayer, sermons, testimonies and the bible can all help get to know God and his trustworthy promises. It’s easier to trust someone you know more. Feel free to see more on the gospel.

Let me know if you want anything else. Such as recommended sermons, more depths, good testimonies, parables or so on.

God bless!

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melitame · 6 years ago

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Gratitude and Balance is An Act of Courage 9.21.18

At this moment, I am feeling an overwhelming sensation in my heart. It brings tears to my eyes as I force one drop out of my socket. There is so much internally that is taking me out of flow. I must re-center and come back into this present moment.

Eckhart Tolle says that our purpose is what it is that we are doing right now. What I am doing right now is sitting in a hotel room by myself with a few hours of time to work and reflect. I wish to take a bath, but there are only showers available. I want to use something to numb this sensation, but there is no booze or pot in here. Just my VitaliTEA and Irie Flow capsules. So that I will take, and I will turn on familiar soothing music, pull out my crystals, and light something that smells good in the air. I will get comfy and make a list of all that I’m grateful for:

1. I’m grateful for the chance to sit in stillness to myself for a few hours.

2. I’m grateful that we arrived safely to our destination to celebrate the love of two of our dear friends.

3. I’m grateful for the help and support of family.

4. I’m grateful for my self-made herbal remedies.

5. I’m grateful that Sandy supports my projects and donates to my causes.

6. I’m grateful that mom supports my projects and donates to my causes.

7. I’m grateful that Bryan supports my projects and causes.

8. I’m grateful to make my first sales in FEM REMs and DUS this week.

9. I’m grateful that SilverHawk Tea shop wants to sell my VitaliTEA.

10. I’m grateful that SilverHawk Tea shop wants to hire me on to their team.

11. I’m grateful for the leads I got at the festival.

12. I’m grateful for the little battery juice I have left to call those leads.

13. I’m grateful the help from my new friends in Colorado who want to help me start up FEM REMs and “indiFEM.Dialogues.”

14. I’m grateful that the Keaton and Allison’s wedding this weekend is paid for and we only have to take care of travel costs.

15. I’m grateful that I got at least $150 from DUS this month so far.

16. I’m grateful my nephew made it to 19 years old and is in college.

17. I’m grateful my family is healthy.

18. I’m grateful that I am healthy.

19. I’m grateful that Bryan and I love and support each other.

20. I’m grateful that Indigo is smart and healthy.

21. I’m grateful that I’ve made $83.75 through FEM REMs (VitaliTEA) sales this month so far.

22. I’m grateful to raise $156 towards the “indiFEM.Dialogues” campaign and to earn $138 of it.

23. I’m grateful to be bringing in about $370 this month.

24. I’m grateful to follow my Bliss Work.

The beauty about making gratitude lists is that it shifts my mind from the negative energies that want to pull me down – whether it’s due to other people’s energy or my own anxieties - and redirect my brain to the positives that are abundantly unfolding. Obviously there is more to be grateful for; these were off the top of my head. I hardly stopped to think about them. Once I started, my mind shuffled to bring forth the rest of the good things in my life.

Uncertainty is an interesting thing. It feels shaky and disconcerting. It’s hard to trust the unknown. As we begin our new chapter in Colorado, I feel so vulnerable in this space of uncertainty. My new job that was going to be a load off of Bryan’s shoulders is not coming through as predicted. My multi-passions are shifting from one project to the next, and we are running out of money by the minute. Neither of us are exactly where we want o to be in our careers, and we are starting to feel overwhelmed with responsibility. Our son needs to maintain a healthy diet and a whole lot of undivided attention, and I feel so guilty that I am not providing that level of conscious parenting to him because my mind is in a million different places, or shall I say, my ducks (if you know what I mean).

I can feel it in my Solar Plexus, the knots and churns that are making it hard to breathe. This is where I want to cry. My throat tightens with a big load to swallow. There something that I want to say that I’m not saying. Was it the conversation I just had with a peer supporter? I focused so much on the frustrations of this month that I overlooked all of the beautiful blessings, as if shining light on that would make other people squirm in their seats with jealousy or envy. I don’t believe that is what would’ve happened with this particular conversation. This was a strong supporter of our ambitions and wants to see us flowing in our authentic destiny if that means to be happy, healthy and harmonious. So why did I fail to speak my story with impeccability? I don’t know….

Perhaps it’s time to cleanse my chakras. They are feeling out of rhythm:

1. I sprinkle RED crystal dust into my Root Chakra to cleanse it with healthy, maturing and balanced groundedness in love. I am one with the Harmonious Eternal Loving Presence of Grace & Mercy. Mama FEM and Melita Masculine keep me safe, secure, nurtured and comforted. I am loved and loveable and there’s nothing I can do about it.

2. I sprinkle ORANGE crystal dust into my Sacral to cleanse it with healthy, maturing and balanced companionship with my family, friends and me. I am my first best friend. I live in harmony with the pleasures of life’s blessings, beauties and benefits without shame in experiencing them.

3. I sprinkle YELLOW crystal dust into my Solar Plexus to cleanse it with healthy, maturing and balanced self-will power. I will not feel guilty for following my intuition and letting my needs lead me in my Authentic Destiny. This is MY destiny and no one else’s.

4. I sprinkle GREEN crystal dust into my Heart Chakra to cleanse it with healthy, maturing and balanced self-compassion. I love myself and I forgive myself for making mistakes that are not in my best interest. I am proud of myself for continuing to do my best everyday.

5. I sprinkle BLUE crystal dust into my Throat Chakra to cleanse it with healthy, maturing and balanced words of impeccability. I will speak my truth, no matter how vulnerable it makes me feel. I will honor my story and share it in safe spaces with people I trust. I trust that my story is what the world needs to hear, for my experience might help someone in similar predicaments.

6. I sprinkle INDIGO crystal dust into my Third-Eye to cleanse it with healthy, maturing and balanced wisdom and visual strength. I acknowledge other people’s stories without judgement and invite them to meet in the middle where the truth shall set us free.

7. I sprinkle VIOLET, GOLD, WHITE crystal dust into my Crown to cleanse it with healthy, maturing, and balanced divine authenticity. I live freely, fully and deeply in harmony with the outcomes of my performances, the opinions of my results and the measurement of my success. I get to choose how I enjoy my life. I get to choose what is best for me. I get to choose what success means.

8. I sprinkle SHIMMERY crystal dust into my 8th Chakra to cleanse it with healthy, maturing and balanced God-Consciousness. I live in harmony with the All-Loving, All-Knowing, All-Trusting, All-Forgiving, All-Humbling, All-Mighty, All-Perfect source of grace and mercy.

I wrap up this entry in a different vibration than initially. Finding a safe space within myself to release the energies that were weighing me down and then confiding in my loving partner, synergy formed an openness in our hearts that let us shine through the darkness; meeting in a place of healing. Finding our Bliss Work and Flowing in our Authentic Destiny is no easy task. It might be simpler than expected, but it surely is a journey of taking one small courageous step at a time. That is our mission in this life. To experience the full potential of the creative human spirit. In doing so, we reflect a beauty so unfathomable that others can’t help but walk in our light and tap into their creative potential, too.

Doubt and fear will always be creeping around the corner ready to keep us closed off and small minded. Believe in your natural power. You are stronger than you know. We are all finding ourselves in this journey, and even on days that feel like utter despair and failure, we are taking the strides necessary to become the person we are created to be.

Peace, Love & Irie,

Jae Tafari

#gratitude #courage

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johnhardinsawyer · 4 years ago

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We Would See Jesus

John Sawyer

Bedford Presbyterian Church

3 / 21 / 21 – Fifth Sunday in Lent

Psalm 51:1-12

John 12:20-33

“We Would See Jesus”

(A New and Right Spirit – Again and Again)

There is this song that used to be popular among church youth groups and college Christian fellowships. I admit that I used to sing it a lot, back in the day. I won’t sing the song right now, but the chorus goes like this:

I want to know You,

I want to hear Your voice

I want to know You more.

I want to touch You,

I want to see Your face

I want to know You more.[1]

The song is catchy, and it carries a lot of meaning for some folks. But, I admit that my friends and I used to make fun of songs like this and refer to them as “Jesus is My Boyfriend” music because they are like these catchy pop love songs to Jesus, and this song doesn’t even mention Jesus or God by name. If you took the words out of context, it could literally be about somebody’s boyfriend or girlfriend.

Now, I know that I shouldn’t give the song so much grief because I know that the song is really about God and that the songwriter was just trying to express something that many people feel, whether we recognize it or not: a deep longing for God. Basically, whoever sings the song is saying that they want to be close to God. And, there’s nothing wrong with that.

We see this at play in both of today’s scripture readings. In the reading from the Gospel of John. Jesus has just entered the city of Jerusalem and some of his disciples come to tell him, “There are some people who want to see you.” Now, Jesus is no stranger to people wanting to see him. He has been followed by crowds of people throughout his ministry – people who want to see him, and touch him, and hear his voice. But, in today’s reading, the people who want to see Jesus are from far away in Greece.

Jesus is not just a household name in Judea or Galilee anymore. Folks are talking about him in foreign countries. Word is spreading that God is up to something and there is something to this guy, Jesus. This is good news for Jesus, because when he hears about these foreigners who have come to worship at the Jewish festival of the Passover and who want to see him, he says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” (John 12:23) In the original language, Jesus is saying that the time has come for the Son of Man to be “clothed in splendor.”[2] This is an expression used by the early Christian martyrs. People who were preparing to die believed they were bound for glory. To our ears, I imagine that this might seem like a hard and strange thing for Jesus and these martyrs to say.

But, if you read the Gospel of John, you’ll see that a lot of hard and strange things are converging right here, at the same time. Jesus has just raised his friend Lazarus from the dead, the Pharisees and priests of the Temple are plotting to have Jesus killed, and Jesus has just ridden into the city on a donkey with people waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna to the King! (12:13) To top it all off, Jesus has his own agenda. . . God’s own agenda – one that will involve Jesus’ death and resurrection. So, as we look at today’s passage, we see Jesus filled with all of the emotions that all-of-the-above are eliciting in him. In one moment, he is talking about his own death and calling his disciples to follow. In the next moment, Jesus is telling them that his own “soul is troubled” (12:27) by it all. And, in the next moment, Jesus is talking about judgment, and driving out “the ruler of this world,” (12:31) and being lifted up from the earth, and drawing all people to himself. This is heavy stuff. . .

Here are all of these people who want to see Jesus – not just the Greeks, but his own disciples, and the crowds of people who have gathered around him – not social distancing, in the least – crushing shoulder to shoulder in the narrow city streets. They just want to be close to him, to see him, and hear his voice. And what does Jesus do? He talks about his own death – and ours, if we are willing to follow. “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life,” (12:25) Jesus says. As I said. . . this is heavy stuff. . .

Speaking of heavy stuff, I want to be clear about something: when Jesus talks about “those who hate their life in this world,” I know that this language might seem troubling. At this very moment in the life of the world, there are far too many people who are struggling, mentally and emotionally with the pandemic, and finances, and family, and plenty of other things. There are even those who are contemplating suicide. So, I want to be clear, and say that this is not what Jesus is talking about when he talks about hating life. And if you are contemplating harming yourself because there are things about your life that you hate, there are people like me – and so many others – who will stop and listen and help.

Life is “one of the highest of God’s blessings.”[3] And Jesus came so that we may have “life, and have it abundantly.” (10:10) In other words, there is a way of life that Jesus offers us, again and again, that is different from the life that we see, and know, and are, perhaps, hating right now. The life that Jesus offers is a new life lived in and with God. . . a life that is lived apart from the violence and death and idolatry and pain and stresses of the world as we know it. We don’t have to physically die to live this new kind of life, but there are some parts of us that are better left behind.

This is the new kind of life that we heard about in today’s reading from Psalm 51, which is a prayer for a new life. Just so you know, these ancient words have a backstory. You see, King David commits adultery with a woman named Bathsheeba and has Bathsheeba’s husband, Uriah, killed on the battlefield – left there to die on David’s orders. David has done some bad, bad, bad things, and then he gets busted for what he has done, and he realizes the full and horrible extent of his actions, and just how far away he is from what God intends for him.[4] David is ashamed, and he prays that God will take away his shame.

Shame can be a powerful thing with horrific consequences, both if we do not acknowledge our own shame – ignoring the hurt that our sin causes – as well as if we give shame so much weight that it crushes our spirits and brings out the worst in us. We saw shame play a major role in the horrific shootings in Atlanta this past week. A young man, ashamed of his sexual desire and not knowing what to do about it because of the inadequate and incomplete explanations offered by his faith tradition killed eight people.[5] The church – even our own denomination – has a lot of work to do on thoughtfully building a sexual ethic that moves beyond the shame-soaked “purity culture” in which the young murderer in Atlanta was steeped.[6] Mix all of this young man’s shame with the complications of race and racism – the sin of seeing other people as less-than – and the idolatrous glorification of violence and firearms and it all proved to be all-too-deadly.

The shame, and sin, and violence of “this world” is not what God intends for us. Far from it! Just as the world is filled with all the wrong things, though, the world is also crying out for something different – a different way of life, a different way of being and doing, a different future, if we’re willing to work for it. . . even a different present, if we’re willing to not stand for the world as it is – a world where innocent people die needlessly in Atlanta and in so many other times and places – laid low by shame and sin and pointless violence. Uriah lies dead on the battlefield, betrayed by David. Jesus dies on a cross, put to death by those he came to save. This is what happens in “this world,” as Jesus calls it.

Look, it is more than okay to not like the world as it is – to want a new and different life. This is why Jesus offers us an alternative – an alternative for which King David prays in Psalm 51. You see, this Psalm in which David’s shame is laid bare is a prayer of confession, but it is also a prayer of deep and holy hope in God’s steadfast love and abundant mercy, that David can somehow draw close to God again – that we, too, can draw close to God. We see in this Psalm how David wants to be cleansed of a way of life that was self-centered and sinful and be given a new way of life – with a clean heart and new and right spirit, lived in God’s presence, filled with joy.[7]

It is this way of life that David is seeking and, in truth, what all of us are seeking, deep down. Even the Greeks who come to Jerusalem and want to see Jesus are seeking the same thing. But what the Greeks might not realize at the time, and what we so often forget is that just as human beings have a deep longing for God – whether they recognize that longing or not – the real gift that God offers us is the good news that no matter how deep our longing or what sin may be holding us back from fully drawing close to God, in Jesus Christ, God has already drawn close to us. If we want to know, and see, and hear, and touch God, in Jesus Christ, God has already known and seen and heard and touched us.

Friends, if we would see Jesus, we would see him in the middle of the most difficult and dark and desolate places in our lives and in the life of the world, because this is “the world” where we live – the world into which Jesus came and continues to be, for us. “I know how hard life can be,” Jesus tells us, “because I, too, have lived it. I have seen and heard the suffering of all of God’s children,” Jesus tells us, “I know it because I have lived it. I have touched the hurting and the hungry, those whose spirits cry out for peace and whose shame cries out for loving forgiveness,” Jesus tells us. “And in my touch, there is healing, and wholeness, and new and abundant life. I have thrown down the ruler of this world. . . there is nothing separating you from me. . . you don’t have to be ashamed anymore. . . there is no limit to my love and the life I offer. . . I am drawing all things – even you – into my loving embrace, arms spread wide on the cross.”

Friends, this is God’s greatest gift to us – not just the gift of the life that we have been given each and every day, even when it’s hard, but that Jesus has lived this life, too, and sees us and knows us and offers us a new and abundant life in each and every moment – the new and abundant life and fruitful that God calls us to use for good, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

May we, too, see and know Jesus. And, in our seeing and knowing, may God restore, in us, the joy of salvation, and sustain our spirits in this life and the life into which Jesus leads.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

----------

[2] Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979) 204.

[3] John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries – Vol. XVIII (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2009) 29.

[4] See 2 Samuel 11-12.

[5] https://religiondispatches.org/dont-discount-evangelicalism-as-a-factor-in-racist-murder-of-asian-spa-workers-in-georgia/?fbclid=IwAR1GNrcqETN2lFuCYKb7oitFuqQBmpeQazWfa-NQCJJQuTwJ3JgL7d81_zY.

[6] Some friends, B.E. and S.T. were discussing this on Facebook in the wake of the Atlanta shootings.

[7] See Psalm 51:10-12.

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gospelmusic · 4 years ago

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DOWNLOAD Song Mp3: Kierra Sheard - God In Me [Audio, Lyrics & Video]

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Popular American gospel musician Kierra Sheard teams up with Mary Mary to drop a song titled God In Me.

A song that reiterates the presence of the Lord in the life of the believer, "God In Me" song mp3 audio download by Mary Mary ft. Kierra Sheard will bless you.

"God in Me" collaboration was dropped by the artistes in 2008, in their album titled The Sound.

The song has also seen various nominations which include the "Soul Train Music Award for Best Collaboration", and the "Soul Train Music Award for Best Song of the Year".

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Lyrics of God In Me by Mary Mary Ft Kierra Sheard

You're listening to the sound Oh, oh I just wanna tell the truth I just wanna tell the truth I just wanna tell the truth I just wanna tell the truth man You're so fly, you're so high Everbody around you trying to figure out why You're so cool, you win all the time Everywhere you go man, you get alot of shine Boy like a magnet, better yet I have it Everything you wear, people say they got have it From the sweat suit, to the white tee, to the Gucci You can probably say people wanna get like me But what they don't know is when you go home And get behind closed doors, man you hit the floor And what they can't see is you're on your knees So the next time you get it, just tell 'em It's the God in me It's the God in me It's the God in me It's the God in me It's the God in me You think I'm so fresh, you think I'm so clean You think I'm so sweet, it's the God in me What is it you think you see? (It's the God in me) It's the God in me You see her style, you think she nice You look at her whip, you say the whip tight You look at her crib, you thinkin' she paid You look at her life, you think she's got it made But everything she got, the girl's been given She call it a blessing, but you call it living When it comes to money, she can be a hero She writes them checks with a whole lot of zeros But what they don't know is when she get home And get behind closed doors, man she hit the floor And what you can't see is she on your knees If you ask her, she'll tell ya It's the God in me It's the God in me It's the God in me It's the God in me It's the God in me You think I'm so fresh, you think I'm so clean You think I'm so sweet, it's the God in me What is it you think you see? (It's the God in me) It's the God in me What is it you think you see When you see me, you see me? You don't know how much I pray Don't know how much I gave Don't know how much I changed I'm just tryna explain It's the God in me It's the God in me It's the God in me It's the God in me It's the God in me Looking so fresh, looking so clean Looking so sweet, it's the God in me What is it you think you see? (It's the God in me) Yeah, yeah, yeah (Its the God in me) Looking so fresh, looking so clean Looking so sweet, it's the God in me

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VIDEO: God In Me by Kierra Sheard

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You may also like our gospel worship songs page which contains, the best, coolest and hottest Nigerian Gospel Songs, and Foreign Gospel Songs. Whatsoever is the mood, we've got you covered. Do you feel like dancing, rejoicing, shouting, screaming, or you're filled with jubilation because of the Mighty things the Lord has done? Then look no further, cos our gospel praise songs page, containing the hottest Nigerian and foreign praise songs collection, was prepared specifically for you. Peradventure you need the lyrics of the songs you are downloading now, just downloaded, or have downloaded before, our lyrics page is the best place to look. What more could be more helpful and entertaining than seeing the lyrics of your most favourite song before you, as the music unfolds unto the climax. Hey we've been there before, and still encounter it from time to time when the vocals get lost in the cloud of heavy orchestration.

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#Music #Lyrics

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dalyunministry · 4 years ago

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Word Ministrarion

Topic: God is faithful to the end

By. Pastor. JESHURUN SOGERS

✨️

It is always a thing of joy and opportunity to minister to the saint of God. I appreciate you all so much.

Let us Pray:

Mighty and everlasting Father, King of glory we thank you for your loving kindness and your tender mercy. We are alive today is by your grace. Show us mercy oh Lord and help us understand your ways so that we can work there in. Holy Spirit enlighten our understanding in Jesus mighty name. Put your fear in our heart that we will consider you in all we do. I love you Jesus. This we ask in Jesus mighty name..... Amen.....

TOPIC: GOD IS FAITHFUL TO THE END.

TEXT: Today's Scripture : 1Thess 5:18-24

Further Scripture : Heb 10:23

18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

19 Quench not the Spirit.

20 Despise not prophesyings.

21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.

23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

Hebrew 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

God want you to stay calm through all life situation and circumstances. He is the one working out things and He is aware of all that is going on. He is the show maker and you are the actor in this movie of life. One lesson that we have learn from movie is that no matter how the battle get tense, the actor will never die. He will always come out victorious. One thing you should note is that you are more than any actor in any movie, you are more than conqueror. God's faithfulness is from everlasting to everlasting, it is from generation to generation, from nation to nations. The Scripture says the are new every morning. God can never fail, He can not Change and He can not lie. The reason why we fail in life is because we don't allow God. We want to use our own wisdom and understanding, we behave as if we know more than God.

God's commitment to his people and words is unwavering. God can never make a promise that he will never fulfil. Every promises Of God is a done deal.

God is obligated to preserve that which he has committed to your hand . No matter the rage of the sea or the roaring of the lion, what he says he will do, he will do. The budget Of God for you can not be affected by the economy of your nation, because our common wealth is in heaven.

It's in the life style Of God to keep covenant regardless of the circumstances on ground. What is it that he has spoken to you in the secret of your bed chamber, he will bring it to pass on the roof top. Learn to walk tall in the midst of your circumstances, be rest assured that whatever he has started he will sure finish. Refresh your memory, bring to remembrance all his fulfilled promises and believe him for a glorious future. Ask and you shall be given, seek you shall find, knock and the door shall be open.

GODS FAITHFULNESS IS SHOWN IN HIS WORK IN THE LIFE OF HIS CHOSEN. Genesis 26:12-16; There was famine in the land everybody was complaining about the situation. But a child of God sow by the leading of the Spirit of God and he received a hundred fold. Things might be rough for you and your family today because of the global pandemic but I want you to know that God is the same yesterday today and forever, if He has done it in the past, He can still do it today. He will do it for you in Jesus mighty name. That situation will not overwhelm you, you will come victorious. He has promise that He will make a way of escape for you and I. Put your trust in Him even in this season. Every other report that is not in line with what God has said about you becomes an evil report because it is the counsel of the Lord that will stand in our lives. Don't accept that evil report. Believe in the report of the Lord this season. God have said you are bless the head not the tail. You are above only and not beneath, you are bless in your going out and your coming in. What ever you put your hands to do shall be a blessing, He said none shall be barren in the land. By the strips of Jesus we were heal. This and many more blessing in store for you and I if we continue in the word of God. Faith makes all things possible.

Even though there was a lot of calamity in the land of Egypt at the time of Moses starting Exodus Chapter 5 to Chapter 11, the children of God in Goshen were in total safety. They did not have anything to worry about, God Himself was watching out for them. The word of God says though a thousand shall fall at thy side, ten thousand at thy right hand, it shall not come near you. Beloved when God is for you, you become unstoppable, He will command men and women for your sake. Things that look difficult for others, becomes very easy for you, your body system becomes immune against any sickness and disease. God is too faithful to fail, everything works together for good to them that love God to them who are called according to His purpose. He is too faithful to disappoint, too faithful to lie. Our God is dependable.

Daniel was saved from the Lions den, the three Hebrew men were saved from the furnace of fire set up by Nebuchadnezzar. The list continue on and on.

Lastly, you and we are alive today safe and sound is a clear manifestation of God's faithfulness. Many have died this year, a lot more in the hospital some in critical conditions a lot more in prison for what they did not do. You are alive safe and sound today not because of your own wisdom, not because you are beautiful or handsome but because of His faithfulness. Remember there is hope for the living. A living dog is better than a dead lion. God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we can ever think or ask.

As I conclude, I want you to be encourage, don't allow situations and circumstances to weight you down. When you are down to nothing, God is up to something. When He promise, He brings it to manifestation. He is not a man that He should lie, neither the son of man that He should repent. Put your trust in Him, He will fight for you and give you the victory. With this, endeavor to flee from all appearance of evil.

You can hide from your Pastors, Elders, Deacon, Deaconess and even Church members but you can not hide from God. The truth of the matter is He is the one marking the register and every will account to Him at the end the day. Deliver your soul from hell and live a holy and a God fearing life today tomorrow might be too late. Remember even in our unfaithfulness, God remains faithful. Stay bless and stay safe in Jesus mighty name.... Amen.....

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modestybae · 7 years ago

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ughhh, I see no point anymore, I just pray to Allah swt to make this easier for me and take me and I know I shouldn’t do that but everything feels like so much and I’m finifing it so hard to cope

Oh sweetie *virtual hug* I feel you, but this life is only a test, love. With every calamity, Allah raises our status and ranks in Jannah inshallah, and if we remain patient and endure then wallahi we’ll be rewarded greatly for it inshallah 🌸Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him was kicked out of Ta'ef, not only that but the people there abused him, and not even a single person there accepted Islam and he, peace and blessings be upon was very upset. Allah’s Prophet and Messenger was abused, and look how he peace and blessings be upon him reacted to the abuse,

Narrated `Aisha:

That she asked the Prophet (ﷺ) , ‘Have you encountered a day harder than the day of the battle) of Uhud?“ The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, “Your tribes have troubled me a lot, and the worse trouble was the trouble on the day of ‘Aqaba when I presented myself to Ibn `Abd-Yalail bin `Abd-Kulal and he did not respond to my demand. So I departed, overwhelmed with excessive sorrow, and proceeded on, and could not relax till I found myself at Qarnath-Tha-alib where I lifted my head towards the sky to see a cloud shading me unexpectedly. I looked up and saw Gabriel in it. He called me saying, ‘Allah has heard your people’s saying to you, and what they have replied back to you, Allah has sent the Angel of the Mountains to you so that you may order him to do whatever you wish to these people.’ The Angel of the Mountains called and greeted me, and then said, “O Muhammad! Order what you wish. If you like, I will let Al-Akh-Shabain (i.e. two mountains) fall on them.” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “No but I hope that Allah will let them beget children who will worship Allah Alone, and will worship None besides Him.” Sahih Al Bukhari- Book 59, Hadith 42

The story of Prophet Abraham always gets to me as well, His father and entire village or city abused him. Even when he was thrown into the fire, he knew and fully had faith that no matter what, Allah is with him and He Sees and Hears everything thats going on,

They said, “Burn him and support your Gods- if you are to act.” Allah said, “O fire be coolness and safety upon Abraham.” And they intended for him harm, and We made them the greatest losers.” [21:68-70]

Not only that, but later on in his life, he faced another great trial, that its magnitude still echoes to this very day. He had to sacrifice his son, prophet Ismail, his own blood and even then, he trusted Allah and endured Allah’s trials patiently,

And when he reached with him [the age of] exertion, he said, “O myson, indeed I have seen in a dream that I [must] sacrifice you, so see what youthink.” He said, “O my father, do as you are commanded. You will findme, if Allah wills, of the steadfast.” And when they had both submittedand he put him down upon his forehead, We called to him, “O Abraham, Youhave fulfilled the vision.” Indeed, We thus reward the doers of good. Indeed,this was the clear trial. And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice, And Weleft for him [favorable mention] among later generations: “Peace uponAbraham.” Indeed, We thus reward the doers of good. [37:102-110]

He endured and trusted Allah and he was rewarded greatly, not only in this world but the hereafter as well. Like, we still celebrate Allah’s Mercy on him till now and till the end of time.

We want the levels and ranks of the prophets but fail to have their patience and their imaan. May Allah pardon us.

Also,

‘A'isha reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:

“A believer does not undergo (the trouble) of running a thorn or more than that when Allah effaces his sins.” Sahih Muslim- Book 45, Hadith 61

So, every trial and calamity and pain you go through and will go through, will be counted. Even if its a pick of thorn.

For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease. [94:5]

So hold tight, beautiful and hang in there. Talk to Allah, tell him about your worries, ask Him to keep you steadfast on His path and ask Him to grant you the power and energy to endure patiently, for Allah is our Solace.

And I’m here for you if you ever needed to talk, love. May Allah grant you ease, and may He bless you abundantly and grant you happiness in this world and the next. Stay strong, love xx

#note to self #i'll be praying for you lovely xx #asks

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sage-nebula · 7 years ago

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I'm done watching the TMSE eps! The action was cool! And Alan jumping to reach Lizardon when he's hurt was great.

I’m happy you enjoyed them!! ♥ And YES, aside from how much I love (beyond words) what Alan sparing .01 seconds before leaping out of the aircraft to go save Lizardon says about their bond and how much Alan loves that dragon, I also think that was one of the coolest bits of animation the series has had to date. (That, and Lizardon corkscrewing around … I think it was one of Kyogre’s attacks, might’ve been one of Groudon’s, though.) It was just so fluid and smooth, and so realistically done, in that you know that Alan’s body weight and the momentum of his jump would swing him around like that. God, it was awesome. One of my favorite parts. ♥

But that aside … yeah, no, I don’t think you’re being picky at all. While I did like it the first time I watched, the more times I’ve watched TSME + Alan’s main series episodes (and I’ve rewatched them all dozens of times—I have some parts of dialogue straight up memorized), the more I’ve come to realize that Alan’s and Manon’s relationship is not only unhealthy, but was also very poorly developed and written (which is part of what makes it so unhealthy). I’m putting the rest of this under a cut, because it’s an unpopular fandom opinion that’s very critical, and I do not want Discourse™, so no one better start any with me when I’m being as polite as I can by putting this under a cut to begin with.

(And that includes vaguing about me, because so help me, if I find out you’ve vagued about me / made passive-aggressive posts whatsoever as a result of this, I’ll block you at best and give you the aggressive fight you’ll clearly be craving at worst, no forgiveness and no mercy. I’m seriously not in the mood whatsoever. So if you really like their relationship / believe Manon did no wrong ever in her life and can’t stand to read opinions to the contrary, just do literally everyone a favor and don’t click to go under the cut.)

To begin with, Alan’s and Manon’s relationship is predicated on Manon ignoring Alan’s boundaries and denied consent for companionship and partnership. She develops an interest in him when she sees him use mega evolution, and overhears him say that he wants to “defeat all mega evolutions and stand at the top.” Manon believes that Alan has a lot of personal ambition, which is something that resonates with her (given that she also has personal ambitions, and she admires / values those who believe similarly). All of that, plus the fact that she (as part of her own personal ambition) wants to use mega evolution for her own strength, power, and glory, leads to her latching onto him so that he can lead her to mega stones.

The problem is that Alan does not want her company. He makes this explicitly clear time and again throughout TSME 1. He calls her “pesky” (i.e. annoying), he tells her flat out “don’t follow me,” he tells her that certain things about him aren’t her business, he ditches her at every opportunity, et cetera. It’s made abundantly clear, over and over again, that Alan does not want Manon’s company. Manon, however, ignores this. When he tells her, “don’t follow me,” she shouts at him, “I can do whatever I like!” When he ditches her at the PokéCenter and goes to meet Siebold for a match on his own, she chases him down and shouts at him to stop leaving her behind in the middle of the restaurant, causing a scene because he didn’t wait for her even though he never consented to their partnership (and flat out told her that he didn’t want it). Some have argued that since he stopped to help her capture that flabébé, and that since he escorted her to the PokéCenter, that clearly meant he wanted her to come along. However, not only is Alan not anywhere remotely near that level of tsundere (calling him a tsundere shows a blatant lack of understanding of his character; if anything he would be a kuudere, but he’s not that, either), but he stopped to help her capture the flabébé because he saw that she was struggling (he flat out says, “You’re struggling” before he offers assistance) and he doesn’t like to see people struggle or suffer. He always steps in to help, first thing. And after that, he escorted her to the PokéCenter because she demonstrated twice in that battle that she was prone to getting distracted, the second time of which was at the detriment of the poisoned pokémon she had just captured. (“That’s great, now get it to the Pokémon Center so you can treat the poison,” Alan says, as Manon celebrates her capture.) Alan stopped to help an inexperienced trainer, and then escorted her to the PokéCenter so that her flabébé wouldn’t suffer from poison any longer. Once both things were accomplished, he left, because he did not want to travel with her. He had his own journey, he didn’t want to be a Babysitter™.

But Manon didn’t respect that. She continued to hunt him down, no matter how many times he said “no” or “don’t” or “stop.” His refused consent meant nothing in comparison to her own desires. Eventually, by the end of the episode, she wears him down and he gives up, allowing her to “do whatever [she] want[s]” because he realizes that nothing he says or does is effective enough to get her to back off. (I mean, if I were in his shoes, I would have resorted to calling out Lizardon to scare her into running away, but Alan is a lot nicer than I am.) Manon railroaded over his boundaries until he gave dubious consent because nothing he did to turn her away was effective.

So the very foundation of their relationship is Alan saying “no” and Manon saying “yes” and Alan sighing and giving in because she won’t take “no” for an answer. They didn’t enter into truly consensual partnership at the end of TSME 1, because someone giving in purely because saying “no” and “don’t follow me” and “stop following me” isn’t the same as truly consenting to partnership. Perhaps because of this, we don’t see anything of them enjoying each other’s company in either TSME 2 or TSME 3. In TSME 2, we see Alan having to pull Manon out of jam after jam; she trips down the hill and gets stuck in the bramble, and Alan (exasperated, and having to pull himself away from his work) chases after her, only to find that Steven rescued her first (which Alan thanks him for). She does the same thing a little while later, and this time Alan—grousing over the fact that “you’re always like this”—goes to get her again. During the Mega Rayquaza attack, she gets thrown off her feet and Alan dives to catch her. He protects her, obviously, and looks out for her, but again: This is the type of person he is. He’s not going to let a ten-year-old child come to harm when he can do something to prevent it. He’s not going to let her be stuck in bramble after she tumbles down a hill if he can help get her out of it. He can’t stand to see people hurt or suffering, even if it’s a minor inconvenience they brought on themselves, and even if they annoy him (which Manon does, because these are two whole specials in which he doesn’t once smile genuinely at her). To that end, while I still find the scene funny because of how big brother - little sister it is, he flat out tells her to “go somewhere else” when Lysandre arrives, and is constantly stressing over her annoying or agitating Lysandre (because you know, the last thing someone who has been emotionally abused for several years wants is for their abuser to be set off by something), so yeah, in TSME 2 it’s readily apparent that he found her presence more stressful than fun.

TSME 3 is along the same lines. Manon insults Alan when he follows Steven into the Devon building so they can communicate with Lysandre about the megalith and Primal Legedaries (“Don’t you have this thing called ‘emotion’?”), because she, I guess, doesn’t recognize or respect the fact that he’s working, this is serious, it was never meant to be a fun journey, she should have realized that when she refused to stop stalking him. She then grows agitated when he volunteers to go stop the Primal Legendaries, because she has finally realized that he does not have personal ambition, that he is the type of person who will volunteer to “fight against the world’s destruction” because it’s the Right thing to do. Manon is not that type of person. That type of motivation doesn’t make sense to her. When she does stow away to go to the Primal Legendary battle site, she does so for Alan’s sake, because she’s attached to him and views him as one of her own. (You may notice all these Slytherin qualities piling up, and yeah—Manon is very Slytherin, as I’ve discussed at length before.) Regardless, she fights with him over it, and Alan—recognizing that she cares about his safety, and feeling a bit touched by that, but not wanting her at the Primal Legendaries site because it’s dangerous and she would just be at risk again like she was before, particularly if she doesn’t even want to be there (and she doesn’t—she flat out says that she’s not going)—tells her to go back to Kalos. Again, some people take issue with this, but Kalos is her home region, she only went to Hoenn to tag along with him, she can resume her badge quest (if she’s even on one—tbh, she never says she is) once she goes back home, and anyway, he’s not forcing her. Even if she doesn’t go back to Kalos, she can go somewhere else in Hoenn. The point is, he’s telling her—once again!—not to follow him.

But she does. And to be fair, it works out for the best; thanks to Hari-san’s quick thinking (because remember, Manon did not give him a single command in all of TSME 3) and Steven’s Mega Metagross, Manon was able to drag Alan’s body to safety after Primal Groudon knocked him unconscious and almost killed him. And this, at the tail end of TSME 3, is what finally makes Alan warm to Manon. It’s not that she saved him, but rather, it’s their conversation near the end of the episode. This exchage:

Alan: “Were you scared?”

Manon: “Yeah … but … I was really worried, so—!”

Alan: “Thank you.”

This is the very first genuine smile we get from him to her, and it’s at the end of TSME 3. Alan is not only courageous, but he values courage; there’s a reason why he specifically asked Manon if she was scared when she did what she did. He was confirming a thought, which is that she was terrified, but did what she felt was right anyway, which is important to him. True courage is doing what must be done despite being frightened, and that’s what Manon did. When Manon showed true courage, that won Alan over. It took nearly three entire specials to do it, but she did it. She finally did it.

The problem, as you pointed out, is that this isn’t good writing, because we never actually see them bond. Not once does Alan want to be around her. Not once does he actually enjoy spending time with her. To be fair, in TSME 2 and TSME 3 he’s stressed the entire time because Lysandre is there. But even before Lysandre shows up, Alan shows exasperation at Manon’s antics, rather than enjoyment. He’s not spending time with a friend; he’s babysitting a child that won’t stop tagging along with him. TSME 1, the entirety of which shows him repeatedly trying to ditch her while she refuses to be ditched, doesn’t help this. Lysandre isn’t physically present at all in TSME 1, so Alan is as relaxed as he ever is in TSME, and yet he still doesn’t have any desire to hang around Manon. The fact that he repeatedly tries to ditch her cements this.

So even though he warms up to her due to her act of courage in TSME 3, yeah, we have no real reason to be invested in their relationship, unless Manon’s feelings are all that you care about, in which case you just want him to be a pretty trophy for her to finally win. If your objective is to see Manon happy by having her “get the boy,” then yeah, I guess that would make you happy. But as for me, well, I actually care about Alan, so to see his wishes and consent explicitly disrespected again, and again, and again, and again in TSME 1, and then to see him having to just try to babysit / protect her in TSME 2 and 3 until she finally does something for him in return … yeah, that relatonship doesn’t do very much for me. I’m not a fan.

That said, we can kind of understand why, perhaps, the sudden (platonic) affection he felt for Manon in that moment made her so important to him if we consider the fact that he has not only been protecting her throughout the past two traumatic events, but also that he’s been emotionally abused by Lysandre for the past two years (well, the actual time span isn’t given, but it’s been a long time, and that’s the time frame I gave it), and that Manon’s hug is probably the first hug he’s had from another human being in that time. He hasn’t seen Sycamore since he entered Lysandre’s service, which also means that he hasn’t had any emotional support from another human being at all in that time. He has Lizardon, of course, and Lizardon is irreplaceable, but it’s a bit different when you can get that affection from another human being. Alan already demonstrated that he never wanted Manon in danger, over and over again in the specials, and that was just when she was a kid that was tagging along with him. Now she’s someone who genuinely cares about him, she’s given him the first human hug he’s had in potential years, and now he wants to make absolutely sure she’s not in danger. He wants her to be safe, he wants her to have a good journey. He wants her far, far, far away from him. When we think about it like that, Alan considering getting strength to protect her can make sense, even though I once again agree that it was rushed as hell and doesn’t feel as emotionally satisfying as his relationship with Sycamore. (Because even though we only have flashbacks of their relationship at this point, the very first flashback we get of them in TSME 1 is one where Alan was enjoying spending time with Sycamore, where he grinned and smiled genuinely at him; and in TSME 2, we not only see him once again beaming at Sycamore (and calling him voluntarily), but we also see that the only reason why he agreed to Lysandre’s service was to protect Sycamore, so that makes their relationship feel satisfying even before their main series interactions, which is something that—despite all the on-screen time they spent together—we just did not get from Alan and Manon.)

Of course, then TSME 4 happens, and Manon once again hunts him down (across continents, this time!) when he leaves her behind. She confronts him, and he rebuffs her. Contrary to what some try to claim, in this fight, he does explicitly tell her that they cannot travel together, and when she demands to know why, he explicitly tells her because she will be in danger again. And she doesn’t care. Not only does she repeatedly cut him off when he’s in the middle of talking during this argument, but she rebukes each and every attempt he makes to end the partnership (that, as he points out in this fight, he never even consented to) before he screams a lie at her. He tried every single tactic he had to try and end that partnership. He told her no, and that didn’t work. He told her not to follow him, and that didn’t work. He tried leaving her behind, and that didn’t work. He told her they couldn’t travel together anymore, and that didn’t work. He told her he was worried about her safety, and that didn’t work. I have to point out that if their genders were reversed, people would be up in arms about a girl getting so desperate to get a boy to stop following her that she has to scream a lie at him to get him to back off, and they wouldn’t feel any sympathy whatsoever when the boy cried later for it. But sexist double standards mean that the fandom hates and trashes all over Alan for this instead when Manon finally leaves, and then sends her chespin away from her (instead of recalling him to his pokéball), which then results in him getting in trouble and landing in a coma. Fandom thinks that’s Alan’s fault.

It’s not. It’s hers. Her constant railroading of Alan’s boundaries aside, she was the irresponsible trainer who sent Hari-san away instead of recalling him to his pokéball. It’s no different than when newbie!Ash abandoned Metapod in the first few episodes of the OS, to the point where Metapod was taken hostage by the beedrill. The only difference is, Ash was raked over the coals for it, and forced to own up to his own irresponsible behavior. He learned his lesson and grew as a trainer and person because of it.

Manon never did. Not only is she never called out by fandom, but Alan blames himself as well, feeling guilty for yelling at Manon, somehow construing what happened to Hari-san to therefore be his fault (presumably because he didn’t protect her, as he feels was his responsibility). Therefore, he decides to devote his gathering of mega evolution energy to healing Hari-san, so that Manon will no longer be in despair. (Because remember, Alan hates to see people struggle. He didn’t even want to see Manon struggle with bramble. So how do you think it makes him feel to hear someone, much less a child like her, sobbing? Alan cares too much. He can’t shrug and say she should have been more responsible. It kills him to see someone heartbroken like that, so he decides to save Hari-san to make her smile. Again, it’s just the type of person he is.)

Without giving too much away about the future episodes, the problem with this is that Alan’s motivation is guilt. He feels guilty for what happened to Hari-san. He wants to make it right. And because he blames himself for yelling at Manon, which he then thinks led to what happened to Hari-san, how likely do you think it’s going to be that he’ll tell her “no” to things in the future? The last time he asserted his boundaries, Hari-san ended up in a coma. He fixed that, but he won’t want it to happen again. This makes their relationship very unhealthy, especially because later episodes make it very, abundantly clear that Manon has not learned a damn thing from any of this and continues to push her own desires onto him. (What happens in XYZ045 was so bad that it actually triggered me re: bad memories of my own boundaries being violated in my youth. It’s a huge part of why I disavow everything after XYZ044.) Unless Manon learns her lesson and stops overriding his boundaries, and Alan has it reinforced that he’s allowed to set those boundaries, their relationship could get very toxic, very fast, and all at Alan’s expense. And again, this is on top of being so poorly developed that we don’t actually see them enjoying each other’s company, that we don’t actually see Alan wanting to spend time with her, that the most we get is that he’s grateful for her assistance, responds warmly to her display of courage, wants her safe, and feels guilty about Hari-san. The fact of the matter is, these two characters are just incompatible, but because the anime team was worried that the children in the audience wouldn’t be able to relate to Alan since he’s a teenager, they inserted Manon to be a viewpoint character for the audience. No wonder their relationship is so poorly developed; Manon’s function was to be an audience surrogate, not to have a positive impact on Alan’s life.

So yeah, just … you’re not being picky. I’ll admit that my feelings are especially negative given the way fandom likes to treat Alan as Manon’s pretty trophy, stripping him of just about everything he is so that he can be a prize to prop her up instead, but again, I’ve rewatched TSME and Alan’s main series episodes at least ten times each over the past year. And every rewatch I have makes me realize more and more just how underdeveloped and honestly not good their relationship is. I try to fix this in my own writings by having Alan assert his boundaries more + having Manon go on on her own separate journey at the end of canon, without him, so that she can learn and grow as an independent trainer and person (because she’s barely a trainer by the end of it all, tbh; she never once battles, and the series repeatedly draws parallels between her and Bonnie, a seven-year-old who also doesn’t battle because she’s too young). I try to fix the damage as best I can, but it’s damage that had no real reason to exist in the first place. If Manon had been in the main series instead as a traveling companion for Ash’s rival Shouta, and a rival / protégé for Ash, then she and Alan could have met as opponents in the League, she would have had more screentime and agency in the narrative, and literally everything would have been improved by a thousandfold.

But c’est la vie, that’s not what happened. Not very much I can do about it. :/

#somegiantmess

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all-gods-children · 7 years ago

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what happens when you sin after you become saved/ask for forgiveness? I love Jesus and God so so so so much oh my goodness but I still can't be perfect... I'm afraid I won't go to heaven :( the Bible says to repent of your sin and I have in a lot of ways, I've been changed by the Holy Spirit but I still do small things that I am ashamed of because I love Jesus and what He did for me so much and I don't want to sin.. help??

Hi there. So the beautiful thing about God is that He doesn’t expect us to be perfect. That’s why he sent Jesus for us. He knows that we will never be able to stop sinning. We can’t overcome this human nature of ours, so that’s why Jesus did that for us. As Christians, we aren’t called to be perfect. We’re called to serve God as best we can.

That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try to be more like Jesus every single day. That doesn’t mean that we should give into temptations and simply look at the world hopelessly. Jesus overcame death so that we could be free for the guilt and pain of sin. Jesus overcame everything so that we might have life abundantly. John 16:33 says, “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart, for I have overcome the world.” Every time I get in a bad spot of guilt and pain, I just remember this verse and remind myself that Jesus already overcame everything for me. So even when I do slip up and I sin, Jesus has already overcome even death itself, and all I have to do is give that to him and allow him to overcome that as well. Giving our sin to God takes strength and courage. Repenting takes a lot. But it’s very, very necessary in order to grow with God and become the people He has made us to be.

Sinning isn’t going to keep you out of heaven. There’s only one requirement of a Christian, and that’s to believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. If sinning kept people out of heaven, there would literally be no one in heaven but Jesus. We all sin and we all mess up. That’s a fact of life. Our salvation doesn’t rely on us not sinning. Romans 3:23-24 says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Jesus already took care of all of that for us. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is the gift of God. It is not from works so that no one can boast.” Salvation isn’t anything that we have earned. It’s a gift from God. He gave us Jesus so that we might have the chance to better know and love Him.

The beautiful thing about God is that He looks at our hearts and He knows them better than anyone. If you love Him and you are truly repentant of your sins, then nothing can ever separate you from His love and grace and mercy and salvation. You’re going to mess up. That’s just a fact that we all have to face. But that doesn’t mean that God will ever love you any less. The danger comes from knowingly and willingly disobeying God without an ounce of repentance in your heart. Salvation is a gift from God that will never rely on the things that you do. It will rely on the fact that you love Him and that you are willing to dwell with Him and serve Him and grow in Him. Continue to grow in God’s grace. Continue to become a better person. But know that when you slip up, when you fall into sin, God is waiting for you with open arms. He will never stop forgiving you. He will never stop loving you. You are His child. You are imperfect. But you are imperfectly His.

Much love and many blessings,

~Haley

#haley answers #anonymous

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buggie-hagen · 4 years ago

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Midweek Lenten Homily II: Hallowed be your name. (3/3/21)

Primary Text | Matthew 7:15-20

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Dear People of God,

Luther taught that one can never learn the catechism well enough. He even went so far to say that he himself as a learned theologian and doctor of the church must always every morning return to the catechism. If he taught us this about his own need, how much more do we who are less learned need do the same. Our Small Catechism presents the six most necessary elements of our faith in an easy to digest manner. It focuses on the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Lord’s Supper, Holy Baptism, and Confession and Absolution. As you already know this Lent we are focusing on the Lord’s Prayer. But I do encourage you as well to daily feed yourself on all these basic elements to strengthen and increase your faith. For in these six elements are God’s Word to both bring an end to the shackles of sin and to raise you to new life in Christ.

The first petition of the Lord’s Prayer is “Hallowed be your name.” Hallowed is an obscure word for saying, “Lord, we ask that your name be holy.” That’s not to say God’s name is not already holy in and of itself, but this petition is so that God’s name become holy for us. For indeed, God’s name is holy but our use of it is not holy. It might seem odd that God cares so much about his name. But in this matter it may be of use to consider what your own name means to you. When I was growing up I didn’t think I liked my name. I wanted to be able to have a nickname like my brother or my peers. But over time my name, which is relatively unique, has become an important part of my identity. God’s name is an important part of his identity. If we misuse it in word and deed it tarnishes God’s reputation.

The catechism lets us know that there are two ways that we do not keep God’s name as holy among us. One is in our teaching. That is to say, is what we believe in accordance with God’s Word? Or is it what we believe a fable of our own devising? Creating our own fables is our one unfortunate talent. If we preach, teach, and believe otherwise than God’s Word we have done God a disservice and his name has not been holy among us. Similarly, Jesus warns us, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly our ravenous wolves” (Matt. 7:15). These are the absurd preachers and churches who engage in what is known as the “prosperity gospel”. Meaning, that if you have enough faith, if you do enough good deeds, then God will bless you with health and wealth and success. Which on the surface sounds good. But in reality is not the gospel of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. A problem with prosperity gospel is that lot of us are not wealthy and perhaps not healthy. Does that then mean that God has abandoned us? Not. At. All. In fact, the Scriptures speak of those with wealth being in a more difficult position to be saved. Whereas, God favors the humble and the lowly and those without. The proponents of prosperity gospel only ever want to focus on the positive and never anything to do with suffering or the cross. Which is why in their churches you seldom if ever see a cross. The cross and suffering are the lot of Christian individuals and Christian communities and we must not pretend otherwise. If Christ had to go through it, we will as well. Again, beware of the false prophets. The “false prophets” that Jesus speaks of in the Greek uses the word “pseudo-.” So they are the pseudo-prophets. They present themselves as speaking for God when they don’t. May God preserve us from any such falsehoods.

The other way that God’s name is not treated as holy among us is when we do not behave as we should. Do we have contempt for one another? Do we speak ill-will of those around us? Are we taken to adultery, drunkenness, or jealousy? When those who bear the name of Christian are unashamedly engaged in such vices, we have again done God a disservice. So what we do with our lives is a reflection of God unto others, and God cares that we represent him well. Indeed, as Jesus says, “Every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit” (Matt. 7:17). In the petition “Hallowed be your name” we are asking God to cause us to be good trees that bear good fruit so that his name can be holy among us.

In baptism, we as Christians received God’s holy name. The Large Catechism teaches that “God’s name is the most sacred thing we have.” And now we learn the promise of why it matters that God’s name is holy, or hallowed. Because God’s name is a promise of his graciousness to you. Whatever God does he stamps his name on. So when you were baptized, he stamped his name on you. Meaning, that he claims you as his own. Meaning that you will have salvation in body and soul and into life everlasting. Meaning, that there is nothing in the world that can separate you from God’s love in Jesus Christ. Meaning, that he daily and abundantly forgives you all your sins and does not want to hold anything against you. Meaning, that you matter and that God has determined you to be valuable because of his mercy and not because of anything you’ve ever done or not done. Because God’s name is holy you have the assurance that all things will turn out well for you and that you have a future brimming with hope.

#keypreaching

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