Psalm 146:1 Stand your ground you have a reason to!!!
We are finite. There are times and seasons when we can see clearly, understand what is needed and move forward. Yet are there also times and seasons where we simply cannot see and all we can say is “Praise the Lord” (V1). Our reality comprises the unseen and the seen (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). Suffering, emotions, our frailty, and our death are part of the seen, the felt, it is our humanity. This is our side. Inside and around this reality is the unseen, an opportunity to engage in the incredibly satisfying intimacy of Jesus who stands at our door beckoning and welcoming us to receive His love and eternity. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego contemplated the seen, the fiery furnace but also stood their ground on the unseen. “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O King. But even if he does not, let it be known to you, O King, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up (Daniel, 3:17-18). Sometimes our reality is black, dead, seemingly forsaken and hopeless. It is in this time we have a choice to rise up and hold tight to the unseen and boldly say, “Praise the Lord, O my soul, I will praise the Lord while I live (despite my seen reality). I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. In other words I will not give my mind and energy to the gods of this earth – the hopeless belief that God is everything and we are God therefore I am it, or naturalism and evolutionary humanism or the Godless, empty motivational sound good speeches that exclude any reference to our maker or simply the seeking of financial security and pleasure.
Who do we look at in times of darkness? What do you believe is your reality? We are made to praise God and find our meaning in a reference point outside of ourselves in the infinite God who demonstrated his love for us by entering our seen world in the face of Jesus who gave His life as a sacrifice in our place for our sin. The cross is a historical event just like Martin Luther King. In our world Jesus smashed the power of death (I Timothy 1:10) by His resurrection (John 11.25) and revealed the incredible promise of eternal life through believing in Him and then journeying with Him through death into paradise. What else is there on this planet that gives such an incredible Hope? Praise the Lord.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Good news to a broken heart
I was thinking about the news a heart needs. Each Psalm I mediate on provides a new way of thinking about God and yourself which in essence is the way of strength and healing. The Holy Spirit comforts and counsels our heart and emotions by delivering some awesome realisations about reality.
Ps 86:4-7 What do we do? Lift up our soul, open ourselves, still our mind then....
The Lord is ready to forgive and abundant in lovingkindness - to who? to all who call upon Him. Here we find ourselves.
We are not alone - Freudian psychology leaves you completely on your own. Who does your psychologist leave you with - a new bundle of self centered thoughts or the loving comforting God and creator of you and the universe?
Ps 86: 11 What do I do now? Walk in the truth. Who's truth? God's truth revealed by the Holy Spirit through his word in the bible and supported by His daily revelation to our spirit through our prayer and meditation on his word. Your psychologist may have some insights into strategies for changing your thinking but they must be shaped by the goal of drawing close to your maker and experiencing His love and healing closeness.
Ps 86: 11 Unite my heart - unite my emotions, focus my mind, stabilize my thinking, restore my vision - how? by fearing (adoring worship) our Lord and God revealed through Jesus Christ.
86:12 How? By giving thanks to the Lord with all my heart. Don't dwell on your broken dreams and unfulfilled expectations and the messy past - rather dwell on your access by grace into the presence of your creator- a slightly new line of thinking as opposed to current institutional psychology which asks you to replace previous mental images with new mental images which are still only your own and therefore only supported by your own mind since there is only you to think about - like the cat chasing its tail!!
Ps 86.13 So what do we dwell on? "For your lovingkindness to me is great!!!" If you are not sure what this is, ask? Ps 86:17 "Show me A SIGN FOR GOOD......" Not that I need a sign after viewing the cross of Jesus and his resurrection - He is present asking you and me to open the door of our thinking and heart to receive his presence and begin our journey out of ourselves (your psychologist may say into yourself, but whats there?) to him and our eternal destiny (yes we have meaning beyond suffering and death through the resurrection of Jesus).
This little meditation reflects the dichotomy between humanistic psychology attempting to find answers only within and the environment (Where else if you don't believe in the creator?) and looking out of ourselves to God and discovering our uniqueness and worth in His loving hands and grace given to us in Jesus. Which would you rather be left with at death?
Ps 86:4-7 What do we do? Lift up our soul, open ourselves, still our mind then....
The Lord is ready to forgive and abundant in lovingkindness - to who? to all who call upon Him. Here we find ourselves.
We are not alone - Freudian psychology leaves you completely on your own. Who does your psychologist leave you with - a new bundle of self centered thoughts or the loving comforting God and creator of you and the universe?
Ps 86: 11 What do I do now? Walk in the truth. Who's truth? God's truth revealed by the Holy Spirit through his word in the bible and supported by His daily revelation to our spirit through our prayer and meditation on his word. Your psychologist may have some insights into strategies for changing your thinking but they must be shaped by the goal of drawing close to your maker and experiencing His love and healing closeness.
Ps 86: 11 Unite my heart - unite my emotions, focus my mind, stabilize my thinking, restore my vision - how? by fearing (adoring worship) our Lord and God revealed through Jesus Christ.
86:12 How? By giving thanks to the Lord with all my heart. Don't dwell on your broken dreams and unfulfilled expectations and the messy past - rather dwell on your access by grace into the presence of your creator- a slightly new line of thinking as opposed to current institutional psychology which asks you to replace previous mental images with new mental images which are still only your own and therefore only supported by your own mind since there is only you to think about - like the cat chasing its tail!!
Ps 86.13 So what do we dwell on? "For your lovingkindness to me is great!!!" If you are not sure what this is, ask? Ps 86:17 "Show me A SIGN FOR GOOD......" Not that I need a sign after viewing the cross of Jesus and his resurrection - He is present asking you and me to open the door of our thinking and heart to receive his presence and begin our journey out of ourselves (your psychologist may say into yourself, but whats there?) to him and our eternal destiny (yes we have meaning beyond suffering and death through the resurrection of Jesus).
This little meditation reflects the dichotomy between humanistic psychology attempting to find answers only within and the environment (Where else if you don't believe in the creator?) and looking out of ourselves to God and discovering our uniqueness and worth in His loving hands and grace given to us in Jesus. Which would you rather be left with at death?
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Where is God?
It is becoming more obvious daily just how much our God (revealed through Jesus Christ, His living Word and the presence of the Holy Spirit) has been sidelined or completely left out of the picture in human thinking, current world views and especially the study of man, sometimes called Psychology. I am working on my Masters in Special Needs and completing some papers on behavioural problems. It is amazing how many books, journals, papers etc have joined the desparate search for answers and solutions to antisocial behaviour or "psychological disorders." Most of these texts start with the premise that man is the sole definer of what is real. In other words man is the centre, the sole source of understanding man. So there are thousands of "experts" attempting to define humanity.
The problem is that, this is man defining man. Which expert is correct? Is there a conclusive scientific body of understanding or knowledge that finally gives us the answers to our problems? Who interprets these findings? Is it not the one with problems interpreting the problem? We are led down a path of confusing and "authoritative sounding" conclusions which are in the end a desparate search to find understandings about man within man.
God is no longer the starting point for defining who we are. This has tremendous repercussions for man. It explains why the answers given by so called scientific and empirical evidence based studies attempting to explain the causes of behaviour and human "states" are simply not working in the long term. Anti-social behaviour, identity confusion, depression and crime are increasing. Why?
These are thoughts and inspirations received while reading Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1:11
They have forsaken me
The fountain of living waters
To hew for themselves cisterns
Broken cisterns
That can hold no water
How long is the list of "broken cisterns"? Theories about man and causes of behaviour or psychological "disorders" litter the landscape with a proliferation of treatments. Many of these treatments assume a medical cause and hence remove any personal responsibility from man for dealing with the problem. Man is no longer responsible and accountable for his/her actions before a higher authority.
Jeremiah 1: 19
"It is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God
and the dread of Me is not in you"
Who should we fear? A fear of God (a healthy fear, recognition, awe, knowing who has complete authority) assumes complete accountability for thoughts and actions despite what has happened to us. We are not mere puppets of the environment continually blaming some "cause"! We are responsible and accountable before the One who created the universe!!
Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that we are without excuse.
The problem is that, this is man defining man. Which expert is correct? Is there a conclusive scientific body of understanding or knowledge that finally gives us the answers to our problems? Who interprets these findings? Is it not the one with problems interpreting the problem? We are led down a path of confusing and "authoritative sounding" conclusions which are in the end a desparate search to find understandings about man within man.
God is no longer the starting point for defining who we are. This has tremendous repercussions for man. It explains why the answers given by so called scientific and empirical evidence based studies attempting to explain the causes of behaviour and human "states" are simply not working in the long term. Anti-social behaviour, identity confusion, depression and crime are increasing. Why?
These are thoughts and inspirations received while reading Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1:11
They have forsaken me
The fountain of living waters
To hew for themselves cisterns
Broken cisterns
That can hold no water
How long is the list of "broken cisterns"? Theories about man and causes of behaviour or psychological "disorders" litter the landscape with a proliferation of treatments. Many of these treatments assume a medical cause and hence remove any personal responsibility from man for dealing with the problem. Man is no longer responsible and accountable for his/her actions before a higher authority.
Jeremiah 1: 19
"It is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God
and the dread of Me is not in you"
Who should we fear? A fear of God (a healthy fear, recognition, awe, knowing who has complete authority) assumes complete accountability for thoughts and actions despite what has happened to us. We are not mere puppets of the environment continually blaming some "cause"! We are responsible and accountable before the One who created the universe!!
Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that we are without excuse.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Where is God?
It is becoming more obvious daily just how much our God (revealed through Jesus Christ, His living Word and the presence of the Holy Spirit) has been sidelined or completely left out of the picture in human thinking, current world views and especially the study of man, sometimes called Psychology. I am working on my Masters in Special Needs and completing some papers on behavioural problems. It is amazing how many books, journals, papers etc have joined the desparate search for answers and solutions to antisocial behaviour or "psychological disorders." Most of these texts start with the premise that man is the sole definer of what is real. In other words man is the centre, the sole source of understanding man. So there are thousands of "experts" attempting to define humanity.
The problem is that, this is man defining man. Which expert is correct? Is there a conclusive scientific body of understanding or knowledge that finally gives us the answers to our problems? Who interprets these findings? Is it not the one with problems interpreting the problem? We are led down a path of confusing and "authoritative sounding" conclusions which are in the end a desparate search to find understandings about man within man.
God is no longer the starting point for defining who we are. This has tremendous repercussions for man. It explains why the answers given by so called scientific and empirical evidence based studies attempting to explain the causes of behaviour and human "states" are simply not working in the long term. Anti-social behaviour, identity confusion, depression and crime are increasing. Why?
These are thoughts and inspirations received while reading Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1:11
They have forsaken me
The fountain of living waters
To hew for themselves cisterns
Broken cisterns
That can hold no water
How long is the list of "broken cisterns"? Theories about man and causes of behaviour or psychological "disorders" litter the landscape with a proliferation of treatments. Many of these treatments assume a medical cause and hence remove any personal responsibility from man for dealing with the problem. Man is no longer responsible and accountable for his/her actions before a higher authority.
Jeremiah 1: 19
"It is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God
and the dread of Me is not in you"
Who should we fear? A fear of God (a healthy fear, recognition, awe, knowing who has complete authority) assumes complete accountability for thoughts and actions despite what has happened to us. We are not mere puppets of the environment continually blaming some "cause"! We are responsible and accountable before the One who created the universe!!
Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that we are without excuse.
The problem is that, this is man defining man. Which expert is correct? Is there a conclusive scientific body of understanding or knowledge that finally gives us the answers to our problems? Who interprets these findings? Is it not the one with problems interpreting the problem? We are led down a path of confusing and "authoritative sounding" conclusions which are in the end a desparate search to find understandings about man within man.
God is no longer the starting point for defining who we are. This has tremendous repercussions for man. It explains why the answers given by so called scientific and empirical evidence based studies attempting to explain the causes of behaviour and human "states" are simply not working in the long term. Anti-social behaviour, identity confusion, depression and crime are increasing. Why?
These are thoughts and inspirations received while reading Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1:11
They have forsaken me
The fountain of living waters
To hew for themselves cisterns
Broken cisterns
That can hold no water
How long is the list of "broken cisterns"? Theories about man and causes of behaviour or psychological "disorders" litter the landscape with a proliferation of treatments. Many of these treatments assume a medical cause and hence remove any personal responsibility from man for dealing with the problem. Man is no longer responsible and accountable for his/her actions before a higher authority.
Jeremiah 1: 19
"It is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God
and the dread of Me is not in you"
Who should we fear? A fear of God (a healthy fear, recognition, awe, knowing who has complete authority) assumes complete accountability for thoughts and actions despite what has happened to us. We are not mere puppets of the environment continually blaming some "cause"! We are responsible and accountable before the One who created the universe!!
Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that we are without excuse.
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