http://www.angelfir e.com/hi/ EvasPlace/ thought3. html
The story enforced an important food for thought I've come to learn and abide by over time that 'Our lives are and will always be ruled by the choices that we make' since we have and have been given that 'POWER TO CHOOSE'.
Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (New Living Translation)
19 “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 20 You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Proverbs 18:20-21 (The Message)
20 Words satisfy the mind as much as fruit does the stomach; good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest.
21 Words kill, words give life;
they're either poison or fruit—you choose.
Proverbs 11:19 (Amplified Bible)
19He who is steadfast in righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God) attains to life, but he who pursues evil does it to his own death (Two choices).
Jeremiah 21:8-9 (New Living Translation)
8 “Tell all the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Take your choice of life or death! 9 Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life! (They had two choices. yet history written by those who chose to surrender to the Babylonians eg Daniel tells us that some people still chose to stay maybe either out of fear or unbelief or for reasons best known to them and the consequences were inevitable.. .whose fault? God's?)
Romans 6:22-23 (The Message)
22-23But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master (hmm...More two personal life altering choices in action
).
1 John 3:12-15 (The Message)
12-13We must not be like Cain, who joined the Evil One and then killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because he was deep in the practice of evil, while the acts of his brother were righteous (They both chose their path and Cain was even still warned by a loving God about the choice he was about to make before he still made the choice to kill his brother- Was that God's fault or should we blame the devil as usual for a choice Cain made himself? Check out Genesis 4:1-16 for the whole story). So don't be surprised, friends, when the world hates you. This has been going on a long time.
14-15The way we know we've been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn't love is as good as dead. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don't go together. (Love vs hate...Two choices
)
The comments in the parenthesis are mine and more of my 'personal' interpretation of what I got from the scriptures above and not another doctrine. Below are strong and liberating principles I've learnt over time in my young life on this earth (I am still VERY YOUNG and bubbling with so much life and energy
) and I'm leaving it as a FOOD FOR THOUGHT for you or as a friend will say...PONDERABLE. Like the saying goes "A wise man will always learn from anything, everything and everyone (even from seemingly foolish talk) and wisdom is profitable to direct.1. I am God's Child, I was created in his image and likeness and he placed me on this earth to fulfill a unique purpose. Like I've always stated about purpose, our purpose is never centered around us and us alone (that will mean that we serve a selfish, self-centered and self-conscious God which is not true) but is usually centered around others and meeting a unique need on this earth.
2. I am the Architect of my own destiny and my destiny's path is based on the choices I make in Life (either to choose the path my creator designed for me before I was born by seeking him with all my heart or to try and create my own path based on trial and error and face the music of either choices).
It is only in GOD that we discover out origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end - Rick Warren
3. My life will ALWAYS be ruled by the choices I make (even if I made a choice based on parental advice, wise counsel, peer pressure, fear of being rejected/ostracized if I want to make a choice that does not appeal to the norm/status quo or other people's opinion, the final choice was still made by me whether I like to admit that or not). It was only when I was too young to make my own decisions or think for myself that I can make such excuses that is why God's Ideal for kids was to make us grow under the love and support of our parents until we are old enough to think for ourselves. This doesn't always happen especially with the fact that lots of kids are now being born out of wedlock or kids that grew up with a Single parent/orphanage, yet no soul on this earth is a Mistake and God love every soul on this earth. He hates sin but he loves us (Isa 59:1-2).
4. I have to learn to always TAKE OWNERSHIP or RESPONSIBILITY for the choices I make and the corresponding actions that follow these choices (as opposed to blaming someone or something else for MY CHOICE or fault finding). Our natural tendencies is to look for who/what to blame for our mistakes/problem/ mishaps.
James 1:13-15 (The Message)
13-15Don't let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, "God is trying to trip me up." God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one's way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.
5. Other people (including my parents, spouse, family, loves ones, friends etc) may want and desire the best for me but ONLY GOD knows what is best for me. This speaks for itself and shows us why it is VERY IMPORTANT to stay connected to your source of Life and be sensitive to the voice of your CREATOR (he can always speak through somebody though) and not to always do things or take a path sorely on the fact that somebody else think that is best for us. I STRONGLY BELIEVE in seeking wise counsel, obeying your parents and respecting authority (Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety - Prov 11:14(NKJV)) yet it is not ever counsel that is wise or God breathed and we should learn to discern that.
6. LOVE (like forgiveness and every other thing in this life) is a CHOICE not a feeling or an emotion. When I make the choice to love irrespective of how I feel or how much my emotions are raging, my feelings/emotions end up aligning to that choice I make. Very similar to how you don't feel like getting up from bed to go to work but once you make that choice, your feelings follow (Unless you want to be fired
).7. GOD IS LOVE and LOVE IS GOD. The more I soak in God's Word, God's Love, God's principle and God's wisdom, the better and more equipped I become to life a LOVE-FILLED LIFE and take down the forces of Evil (Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. -1 Peter 4:8(NLT), God's unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! Psalm 63:3(NLT))
8. Everything I do in life IS A SEED and will ultimately affect my path, Lineage and generations to come. Just like the force of gravity is a Law that will always be in operation on this earth whether we choose to abide by it or not and these laws of nature are here to stay, the principle of reaping the harvest of the seeds of life I sow is inevitable (Genesis 8:22). Generational curses are REAL but can be broken too by God's power. So I have to make the choice to sow my seeds wisely if I desire to reap good harvest in my life's journey and leave a good name/inheritance for my family lineage. It is never too late for God to turn things around until it is too late (when you die, it is too late)
Check out this book BREAKING GENERATIONAL CURSES by Marilyn Hickey
(http://www.amazon. com/Breaking- Generational- Curses-Marilyn- Hickey/dp/ 1577944232)
9. Because I am not perfect, making mistakes in life is inevitable but can be reduced to the barest minimum. I now have a choice either to learn from every mistake I make and allow it bring out the very best in me as I trust God in the midst of it or to wallow in self-pity and depression. When you've lived most of your life as a perfectionist and with people-pleasing and inferiority mindset and you come to learn the truth, it LIBERATES YOU (James 1:1-4, John 16:33). The more you allow God to work on you through mistakes made and the more you learn to TRUST GOD TOTALLY, the less mistakes you'll make in life.
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. -Thomas A. Edison
James 1:2-4 (The Message)
2-4Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
check out this book: FAILING FORWARD: Turning mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success by John G. Maxwell . Its a very helpful material in this area. (http://www.amazon. com/Failing- Forward-Turning- Mistakes- Stepping/ dp/0785274308)
10. CHANGE IS INEVITABLE and I should never be afraid of change . It is what I do with the changes within me and around me that will determine the height to which I will rise; how far I will go in life; and how much of my life's purpose I will accomplish. Naturally, we human beings tend to avoid or resist change at all cost and to take the path of least resistance. Conquerors, overcomers and Victors are known to ride on the WAVES of CHANGE (I heard this in a class I attend
)."The greatest revolution in our generation is that of human beings, who by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives". - Marilyn Ferguson
11. The only power the devil and every force of evil/darkness has over my life is the power I released to him. The Devil has ABSOLUTELY NO power or authority over any of God's children. His power is only over those who don't believe in God or are living in SIN. Most of the time I give the enemy that power when I choose to be ignorant of my spiritual Authority or forget that I have all the help I need from the Holy Spirit that already resides within me) or when I allow myself to wallow in self-pity or self-consciousness or self-awareness( the 'WHY ME' syndrome). The worse of it all is when I believe his lies. We learn from our mistakes and it makes us BETTER (Luke 10:19).
12. Ignorance is not an excuse, IT IS A DISEASE!!! Contrary to popular beliefs, What you don't know will eventually hurt or kill you. Wisdom on the other hand always opens the door to learning, knowing the truth and leading you in the right direction and life will always be a learning experience. Don't be closed minded about your belief system (Even as a Christian that is learning to strictly abide by God's word, wisdom and principles since I've tested and tried that IT WORKED, I still read non-Christian materials (I don't think school books and books you read for work are Christian materials
), listen to non-Christian viewpoints (eg why some people can't stand Christianity and Christians because of most of the hypocritical lifestyles they have seen -Don't forget though that you should not be living your life based on other people's standards or lifestyle but based on what you've been convinced is the right lifestyle) and learn to find God in anything and everything. That only ends up strengthening my belief system and the fact that I am on the right path. If what you believe is not yielding positive results in your life, it is high time you go back to the drawing boards and check to see if what you believe is right or your belief system is because your fathers/ancestral line believed the same thing. The fact that something is the norm or is acceptable by status quo doesn't necessarily make it right. Look around me and tell me I am not saying the truth.13. The reason God gave me a brain was for me to use it to THINK!!! Don't just believe everything you see or hear and always remember that you have the Holy Spirit within you to ask for help when you are not sure of what path you need to take or what to believe.
2 Timothy 2:15 (Amplified Bible)
15Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.
"A Major shortcoming among many believers is that they don't do much thinking or studying for themselves. Instead, they just follow what somebody else said" -Late Kenneth E. Hagin (One of the GREATEST and HUMBLEST TEACHER/LEADER I've ever known with a heart of a servant)
14. My YES is YES and my NO is NO and healthy boundaries in relationships has to be maintained. God instructed us to live a LOVE-FILLED life and also live at peace with everyone. But that is not the same thing as living your life to please people, becoming a people pleaser or allowing yourself to become everybody's doormat (hurting and broken people unconsciously hurt other people. I know because I've been there when I was hurting and unconsciously hurt those around me). Whether we like it or not, there will always be people that will not like us and even when you have a desire to help people, YOU CAN'T PLEASE EVERYONE and you shouldn't force yourself or your help on someone that doesn't want to be helped (respect every person's jurisdiction and boundaries). All you need is to sow a seed and allow the Holy Spirit do the rest. Setting and maintaining healthy boundaries help in these areas and when you are assured that God loves you, it will be easier to love even those that hate you or can't stand you and not be offended easily or let other people's perception of you get to you. Whose report should you believe about yourself? God's report or another human being's report?
Check out the book BOUNDARIES: When to say yes, How to say NO to take control of your life by Henry Cloud (http://www.amazon. com/Boundaries- When-Take- Control-Your/ dp/0310247454/ ref=pd_bbs_ sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216001786&sr=1-1)
15. My emotions (both positive and negative) are indicators, motivators, facilitators, internal signals and social signals and should never be disregarded. Most of the time, we have been brought up to pretend that our emotions don't exist (Have you ever heard the saying that REAL MEN don't cry or REAL MEN don't show that they have emotions? Then why did God give men tear ducts and emotions?). Then why were they created and placed in you in the first place? What you pretend does not exist will not go away (have you ever heard of term 'bottled-up' emotions?) and anytime you run away from a problem, the problems only end up accumulating until it explodes beyond your control. But at the same time, I should always see my emotions as indicators and should not be RULED by them or by how I feel since by the help of the Holy Spirit, I have control over my emotions and life choices.
16. The greatest battles of life starts and end within my mind. I have to make a choice to constantly RENEW MY MIND (especially with all the garbage and junk I allowed into my system and constantly fed on before I became born-again or I finally got to know better. If I 'choose' to I can still dig out from my memory bank and remember detail by detail the first pornographic movie I watched when I was still a kid, yet I found and watched that movie by mistake and it almost messed me up. GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT) guard my heart and CONSCIOUSLY THINK ABOUT WHAT I AM THINKING ABOUT (Romans 12:1-2). You will agree with me evil thoughts flow easily in our minds (thanks to the devil and the sinful nature) like a water tap that can't be turned off but good and pure thought don't so it is VERY IMPORTANT that we CHOOSE to THINK GOOD THOUGHTS all the time and actively disregard thought pattern that are neither helpful nor beneficial. I like what someone said about thoughts (Not exactly sure where I heard this):
"Thoughts are like birds that fly in your head. You should decide on what bird should be allowed to perch in your heart (i.e what thoughts to dwell on) and what birds should be made to keep on flying (my addition: some of these birds should also be SHOT with a SHOT GUN or double-barrel gun so you leave no traces of their existence
)" (check out Philippians 4:4-8 and 2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Philippians 4:8-9 (The Message)
8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
Trust me, coming from someone that was clinically diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (also known as Clinical depression) at a phase of my life; was paranoid (almost like the valve of negative and wrong thinking was broken in my mind and flowing freely. Could go for nights without sleeping and almost lost control of my mind, will and emotions -Its called a Stronghold); mentally unstable; suicidal; and was even on depression medication, then being miraculously healed and transformed by just changing the way I think; my perception to my environment; my view to life; realizing that God's love for me is unconditional and without reservations (was that ALL?
) and ONLY believing what God's word says about me as opposed to what the enemy was infiltrating my mind with (eg I am a failure, I will never amount to anything in life, God is punishing me for all my crimes and wrong doing from birth, I have to work or serve in church to earn God's love, salvation and his forgiveness, God is MAD at me, Everyone hates me, have nothing good to say about me and they all think that I am a menace to society to mention a few. ALL LIES
), IT WORKS. I'm still work in progress though but it gets better and better as the days go by (been off medication, for over a year and all the symptoms of clinical depression are GONE and they ain't COMING BACK especially since I now know and recognized how I got to that stage in the first place - Wisdom HELPED
) and I've seen so much transformation in my life by just learning to trust God and allow what his word says I am be my ONLY STANDARD, FORGIVE EASILY and GROW IN LOVE!!! It also strengthened my Faith in God and willingness to enjoy life and made me realize that as long as there is life, THERE IS HOPE!!! I'm not not where I desire to be but I am not where I use to be either. The scriptures below have grown to become my favorite scriptures.John 10:10 (Amplified Bible)
10The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).
Philippians 3:12-14 (New Living Translation)
Pressing toward the Goal
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.If you have a problem in this area or you've been battling depression/negative thinking all your life, please pick up Joyce Meyer's book on 'Battlefield of the Mind' (check out the over 130 reviews on the book on amazon: http://www.amazon. com/Battlefield- Mind-Winning- Battle-Your/ dp/0446691097) and/or her 'Battlefield of the Mind-Winning the Battle of the mind' Audio CD series. It is one of the best materials I've read or listened to so far in this area (I have read, watched and listened to so many materials in this area and Joyce Meyer's book/CD series still tops the chart for me) and it beats the amount of money you'll have to spend on a psychiatrist or on medication. One good thing I love about her books (I've read a couple and listened to many liberating messages from her website. Check out http://joycemeyer. org/ for more information) is that she speaks from her personal experiences and also experiences of others that have been there and how they were able to BREAKTHROUGH and shows you the scriptures in the bible that can help you overcome depression, strongholds or the battles in your mind. You can also check out the website below and join the fast from wrong thinking by Pastor Gregory Dickow of Life Changers International Church (http://changingliv es.org/). That fast from wrong thinking REVOLUTIONIZED my life and took me to a whole NEW level with God and all I can say is WOW!!! IGNORANCE is definitely a disease and wisdom is indeed profitable to direct. NOTHING beats God's word, prayer and fellowshipping though. it is imperative you locate yourself in a SOUND church that teaches you the word, gives you room to grow and also teach you to know God for yourself (as opposed to being solely dependent on your spiritual leader for everything in life) and also surround yourself with friends that are of like minds, will rub off on you positively and push you on the path of your destiny (GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE
). Fasting from wrong thinking website: http://fromtheinsid eout.us/.Most of the time depression is just anger, bitterness, hurt/offense or self-pity turned inwards instead of expressed (eg ruminating on all the negative things that may have been done to you or hurt/offense or just allowing yourself to believe all the lies the enemy tells you about yourself). But PLEASE Don't hesitate to see a doctor if you are experiencing physical symptoms (will send out an article on clinical depression later so you can identify the symptoms because clinical depression and the regular depression/sadness are not the same) or you've been having strong suicidal thoughts or tendencies because your continual ruminating and meditating on wrong thinking may have already led to a chemical imbalance in your brain and may have also led to aand your faith may not be strong enough to believe God for your total healing/deliverance when you've already gotten to that stage. I once heard (not 100% sure of the facts) that it has been medically proven that root of majority of the Mental illnesses are usually as a result of anger, hurt/offense, unforgiveness and WRONG THINKING!!! In fact, almost every disease you can think of has its roots in WRONG THINKING (Check out Anger is a Choice by Tim Lahaye: http://www.amazon. com/Anger- Choice-Dr- Tim-LaHaye/ dp/0310242835/ ref=pd_bbs_ sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215952059&sr=1-1
Have you ever heard about cases of people that were wrongly diagnosed to have a particular disease (Heard several about AIDS cases) and after the wrong diagnoses, these people actually started exhibiting the symptoms of the disease only to be told later that it was a mistake? That is just a good example and that is how POWERFUL our thoughts and words are and why it is so important to THINK ABOUT WHAT WE ARE THINKING ABOUT and to CHOOSE OUR WORDS WISELY. The power of LIFE and DEATH lies in our tongue (eg Prov 10:19, 15:4, 18:21, James 3:1-18)
Proverbs 15:4 (Amplified Bible)
4A gentle tongue [with its healing power] is a tree of life, but willful contrariness in it (a Deceitful or uncontrolled tongue) breaks down the spirit.
Proverbs 18:21 (Amplified Bible)
21Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]. (Two Choices)
James 1:26 (Amplified Bible)
26If anyone thinks himself to be religious (piously observant of the external duties of his faith) and does not bridle his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person's religious service is worthless (futile, barren).
Remember though that there is nothing that is impossible with God and that if you learn to place your total trust and confidence in him and him alone (You can 'choose' to trust people but don't place your total trust confidence in any person because MAN is MAN and no more, but GOD is GOD and no less), he can turn around any situation in your life and every disappointment can only end up becoming a BLESSING in disguise. Check out the quote below that I found. I'll send something out on forgiveness later.
"Forgiveness is God's invention for coming to terms with a world in which, despite their best intentions, people are unfair to each other and hurt each other deeply. He began by forgiving us. And he invites us all to forgive each other."
Hmm...Where was I before I digressed and got really carried away?
Now I remember. Was also really blessed by the attached Powerpoint presentation and just thought I should share the blessing with you too. LOVE YOU (my choice), KEEP THE FIRE OF LOVE BURNING (Your choice) and have a pleasant, fruitful and a BLESSED week (Our choice
).Love Always,
Eskor
------------ --------- --------- ------
Let my heart be the vessel of God's Love. Let my thoughts be the blossom of God's Love. Let my words be the expression of God's Love. Let my actions be the fulfillment of God's Love. - David RidgeGod, Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. - The Serenity Prayer
http://eskoredem. blogspot. com/
) prefer to go to the word of God to look for scriptures that will justify their actions (Don't forget that the devil knows the scripture very well too) as opposed to reading God's word with a hungry, willing and humble heart to learn and know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about our lives, purpose and destiny with the help of the Holy spirit who resides in you and has been sent to be your guide, your guard, your counsellor and your bestest friend. I am not coming from a judgmental point of view (HEY!!! If it wasn't for God's grace, mercy and his forgiveness, I would have done much worse and still be living a sinful life