A Mind Change Moment: Showing Kindness To God

Posted on October 10, 2011 by admin
from mind change moments by Tom Jones
Change can doyou good

A New Way of Seeing It

One of the most frequent prayers found in the book of Psalms is some form of “Lord, have mercy on me.” The Hebrew word used here carries the idea of “Lord, show me your loving kindness and devotion.”
But in Jeremiah 2:2 we find the word used in a very different way. Through Jeremiah God says to the people, “I remember the kindness [devotion] of your youth, your love as a bride” (KJV).  By the time of this writing Israel was showing God little of this, but God could remember when Israel showed kindness to him and was devoted to him with the loving kindness of a bride.
We would probably agree that God does not need our mercy or our grace, but who among us, including God, does not appreciate a demonstration of kindness? In this passage God speaks to Judah and tells them he can remember those encouraging days when they showed him such loving kindness. As hard as it may be for us to fathom, God can be encouraged and he is by the loving kindness we show to him.
Most of our prayers are like those in Psalms and involve our beseeching God for his kindness and mercy, and given our need for him that is as it should be. But as we mature in our relationship with him, there should be just as much a desire to encourage him and show back to him what he has shown to us.
What would you do this week if you changed your mind and asked how you might show loving kindness to God? I wouldn’t be surprised if it touched his heart.
 Scriptures:
Jeremiah 2:2
“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:
” ‘I remember the devotion [loving kindness] of your youth,
how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the desert,
through a land not sown.
 Luke 7:44
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
 John 4:7
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
Matthew 25:37-40
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40″The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
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The Broken Bread

Posted on October 9, 2011 by admin
Jesus has given us the mind of Christ. It is a spiritual gift.

Breaking of Bread

26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”  Matthew 26:26-29

16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? I Corinthians 10:16

The Lord’s Supper is referred to in the Bible as the breaking of bread.  It is meant to signify the humanity of Jesus and God’s willingness to take the form of a servant.  He became like us to save us.

The breaking of bread reminds us of the cross on which Jesus Christ’s body was broken. Think about it.  Bread is made from crushed wheat and wine is made from pressed grapes.  Certainly, we can see these elements representing death here but I think they also represent our life experience.  We live our lives and all of us are challenged, disciplined, make mistakes and experience the rise and fall, the ebb and flow of our choices.  We are crushed and pressed.  We are allowed to fall and lifted up to a new life…every day.  Communion is an affirmation of life’s challenges and death but…

Supper with Jesus Christ

Communion Meal & the Lord's Supper

It is more than a story of death…much more.  Communion preaches the resurrection.  A grain of wheat dies but therefore lives to produce many seeds. (John 12:24) As we eat Christ’s flesh and drink his blood through the Supper we obtain life. (John 6:53)  This is the principle of resurrection—life out of death.

The recognition of the resurrected Christ is also bound up with the broken bread.  When the risen Lord appeared and ate with his disciples, he broke breads with them (John 21:13).  When he appeared on the road to Emmaus the two disciples did not know who he was until they broke bread. (Luke 24:30-32)

The unity of the body of Christ is also demonstrated in the breaking of bread.  The early Christians broke one loaf and Paul writes about it saying, “Because there is one loaf, we who are many, are on body, for we all partake of the one loaf.: (I Corinthians 10:17)

Jesus is inspiring.

1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:1-11

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Top 10 Reasons to Smile

Posted on October 8, 2011 by admin
Smile!

What's Making You So Happy?

Enjoy the abundant life that has been won for us.  (John 10:10)

1. Smiling Makes Us Attractive

We are drawn to people who smile. There is an attraction factor. We want to know a smiling person and figure out what is so good. Frowns, scowls and grimaces all push people away — but a smile draws them in (avoid these smile aging habits to keep your smile looking great).

2. Smiling Changes Our Mood

Next time you are feeling down, try putting on a smile. There’s a good chance you mood will change for the better. Smiling can trick the body into helping you change your mood.

3. Smiling Is Contagious

When someone is smiling they lighten up the room, change the moods of others, and make things happier. A smiling person brings happiness with them. Smile lots and you will draw people to you.

4. Smiling Relieves Stress

Stress can really show up in our faces. Smiling helps to prevent us from looking tired, worn down, and overwhelmed. When you are stressed, take time to put on a smile. The stress should be reduced and you’ll be better able to take action.

5. Smiling Boosts Your Immune System

Smiling helps the immune system to work better. When you smile, immune function improves possibly because you are more relaxed. Prevent the flu and colds by smiling.

6. Smiling Lowers Your Blood Pressure

When you smile, there is a measurable reduction in your blood pressure. Give it a try if you have a blood pressure monitor at home. Sit for a few minutes, take a reading. Then smile for a minute and take another reading while still smiling. Do you notice a difference?

7. Smiling Releases Endorphins, Natural Pain Killers and Serotonin

Studies have shown that smiling releases endorphins, natural pain killers, and serotonin. Together these three make us feel good. Smiling is a natural drug.

8. Smiling Lifts the Face and Makes You Look Younger

The muscles we use to smile lift the face, making a person appear younger. Don’t go for a face lift, just try smiling your way through the day — you’ll look younger and feel better.

9. Smiling Makes You Seem Successful

Smiling people appear more confident, are more likely to be promoted, and more likely to be approached. Put on a smile at meetings and appointments and people will react to you differently.

10. Smiling Helps You Stay Positive

Try this test: Smile. Now try to think of something negative without losing the smile. It’s hard. When we smile our body is sending the rest of us a message that “Life is Good!” Stay away from depression, stress and worry by smiling.

 

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A Smile

Posted on October 8, 2011 by admin

No Matter Who Smiles...It's A Gift

A smile cost nothing, but gives so much. It enriches those who receive it, without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that he can get along without it, and none is so poor but that he can be made rich by it. A smile creates happiness in the home, fosters goodwill in business, and is the countersign of friendship. It brings rest to the weary, cheer to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and it is nature’s best antidote for trouble. Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give.

Smiles

Smiling Makes You Happy

- BJ.Morbitzer

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Communion In The Early Church

Posted on October 7, 2011 by admin

Acts 2:46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,

Luke 22:19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

1 Corinthians 11:24-25 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

(This excerpt comes from The Soul of the Symbols)

The Great Feast

A Meal and Great Fellowship

With the presence of the Church everywhere the realization of the price of its “Cornerstone” has faded. The cost of the life of the Head of the Church has been absorbed into institutionalism. As the world became Christianized, the church became secularized, and grace became its common property. The Church has assumed a corner on the market of Christian grace, arid sells it for a price. As the demand declines, the price becomes cheap. The price of Christian grace has declined to the point of “The Protestant Hour” on Sunday morning. The respectable Christian needs only to take one hour out of his secular life to go to Church and be assured that his sin has been forgiven through the cross of Christ. However, the truth of the matter is that the spread of the Gospel doesn’t spread the cost. The cost remains, through time and eternity, the single life of the Son of God. The Church is the body of Christ, the living body of the living Savior, who continually gives of Himself in Christian grace.

The meaning and value of God’s grace in Holy Communion are determined by the Cross of Christ. If Christ is but the highest example of humanism, or if the Cross is but the supreme expression of martyrdom, then the sacrament of Communion can be redesigned or dismissed without consequence; but if God was in Christ and if the Cross was the crucial action of judgment grace, then the Holy Communion “in remembrance of Him” has eternal consequence. When we find Him to be our lord and Redeemer, taking away the sin of the world, we will lend as much emphasis in the preparation and practice of Holy Communion as He did in preparing and practicing the Last Supper. We must fully realize that as He approached the Messianic summit, He designed and deliberately instituted the sacred rite that was to be practiced by the Christian community “till He comes again.”

The resurrection and Pentecost kindled the disciples with the divine knowledge that the gift of His death conveyed by the supper was eternal life. So convinced was the early Christian community of the essential value of Holy Communion for their life and faith that the records are filled with its practice in Christian martyrdom. At one time in this history the Christians were forced with the decision to say, “I confess,” or apostatize. For the “Confessors” who awaited execution in the imperial prisons, the Church Fathers took it for granted that Holy Communion must be smuggled in and practiced insofar as possible. Cyprian arranged such a service for the elder Lucian, lying with his legs wrenched wide apart in the stocks of the prison at Antioch, celebrated Holy Communion for the last time as best he could, with the elements resting on his own beaten breast. He celebrated with his condemned companions lying equally helpless in the dark around him. On the evening of March 6, A.D. 203, at a prison in Charthage, the martyrs of the next day, Perpetua and Felicitas, and their companions, were given a free meal by the authorities. This meal they converted as far as possible into an Agape [love-feast]. Holy Communion was the first consideration of the Christian and the Church in times of persecution and imprisonment. To the early Christians, Holy Communion was more precious than their lives. Holy Communion was their ultimate concern because their hope of eternal life was in remembrance of Him who loved them and gave Himself for them . . . . St. Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, wrote .

“At first they drove us out, and alone we kept our festival [Communion] at that time also, persecuted and put to death by all; and every single spot where we were afflicted became to us a place of assembly for the feast [Communion] – field, desert, ship, inn, prison; but the brightest of all festivals was kept by the perfect martyrs, when they feasted in heaven.”

 

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