Have you ever wondered why you are here on this planet? Sounds like a simple enough question almost foolish. Everyday in someway angels bring us messages. You might be thinking I just left Starbucks with my Venti Latte and I did not see or feel any angels hovering about. Look back and think did you put a tip in the tip jar? Giving is living.
For me the more I give the more I get to keep. How about when someone cuts you off in traffic? Do you feel violated and angry? How could they do that to me? Or do you just let it go and realize that this person driving that vehicle is like many in our world just rushing, rushing, and rushing to where? The grave of course. Be grateful that the driver did not hit you and you had the mental faculties and maybe a guardian angel to adapt to the situation and maintain control of your vehicle.
Negative co-workers are angels also. They can knock you flat on your butt if you let them. What can I learn from their actions? How can I heal or help them without them knowing.
Negative co-workers are like angry customers if you run a business. They are gifts from the angels.
Or a better way to say it is these can be tools to improve yourself, your business, or your performance. What we learn from them may enhance our own lives. How I see people is how I treat them and how I treat them is how they become.
As far as Starbucks, I personally have never had a negative experience with them. Maybe that is because I NEVER EXPECTED TO. The last time I left Iraq in 2004 it was all I could do to keep from getting locked up or as they say in L.A. 5150 which means you are nuts.
On the flight out of Kuwait the attendants knew I was a bit stressed and I was talking to one of them and she took me in the back of the aircraft where they all where staying. They nurtured me and never left me alone. Maybe they were afraid, I doubt it, and I think they saw a wounded soul hurting like I had never hurt before. Yes I should've been evacuated to Landstuhl in Germany but I disliked hospitals because they always want to keep me for further evaluation. Besides I was a civilian now and I don't even know how I got on that flight to the U.S. but I did and I resigned as soon as I got home. So no psych ward for me.
What did I learn? There are angels everywhere. We can be angels if we choose to. Life is a gift, a great blessing. There are many stories I could tell about getting hit by angels from Africa, Germany and even my own house.
Have I seen real angels? Yes. I mean really felt the presence of and seen real angels? Yes. Did I think I was out of my mind? Yes.
Do you believe in angels? I have found that I like to have faith in angels. It feels better than no faith at all.
Look for your angels.
By Timothy Kendrick
Sunday, April 19, 2009
YOU CAN BEGIN AGAIN
I have never heard anyone say, "I hate springtime." Well.okay, maybe those who suffer from allergies-but even they dislike the pollen, not the season. Flowers begin blooming; trees budding; grass growing; birds start singing. All of creation announces, "We're alive again!"
This year was a long, cold winter. Winter always seems long to me-too long, sometimes. But winter is necessary. In the economy of the climate, winter kills and then makes way for something new. During winter creation loses its sparkle. A once luscious, green forest becomes dismal gray. Most flowers die while others crawl back under the soil to hide from the wintry elements. Color, for a season, vanishes, and it seems, so does all of life.
To add to the drab surroundings, the song of nature is stilled as birds take their song to a warmer environment. Is it any wonder that a greater percentage of people suffer from depression during winter?
Like all creation, we too experience seasons in our life. Without exception, no one can live without going through personal winters. Most of them are cold and drab. Personal winters can be dead, gray, and colorless. It is easy to lose your song during these days. Like the people referred to in the Bible, during our winters we weep a lot and set beside "the rivers of Babylon" thinking of the good ole days. Scripture says they put away their musical instruments, "hanging them upon the branches of the willow trees" (see Psalm 137:1-2).
The recession, job losses, depression, home foreclosure, rejection, death of a loved one, abuse, sickness, marriage problems, divorce, addictions, loneliness, failures-these and more are the gray circumstances of a personal winter. During winter "something dies" so to speak. I don't like winter. However, it's necessary. Winter always precedes spring and every living thing must pass through a winter to enter spring. This is a spiritual principle of life that applies to everyone and everything.
The cross is the Lord's symbol that reminds us that Jesus experienced a personal winter, too. Like all winters, dying was part of it. First, His winter was for His Father and then for us. The cross was ugly. The Lord's death on the cross was even more repulsive. The only color that splashed across the backdrop of Jesus' crucifixion was red-His blood. Other than that, like all winters, it was gray, bleak, and dreary. But it was necessary for what was to come.
One would hardly recognize Jesus during His winter. Bruised, beaten, and bloody, only the inward charm remained. His outer shell was not recognizable. Finally, winter took its toll and He died. I'm not surprised. Winter was only doing its job
The story goes that winter passed and springtime came. Like a tulip lying dormant under the soil, the earth gave way to a greater power and promise. What everyone thought to be gone forever burst forth from a wintry grave. Flowers bloomed (lilies, I suppose), skies turned blue, warm days emerged, and birds sang again. This time they sang a new song-"He has risen!" In Jesus' resurrection God declares that our personal winters are only for a season. In the Bible a man named Paul wrote to a group of people faced with winter, "I want you to know about the great and mighty power that God has for us followers. It is the same wonderful power he used when he raised Christ from death." (Ephesians 1:19-20). Now that's some more serious power we have been given!
Easter is not only an event in Christian history-Easter is a person. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection" (John 11:25). Though we celebrate Jesus' birth in December, isn't it strange that historians cannot pinpoint when He was born? However, we're certain about the time of His resurrection-springtime, right after the Jewish Passover.
Springtime and resurrection go together like (as Forrest Gump says) "Peas and carrots." When Jesus resurrected from His grave God was declaring, "Your winters are limited!" Your personal winter may be long and hard but it will come to an end. This is the message of the season. Jesus never interpreted His future glory by the dismal winter of His cross. Neither should you.
Like daffodils that suddenly appear after a long cold season, the resurrection declares that your winter season is not the end of your story. I love springtime don't you? It's bursting with the resurrection of Jesus. And the resurrection is not just a good story-it's a life principle that God infused in the season itself.
Now, as I observe the flowers blooming, trees blossoming, and birds singing, I am reminded that winters, like the cross, do not last forever. Jesus has risen! Springtime is here. Now you can begin again.
Bill Baldwin
This year was a long, cold winter. Winter always seems long to me-too long, sometimes. But winter is necessary. In the economy of the climate, winter kills and then makes way for something new. During winter creation loses its sparkle. A once luscious, green forest becomes dismal gray. Most flowers die while others crawl back under the soil to hide from the wintry elements. Color, for a season, vanishes, and it seems, so does all of life.
To add to the drab surroundings, the song of nature is stilled as birds take their song to a warmer environment. Is it any wonder that a greater percentage of people suffer from depression during winter?
Like all creation, we too experience seasons in our life. Without exception, no one can live without going through personal winters. Most of them are cold and drab. Personal winters can be dead, gray, and colorless. It is easy to lose your song during these days. Like the people referred to in the Bible, during our winters we weep a lot and set beside "the rivers of Babylon" thinking of the good ole days. Scripture says they put away their musical instruments, "hanging them upon the branches of the willow trees" (see Psalm 137:1-2).
The recession, job losses, depression, home foreclosure, rejection, death of a loved one, abuse, sickness, marriage problems, divorce, addictions, loneliness, failures-these and more are the gray circumstances of a personal winter. During winter "something dies" so to speak. I don't like winter. However, it's necessary. Winter always precedes spring and every living thing must pass through a winter to enter spring. This is a spiritual principle of life that applies to everyone and everything.
The cross is the Lord's symbol that reminds us that Jesus experienced a personal winter, too. Like all winters, dying was part of it. First, His winter was for His Father and then for us. The cross was ugly. The Lord's death on the cross was even more repulsive. The only color that splashed across the backdrop of Jesus' crucifixion was red-His blood. Other than that, like all winters, it was gray, bleak, and dreary. But it was necessary for what was to come.
One would hardly recognize Jesus during His winter. Bruised, beaten, and bloody, only the inward charm remained. His outer shell was not recognizable. Finally, winter took its toll and He died. I'm not surprised. Winter was only doing its job
The story goes that winter passed and springtime came. Like a tulip lying dormant under the soil, the earth gave way to a greater power and promise. What everyone thought to be gone forever burst forth from a wintry grave. Flowers bloomed (lilies, I suppose), skies turned blue, warm days emerged, and birds sang again. This time they sang a new song-"He has risen!" In Jesus' resurrection God declares that our personal winters are only for a season. In the Bible a man named Paul wrote to a group of people faced with winter, "I want you to know about the great and mighty power that God has for us followers. It is the same wonderful power he used when he raised Christ from death." (Ephesians 1:19-20). Now that's some more serious power we have been given!
Easter is not only an event in Christian history-Easter is a person. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection" (John 11:25). Though we celebrate Jesus' birth in December, isn't it strange that historians cannot pinpoint when He was born? However, we're certain about the time of His resurrection-springtime, right after the Jewish Passover.
Springtime and resurrection go together like (as Forrest Gump says) "Peas and carrots." When Jesus resurrected from His grave God was declaring, "Your winters are limited!" Your personal winter may be long and hard but it will come to an end. This is the message of the season. Jesus never interpreted His future glory by the dismal winter of His cross. Neither should you.
Like daffodils that suddenly appear after a long cold season, the resurrection declares that your winter season is not the end of your story. I love springtime don't you? It's bursting with the resurrection of Jesus. And the resurrection is not just a good story-it's a life principle that God infused in the season itself.
Now, as I observe the flowers blooming, trees blossoming, and birds singing, I am reminded that winters, like the cross, do not last forever. Jesus has risen! Springtime is here. Now you can begin again.
Bill Baldwin
Friday, April 3, 2009
MY FRIDAY STORY "Gratitude"
The first step toward getting rich is to convey the idea of your wants to the formless substance.
This is true, and you will see that in order to do so it becomes necessary to relate yourself to the formless intelligence in a harmonious way.
To secure this harmonious relationship is a matter of such primary and vital importance that I will give some space to its discussion here. I will give you instructions, which, if you follow them, will be certain to bring you into a perfect unity of mind with God.
The whole process of mental adjustment and attunement can be summed up in one word: gratitude.
First, you believe that there is one intelligent substance from which all things proceed. Secondly, you believe that this substance gives you everything you desire. And, thirdly, you relate yourself to it through a feeling of deep and profound gratitude.
Many people who order their lives rightly in all other ways are kept in poverty by their lack of gratitude. Having received one gift from God, they cut the wires, which connect them with Him by failing to make acknowledgment.
It is easy to understand that the nearer we live to the source of wealth, the more wealth we shall receive. It is also easy to understand that a soul that is always grateful lives in closer touch with God than one who never looks to Him in thankful acknowledgment.
When good things come to us, the more gratefully we fix our mind on the Supreme Power, the more good things we will receive - and the more rapidly they will come. The reason for this is simply that the mental attitude of gratitude draws the mind into closer touch with the source from which the blessings come.
By Wallace D. Wattles
This is true, and you will see that in order to do so it becomes necessary to relate yourself to the formless intelligence in a harmonious way.
To secure this harmonious relationship is a matter of such primary and vital importance that I will give some space to its discussion here. I will give you instructions, which, if you follow them, will be certain to bring you into a perfect unity of mind with God.
The whole process of mental adjustment and attunement can be summed up in one word: gratitude.
First, you believe that there is one intelligent substance from which all things proceed. Secondly, you believe that this substance gives you everything you desire. And, thirdly, you relate yourself to it through a feeling of deep and profound gratitude.
Many people who order their lives rightly in all other ways are kept in poverty by their lack of gratitude. Having received one gift from God, they cut the wires, which connect them with Him by failing to make acknowledgment.
It is easy to understand that the nearer we live to the source of wealth, the more wealth we shall receive. It is also easy to understand that a soul that is always grateful lives in closer touch with God than one who never looks to Him in thankful acknowledgment.
When good things come to us, the more gratefully we fix our mind on the Supreme Power, the more good things we will receive - and the more rapidly they will come. The reason for this is simply that the mental attitude of gratitude draws the mind into closer touch with the source from which the blessings come.
By Wallace D. Wattles
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