THE DEW FACTOR

I have always associated dew with the three R’s- Refreshing, Renewing and Recharging.

While, towards evening, all foliage appears to droop, seemingly exhausted after a long day of work; in the morning, suddenly they appear refreshed and revitalized. Have you wondered why?

This happens due to the presence of the dew that falls gently on them during the night.

The appearance of dew is almost magical- We find it early in the morning sparkling like diamonds, tiny droplets of water, clinging onto the surfaces of leaves, flowers and grass.

There are many verses in the Bible about dew:
Job 29:19-20–For I am like a tree whose roots reach the water, whose branches are refreshed with the dew.

Psalm 110:3–Your vigour will be renewed each day like the morning dew.

Hosea 14:5–I will be to Israel like refreshing dew from heaven.

The comparison used here is very interesting and to appreciate that, we need to understand the process of formation of dew and why it is so important to plants.

Plants are very hardworking. The leaves of the plant are busy all day, preparing food for the entire plant. They use the water stored in their cells, carbon dioxide from the air and sunlight to prepare their food. Once the sun sets, they stop preparing food and their work for the day is complete.

It is the water stored in their cells, which help them to maintain their shape. Hence, when all the stored up water is used, they begin to lose their shape and wilt and droop.

That is the time they need to be refreshed and that is when the dew begins to play its part.

As the dew gently falls during the night, the leaves open up their pores, to soak in all the moisture, till they are completely filled and saturated. So when we look at the plants in the morning they appear rejuvenated and fresh…..however as the day progresses, the dew disappears.

Plants cannot store dew for the next day. They have to receive their quota daily…..

Why does the dew not form in the morning?? Or afternoon??

There are 2 conditions absolutely essential for formation of dew-

1.     The temperature of air should not be too high. The surrounding atmosphere should be cool.

2.     There should not be too much of air movement.

In other words, dew formation takes place only in a cool still place and that is why dew falls during the night or towards dawn.

Like the leaves, as we finish our daily chores, we begin to feel worn out and weary. And we need to be refreshed by heavenly dew. Just as the leaves wait quietly for the dew to fall on them and revive them daily, we too need to sit quietly someplace and allow the Holy Spirit to renew, refresh and recharge us daily.

That is a difficult task for most of us…. especially  nowadays, when we are busy rushing from deadline to deadline or from  one activity to another, with our hands flitting  over  our smartphones, our mind sifting  through a million random thoughts and earphones plugged tightly into our ears. In our busyness, we have lost our ability to just sit quietly someplace, not doing anything, enjoying a time of peace and rest. 

Spending quiet time with God, enjoying His presence daily, is much like receiving dew. He will give us the dew sufficient for that day, no more, no less. We cannot store the dew for the next day. We need to receive our quota daily.

Hence every day we should sit quietly at the Fathers feet, soaking in His presence through each and every fibre and pore of our body.

And when we are completely saturated, we will feel totally refreshed, well able tackle a new day with renewed vigour and strength that our Father gives us.

God bless you dear reader……….

THE STORMS IN OUR LIFE

We all go through storms in our life. Storms come without any warning; it just takes a split second for things to change. One minute everything is just fine and the next instant you don’t know what has hit you.

Storms can come in the areas of our relationships, jobs, health or finances – A sudden loss in the family, a sudden health problem, losing a job, or a challenge in the area of finances.

 Whenever we go through challenges or storms in our life we need to remember 2 things-

 God may allow the storm to continue for a long time OR He may still the storm immediately.

1. He is God over the storm and his eye is always on his children.

 To illustrate let us look at 3 stories from the Bible which talk about the storms that various people faced.

 Paul in the storm

Acts 27 tells us the story of Paul along with some other prisoners as they set sail for Italy. The ship in which all of them were sailing in was caught up in a huge storm. All were terrified. They were dangerously tossed about and had to throw the freight, ship’s equipment and even their provisions out of the ship in order to stay afloat. Their suffering continued for nearly 15 days before they could land someplace and escape. All through the horrifying ordeal Paul held on to the promise God had given him (V 24) that he and all those sailing with him would escape. Hence he could endure the storm and reassure the others sailing with him. And in the end none perished.

 Jesus and his disciples in the storm

Mark 4: 37-41 tells us another story of a storm. Jesus and his disciples spent a long day teaching by the shores of Galilee. When it was evening and the sun was beginning to set Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake”. Now the Sea of Galilee is notorious for its storms. It is a small sea and sudden and violent storms are very common here. As they were traveling in the boat a huge squall arose and kept beating at the sides of the boat. The boat began to fill with water. Jesus was at the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Jesus immediately arose, rebuked the wind and at once it became calm.

 The disciples of Jesus in the storm

MARK 6:47-52 tells us the story of yet another storm.

After Jesus had finished teaching the crowds, He told his disciples to get into the boat and go on ahead of him, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. The wind and the waves were causing the boat to rock violently, threatening to capsize. So there was a possibility of the boat sinking and all on board perishing in the midst of the Sea. And to top it all, this time Jesus was not with them in the boat. Shortly before dawn (after the disciples had struggled for many hours), Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. And He went up unto them into the boat; and the wind ceased.

 There are certain principles that we can glean from these stories-

 In the first instance, God allowed the storm to rage on for a long time but he gave Paul a promise of deliverance which in turn gave him the strength and faith to go through the storm. God could have stilled the storm immediately but he did not do so.

• In the second instance, we see that even though Jesus was with the disciples in the boat, their faith wavered. But Jesus instantaneously stilled the storm, much to the relief of the disciples.

 In the third instance, we observe that though Jesus sent his disciples alone into a storm, HIS eye was on them. Even whilst He was praying and later, he could see that they were struggling, trying to row across. So what did He do? He went over to meet them. And once He was with them, the winds died down.

 So it is with us. Sometimes we have to go through difficulties and suffer but God gives us the strength to do so.

At other times He immediately removes the hurdles and our problems are solved at once.

But no matter what, what we need to understand is that His eye is always on us, His beloved children. He will meet us in the storm. He will be with us when we are in the storm.

 Just remember what Jesus told his disciples (Mark 4: V: 35) – Let US cross to the other side. Meaning He is there with us till we cross over. He will not abandon us midway. He and I, we will cross over safely.

MOSES AND THE BURNING BUSH

He was an Israelite who grew up in an Egyptian palace. While all other Israelites were slaves, Moses had everything. He had no lack for anything. He ate royal food and had fine clothes, lived in a palace and was well educated.

Bu then Moses made a mistake. He saw an Egyptian fighting with a Hebrew. Moses killed the Egyptian.

But the Hebrew turned hostile towards him. “Will you kill me too?” he asked

Now Moses knew he was in big trouble. He had to flee from Egypt and hide in the wilderness.

And that was how a bright, smart, talented Hebrew with huge potential began tending sheep. He went from the palace to the pastures. A downward slide into oblivion.

But Moses never ever wished to return to Egypt. He was perfectly happy where he was placed, looking after his father in law’s sheep.

And then one day, God spoke to him from the burning bush and commissioned him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. He was literally shocked out of his senses, nevertheless he managed to blurt out, “I am not a great man! How can I go to the king and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?”

Now that was the million dollar question. Why did God choose Moses, of all the people? And why did God wait till he was eighty-years old? He could have used him much earlier…. Say 40 years back. When he was still in Egypt, when he was at his peak. Back then he had been brave, capable and confident.

But at 80 years, he was too old, too weary and had none of his earlier capabilities, enthusiasm nor zeal for leadership .In fact he had a feeling that he was no good. How on earth could he impact the mighty Pharaoh??

He was a “had been”.

He had been well educated, he had been well trained for battle and he had been in the good books of Pharaoh. And at 40 years he had been the perfect man for the job.

Besides Moses was not too keen to deal with the Israelites. He had been frustrated and disillusioned once. He was perfectly happy to live with his sheep and did not want to get entangled with the Israelites again.

That in part explained his reluctance to go back. But God was just not going to take ‘No’ for an answer.

So what was the logic? What qualities did he have now that he didn’t have back then?

2 Points-

Point 1: He knew all the ways of the sheep. Moses tended to his flock diligently and after so many years he knew everything that there was to know about shepherding. And if he was going to lead an unruly, disobedient, murmuring, complaining bunch of Israelites out of Egypt, he needed to have good shepherding skills.

Point 2: Moses knew all about life in the desert. He knew the deserts inside out. If he was going to lead the Israelites out into the wilderness, he needed to know the basics of desert life.

 God had been perfecting him for 40 years and now he was perfect for the job.

 So it is with us. Many times we think that we are too old or past our prime or we are not strong enough for God’s purpose. Sometimes we may feel frustrated and disillusioned. Or sometimes we may feel that we are not good enough for anything. But that’s not true. God is perfecting us all the time. He does not look at our age. He does not care about how strong we are. He is not bothered about whether we are able, capable, suitable or notable. He only wants us to be available when he calls us and speaks to us to fulfill His plan and purpose in our life.

CONTROLLING FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS

While both these terms are used interchangeably there is a difference between them. Feelings are what we experience with our 5 senses (sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste) while Emotions are how we feel about a situation (anger, hurt, jealousy, envy, irritation etc).

  Being a great stickler for punctuality, when I observed my daily help getting to work later and later each day, I lost my temper and lashed out. However the relief that I momentarily felt when I had given vent to my feelings, soon turned to regret as she became upset and the whole episode snowballed into a mini crisis.

 You must have observed that sometimes when drivers have been cut off in traffic, they feel they have been terribly wronged. They begin shouting at the other driver, chasing and cutting them off, often with fatal results.

 Or take the case of Impulse purchasing, which is an unplanned decision to buy a product or service. Emotions and feelings play a decisive role in this kind of purchasing which is triggered by seeing the product or listening to advertisements. Companies capitalize on these emotions which encourage people to splurge on products which they may not even need or have budgeted for.

 These are all examples of what typically happen when we let our emotions or feelings control us.

 At such times we tend to act without thinking or caring about the fallout. While such behavior leads to instant gratification, it proves harmful in the long run.

 We may momentarily feel good when we retaliate in a moment of irritation, but that may damage a relationship.

We may choose to watch television over exercising because that makes us feel good, but that will harm our body.

Some parents thrash their children in a fit of anger when they do something wrong and feel good that they have disciplined them. But such abuse will damage the psyche of the child.

 God gave us emotions but he never intended for our emotions to rule over us. We all experience feelings like anger, grief, happiness, joy and envy. However, the Bible never refers to experiencing emotions as sin; for eg:

Ephesians 4: 26, 27 – amplified- When angry, do not sin; do not ever let your wrath (your exasperation, your fury or indignation) last until the sun goes down.

27 Leave no [such] room or foothold for the devil [give no opportunity to him].

which implies that it is one’s reaction to anger that has the potential to be sinful, not the anger itself.

Emotions or feelings are directly linked to our thoughts and if we let them control us rather than the other way round; we are leaving ourselves wide open to an attack by the enemy.

 It is therefore important to learn to respond rather than react to situations.

 Reactions are always instinctive and uncontrolled whereas responses are always reasonable and self controlled.

 Scriptures encourage us to have self control –

Proverbs 25:28 tells us that a man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

In 1 Corinthians 9: 27, Paul says- But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

 For me keeping self under control could be in something as simple as choosing to snack on carrot sticks instead of potato chips. Or choosing to take the  stairs to my office daily instead of the lift.

Or could be something more difficult like choosing to remain silent when I feel like retaliating; choosing to forgive someone, I do not feel like forgiving.

While these are not happy choices for me, they are definitely wise choices.

If we always react based on feelings, it could lead to devastating consequences in areas of our social life, relationships, jobs and finances. It will cloud our judgment and lead to bad choices which will eventually ruin our life. Someone rightly said “do not make promises when you are happy or take decisions when you are angry. You will regret them at leisure”

 To think before acting, show restraint in the face of temptation, and control aggression, irritation etc is difficult and we cannot do anything in our own strength. But His grace is more than sufficient for us.

2 Titus 11-12 – The amplified version says-

 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

 I would like to close with a quote by Oscar Wilde

 “I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.”

LOW SELF ESTEEM

As human beings, we have the exceptional ability to place a value to ourselves. Self-esteem is the term which refers to the value or worth that we place on ourselves. Self esteem ranges from very poor or very low to very high, with varying degrees in between. Both extremes of the spectrum are bad.

High self esteem as the name indicates is placing a very high value on oneself, thereby perceiving oneself to be better than others. Such people tend to become self centered, conceited and egotistic and given time, develop a huge superiority complex.

 Low self-esteem is placing a general negative value on oneself. This usually occurs when there are unfavorable comparison with others- I am not as pretty, I am not as wealthy, I am not as intelligent , I am not as talented and so on……. Such people lose sight of the value of their own individuality and develop feelings of inadequacies or inferiority complexes.  Everyone suffers from low self esteem at times, usually when facing undue stress or challenging situations. However when an individual constantly suffers from low self esteem, it becomes an enduring personality trait which could give rise to many problems.

 Low self-esteem can impact a person’s performance at school, college, work place and interpersonal relationships. People with low self esteem consistently achieve less than they are able to, because they believe they are less capable than others. They refuse to take up challenges due to fear of under performing. They find it difficult to have Interpersonal relationships due to their inability to handle criticism, inability to relate with people due to shyness/ self consciousness and in extreme cases withdrawing from any kind of intimacy or social contact.

Our esteem generally develops from our childhood experiences (severe punishments, regular abuse at home or school, falling short of standards set by parents /friends/peer group, getting blamed for other people’s troubles, absence of an atmosphere of warmth and affection at home, absence of praise even when deserving or being a square peg in a round hole, at home or at school.

One  event or person cannot determine  one’s level of self-esteem; it does not happen instantaneously; it develops over a period of time.

Sometimes negative beliefs about oneself are also caused by experiences later in life, such as challenges at workplace, abusive relationships, high levels of stress or traumatic events.

 Now if we look at the Word of God –

The Bible tells us that all Christians are valuable to God.  God loves us simply for who we are. Author Philip Yancey writes, “There is nothing we can do to make God love us more, and nothing we can do to make God love us less.” God loves us as a Father. We are His special, unique creation, whose purpose is to live in close fellowship with Him.

 Song of Solomon 4:7 says

You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.

Psalm 139:14 says

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

1 John 3:1 says

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

1 Peter 2:9 says

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the Excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

 I wonder if you have noticed how people with poor self esteem conduct themselves. I know because I have been one of them many many years ago- Drooping shoulders, eyes to the ground, inability to meet people’s eyes while having a conversation, shyness, withdrawing into a shell or a cocoon at social gatherings, horror of meeting new people and so on……..

 The Bible tells us that we are a royal priesthood and that we are the children of the most High God. And we cannot dispute that. We have royal blood flowing within us. We are his ambassadors on earth and we need to move around with that confidence. Can you imagine a king or a queen of a country moving around with drooping shoulders? (What an incredibly funny sight that would be!!!)  Or with their eyes fixed on the ground?

Oh No  No……….. They would move around with the quiet confidence born out of the knowledge that they have royal blood flowing through their veins from many generations. And this, irrespective of whether they were richer than or more intelligent than or more beautiful than  other people  in that country.

How much more then should this attitude hold true for us as ambassadors of the most High God?

 Fortunately, low self-esteem isn’t something we cannot overcome and reverse. There are enough scriptures in the Bible to help us through.  It takes time, but we can surely change the way in which we perceive ourselves without becoming proud, mean, selfish or self-absorbed.  And then, what we achieve is a healthy or wholesome self esteem.

 Wholesome or healthy self-esteem is the assurance that one is as good as anyone else, but not more so. Humility is a key factor here.

Healthy self-esteem allows people to be levelheaded, reasonable, and pragmatic about goals, accept criticism, learn from mistakes rather than viewing them negatively and take up challenges

 We may not be as beautiful, wealthy, talented or intelligent as our friends, relatives or neighbors. Occasionally someone may say or do something to us that could make us feel guilty or angry. The correction could have been made either in love or spite. Whatever the circumstances, we need to respond in the right way and not let the feelings of negativity seep into our mind. We need to barricade our mind with encouraging scriptures from the Word of God.

 I would like to close with a quote which is one of my favorites- “Know that the best possible you may not be as successful as your neighbor but that is OK. The best you may not be as thin as your sister, but that is fine. The best possible you may not be as talented or dynamic or as outgoing as your colleague but that’s alright too. Be comfortable with the person God made you. You can’t get distracted and lose your focus by comparing yourself to others. We all need to run our own race.”

CHALLENGES ARE GOOD FOR US

We all think that challenges are unnecessary hindrances in our lives and  often wish that life would at some point be free of challenges- like- when I get out of school, when I get out of college, when I get married, when my kids have grown and settled, When I retire etc……my life would be very easy !! This is the typical thought pattern.

I was foolish enough to think along the same lines, earlier. Well, not only was I wrong about that wish turning into reality, but I now realize that not having challenges is not really something I should be wishing for in the first place.

Can you imagine a life free of challenges?  Challenges exist for a reason.

Even though they can be difficult to handle, if we had a life free of challenges, we would really just be going through the motions of living and miss out on some very good  opportunities to grow and live upto our God given potential.

 Challenges help shape our character, help us to grow and most importantly allow us to realize that God’s grace is sufficient for us to get through any situation that comes our way.

There’s no reason then to wish for a challenge free life.

Now listen to this: The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But for some reason, the water close to Japan has not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and bigger and went farther and farther out into the sea. The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took them to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more time, the fish did not remain fresh. To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. The fishermen would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay out longer.

 However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh fish and frozen fish. And they did not like the taste of frozen fish. The frozen fish fetched a lower price. To solve this problem, fishing companies installed fish tanks. The fishermen would catch the fish and stuff them into the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish were tired, dull, not motivated enough to keep moving around and as a result, lost their fresh-fish taste. The fishing industry faced an impending crisis! But today, they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan. How did they manage? To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks but along with a small shark. The fish are challenged and hence are constantly on the move just so that they survive. The challenge they face keeps them alive and fresh!

 Amplified version- James 1:2-4 tells us. “Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.

Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.

But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.”

  and

Romans 8: 35, says” Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”

And Romans 8: 37 tells us, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

So 2 things are certain.  One is that in our life we will definitely have to face challenge and in all these trials we will be more than conquerors. Means Assured growth!!!!

Conquerors imply one thing- Wars, battles, dangers, difficulties. But according to this scripture, we are going to be more than conquerors! Something more than victory is assured. And that is what we take back from the enemy. We are going to get to keep the loot, the spoils of the battles. Simple  example- If one king defeats another in a war, not only does he carry away the other king as captive or kill him, but , he also gets to keep his  kingdom, his treasures, his servants all his material possessions, absolutely everything!!! That is what it means to be more than conquerors!

When challenges come our way we can choose either to face them or flee from them and our decision one way or the other, will not only impact us but also people around us.

Let me tell you about Dr. Moon. Dr. Moon suddenly became blind at the age of 21 after a bout of scarlet fever. He could barely make his living then. Most people in his place would have cursed their circumstances or their luck or lack of it, and had a wonderful time wallowing in self pity. But look at what Dr. Moon did. I really admire this man. He prayed in the following fashion,” Lord. I accept this talent of blindness from you. Help me to use it for your glory so that at the time of your coming you may receive your own with usury.” And God was faithful. He enabled him to invent the moon alphabet for the blind. News of Dr Moon’s new alphabet spread quickly and he was soon swamped with requests for parts of Bible. By this, many blind people could read the word of God and be added to the kingdom of God! You see- He not only overcame his difficulties, but was also enabled to save many souls.

Point to note: When we place our trust in the Lord and face battles that come our way, we not only overcome the challenges, we also get to keep the loot.

Now look at the flipside- What happens when we run away from challenges-

God ordered Jonah to preach the word in Nineveh. It was a big challenge for him and needless to say, Jonah was not at all pleased with this challenge. Not only was Nineveh known for its wickedness, but it was also the capital of the Assyrian empire, one of Israel’s fiercest enemies. So Jonah, disobeyed; he chose what he thought was the easy way out- i.e. to run away from this challenge. He went down to the seaport of Joppa and booked a passage on a ship to Tarshish, heading directly away from Nineveh. The Bible tells us Jonah “ran away from the Lord.” But unfortunately, the ship ran into a violent storm.

The sailors on the ship fearing for their lives ended up throwing all their cargo overboard in an attempt to save their ship, and their lives. Jonah finally admits he is the cause of all their problems and tells them to throw him overboard from where he landed inside  a whale’s belly.

When Jonah* decided to run from his problems, he had to suffer not only financial loss but also a lot of mental trauma. I am sure that being thrown out of a ship  during a storm and being swallowed up whole, by a whale would have been no fun at all.

In addition to him, the people around him, the sailors, were also dragged into his problem. They  experienced a great financial loss because of Jonah’s decision to run from his problem.

However when Jonah finally decided to obey God and take up the challenge of going to preach to the city of Nineveh—there was a great revival, and thousands repented and turned to God.

 Point to note- When you run away from problems, you don’t escape! You encounter even more problems. Other people around you  also get dragged into the problem unwittingly and suffer.

 There is no dodging, no escaping and no shortcuts from problems. Look at Jesus. He faced temptation in the wilderness but he overcame the temptation. He took twelve ordinary men and made them apostles with anointing power. Jesus led the woman who had come to draw water from the well, into a new life and a whole village was changed.

We don’t have to run from anything. God wants to lead us out of our problems, those things that threaten to sink us… Are you facing a no win situation in your life? Is there a shark in your tank?? Then take up the challenge, stand on the promise of God in Romans 8: 37 and turn the situation around.

And next time we face a challenge, let’s not say, “Oh no I have a problem, this is so awful.” Instead let’s declare, “ I have a problem; Let me face this and in all this I will be more than a conqueror.

APPRECIATING PEOPLE

Appreciating someone is a very small gesture from our side and takes just a few moments of our time. But it impacts the person receiving it in a big way. If you don’t believe me, just appreciate someone and watch the other person come alive and glow at the words of your appreciation. That would indeed be a beautiful sight.

 I have been both at the receiving end and the giving end of appreciation.

Receiving appreciation is like a tonic. I feel wonderful and highly motivated to find ways to improve my performance. That’s why wise bosses appreciate and value their employees.

And when I appreciate other people, I feel really blessed that I had made a difference to someone’s day by what I had said. Moreover sincere appreciation encourages people to go the extra mile and give their best; and as I bless other people with  my words, it also lifts up my spirits and makes me feel great.

So appreciating people has dual advantage- you are being a blessing and also being blessed in return.

So often, at home and at our workplace we focus on things that were not done properly and tearing down the person responsible. We end up making a big noise criticizing people, who in turn will respond unfavorably and lose motivation to go the extra mile.

In the process, you become miserable, the other person is hurt and discouraged and your entire day is ruined with nothing positive achieved.

The Bible encourages us to use speech carefully.

Ephesians 4:29 tells us

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

and

Proverbs 25:11

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver

But everything will not always be right as rain!

So what should we do if someone does wrong and we have to correct him/her??  People face these situations very often.

Correction can always be done in love. Always remember, a  person cannot do everything wrong. There must be something which he/she does right. You probably need to look hard and try to find that out; then appreciate them for that.

How much easier it then becomes to address what they may have done wrong and find the solution to correct it.’

I would like to conclude with a quote-

Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.
– Margaret Cousins

POWER OF ENVISIONING

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. The mind is more easily influenced by pictures than words.

One of the possible practical reasons that Jesus used parables in his ministry is that parables teach a concept or idea by using word pictures. By using word pictures rather than a long essay, the essence of the message is not as easily lost over a period of time. Two thousand years later, even after tremendous technological advances  when we read the parables, we can still visualize the pictures and hence understand his message easily. 

To illustrate let’s look at Matthew 13:31-32

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
The plant referred to here is generally considered to be black mustard, a large annual plant up to 9 feet tall,but growing from a very tiny seed. 

So the picture painted here is suggestive of the growth of the kingdom of God. Starting small and then gradually growing to reach the entire world.

 Jesus was extremely good at drawing people’s attention by the pictures and visions he gave them. Everywhere he went, he inspired the imaginations of people such that the old and the young went without food just to hear him talk.

 Proverbs 29:18 helps us grasp the importance of vision. It says that without a vision the people perish.

 and that is why in addition to affirmations, having a picture of what you want to be or achieve is so important. Hence we need to practice a combination of what I call- right affirmations and right Picture.

Now let’s look at what happens when we use a wrong combination.

Right   Affirmations No pictures,

I can still remember as a child when people used to  ask me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I would always answer “a doctor” without really knowing what it was all about. I simply could not visualize myself as a doctor; It was not my dream, it was in fact my parent’s dream for me. So while I was declaring that I am going to be a doctor; there was no picture in my mind.

 If you notice, many children face the same situation nowadays, where children are expected to achieve their parent’s dream for them. Parents may be doing it with the best of intentions; but unfortunately results in such cases are almost always counter productive.

 Point: We cannot achieve anything that we cannot visualize or picture it in our minds. We cannot achieve what someone else has visualized for us.  

Pastor may have a vision for the church, but if we do not share his vision, we will not be able to run with him. Our boss may have a vision for his company, but if the employees cannot visualize it, then nothing is achieved.

 Wrong affirmation Wrong picture

There was this lady whose pet topic for conversation was sickness. She had grown up watching people around her falling sick and this picture of sickness was so deeply embedded in her psyche that sickness was the centre of her existence. Additionally she used to hoard her money, declaring that it would be of help to her in the event of falling sick in her old age. True to her imagination and declaration, she fell very ill, for a number of years in her old age and large amounts of the money that she had hoarded, went in paying for medicines, doctor’s fees, hospital charges, specialized care etc.

Point:

Using the combination of wrong pictures and wrong affirmations is disastrous since whatever we visualize in our mind, whether good or bad, will definitely come to pass, if we concentrate on it  long and hard enough.

 Right Affirmations, wrong picture

 Let me illustrate this. Suppose you want to walk across a rope bridge over a deep ravine. It appears quite flimsy. You may be declaring with your mouth- “Yes, I am going to get across. Jesus is with me” But the picture in your mind is not very encouraging- the picture shows you  losing your footing and falling, or slipping or feeling giddy  or whatever. When you have a picture like that, forget walking across the bridge, you’ll never even dare to step on it.

 Point:

Even if you are using the right affirmations to achieve something, but the picture in your mind is contradictory to what u r affirming, possibility is high that you’ll never achieve it.

Ideally, visualizing your future should be very much the same as remembering your past. However it is not so; while recalling past incidents may be as simple as ABC, visualizing something in the future requires a lot of effort, time and practice. When we focus on the past , most of us tend to visualize areas of lack in our life. As we do this continuously, day in and day out, for months , the lack in our life gets more and more pronounced.

Instead of this,  we need to purposely visualize what we want to achieve in the future – continuously, day in and day out,  – then we will be able to achieve whatever we are focusing on  – love, joy, satisfying relations, job satisfaction, health, creativity, inner peace, happiness.

The question was once asked of a highly successful businessman, “How have you done so much in your lifetime?”

He replied, “I grow by dreams. I have turned my mind loose to imagine what I wanted to do. Then I have gone to bed and thought about my dreams. In the night I dreamt about my dreams. And when I awoke in the morning, I saw the way to make my dreams real. While other people were saying, ‘You can’t do that, it is impossible,’ I was well on my way to achieving what I wanted.” As Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the U.S., said: “We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers.”

 So the bottom line is, see yourself healthy in your own mind. See yourself happy, see yourself as a friendly person, being loved, loving, creative, successful

 As someone said- Do not let anyone steal your dreams, or try to tell you they are too impossible.

“Sing your songs, and dream your dreams, hope your hope and pray your prayer.”

Your life is limited to your vision. If you want to change your life, you must change your vision of your life.