Most Commented Religion & Spirituality Blogs (1,494)

A compilation Nov 11, 2014

Psalm 139:14 makes the well-known statement, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” … What does it mean?

First, these words are a clear statement about the amazing capabilities of the human body God has created. Our bodies are made of billions of cells and a myriad of parts that can only be adequately explained by a loving and wise Creator and Designer.(1)

Second, this verse gives an indication of our value from God's perspective. He designed us. Much care is involved in the creation of each human being. As the verses immediately following say, “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”(2)

Third, this verse reveals the inestimable worth of all human life. A direct application of this verse is the protection of life at all levels, from the womb to the final breath of a person’s life. This is why Christians care deeply about the protection of life in the womb,(3) caring for those mistreated or undervalued by others in society,(4) and for the elderly and those with terminal illnesses. As 1 John 4:19 shares, “We love because he first loved us.”

Fourth, God’s qualities of having all power (omnipotence) and all knowledge (omniscience) are revealed in this verse. God asked Job, “Who has put wisdom in the inward parts or given understanding to the mind?”(5) It’s a rhetorical question; the answer is, of course, God. No one else can take the credit for creating every person. No one else knows each person at the most intimate level. The same God who created the universe(6) also knows the number of hairs on our head.(7)

Finally, He has created us in such wisdom, beauty, and power, and the only proper response is to love and honor Him. As the Psalms note elsewhere, “There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.”(8)

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These verses give the assurance that God is with you regardless of what you are experiencing in life at the moment. At times when you feel like God is far from you, this great psalm brings comfort as a reminder that He is ever present and aware of your problems and needs.—David Peach

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You are special! You are part of a magnificent, vast, overall plan. You can’t see that plan, but I can. You can’t see how beautifully you fit in with the overall panorama of life and the balance of the universe, but I can. Someday you will see it too, and you will marvel together with Me at how wonderfully everything came together.

You are unique. There has never been a person like you, nor will there ever be another just like you. That’s one of the things I like most about you. Resist the temptation to look at yourself negatively or to focus on what you think are your shortcomings, weaknesses, inabilities, your less-than-perfect body or personality or whatever. You are fulfilling the purpose for which you were created. I love you just the way you are, and I love you as though you were the only person in the world.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy

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1 See Genesis 1:26–27.
2 Psalm 139:15–16.
3 See Psalm 139:13.
4 See Proverbs 31:8–9.
5 Job 38:36.
6 See Genesis 1:1.
7 See Matthew 10:30; Luke 12:7.
8 Psalm 86:8–10.


Anchor TFI Online

By David Brandt Berg

We are all in a holy war together. We are fighting together for our faith, truth, and freedom! We are determined that the poor of the world shall be fed, clothed, housed, and be enabled to labor in freedom, peace, health, and happiness to obtain their needs. We have pledged ourselves to lay down our lives in love for our brothers and sisters around the world. We have dedicated our all that all may be free to live lives of happiness together in cooperation.

But we must not only know what we are fighting for and against, but also how we must fight. This is not a war of weapons and armies and bodies of men. This is not a war between man and man, nation and nation, race and race, rich and poor, socialism and capitalism, political and economic systems, societies and cultures, religions and faiths. This is not a war of hate and bitterness, killing and slaughter, revenge and vindictiveness, torture, dying and death.

This is not a war for the bodies and possessions and lands and pride of man. Such carnal wars of man have seldom ever settled anything or solved the basic problems of mankind. They have usually only resulted in more suffering, more agony, more pain, more hunger, more slavery, more bitterness, more vengeance, more fighting, more torture, more privation, more destruction, more waste, more misery, more poverty, and more death.

Ours is a war of the spirit in faith and love to win the minds and hearts and spirits and save the souls as well as the bodies of men. Ours is a war to free men from the evils of the spirit and mind and heart of man which cause them to be selfish and unloving and vicious and cruel and unkind to each other, man’s inhumanity to man because of his lack of understanding of how to be happy due to his lack of knowledge of the love and faith and power of God and loving laws of God designed for our eternal happiness.

Therefore we must fight the much greater warfare of the spirit with the far more powerful weapons of faith, love, compassion, and words and deeds of kindness. We must free men from fear with faith. We must free them from hatred with love. We must free them from sorrow with joy. We must free them from war with peace. We must free them from poverty with plenty, and we must free them from death with eternal heavenly happiness.

The salvation of man must be for all if it is for any and must include everyone if all are to be happy. Though ninety-and-nine were in the fold, the Good Shepherd was not content until the last lost one was found and saved and rescued.1

We must tell all, even though all will not listen nor respond nor be saved. We owe the message of God and His life of love to every man.

If God be for us, no man can stand against us, however great their power or numbers. “Have faith in God.”2 “If God be for us, who can be against us?”3 If you do good, who is he that will stop you?4 None can withstand the power of God nor His forces of heaven if He is on your side and you are on His, doing that which is right.

“If God be for us, who can be against us?”5 We are bound to win, for God is with us, and we fight a holy, right, and just war of faith and love for God and others, and love never fails, for God is love.6

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but His words shall never pass away.7 They are settled forever in heaven8, and none can deny nor defy them forever. So use them and spread them and His love through every means at your command to give people light and hope and life and love and peace and heavenly happiness forever.

You are no fool to give a life you cannot keep for a love you will never lose.

1 Luke 15:4.
2 Mark 11:22.
3 Romans 8:31.
4 1 Peter 3:13.
5 Romans 8:31.
6 1 Corinthians 13:8; 1 John 4:8.
7 Mark 13:31.
8 Psalm 119:89.





DeepTruths TFI

Written by Chris Mizrany November 2014

What do a record-breaking tightrope-walker, a martial arts expert, and a successful businessman have in common?

They have learned self-discipline. In each of their professions, discipline is the key—discipline that’s manifested in allocating time to practice, honing their skills, and in some cases, giving up things in their diet or personal life to achieve their goals.

Self-discipline is more than holding back from some things, more than buckling down to do what is necessary out of duty. It is a means to an end. Reaching their goals means so much to them that the effort and sacrifice of leading a disciplined life is almost a non-issue. They are willing to push themselves to the limits of endurance to achieve success. And their discipline clearly shows in their achievements.

Most of us can probably improve our level of self-discipline. Even if you don’t aspire to cross a chasm on a rope, how about getting through that pile of work on your desk, meeting your fitness goals, or improving your time management? Self-discipline is not really about denying oneself; it is, in fact, liberating oneself. A friend once said to me, “Only when you’re truly disciplined can you be truly free.” A simple sentence of wholesome wisdom that changed my viewpoint completely.

On another occasion, the manager of an international chain store told me, “Success is not only about what you want to do. It’s about what you must do to achieve.” When you’re self-disciplined, you’re able to go beyond things that might have limited you or held you back before.

New York Times bestselling author Jackson Brown Jr. put it this way: “Talent, without discipline, is like an octopus on roller skates.

There’s plenty of movement, but you never know if it’s going to be forward, backward, or sideways.” On the other hand, if we channel our energies in the right direction, toward the things that are important to us, we are positioned to achieve powerful forward movement.

Jesus was the ultimate example of discipline. He did what had to be done, even when it was not just hard but resulted in His death. The discipline and commitment He manifested for His cause had world-changing results.

If we’re willing to discipline ourselves, we too can change our lives and our part of the world.
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Chris Mizrany is a web designer, photographer, and missionary with Helping Hand in Cape Town, South Africa.



Activated TFI

Written by Message from Jesus Monday, 01 December 2014

I have a special gift for you—one that’s different from anything you’ve ever received from anyone else. It can’t be bought or sold in any store, but I give it freely to everyone I can. It will never get old, never break down or wear out, and you can never outgrow it. No one can take it from you, and it will last forever. You can take it with you wherever you go and enjoy it anytime, all the time. It never changes and will never cease to surprise and amaze you. You can share it all you want, and there will always be plenty to go around. In fact, the more you share it, the more you’ll have.

This gift is the promise of My presence. I want to be nearer and dearer to you than any earthly friend or lover can be, and I have so much to give—more than enough to fill every day from now through eternity.

My love is true, unfailing, and unconditional, the kind of love you’ve wanted and waited for all your life. My love is the richest, fullest form of love there is, and the happiness it brings is out of this world. It’s not a fleeting happiness, but deep, abiding happiness in all of its many hues and tones—joy, comfort, contentment, peace, stability, security, positiveness, delight … And I’ll always be with you to share in the good times and help you through the tough ones.—Jesus



Activated TFI

Jesus is the reason for the season:)

Italic text by David Berg - and the Family International

Beloved, Jesus was not kidding when He said that He would make you ruler over many cities! You are going to literally rule and reign with Him over all the Earth! It will be a perfect Kingdom, a perfect government, with perfect officers--you! You're going to run it! You want to be a policeman?--You want to be a governor?--You want to be a judge? All kinds of jobs are wide open! You want to be a king? God's Word says that He's the King of kings, so you can be one of His kings! You can rule a city or a whole country or a whole continent, whatever you are capable of ruling, according to the training you've already had and according to your faithfulness and your loyalty to God while you were here!

WANNA BE A GOVERNOR?

Jesus said that he that was faithful in just a few things would be made ruler over many things! You want to run the World? Well, be faithful unto death and He'll give you a crown and you'll be one of His kings! The Bible says so! (Rev.2:10.) For "he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.--Because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities!"--Or, "be thou over five cities!" (Lk.16:10; 19:17,19.) We're going to rule literal, Earthly, down-to-Earth, Worldly cities and countries, nations and continents, and train human, physical, down-to-Earth people just like you and I are now!

We will be dispersed throughout the World, each of us ruling over a certain portion and people of the Earth, over the unsaved who were left behind during the Rapture. Some will rule over one city, some will rule over five cities, and some over ten cities!--It's all going to be very literal. You are literally going to rule over cities and countries and peoples.--Think of that! Wow!

SOME WILL SHINE BUT SOME WILL SHAME

Now some Christians who didn't accomplish very much for the Lord in this life and weren't faithful and never witnessed, maybe they'll only be a block warden in the next life--they may only have control of one block of a city or part of its Main Street or something. Because they weren't very responsible for their fellow man during this present age--they didn't show much concern about him, they didn't care whether he got saved or not, they didn't witness, they didn't preach the Gospel--God certainly is not going to give them much responsibility during the Millennium either!

But who knows, maybe the Lord will mercifully give some Christians a little opportunity to redeem themselves during the Millennium for what they failed to do during this age of grace.--I hope so! Because there are going to be millions of Christians who are going to be awfully ashamed--and for whom you're going to feel an awful lot of contempt--who never did a damn thing to reach the heathen or preach the Gospel or save the lost or help others! So I hope they have another chance to do then what they failed to do here.--Otherwise some are going to be one Hell of a mess!
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THANK GOD FOR THE HOPE OF SUCH WONDERFUL THINGS TO COME!

God's plan is not going to be defeated! He's going to bring us through to final perfection the way He originally intended!--We'll have eternal, wonderful happiness, joy and paradise on Earth, like what we who love the Lord have even now, only better, and forever and ever, and ever! Hallelujah!




PowerPointParadise TFI

Spiritual Lesson #1 – Unconditional Love. The one lesson most pet owners agree upon is that our animals teach us to love unconditionally, and along with that, to forgive. They ask little from us but give us enormous rewards with sheer presence, demonstrating the consistency of love. They never retreat from us in anger.
Spiritual Lesson #2 – Selflessness. They teach us selflessness. The dog eats before we do. The dog gets vet care before we get medical care. We take days off work to nurse an ailing animal.
Spiritual Lesson #3 – Acceptance. They teach us to accept impermanence. While this life is temporary, Divine love lasts forever. We learn to exercise the greatest parts of ourselves
Spiritual Lesson #4 – Release. They make it impossible for us to hold grudges. Yes, we get annoyed if they chew up our shoe or prefer to urinate on the coffee table instead of the shrubbery.
Spiritual Lesson #5 – Guidance. They help us understand that we are not alone. They speak to the core of our total being with accompaniment that is way beyond the physical. In fact, we despite our trips to the animal shelter or a reputable breeder, we really have not chosen our dogs but they have chosen us.
Spiritual Lesson #6 – Sacrifice. They lead us to see the meaning of sacrifice: because the love we have for them is so pure, they become our first consideration when the end of physical life approaches.
Spiritual Lesson #7 – Renewal They allow us to heal from all forms of hurt: romantic, loss, anger. By the simple gift of their presence, a paw on our leg, a head on our shoulder, our vibration is raised and our capacity for love is expanded. Each time we bring a new animal into our lives, we are energetically mended.

A pause for reflection

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God ... My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’” 3

Here is someone who is hungering for a word from God. He alludes to a difficult time, a season where he has been calling out to God in the midst of pain, grief, or confusion. From all angles, it appears as if God is silent to his cries. So much so that those around him say, “Where is this God of yours that you pray to?” But notice what he goes on to write—words that read as if they were transcribed from the most reflective of journals:

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God ... My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you.”4

The psalmist comes to see that there is no silence—there’s just an answer coming from God that’s deeper than words. God is present, and speaking, but what He’s saying isn’t resting on the surface waters of life.

When I was nineteen years old and in college, I was invited to a weekend party at a nearby university. My friend, Phil, was going, and encouraged me to come along. He said that there would be five of us in the car, but there would be room. I wanted to go, and tried to make it happen, but couldn’t.

They left without me on a Friday afternoon. Two days later, as they returned to campus, a car from the opposite flow of traffic crossed the dividing line, became airborne, and landed headfirst into their car. All four were killed instantly.

I first heard the news late that Sunday night. I left my dorm, walked over to the nearby athletic complex, hopped a locked fence, and sat in the empty football stadium under a moonlit sky. I grieved for my friend; I thought of the brevity of life, and how close I had come to being killed. I remember crying out to God to help me sort it all out, to make sense of it all. To talk to me ... to say something ... anything!

Silence.

In truth, it was one of the deepest conversations we had ever had. He was speaking to me, moving within me, communing and communicating with me on levels that had never been opened to Him before. It was the start of many conversations—some even more traumatic.

Within four months I became a Christian. It is of paramount importance to consider that it’s not silence we’re encountering, but a pregnant pause; a prompting to engage in personal reflection so that the deepest of answers, the most profound of responses, can be given—and heard.—James Emory White

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God suffers with us, feels every anguish, knows every doubt. Being infinite does not mean merely infinitely large, but infinitely small as well, so that he understands and experiences our silence, our pain, with us, not just in a theoretical way, but deeply and completely. Sometimes in our suffering, in the midst of silence we have the wind knocked out of us, and there is nothing left to pray with. God knows this, and you can be sure that he is at that moment praying for you.—Derek Flood

3 Psalm 42:1–3 NIV.

4 Psalm 42:5–6 NIV.
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“The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever” Isaiah 32:17




Anchor TFI Online

Cultivating vintage faith

The world of today is a fast-paced world, where everything has been sped up and continues to be speeded up with each year that passes. You live in a fast-food world, a world where more and more emphasis is placed on acquiring things quickly, and there is less emphasis on the quality of things. People are becoming used to everything happening more quickly, taking much less time.

At the drop of a coin a machine spits out a drink, or at a fast-food counter a meal is served in minutes. Once upon a time, people spent a very long time building their houses and acquiring the money to do so, whereas in the world of today, houses are thrown up at a breakneck speed.

People expect to work less and to acquire more and have more leisure. People can instant message and send e-mail or large amounts of data around the world in seconds, or travel to the other side of the world in a matter of hours.

This speeding up of the pace of life has changed people’s expectations of what is normal or acceptable. It can lead to heightened expectations on the spiritual front as well—expectations for instant answers to prayer and spiritual manifestations to occur upon demand.

There are times when I do bring answers to prayer instantaneously, but there are also many times when I expect you to allow for the wine of your faith to mature and develop and to reach the fullness of its flavor.

Throughout the centuries My people of faith have been tested and tried through not receiving immediate answers to their prayers. They waited thousands of years for Me, their Messiah, and prayed and pleaded with God to send Me. Yet He could not send Me until the timing was exactly right‚ when all was aligned, world conditions were right, the hearts of men were prepared, the government of the world was what it needed to be in order for My Word to spread and My followers to survive. So many conditions had to be just right, even though so many clamored earnestly for years on end for My coming. Then, after I came, many of those same people rejected Me outright, because the answer to their prayer did not come in the packaging they had hoped for—that of a king of earthly Israel.

You have need of patience, that after you have performed My will, you might receive the promise.5 Patience is not an easy virtue to cultivate, and in fact, it goes entirely against the modern way of the world, which is all about speed, “right now,” and quick answers and instant results. But even though you live in the world, you are not of this world, and the spiritual dynamics have not changed—patience takes faith, and faith is the cornerstone of your lives for Me.

You will continue to experience answers to prayer when I know it is best. But you will also continue to experience the tests‚ trials, and challenges of life that arise when I appear to be in silent mode and My answers do not come immediately. And this trying of your faith will work patience, which is a very important facet of faith.

Faith isn’t manifested only when you receive immediate answers to prayer; it is also manifested in endurance, long suffering, and the patience to keep on persevering in the faith even when you don’t receive a response or see action as a result of your prayers. Let patience have her perfect work, so that your faith can be whole, and entire, wanting nothing.6

Remember, faith takes patience, and patience is the mark of a vintage faith‚ one that has been deepened and ripened and is mature, rich, and full-bodied.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy

5 Hebrews 10:36.

6 James 1:4.




Anchor TFI Online

you get it now ?