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God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with him. Jim Elliot

Written by Joyce Suttin January 2014

I went to the Farmer’s Market this morning and was so pleased to find a good deal on some organic produce. When I got home and pulled the tomatoes out of the bag, however, I realized that some of them were too squishy to use, and I had to cull out the bad ones so they wouldn’t harm the others. As the saying goes, “One rotten apple (or in this case, tomato) spoils the whole bunch.”

As I examined the tomatoes, I was surprised by their many imperfections. I’ve been used to going to the grocery store and finding piles of perfectly shaped fruits and vegetables. However, when I cut one of the “imperfect” tomatoes in half and took a bite, I was amazed at the flavor. I decided that in this case “imperfect” can definitely be better.

We often judge by appearance, but looks can be deceiving. Often, those apparently perfect pieces of produce have much deeper flaws that can’t be seen. It could very well be that they have no bug bites because they have been sprayed with chemicals whose long-term effects might be worse than the insects. The processes used to speed their growth probably affected their flavor as well. Judging between the imperfect, organic tomatoes and the seemingly perfect ones in a supermarket, the imperfect is definitely better.

God could have created a perfect world with perfect people, but He allowed man to have a choice. After the fall of man, imperfections entered our world, and man began to have to deal with problems, disease, bugs, and pain.1 But all of these imperfections drive us back into the arms of our heavenly Father. If the road were perfect and our path without difficulties, we would never find the better way to the perfect place He is preparing for us.

Sometimes, people think they can get along without God. It is only when we take a good look at our imperfections that we see the need for a Savior. Then we open our heart and receive the greatest, most perfect gift of all.
So give me the imperfections of life. Give me the odd-looking produce. Give me the rocky path. Give me all the problems and weaknesses that drive me into God’s arms. Because I know how imperfect I am, I am thankful for a perfect Savior who looks at me through the eyes of love, and whose perfect love has changed my life.






Activated TFI

“Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.” Matthew 9:29 KJV

Written by Maria Fontaine January 2014

This is a time of great change in the world—technological, economic, religious, political, business, and environmental. The results are seen in governments, organizations, and in the lives of families and individuals. Although it’s sometimes more evident and easier to recognize and take stock of at the start of a new year, change is actually constantly affecting all spheres of society.

Many people, from religious leaders to productivity gurus to life coaches to political leaders, realize the benefits of change and emphasize flexibility. Everyone knows that it is rough to go through, but when the difficulties are weighed against the benefits that change brings about, most agree that it’s worth it.

Much of the benefit we derive from the changes that come into our lives depends on how we look at them and whether or not we embrace them. As always, our attitude is a key factor. Attitude can make the difference between succeeding despite difficulty or succumbing to it. Life is a journey; and change, even big change, is a part of life’s equation. As we follow God and read His Word, we will find the faith that can help us through difficult times, including times of painful change.

Some factors that have helped me to develop a positive outlook on change include:

• Trying to anticipate the resultant good results ahead. Since there often isn’t any way we can stop change—and if we try, it will knock us over—I’ve found that in those cases the best thing to do is embrace it and go with the flow. Being positive can mean the difference between riding waves of change and drowning in them.

• Asking God to help me to see the benefits of the changes that He’s allowing in my life. When I ask Him for the understanding and wisdom to get the most out of these changes, He speaks to me and gives me the answers that I need.

• Realizing that at times the toughest things that I have to pass through are the things that are the most beneficial for me in the long run. It can be hard to remember this when I’m going through a difficult situation, but sometimes I just need to “hold on,” knowing that once the storm passes, the sun will come out and I will see everything in a new light.

• Connecting with God regularly for my personal encouragement and guidance, through His Word, through meditation and prayer, etc. As destabilizing as change can be, God will always remain our anchor, and His Word will give us faith that will make the ride smoother.

• Remembering that God loves me and cares deeply about me and my happiness and well-being. In His great and all-abiding love for me, He sometimes has to allow something in my life that might not seem good, but that will actually turn out to be an experience of great benefit. Believing that He can manifest His love through difficult circumstances, and having the faith to see that even tough things can be good things, is a challenge, but I’ve found that if I can accept that challenge, I’m well on my way to feeling more comfortable and at peace with change.

Sometimes God simply can’t bring the good that He wishes to bring into our lives without us passing through some pretty stormy times. So if you’re feeling the waves crashing about you, trust Him and have faith that He knows what He’s doing. He desires only the very best for us.
* * *
Our days are a kaleidoscope. Every instant a change takes place.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–1887)

Christians are supposed not merely to endure change, nor even to profit by it, but to cause it.—Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878–1969)









Activated TFI

Everything is similar; only death makes the difference. With death encountered, you are no more animal, something has happened to you which never happens to an animal. Now you will be a different consciousness.

So Buddha's father protected him from seeing any type of death - not only man's death, but the death of animals and even of flowers. So the gardeners were instructed not to allow the child to see a dead flower, a pale flower dying on the branch, a pale leaf, a dry leaf. No, nowhere should he come to realize that something dies - he may infer from it that "I am going to die." And you do not infer it even seeing your wife dying, your mother, your father, your child. You weep for them, but you never conceive that this is a sign that "I am going to die."

But the astrologers said, "The boy is very, very sensitive, so protect him from any type of death." And the father was over-conscientious He would not allow even an old man or an old woman to be seen, because oldness is just death heard from a distance; death is there from a distance, just coming.

So Buddha's father would not allow any old man or old woman to be seen by the child. If Buddha suddenly became aware that just by stopping the breath a man could die, it would be very difficult for him. "Just because no breath is coming in, how can a man die?" he would wonder. "Life is such a big, complex process."

If you have not seen anyone dying, even you cannot conceive that just by stopping the breath a man will die. Just by stopping the breath? Such a simple thing! And how can such a complex life die?

It is the same with these methods. They look simple, but they touch the basic reality. When the breath is going out, when you are completely emptied of life, you touch death: you are just near it, and everything becomes calm and silent within you.

Use it as a mantra. Whenever you feel tired, whenever you feel tense, use any word which ends in "AH." "Allah" will do - any word that brings your total breath out so that you exhale completely and you are emptied of breath. The moment you are emptied of breath you are emptied of life also.

And all your problems belong to life: no problem belongs to death. Your anxiety, your anguish, your anger, your sadness, they all belong to life.

Death is non-problematic. Death never gives any problem to anyone. And even if you think that "I am afraid of death and death creates a problem," it is not death that creates the problem but your clinging to life. Only life creates problems; death dissolves all problems. So when the breath has moved completely out, "AH," you are emptied of life. Look within at that moment when the breath is completely out. Before taking another breath in, go deep down in that interval and become aware of the inside calm, the silence. In that moment you are a buddha.

We can never come to a point where the future closes. That's the whole meaning of existence being eternal.

It may be very difficult because I am not confined to any particular path, to any particular philosophical viewpoint. I am vast enough to contain contradictions, and whatever has happened on the earth as far as the evolution of consciousness is concerned, I have made it part of my own vision of life.

So if you look backwards, everything else will seem a little poorer, even the greatest giants will seem limited. But you are looking to the past, you are not looking to the future – which is absolutely unpredictable.

Things will go on happening, new things will go on being added. And I am not a pond which is closed; I am more like a river, which goes on flowing, inviting every other river to join.

Whatever I have been giving you will remain uncontaminated, but it will be enriched more and more by the future evolution of man, because it is an open phenomenon.
FOR MY UNKNOWN FRIEND

What does a women claiming to have been raped get in Qatar, yes arrested, imprisoned & fined

A 22 year old Dutch woman who visited the Doha hotel with a friend, where the sale of alcohol is permitted, went onto the dance floor & when she returned to her drink & took a sip realised it had been spiked, the next thing she knew she woke up in a strange flat & realised she'd been raped, on reporting the incident to police she was immediately arrested & imprisoned, charged with having sex outside marriage she has been found guilty, received a suspended sentence (she's been in prison since March) and fined $824, the case has only now come to light after her parents decided to go public, she will be deported only once the fine is paid

Further details on the BBC news site

The Moros had a history of resistance against Spanish, American, and Japanese rule for 400 years. The origin of the war between the Moros and Christian Filipinos during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines.[citation needed] During the Spanish–Moro conflict, Spain repeatedly tried to conquer the Moro Sultanate of Sulu, Sultanate of Maguindanao, and the Confederation of sultanates in Lanao. The violent armed struggle against the Japanese, Filipinos, Spanish, and Americans is considered by current Moro Muslim leaders to be part of a four-century-long "national liberation movement" of the Bangsamoro (Moro Nation). The 400-year-long resistance against the Japanese, Americans, and Spanish by the Moro Muslims persisted and morphed into their current war for independence against the Philippine state.

The root of the conflict originates in the Spanish and American wars against the Moros.

Following the Spanish–American War in 1898, another conflict sparked in southern Philippines between the revolutionary Muslims in the Philippines and the United States military that took place between 1899 and 1913. Filipinos opposed foreign rule from the United States, which claimed the Philippines as its territory. On 14 August 1898, after defeating Spanish forces, the United States had established a military government in the Philippines under General Wesley Merritt as Military Governor. American forces took control from the Spanish government in Jolo on 18 May 1899, and at Zamboanga in December 1899. Brigadier General John C. Bates was sent to negotiate a treaty with the Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram II. Kiram was disappointed by the American takeover, as he expected to regain sovereignty after the defeat of Spanish forces in the archipelago. Bates' main goal was to guarantee Moro neutrality in the Philippine–American War, and to establish order in the southern Philippines. After some negotiation, the Bates Treaty was signed which was based on an earlier Spanish treaty. The Bates Treaty did ensure the neutrality of the Muslims in the south, but it was actually set up to buy time for the Americans until the war in the north ended. After the war, in 1915, the Americans imposed the Carpenter Treaty on Sulu.

Religion is the Problem here. I could care less if you are Jew, Christian, Catholic, or Muslim. If you go back in history the RELIGIOUS WAR is the LONGEST war with MOST DEATHS, MOST TORTURED, MOST GENOCIDE, MOST FORCED INTO, MOST SEGREGATION, MOST HATE CREATED, and MOST Corrupt and Controlling. All this in the name of a GOD by a BOOK WRITTEN BY "MAN" with NOT 1 shred of EVIDENCE. Religion is the ENEMY to this world since day 1 of MAN. You can combine ALL the wars together and it will not even come close to how many suffered in the name of religion. We are HERE so enjoy life and what is HERE and NOW. Not what is written in a damn book written by man. 1000 years from now someone will read The Neverending story and think that is real.?

"s*xual energy is a wastage if it only remains confined to sex, but it becomes a great blessing if it starts transforming its quality: sex not for sex’ sake — use sex as a communion of love. Use sex as a meeting of two souls, not only of two bodies. Use sex as a meditative dance of two persons’ energies. And the dance is far richer whe...n man and woman are dancing together — and sex is the ultimate in dance: two energies meeting, merging, dancing, rejoicing.

But use it as a stepping-stone, as a jumping-board. And when you reach the climax of your sex o*gasm, become aware of what is happening, and you will be surprised — time has disappeared, mind has disappeared, ego has disappeared. For a moment there is utter silence. This silence is the real thing!"

osho

What say you?

watch this all the way through..over and hour..and see both sides and see what you think ?

how many people have seen there angle who look over them