Today's Verse
Genesis 37:7 (NKJV)
There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”
Thoughts
Here is Joseph, 17 years old, very young, careless, and carefree. We do not know if he was just insensitive to his surroundings, unaware of the envious eyes of his brothers planting evil in their hearts day by day. Joseph was the 11th son of Jacob through Rachel, who died giving birth to her second son Benjamin – Jacob’s 12th son. Remember that Jacob had four wives, whom Rachel was his favorite wife and her son Joseph was Jacob’s favorite too! Jacob made Joseph a tunic of many colors - or we may call today a Gucci designer coat! Jesus later emphasized about man and wife, not man and wives, meaning a man should only have one wife (Matt. 19:5).
Joseph had dreams and was interpreted by his brothers and parents as them bowing down to him one day, and Joseph reigning over them. This made his brothers even more furious about Joseph. We will know later that Joseph became the one who interpret dreams, for God had given him the ability. Many Bible teachers believe that Joseph is a type of Christ in the Old Testament, meaning there were instances in the life of Joseph and Jesus Christ that were similar. Joseph is one of the early representations of Jesus Christ. They were both hated by their brothers, they were put to death categorically and rose back up to life, Jesus was sinless and no fault was mentioned about Joseph, they saved their brothers who hated them, they were both loved by their fathers.
Joseph went through many trials and testings through the years, and then God elevated him to the highest position before the Pharaoh, and was given all authority over the land. His brothers and father eventually paid respect and bowed to him when the great famine came. Even all people who came bowed down to him, so they can get food supply.
Someday, Jesus who was tested, tempted, crucified, died for our sins, then rose again from the dead – will be reigning over all people and creation. God elevated Him and given Him all the authority and “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11).
No matter who we are, whether we believe in Jesus Christ or not, we will all bow down before Jesus and there is no exception – only the final destination will make the difference, whether heaven or hell. If the demons trembled and submitted to Jesus’ authority, and paid respect (Matt. 8:31), could we be more stubborn and powerful not to submit to Jesus?
Prayer
You, Oh Lord, are the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Who could stand in pride before You? We are just like wax melting and bowing before Your holy presence. We worship and lift up Your holy Name. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
Living and Active
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Weight Loss Tips - Absolutely Inexpensive
I want to share the following tips which are really effective in weight loss. I have done it myself and lost 15 pounds in 8 weeks - without joining or paying expensive weight loss programs. These steps are "live normally" procedures without inflicting sorrow and regret to yourself as you lose weight. Eat the things you used to eat, do the things you used to do. The only things you need to add to yourself are self-control and discipline.
Here are the steps to a healthy life:
1. PRAY - The first thing you need to do is to pray. You need the will and discipline to reduce your weight and live a healthy lifestyle. The God of all creation lacks nothing to give when you pray. He can give you the will to go on. You always need to go back to this step as you go along with your program.
2. DETOXIFY - One of the best secrets to weight loss is to detoxify your body. You need to take out something that will make your body "cry" for food, or something that makes you hungry. You need to reduce on alcohol, caffeine, and other chemicals that will make you feel very hungry, even medicines! While doing that, you can take your favorite “antioxidant” green tea while at work for as many times as you can, when you go home, or even when at the restaurant – order a green tea. The most important thing is, do not put sugar or sweetener. If you really cannot live without the taste of sugar, buy flavored green tea like honey or lemon. If you are not a tea fan, try unsweetened juices (which are still sweet) like raspberry, wild berry, pomegranate, and the like – pick the organic products if possible. After a week, you will notice that you feel a bit lighter and healthier, and less bad breathe when you wake up in the morning. You will also experience less rumbling in your tummy, and so you can extend your time before you eat. That is, because the toxins that rotten your body and mouth become less and less.
3. NO SUGAR – Of course this will never happen because any food that you eat most often has sugar content. So, if you wage war against sugar or sweetener, in your drinks – then your only source of sugar will be from the food you eat which could still be 60 to 70% of your total sugar intake. Another way to reduce sugar is to read labels on the grocery products, select the ones with lowest sugar content. Takes time but it pays. If you are a fan of coffee shops like Starbucks, get a latte instead of the fancy sweetened drinks. The latte will also help your tummy spit out the toxins broken down by your green teas during the day. Yet, you need to be home by then so you can visit the restroom as often as you need.
4. FOOD INTAKE REDUCTION – If you are successful with Steps 1 to 3, you may not feel like eating too much because you get full quite easily. Basically, your tummy had become more efficient that it needs less food to run it. Even if this is not the case, you still need to measure your food intake and start taking lesser portion gradually as your tummy adjusts. Do not force your stomach to go empty, otherwise you are inviting problem which could develop to a medicinal ailment like ulcer. This process is always progressive and results do not come overnight, so do not try to rush. After two weeks, you may begin to notice that you need to adjust your belt by one hole tighter. Your 33 size pant will start to become loose. As you see developments, you feel the urge to be more aggressive, relax – this is a long distance race, no need to sprint your way down and eventually lose your momentum.
For a normal built person like me (170 pounds or more), weight loss happens quickly within 4 weeks period. After that, the drop in weight becomes less and less as the time prolongs. It may mean that I am now reaching my normal body mass index, that even how hard I will do my dieting, the effects are not as much as before. It will come to a point that you are just maintaining your supposed body mass index. When that happens, and you want to achieve more, then do the next step.
5. EXERCISE - Now that you feel lighter and healthier probably after 4 or 6 weeks, this step will now be easier for you. Although, you can exercise even from the beginning, you may not have that endurance to go on because you are heavier and less healthy. In such case, you may feel discouraged and not proceed. I think it is better to exercise once you have reached the point where you want to lose more, because you are now lighter and you will not tire easily as when you were heavy. It is now easier to do your exercise. It is also safer, because you do not stress your bones and joints as when you were heavy. You will now burn the excess fats and convert them to muscles during this time, while losing more weight.
6. TREAT YOURSELF – Your simple dieting may have saved you a bit of expense. You can treat yourself from time to time so as not to feel deprived. You may buy yourself a real good ice cream, or dine with your family, or have lunch with friends at least twice a month. But of course, the discipline should remain intact, that you need to do this weight loss for your own good and cause.
Hope these tips will help you as it helped me lose weight and feel healthier. As you do these, you will have frequent visits to your weighing scale. This is your ultimate feedback system – get an accurate scale. Better yet, get an analog scale, you cannot fool it and it will not fool you.
Here are the steps to a healthy life:
1. PRAY - The first thing you need to do is to pray. You need the will and discipline to reduce your weight and live a healthy lifestyle. The God of all creation lacks nothing to give when you pray. He can give you the will to go on. You always need to go back to this step as you go along with your program.
2. DETOXIFY - One of the best secrets to weight loss is to detoxify your body. You need to take out something that will make your body "cry" for food, or something that makes you hungry. You need to reduce on alcohol, caffeine, and other chemicals that will make you feel very hungry, even medicines! While doing that, you can take your favorite “antioxidant” green tea while at work for as many times as you can, when you go home, or even when at the restaurant – order a green tea. The most important thing is, do not put sugar or sweetener. If you really cannot live without the taste of sugar, buy flavored green tea like honey or lemon. If you are not a tea fan, try unsweetened juices (which are still sweet) like raspberry, wild berry, pomegranate, and the like – pick the organic products if possible. After a week, you will notice that you feel a bit lighter and healthier, and less bad breathe when you wake up in the morning. You will also experience less rumbling in your tummy, and so you can extend your time before you eat. That is, because the toxins that rotten your body and mouth become less and less.
3. NO SUGAR – Of course this will never happen because any food that you eat most often has sugar content. So, if you wage war against sugar or sweetener, in your drinks – then your only source of sugar will be from the food you eat which could still be 60 to 70% of your total sugar intake. Another way to reduce sugar is to read labels on the grocery products, select the ones with lowest sugar content. Takes time but it pays. If you are a fan of coffee shops like Starbucks, get a latte instead of the fancy sweetened drinks. The latte will also help your tummy spit out the toxins broken down by your green teas during the day. Yet, you need to be home by then so you can visit the restroom as often as you need.
4. FOOD INTAKE REDUCTION – If you are successful with Steps 1 to 3, you may not feel like eating too much because you get full quite easily. Basically, your tummy had become more efficient that it needs less food to run it. Even if this is not the case, you still need to measure your food intake and start taking lesser portion gradually as your tummy adjusts. Do not force your stomach to go empty, otherwise you are inviting problem which could develop to a medicinal ailment like ulcer. This process is always progressive and results do not come overnight, so do not try to rush. After two weeks, you may begin to notice that you need to adjust your belt by one hole tighter. Your 33 size pant will start to become loose. As you see developments, you feel the urge to be more aggressive, relax – this is a long distance race, no need to sprint your way down and eventually lose your momentum.
For a normal built person like me (170 pounds or more), weight loss happens quickly within 4 weeks period. After that, the drop in weight becomes less and less as the time prolongs. It may mean that I am now reaching my normal body mass index, that even how hard I will do my dieting, the effects are not as much as before. It will come to a point that you are just maintaining your supposed body mass index. When that happens, and you want to achieve more, then do the next step.
5. EXERCISE - Now that you feel lighter and healthier probably after 4 or 6 weeks, this step will now be easier for you. Although, you can exercise even from the beginning, you may not have that endurance to go on because you are heavier and less healthy. In such case, you may feel discouraged and not proceed. I think it is better to exercise once you have reached the point where you want to lose more, because you are now lighter and you will not tire easily as when you were heavy. It is now easier to do your exercise. It is also safer, because you do not stress your bones and joints as when you were heavy. You will now burn the excess fats and convert them to muscles during this time, while losing more weight.
6. TREAT YOURSELF – Your simple dieting may have saved you a bit of expense. You can treat yourself from time to time so as not to feel deprived. You may buy yourself a real good ice cream, or dine with your family, or have lunch with friends at least twice a month. But of course, the discipline should remain intact, that you need to do this weight loss for your own good and cause.
Hope these tips will help you as it helped me lose weight and feel healthier. As you do these, you will have frequent visits to your weighing scale. This is your ultimate feedback system – get an accurate scale. Better yet, get an analog scale, you cannot fool it and it will not fool you.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Taking Matters Into Our Own Hands
Today's Verse
Genesis 34:30 (NKJV)
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”
Read: Genesis 34-35
Thoughts
Chapter 34 tells a story of rape, deception, and mass murder. The sons of Jacob had taken matters into their own hands by taking vengeance against the people of Shechem for the rape of their sister Dinah. Jacob, now a godly man, is reaping the fruits of his past works. His sons have learned the art of deceit and used it for mass murder. Although, it may have been the correct course of action – but when it is not consulted before the Lord, then it is not the right action. And now again, Jacob and his family is on the run to avoid escalation of trouble among the people of the land.
It happens many times in our lives too. We simply take matters into our own hands, without first asking the Lord for guidance. It seems that having ADD (attention deficit disorder) is more of a normal trait for many people, rather than a disorder – even for Christians. We people can’t just wait! Many relationships have been broken, churches breaking up, opportunities getting lost, and many missed blessings – simply because we take matters into our own hands. We can’t wait what the Lord has to say by reading His word, much less ask the Lord for guidance. As a result, we end up putting ourselves and others in jeopardy. Simeon and Levi were not the only ones affected by their actions, but for the whole family and tribes of Israel. Yes, when we foul up, it affects other people too and not just us.
Nevertheless, God’s mercy and grace is never swayed by the wrong actions of man. The word “oops!” is not just in God’s vocabulary. He knows and understands our frailty. The Lord spoke to Jacob to meet the Lord in Bethel and worship Him there, the place where he once took refuge while fleeing from his bro Esau (Gen 35:1). The Lord is bringing him back to the same place while running for their lives again.
That’s what we need to do when we fail, and keep failing. Go back to where we met the Lord, back to our own Bethels and worship the Lord there. But like Jacob, we need to take down our idols and gods first – basically confessing our sins and leaving behind all that binds us in this world (Gen 35:2). Only then, we can have God’s protection and blessing. Only then we can have peace in our lives, and not worry about the enemies and problems that chase us.
Prayer
Dear God Heavenly Father, forgive us for taking wrong actions and sinning against You. Forgive us for our frailty and lack of faith. Help us not to go before You, but to wait on Your leading and guidance. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Genesis 34:30 (NKJV)
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”
Read: Genesis 34-35
Thoughts
Chapter 34 tells a story of rape, deception, and mass murder. The sons of Jacob had taken matters into their own hands by taking vengeance against the people of Shechem for the rape of their sister Dinah. Jacob, now a godly man, is reaping the fruits of his past works. His sons have learned the art of deceit and used it for mass murder. Although, it may have been the correct course of action – but when it is not consulted before the Lord, then it is not the right action. And now again, Jacob and his family is on the run to avoid escalation of trouble among the people of the land.
It happens many times in our lives too. We simply take matters into our own hands, without first asking the Lord for guidance. It seems that having ADD (attention deficit disorder) is more of a normal trait for many people, rather than a disorder – even for Christians. We people can’t just wait! Many relationships have been broken, churches breaking up, opportunities getting lost, and many missed blessings – simply because we take matters into our own hands. We can’t wait what the Lord has to say by reading His word, much less ask the Lord for guidance. As a result, we end up putting ourselves and others in jeopardy. Simeon and Levi were not the only ones affected by their actions, but for the whole family and tribes of Israel. Yes, when we foul up, it affects other people too and not just us.
Nevertheless, God’s mercy and grace is never swayed by the wrong actions of man. The word “oops!” is not just in God’s vocabulary. He knows and understands our frailty. The Lord spoke to Jacob to meet the Lord in Bethel and worship Him there, the place where he once took refuge while fleeing from his bro Esau (Gen 35:1). The Lord is bringing him back to the same place while running for their lives again.
That’s what we need to do when we fail, and keep failing. Go back to where we met the Lord, back to our own Bethels and worship the Lord there. But like Jacob, we need to take down our idols and gods first – basically confessing our sins and leaving behind all that binds us in this world (Gen 35:2). Only then, we can have God’s protection and blessing. Only then we can have peace in our lives, and not worry about the enemies and problems that chase us.
Prayer
Dear God Heavenly Father, forgive us for taking wrong actions and sinning against You. Forgive us for our frailty and lack of faith. Help us not to go before You, but to wait on Your leading and guidance. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
All We Like Sheep
Today's Verse
Isaiah 53:6 (NKJV)
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Thoughts
Many times we people think that we are smart, talented, and genius. Intellectually, there’s no doubt about it, because God has given talent to each one of us. We can do a lot of things, invent powerful machines, create wonderful arts, and many others that make our world a better place to live.
Yet for many times, the Bible describes “all” of us as sheep. Sheep is one of the dumbest animals on the planet, if not the dumbest. When unguided, sheep can plunge to their death in a cliff, and then followed by other sheep. Sheep are extremely social animal where in most cases congregate and following each other, thus a shepherd can just lead one sheep and others will follow. However, in the absence of a shepherd, when a sheep is separated from a herd, the sheep becomes highly stressed and easily panics and its action can cause self-inflicted damages. Sheep have no defense mechanism, and they are easy target for predators like wolves, lions, bears, and coyotes.
In our own folly, we tend to follow our own instinct and knowledge; we put aside God in our lives and live the way we wanted to be. We say to ourselves, we don’t need the Shepherd – and in many cases, we are inviting trouble to ourselves. Prestigious universities in North America which were founded to promote Christ are now secularized and have nothing to do about the Lord who made them successful. Any thought about God and the Bible are now being taken out of the classrooms, from hotel rooms, from the court houses, from offices, parks, and other public areas. Atheism is promoted, other religions are welcomed, paganism is practiced, and that’s what America embraces. Sooner or later, the United States is no different than Saudi Arabia where Islam becomes the only allowed religion.
We are like sheep and we are not as wise as we think we are. Left alone to ourselves, we easily plunge to our death. We may know a lot of things, but the wisdom that comes from the Lord through Jesus Christ – our Good Shepherd - is our only guiding light to life. King David who was a shepherd himself acknowledges the need of the Lord as his Shepherd, when he said in Psalm 23:1 (NLT) – “The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need”. There is a need of dependence on the Lord, we need a Shepherd - Jesus Christ, the Savior of our souls. Only in the Lord, we can have peaceful rest for He leads us to streams of living water, He guides us with his staff, and all the goodness in this life and life to come is always before us.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for coming to this earth to save us and guide us to everlasting life. You are our Good Shepherd, help us to trust and follow You, for we are as sheep that gone astray. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
De God is ons toevluchtsoord!
(God is our refuge! In Dutch)
Isaiah 53:6 (NKJV)
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Thoughts
Many times we people think that we are smart, talented, and genius. Intellectually, there’s no doubt about it, because God has given talent to each one of us. We can do a lot of things, invent powerful machines, create wonderful arts, and many others that make our world a better place to live.
Yet for many times, the Bible describes “all” of us as sheep. Sheep is one of the dumbest animals on the planet, if not the dumbest. When unguided, sheep can plunge to their death in a cliff, and then followed by other sheep. Sheep are extremely social animal where in most cases congregate and following each other, thus a shepherd can just lead one sheep and others will follow. However, in the absence of a shepherd, when a sheep is separated from a herd, the sheep becomes highly stressed and easily panics and its action can cause self-inflicted damages. Sheep have no defense mechanism, and they are easy target for predators like wolves, lions, bears, and coyotes.
In our own folly, we tend to follow our own instinct and knowledge; we put aside God in our lives and live the way we wanted to be. We say to ourselves, we don’t need the Shepherd – and in many cases, we are inviting trouble to ourselves. Prestigious universities in North America which were founded to promote Christ are now secularized and have nothing to do about the Lord who made them successful. Any thought about God and the Bible are now being taken out of the classrooms, from hotel rooms, from the court houses, from offices, parks, and other public areas. Atheism is promoted, other religions are welcomed, paganism is practiced, and that’s what America embraces. Sooner or later, the United States is no different than Saudi Arabia where Islam becomes the only allowed religion.
We are like sheep and we are not as wise as we think we are. Left alone to ourselves, we easily plunge to our death. We may know a lot of things, but the wisdom that comes from the Lord through Jesus Christ – our Good Shepherd - is our only guiding light to life. King David who was a shepherd himself acknowledges the need of the Lord as his Shepherd, when he said in Psalm 23:1 (NLT) – “The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need”. There is a need of dependence on the Lord, we need a Shepherd - Jesus Christ, the Savior of our souls. Only in the Lord, we can have peaceful rest for He leads us to streams of living water, He guides us with his staff, and all the goodness in this life and life to come is always before us.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for coming to this earth to save us and guide us to everlasting life. You are our Good Shepherd, help us to trust and follow You, for we are as sheep that gone astray. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
De God is ons toevluchtsoord!
(God is our refuge! In Dutch)
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