imakelar

Personal Guard

“For it is the LORD who gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He provides help for the honest, a shield for those who are blameless, while guarding the way of justice, and guarding the way of the righteous. His faithful.”

That personal guard is called “wisdom.” He does not come from the world but is a gift (GRACE) of God. The personal bodyguard is in the form of knowledge and intelligence.

Knowledge means understanding the situation well and intelligence is more of a wise action. The attitude of life that becomes a measure of knowledge and intelligence; not primarily on “educated” but “educated”. Smart people but twisted life are those who do not have knowledge and do not have intelligence.

What he does is help (in trouble), protect (like a shield) from the attacks of this world, guard the way of justice, and guard the way of God’s people. The attitude of people who are guarded by wisdom is honest, blameless in conduct, and faithful. “I find understanding from Your precepts, which is why I hate all lying ways.”

Have We Counted His Blessings Today?

How are we doing these days? Are we bored? Stressed? flat? busy?Or the opposite? or we start thinking, maybe we should take a break and take a vacation for a while. Wait a minute! Maybe we don’t need to take time off so often and make up excuses.

Try this! Start each day with joy. How we start our days will greatly affect the day we will live. Almost all successful and positive people have the same formula, which is to start the day with a positive attitude. And conversely, people who “have a bad day” usually also start from a bad morning.

Remember our life radiates from our heart. If we are joyful and positive, our life will be better and vice versa. Remember all the goodness of our Lord. He who has redeemed us, who is always with us because He is Immanuel. He is always able to help us in trouble. And He is also the one who plans a hopeful future.

“Count His blessings every day, and we will be amazed by Him.” We will be able to give thanks and be raised in faith. Have we counted His blessings today? Count God’s blessings one by one, then we will see how great His goodness to us.

Vengeance Is Not Ours

“Beloved, do not demand vengeance yourself, but give place to God’s wrath, for it is written: Vengeance is mine. I will demand vengeance, says the Lord.”

For those who hold grudges or vengeance against others, there is nothing positive in their heart, but only evil designs. Saul harbored hatred and grudge against David because many people praised David: “Saul defeated thousands of enemies, but David was tens of thousands.” Because Saul’s heart was filled with hatred, the expressions that came out were only negative things, both through words and actions.

Revenge will only create inner suffering for the perpetrator. Joseph is an example of a person who is able to love and forgive his enemies. Although persecuted and made to suffer by his brothers Yusuf did not hold the slightest grudge, but instead he showed his love and generosity. “Indeed you have devised evil against me, but God has devised it for good, in order to do as it is now, which is to save the life of a great nation. So don’t be afraid, I will eat you and eat the children. your son too.” .

We are not allowed to take revenge on the enemy because revenge is the absolute right of God. Whoever seeks revenge against others means he has stolen the absolute right of God. Vengeance is not ours, but belongs to God Himself. It is our part to allow God to handle other people. Let God himself act because He has his own way and time to deal with problems that occur.

What must be done is this: “…if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink! In doing so you will heap coals of fire on his head.”. So the proper way to treat an enemy is to show him love and mercy. “…defeat evil with good”. Loving, being generous, and forgiving the enemy are ours; God’s part is to finish in His own way and time.

“Yes Man”

“Yes Man” is an American comedy film released in 2008 and starring Jim Carrey. This film is based on a true story and book published in 2005 and written by British comedian Danny Wallace. This film tells the character Carl Allen, played by Jim Carrey. Carl is a bank employee whose life is monotonous, flat, and boring. He is a gloomy person who likes to be alone and always says no to his friends.

Until one day Carl attended a seminar that taught him to always say, “Yes!” for whatever is asked of him. This is where the core story of the film begins to roll. The main character is often faced with a dilemmatic choice, whether he says “yes” to people who ask him for help with all the consequences.

In real life, we are often faced with situations like in the film. We get certain opportunities in our lives, whether we say “yes” to every opportunity that comes, or vice versa, we ignore the opportunity and let it pass from our lives. We never know that the opportunity that comes in our life is actually a turning point in our lives.

When we ignore this opportunity, we are actually throwing away the turning point we have been looking for so far. Can we imagine if David missed his chance to fight Goliath? Maybe his life path would be different. So it is with our lives. Do not easily ignore every opportunity that comes in our lives, because there are times when the opportunity does not come twice.

There are many people who play “safe” and turn down every opportunity that comes their way. Do not want to get a promotion for fear of not being able to. Some don’t want to be moved for fear of being uncomfortable.

Some do not dare to take certain opportunities for fear of failure. Opportunities like that sometimes don’t come twice, so don’t just say “no”. Learn to dare to say “yes” to every opportunity that comes in our lives.

Never waste an opportunity that is actually a turning point in our lives. Use every opportunity very well and don’t let the devil take that opportunity from us. “And don’t give the devil a chance.”

We Are Not Superman

Many people are sometimes amazed by the abilities or skills of a versatile coworker. Working on the system, managing production, foreign language and lobbying skills, mastered very well. Almost every job in the workplace he can do. Looks like he doesn’t need anyone else. The results of his work are often said to be almost perfect.

But once his workload piled up, he was exhausted, his co-workers were also reluctant to help because he usually preferred to work alone. Finally, the work flow is blocked in its part, queuing to be done. His all-powerful Superman-like skills have shrunk and no longer invite admiration.

Having these various abilities must be a blessing from God, but He gave them not so that we can become Superman, but to work together. Not also to exalt each other or put others down, but to use it in love.

A self-confident person is not afraid to teach others or feel challenged. By building other co-workers, we are sharing ourselves and sharing love and even sharpening our character.

In addition, we will have help when needed and the work becomes lighter. Make our abilities and skills a means to be a blessing to others.

“And even if I give away everything I have, even give my body to be burned, but if I do not have love, it is of no use to me.

Promise Keeper

“Your promises are well tested, and Your servants love them.”

Everyone in this world has generally made a promise to someone else or was promised something by someone else. For example: parents promise to buy something for their children; children promise to make parents happy in their old age; a young man makes a promise to his lover; a company leader promises to prosper his employees; etc.

The fact is: not all promises made by humans are kept, even humans have a tendency to break the promises they have made. That’s human nature: it’s too easy to make promises and so easy to break them. Thank God we have a God who never breaks anything He promises. If God promises He will certainly keep His promises. As believers, we are the ones who deserve God’s promises. Where do we find the promises? In the Bible.

Therefore, take time to read and meditate on God’s words every day so that we understand how countless God’s promises for His people are, whether they are promises that He has fulfilled, are fulfilling, and those that He will fulfill. Believe that sooner or later all of God’s promises will be fulfilled.

“God is not man, so that he lies and is not the son of man, so that he repents. Either he speaks and does not do it, or speaks and does not keep it”

This promise of God is the hope of believers. The state of this world may change, the economic situation may change, but we believe that God’s promises never change. His promises remain “yes” and “amen”.

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”

Everything in this world may be shaken, but we still believe that we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. As long as we are not affected by the situation. continue to believe in His words, wait patiently on God, and faithfully do what is ours, God’s promises will surely be fulfilled in this life.

“Confirm in Your servant this is Your promise, which applies to those who fear You.”

He Works In All Things For Good.

The tragic tragedy that occurred on July 20, 2012 several years ago attracted the attention of the whole world. The shooting case during Premiere Batman: The Dark Knight Rises in Colorado, United States, killed 12 people. One of the shooting victims was a woman named Petra Anderson. Four bullets hit her body and one hit her head and hit her brain.

Her family could only pray and hope that a miracle would happen. The hospital immediately carried out intensive treatment and carried out an operation to remove the bullet. How shocked the medical team was because something unexpected happened. It turns out that Petra has an abnormality, namely there is a cavity filled with fluid in front of her brain. The fluid in the cavity was flowing near her brain. The bullet ended up only lodged in his cranial bone, which protects the brain. The deadly shot that hit Petra did not lead to her death. Petra’s genetic abnormalities in the brain did not lead to her death.

In general, we always think of abnormalities in the body as defects and shameful disgrace. In this story of Petra Anderson, God teaches us that every part of our body is always useful, even Petra’s disabled body parts can save her life. It is precisely the shortcomings that we consider a disgrace, that may be able to help us from certain problems.

We can imagine what would have happened if Petra did not have a genetic disorder in her brain, maybe now she is no longer living in this world. Every human being has advantages and disadvantages of each. We can see that the life stories of those who have shortcomings exist to strengthen others. They use their shortcomings as a tool to achieve success.

Are we still complaining or feeling inferior about our shortcomings? Are we still disappointed and angry with God because of our shortcomings? God says that He works in all things for good for us. It is time for us to open our eyes and see the hand of God for our shortcomings; Opening our eyes and seeing God’s miraculous hand can turn every weakness of our life into something that benefits us.

Accept every shortcoming that we have and be grateful to God, because one day God will use our shortcomings to bring glory to His name. The things we cry about today may be things we will be grateful for someday. “We know now that all things work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to God’s purpose.”

The Mouth Of The Righteous.

“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked hides injustice.”

The mouth has such great power. With our mouth we can kill or build the spirit of life. With the mouth, we can strengthen or bring down. Dropping doesn’t always mean saying harsh words or swearing. Dropping we can do with simple things like criticizing.

How many times do we criticize other people in a day Maybe just by making comments like, “Why aren’t your clothes looking good today” or “You haven’t washed your hair yet. Your hair looks greasy.” Comments like this may be simple, but the impact is extraordinary, it can discourage other people.

Just imagine, if that person is in serious trouble at home, and when he comes to see us, there is only criticism about appearance and other things. As much as possible, try not to criticize others, unless your opinion is asked for.

There are criticisms based on facts or valid reasons, which can build and improve. However, some are based on bad reasons (such as wanting to bring down or embarrass). Whatever the reason, criticism is protesting or refuting the other party.

It’s fine to try to fix something, but if in doing so we discourage others, it seems worth remembering that our mouths should be the source of life and not death. Fill our days with constructive words, then everyone will be blessed with our presence.

Leave The Past Behind

Many people are still shackled by what was experienced in the past. Because of that they cannot express their potential to the fullest, so they fail to become successful people. Sometimes the past is too painful or sometimes too pleasant, which makes it hard for us to forget it. It makes us tempted to look back, when we should continue to move and look forward.

Some things we can forget about the past include:

Failure. Never give up if you are currently experiencing or have recently experienced failure.

Sin and transgression. Many people feel unworthy to receive God in their lives, because they keep seeing past sins and transgressions.

Bitterness. Learn to forgive and forget those who have hurt us in the past.

And the most important thing to forget is success. Many people are quickly satisfied with the success they get, so they are lazy to step up, want to stay and embrace that success.

Forget what you have experienced in the past, both painful and pleasant, but make it a lesson and provision for your success towards the future. Make past experiences a motivator, not a barrier to future success.

“Brothers, I didn’t think I had caught it myself, but this is what I do: I forget what is behind me and turn to what is before me”

In Everything,Give Thanks!

Oscar Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish novelist, playwright, poet and short story writer. Known for his witty sense of humor, he was one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian Era in London. At the height of his fame and success, with the play The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) still playing in London, Oscaar was accused and sentenced to two years in prison for libel and indecency.

In prison he wrote De Profundis (written in 1897 and published in 1905), a lengthy letter discussing his spiritual journey as a prisoner. After Oscar was released, he left France immediately, never to return to Ireland or England. There he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.

Oscar once said a sentence that is very good for us to ponder. He said, “The best way to appreciate our work is to imagine what we would be without it.” This statement is actually still very relevant today. Don’t we often see people who used to grumble in their work, but when they leave there they regret it.

Expecting something better is normal, but then we forget to be grateful for what we have. We forget that life is a gift, and what we have right now is a beautiful gift from God. Why is it so difficult for us to be grateful for what we have today, God is still with us in all things.

We have nothing to fear. All we have to do is keep giving thanks in all the circumstances we experience. Instead of complaining, it’s better if we start appreciating whatever we have right now, including our work. Get serious about it, then see how God is able to multiply it all. “In everything give thanks…”