self-help – Page 10 – 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐫

This Is The Day…

One night a woman was staying over at her friend’s house. Her friend gave her his room to live in for the night. In the morning, when she opened the window curtain, she saw a sign carved on the window: “This is the day…” At breakfast, she asked her friend about it. With a smile she explained, “I purposely wrote that sentence on the window as best I could, because I often feel worried from day to day. When I remembered that ‘this is the day that God has made’, I realized that,whatever day it is, if that day was made by God, then why should I worry?”

We getting joy every day. When we meditate on the truth, our faith appears and gives us strength and courage so that we can go through the day with joy. The saying goes: “Don’t get up from the wrong side of the bed.”

WRONG, meaning don’t start the day with the wrong attitude. Imagine what would happen if in the morning our minds were already filled with anger, irritation, worry, and other negative feelings. Guaranteed that day we will have a hard day, feeling everything goes awry and makes us despair.

On the other hand, if at the beginning of the day we have meditated on God’s promises, leaving everything in God’s control and expecting His guidance to help throughout the day, giving thanks for all the goodness He has prepared, trusting His promises, then we will live the day with enthusiasm.

What causes it? Joy arises because we believe that all the goodness of God will be with our lives. Today, whatever the day, every day is a day that God has made. And we should rejoice in it. There is no need to be afraid of anything that will happen today, because we will surely see the extraordinary things that God has done in our lives. “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice in it.”

Because You Are Precious In My Eyes

“For you are the one who formed my kidneys, woven me in my mother’s womb. I thank you because my events are terrible and wonderful; what a miracle you have made, and my soul is well aware of it.”

Not one of the billions of people on this earth are exactly the same. Everyone has their own differences and characteristics. Even though twins are born, even though they have a similar appearance, they must be different in many ways, because God created us in our mother’s womb with our own uniqueness.

Each of us is formed by God in such a way. “…You are the one who molded my kidneys, woven me in my mother’s womb… my events were terrible and miraculous;”, meaning that God is actively involved and full of creativity. In fact, He Himself cares for the baby since it is still in its mother’s womb: from when the fetus develops to making plans for its future life.

God said, “For I know what plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for peace and not for accidents, to give you a hopeful future.” . God also equips us with different gifts, “So we have different gifts according to the grace that was given to us:” Everyone is different and has uniqueness, each also equipped with different gifts.

Therefore we do not need to compare ourselves with others or try to be like them. There are those who get stressed, disappointed in themselves and think that God is unfair to them when they see other people looking perfect (according to their judgment), then try in such a way that they want to be like that person. It’s fine for us to admire and idolize other people, but we don’t have to be the same as that person because basically everyone is different.

Therefore, no matter where we are, we must feel proud to be ourselves and give thanks to God. “Because you are precious in My eyes and glorious, and I love you,” .

Don’t Respond To Fools

One day, a lion walked very gallantly in a forest. The other animals respect him very much. They all gave him way, except for the donkey. The donkey sneered when the lion passed by.

The lion was instantly angry. However, when he saw that it was the donkey that had done so, he continued on his way calmly. It didn’t want to get its strong paws dirty in response to a stupid animal like a donkey.

No need to respond to fools. Ignore it! Remember, anyone has the right to give input, comment, say anything about you. However, you also have the right to accept or not accept it. Don’t put everything in your mind and heart. Because in the end what God sees is what we do, not what they say.

“God does not see what man sees; man sees what is in front of his eyes, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Optimistic VS Pessimistic

One day a researcher placed two children in separate rooms. The first child was placed in a colorful room filled with all kinds of toys, while the other child was placed in a room full of horse manure.

But soon the child who was placed in a nice room asked to leave because he found the toys in his room boring and too breakable. Likewise with the other child, he also came out of his room but asked for a shovel to clean the room because he was sure there must be a pony around there.

From this story we will be able to reflect on how people view when placed in different situations. An optimistic person will never give up even though there are many challenges or when there are difficulties. It will even go forward. Those who remain optimistic will always have the belief that they can definitely achieve victory. Conversely, pessimistic people will easily give up if things don’t suit their heart.

A person’s perspective will determine the success he will achieve. As God’s people, we must have an optimistic outlook even though we are in a difficult situation. We must take action to keep moving forward and must not give up easily with the existing conditions, because this is one of the keys to success. Even if we fail, don’t be afraid because failure is just a process for us to achieve success. God will not allow us to be losers. So stay positive. Someone who gives up easily will find it difficult to achieve their hopes and dreams because they never take action.

In the midst of the life struggles we live in, let us not only have a negative outlook. But always have a sense of optimism and have faith in God. Remember that He created us more than conquerors. There may be many reasons that make us give up and be pessimistic, but with God there is always a reason for us to move forward to achieve success, because God always provides a way for us.

So no matter what our condition is today, don’t be afraid. Live life with God and stay optimistic. “So what shall we say about all that? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Swearing Tree

Salomon is the name of an island in an archipelago in the Western Pacific. Even though they have tasted modernization, the people here still have some unique traditions. One of them is shouting at the tree. This is usually done by local people on trees with roots that are very strong and difficult to cut with an axe.

The trick, some people will climb up the tree. After that they and the people below would scream at the tree together with swearing. This can occur from hours to forty days. After that, the tree will start to dry out. The leaves fall off and start to die so it is easy to cut them down.

From the story above, we are made aware of how big the impact that arises from every word we say. The impact is not only felt by humans or other creatures, even trees are also affected. With this fact, we should be more careful when we say something. Moreover, there is research, under normal human conditions, every human being utters around 18,000 words per day. It means that our opportunities every day to make an impact through words are enormous.

On the other hand, the story above also confirms God’s word which states: “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the heart and medicine to the bones.” . That is, good words will have a good impact, while bad words will have a negative impact. What about every word that we have said so far? Has it become a blessing that builds up the surrounding environment? Or maybe it has become a curse that makes life unpleasant. “Let no dirty words come out of your mouth, but use good words to build up, where necessary, so that those who hear them may have grace.”

Think positive, Speak encouragingly & Believe in yourself! Create happiness!

Money Is Everything?

“Human will love himself and become slave for money.”

Paul reminds Timothy of a phenomenon that will occur in the last days, that is, humans will love themselves, focus on themselves, not care about others, and become slaves to money. This means that now many people are enslaved by money.

They place money as everything in life. Waking up thinking about money, chasing money all day, planning how to get money tomorrow. There is an old Chinese saying: “Money is not everything, but without money one can do nothing.”

We have to admit that money has a very important role in human life, because there is not a single activity of human life under this sky, be it in daily life to activities that are spiritual in nature that do not require money. For example, to meet the most basic daily needs of life, we need a lot of money. Not to mention if we want a more decent life: quality schools, tutoring/courses, transportation, sports facilities; not a few costs that we have to spend. There is no exception to carry out calling tasks in ministry: God’s servants who work in His fields.

As long as money becomes a tool or a means of supporting life activities, it will not cause problems. But it becomes a problem if money has influenced the principles and lifestyle of each person. Money will cause polemic if we love money and are enslaved by it. “Do not be a servant of money because the root of all evil is the love of money. Because it is by chasing money that some people have deviated from the faith and tormented themselves with various sorrows.”

Money is important, but it will be very dangerous if we become slaves to money and love money.

For GodGod Shows No Partiality

Partiality of human life consisting of ethnicity, nation, race, economic status, caste, intellectual ability-academic titles, and so on. But God does not show partiality. When it comes to His judgment on human sin, God holds the same standard for all.

In truth, everyone is guilty of sin. Those who judge others are guilty, also, of hypocrisy. Nobody will escape God’s judgment for personal sin, God will absolutely judge each person according to what he or she has done.

If someone has lived sinlessly, doing only good, he will receive rewards and eternal life by grace through faith.

God does not discriminate, meaning He is fair to everyone; also He is willing to receive anyone who comes to Him. It is not a matter of honorable or despicable, rich or poor, but God sees how each person has lived.

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.