God is merciful

Lesley Hazleton: On reading the Koran

Happiness and Security Are the Primary Desires By Remez Sasson

What do you really want to attain or achieve? Do you have some clear goals, or you don't know what you really want? Do you go through life, wherever it takes you, or you have definite plans, and work on accomplishing them?

Not everyone has goals. Many go through life wanting this and that, but never something definite. Some even feel bad for not really knowing what to do with their lives.

We read and hear so much about the importance of having goals, but the truth is that most people don't have definite goals. Actually, all people have two important goals, though they are not consciously aware of them.

What are these two goals? What is it that you really desire, money? A better job? Love? A house? A new car? To travel abroad? Do you wish to do something big, or maybe you are satisfied with your life as it is, and don't want to change it? If you analyze your goals, small or big, you will ultimately discover that what you really want are happiness and security. Everything you do is motivated by the desire to gain happiness and security, whether it is money, a TV set, a house, a car, a new job, love or losing weight.

You desire this and that because you believe their attainment will bring you happiness and security, and therefore freedom from stress, anxieties and fears.
Too often, people devote a lot of time and efforts for getting something that in the end does not bring them the happiness or security they have anticipated. Ask yourself, what would bring you a sense of happiness and security? Analyze each goal sincerely, and think whether it would bring the coveted happiness and security you desire. If it does not, why not find some better goal?
True happiness does not depend on possessions and circumstances, true happiness emerges from within. True security begins as a mental state, as inner strength, as faith in yourself, and in the power that has created the Universe. If you feel happy and secure it will be easier to attain happiness and security in the material world.
You can awaken inside you feelings of happiness and security, even if now they are absent in your life. Awaken these feelings several times a day, by visualizing and feeling that you are happy and secure on the mental and material levels. Feel and imagine how fulfilling it is to experience and enjoy these feelings.
It is a sensation of inner harmony, peace, and the conviction that you can attain whatever you want.
If you persist with this action, and do not destroy this feeling by negative thinking, doubts, worries or disbelief, it will start to affect the way you think, act and react. You will become optimistic, energetic and motivated. You will see new opportunities and have the motivation to follow them. There is no magic here, just simple natural laws at work.
Everything starts in the mind. Start the sense of happiness and security within you, and it will manifestin in the material world.
All actions are motivated by a subconscious desire for happiness and security and their derivatives, which are inner peace, harmony, love, good relationships, success, money, possessions, etc.
It is good to have at least some definite goals. They give you direction, something to aspire for, motivation and something to live for. However, even if you don't have anything definite, just focus your mind and feelings on the sense of happiness and security, feel that they are real in your life, pretend they are real, and have no doubts about it.
If you continue doing so, you will soon see how your life changes and improves, as you truly desire.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go! by the incomparable Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.

You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.

You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.

No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.

I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.

And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

Catch the little foxes

"Catch the foxes, the little foxes, before they ruin our vineyard in bloom."  Song of Solomon 2:15
Are there 'little' things that are being tolerated in your life? Those are the very things that the enemy can use to bring ruin to the beauty. Bring them to God today, confess them, and turn away from them. Don't pick them back up. They are more vicious than they appear.
Maybe the little fox is the tolerance of 'moodiness' and snapping at our family members, or a 'jealousy' that we allow to continue, maybe it's something else...God will show each of us our little foxes if we ask Him. Let's clear out the vineyard and protect the beauty. Let's get rid of the little foxes.

Trust in God

Do your best , trust in God and surrender

In order to create the product, you must go through the
process. Yes, the result is very important, yet without
sustained effort there is not going to be a result. By all means, focus on what you desire to create. And then
with your focus firmly fixed, get busy and make the effort.

The value of any achievement cannot be separated from the
process of achievement. Working through that process is what
makes the achievement worth having.

The dreams and goals set the direction. And then it is the
effort that makes it all happen.
Effort is what makes the difference. And that is what makes
effort such a substantive and authentic joy.

Welcome the process, welcome the effort, and welcome the
price that is paid with your action. By paying that price
you receive value that can never be taken away.

Don't judge others

A few months ago, I met a young man and his girlfriend after a service. They had more tattoos and piercings than anybody I´d ever seen. The man had tattoos up his arm to his neck, even on his face, and the young lady must have had a hundred different piercings. To be honest, at first, a critical spirit tried to rise up inside. I had thoughts like "Why do they look like that?" and "Boy, they must have a lot of problems, a lot of issues." But instead of staying there, I took out my critical eyes and put in God´s eyes. When I did, I had a different perspective. I was glad that they felt comfortable coming to church. I was glad that they took time to honor God.

Come to find out, he was the leader of a very successful heavy metal band. They just had a big concert in an arena here in Houston the night before. He said to me, Joel, I have never been in church one day in my life before. This is the first time I have ever set foot in a house of worship." He then gave me one of their CD´s and said, "Listen to track number seven. That´s a song I wrote after listening to you."

After visiting with them, I found that they were not anything like I expected. They were some of the kindest, most genuine people that someone could ever meet even though on the outside, there were a thousand reasons to be judgmental and critical.

I´ve found that people today are so quick to judge others by their outside appearance and quick to find fault. If somebody is not just like them, if they´re just a little bit different, instead of giving them the benefit of the doubt, they look them up and down and start to pick them apart thinking thoughts like "Well, I would never dress like that." "I would never drive that car." "Well, if I were them, I wouldn´t have taken a vacation in this economy." "If I were them, I wouldn´t send my kids to that school." "If I were them, I wouldn´t wear that much jewelry." But here´s the thing, you´re not them. You don´t really know what you would do because you haven´t walked in their shoes. Don´t judge others because you don´t know what they´ve been through. You don´t know the life they´ve lived and the obstacles they´ve faced. They might have a thousand tattoos covering them or wear jewelry from head to toe; they might not dress the way you would like them to, but it doesn´t give you a right to judge. You have never lived their situation.

When you´re tempted to be critical and find fault in others, remember the enemy is called the accuser of the brethren. Recognize where the source is coming from. He´s the one that wants you to be critical. I don´t know about you, but I´m not going over to that side. I´m going to stay on God´s side. I´m going to believe the best in others. There may be a thousand things that I can see that´s wrong with them, but I´m going to look and look until I find at least one thing that´s right. I´ve been forgiven much, so I´m going to love much. And if I err, I´m not going to err on the side of judgment. I´m going to err on the side of mercy. After all, where would we all be without the mercy of God? If I hadn´t had good parents and been raised in a good church, who knows where I would be today? I´m not going to be condemning. I´m not going to be a faultfinder.

How somebody spends their money, where they go on vacation, how they raise their children, or what kind of car they drive, I´ve learned that is none of my business. I don´t know about you, but I have a hard enough time trying to run my own life without trying to run somebody else´s life!

One of the best ways that we can keep a pure heart free from judgment is to learn to mind our own business. If somebody takes four vacations a year, that´s none of my business. If they drive around town in a limousine or come to church in a boat, that´s none of my business. If they wear rings on every finger and every toe, that´s none of my business.

Be careful not to fall in this trap of being judgmental of others. It will rob you of your joy and peace and allow the enemy to have a foothold in your life. Comparison, jealousy and strife have room to enter whenever we entertain these thoughts.

Jesus put it like this, "Don´t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults - unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging." Matthew 7:3-5 (The Message).

Decide to live judgment free in your life. If you do, you´ll not only live with more peace, but God will bless you, and your relationships will be blessed because the Bible says that in the same measure we judge, we too will be judged.

I´ve learned to not pass judgment on others. There are too many other things in life that need our focus, and I don´t know about you, but I need to use all the focus I have on what God has called me to do.