Spirituality - My Recovery

by Rebbetzin Feige Twerski

My leg wasn’t the only thing that got shattered that fateful day.

A year and a half ago I was struck by a car during a casual summer walk with a friend. I was fortunate to survive the accident, but my leg was shattered and I needed surgery to reconstruct my leg. Complications followed and, not unpredictably, my recovery has proceeded slowly and sporadically, with many ups and downs. Additionally, the accident had an adverse effect on my immune system, and what might have been ordinary episodes of cellulitis and shingles, turned into prolonged and excruciating ordeals. It is fair to say that the physical residual toll is still being exacted. The post-traumatic emotional scars are less obvious, manifesting themselves in almost imperceptible ways, but are, nonetheless, a reality with which I have to contend.

Life as usual came to a halt. Deadlines to which I was committed had to be abandoned, appointments canceled, and a myriad of other obligations which are generally viewed as non-negotiable, were set aside in deference to healing and recovering. All the must-do’s became irrelevant, non-issues. Slowing down was mandated by a wake-up call, a message sent by Divine providence. This unanticipated respite in the stream of my life provided necessary reflection and contemplation. The following are some of the thoughts and insights born from this experience.

Keeping the Faith: Don’t Pray for Rain

by Ronnie McBrayer in Christian Living
I’ve made a habit lately of studying the Amish. I use the word “study” loosely as this is not a simple curiosity of mine or some kind of theological experiment. My exploration flows out of a deep respect and admiration for their faith and spirituality.

We English (that’s what the Amish call us outside their communities) recognize them because of their familiar beards, horse-drawn buggies, fine woodworking, or barn-raisings, but there’s a lot more to this group than sturdy furniture and firm dispositions. They have a lively, vibrant faith despite their archaic lifestyles.

The Amish (and their cousins the Mennonites, Brethren, and a few other groups) I have come to know are lovers and active makers of peace. They value simplicity above almost any other thing. They love their families and community, and they have a profound trust in God. This trust, employing a good Amish-German word, is called “Gelassenheit.”

“Gelassenheit” is usually translated into English as “submission” or “to yield,” but it is so much more. It is a total letting go of entanglements.

Why Did Jesus Curse the Fig Tree?

Dr. Ray Pritchard

Fig trees are for making figs.

Pretty simple, really. We plant apple trees because we want apples, peach trees because we want peaches, orange trees because we want oranges, and fig trees because we want figs. We might as well ask what good is an apple tree that doesn't produce apples? You might as well cut it down. Or curse it, as Jesus did the fig tree (Matthew 21:18-19).

How did Jesus know the fig tree was barren? Because the leaves and the fruit typically appear at about the same time. To see a fig tree covered with leaves but with no fruit meant that it was barren.

Three insights will help us understand this story. First, in the Old Testament the fig tree often stood as a symbol for the nation of Israel (Jeremiah 8:13; Hosea 9:10). 

Second, we also need to observe that the cursing of the fig tree occurs on Monday of Jesus's Passion Week, four days before his crucifixion. 

Abiding in the Presence of the Lord

Rick Joyner

We discussed in a previous Word for the Week how discernment may operate through impressions, which is where we start to feel in ourselves what someone else is dealing with. One reason many prophetic people suffer depression is because they pick up on so much spiritually around them that they think it is their problem and fail to distinguish this as the gift working. Just because we feel depression does not mean that we have depression, but we may be feeling what someone close to us is dealing with. If we inquire of the Lord about these feelings, He will lead us to the truth about them. As we mature, we will learn to distinguish what we are picking up from others, or other situations, and what is actually in our own hearts.

That being said, many prophetic people are of the melancholy temperament that can be prone to depression. This is something no child of God should be subject to, and we can be free of it. There are reasons for depression that we do not have to be subject to. All who know and serve the Lord should resolve to not be subject to depression. Of course, depression may be the result of chemical imbalances, but if this is the case, let’s get it right. We cannot see the world or people as they are if we are looking through the eyes of depression. This is a serious hindrance to prophetic revelation that we must overcome.

5 Secrets to Aging Well

How to be happier and healthier for the rest of your life

By Paula Spencer Scott, Caring.com senior editor

We'd all like to make it to 100 -- but let's face it, some people age a lot more gracefully than others. What's the difference between someone who looks and feels vibrant in midlife and beyond -- and someone who's sick, sad, and already old?

Scientists are turning up some surprising key factors: approaches to attitude and lifestyle that not only add years to your life but add a better quality of life to your years.

"Studies on successful aging have shown that only one third of what predicts how well we age is controlled by genetics. About two thirds is based on our personal lifestyle choices -- and is therefore under our control," says psychiatrist Gary Small, director of the UCLA Center on Agingand author of The Longevity Bible (Hyperion).

Here are five longevity factors you can do something about.

Sexuality, Spirituality and Overcoming Sexual Temptations

Writtenby BIBLE SEO

Spirituality and Sexuality: the whole world is driven by this two fundamental and powerful forces. News, media, TV commercials, internet, everything that we come across in our daily life are influenced by them. So is there any connection between the them? What does bible say about it? This article is an attempt to carefully investigate the relationship between our spirituality and sexuality. It is not an exhaustive study on the topic, but rather more practical approach to it. it addresses following questions:

1. Is there any connection between spirituality and sexuality according to bible?
2. How to overcome sexual temptations?
3. Practical suggestions to overcome sexual temptations

Women of the Bible - Chloe

Chloe

Scripture Reference — 1 Corinthians 1:10, 11

Name Meaning — Green herb

We are not told anything about the background of this Corinthian matron and head of a Christian household. Evidently she was well-known to the Corinthians by her personal name which means “green herb,” and in the Greek represents the first green shoot of plants. 

Chloe is therefore emblematic of fruitful grace and beauty. It was while he was benefiting from the hospitality of her home that Paul received information of strife among leaders in the Early Church and which he sought to deal with in this first chapter of First Corinthians. 

The Church at Corinth gave Paul a good deal of concern and heartache because of its low spirituality.

All the Women of the Bible
by Herbert Lockyer

http://view.lists.biblegateway.com/?j=fe5a1678726102797410&m=fe621570756203757117&ls=fdc8157170640775751075716c&l

1 Corinthians 1:10 - 11

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,^[a] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.


¹¹ My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.




http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1Cor.1.10,1Cor.1.11&cm_mmc=ExactTarget

Healing In the Bible

"I am the LORD who heals you" -- Exodus 15:26 (NRSV)

Anyone who's paying any attention while reading the Gospel accounts of Jesus has a hard time avoiding the impression that Jesus healed people of physical illnesses. Not only did Jesus do it early and often (so often that during His life, His healings were seen as a trademark of His work), but He is reported in Scripture to have given his followers the ability to do the same, and more. As to the church actually following through on that promise, see Acts 3:1-16.

From the point of view of the Bible as a whole, healing happens whenever harm or damage is made whole. This broader view of healing needs to be kept in mind when you think Christianly about politics, society, interchurch relations, decision-making methods, and questions of racism, sexism, or classism. Yet, the Bible usually means something more specific and earthy than that when it speaks of healing. It tells the story of specific people being healed of their specific physical illnesses. If we over-emphasize the broader vision, we can quickly lose sight of the specific usage. Thus, in this chapter I'll stick to the primary meaning of healing, that of physical restoration of health, and leave inner healing to another chapter.

Jesus did his healings in the context of Isaiah 53:5 (according to Matt 8:17). That's an atonement passage. It's tempting to simplistically link all healing with the Lord's Supper, and treat healing as a fait accomplice, as if it's already there for the asking. But the Eucharist is about Jesus' presence, which is not only an 'already', but a 'not-yet'. The body and blood 'already' were shed to save us, and believers in Christ are 'already' a part of the Kingdom of God, but we await his 'not-yet' return ( 1 Corinthians 11:26). That's why there isn't perfect healing in this life, any more than there is perfect living. The Christian faith does not deny brokenness. It denies that brokenness has the last word. Healing is a foretaste of a Kingdom that has not yet come in its fullness.

"God heals the sicknesses and the griefs by making the sicknesses and the griefs his suffering and his grief. In the image of the crucified God the sick and dying can see themselves, because in them the crucified God recognizes himself." ----- Jürgen Moltmann, *The Spirit of Life*, p.191. Emphasis is in the original.

The early church understood this, and not just in the era of the Apostles. Throughout the first two centuries, wherever Christian witness went, physical healing went too. It would perhaps be helpful to mention a saint or two who healed, but the fact is, faith healings may well be the most common miracle ascribed to those the Roman Catholic Church honors as saints, famed and forgotten saints alike. While it became much less common after the time of Constantine, it did not nearly vanish like most other miraculous acts and signs. Instead, nearly every era has some Christians who touched and healed people, right through to our own times. It goes hand-in-hand with a deep spirituality and an even deeper love of God and other people -- when the Spirit is there, healing happens !

Healing is a sign of the day when all illness and unease is healed. It is one of the acts of that kingdom asserting itself, the beginning of the healing process for all of creation. (Only a beginning. It is no substitute for the completed Kingdom. The healed will eventually die, just as the raised Lazarus died again. So getting part of that wholeness reminds us of what it is to have the whole thing someday.) In healing prayer and work, we can all be a part of God's holistic overall work of healing. Christians don't worship health. We don't call on God to remove all suffering from life. What we do is ask God to fulfill the divine purposes, and trust God to give us health where it helps and suffering where that is needed. This goes well beyond just 'spiritual' healing.

Ridiculous Religions: Jediism

Apparently some people don't understand the difference between a movie and real life. Jediism is a religion based on the spiritual ideals of the Jedi from the 'Star Wars' films. These followers believe in the existence of the Force, always wear a hood, and stick to a strict moral code.
http://www.chacha.com/topic/cthulhu/gallery/2057/beyond-belief-ridiculous-religions/16376