Set yourself free!

These words from Jesus on John 8:32 of the Holy Bible have impacted my life; and still is today.

 

God's love is freely given to us. God is so powerful that He can destroy this world He created if He decides to wipe us all out of this planet. He once did. God is a destroyer of sin. He loves the people He created but sins overcome the whole being of His creation, each one of them.

 

That's why God is willing to have an intimate relationship with us. He is willing to guide our path all throughout our life so we can avoid the pitfalls as we travel this world. There are plenty of traps, most especially the invisible ones that can expose us and destroy us eventually. Just look around us today. Better yet, read the nation's news and the international news. Sinful nature of man is so clearly visible. Sins are running amok. They're deadly that few can survive the consequences. Sin can affect us physically and internally. There's no escape. Sin is like a plague- highly infectious and easily transmitted to anyone who is vulnerable to it. When we are emotionally weak and cannot control the mind and the heart, we become our own body's enemy.

 

Since most of the world's population are not willing to seek God, people get destroyed because of their ignorance. Even the ones we thought are highly intellectual with their self righteous man made wisdom are not immuned. I believe they're the ones who get the worse outcomes in regards to sin.

 

When Jesus was on earth two thousand years ago, the truth that would set us free from the snare of sin is what He brought with Him from heaven to teach us. The Roman empire at that time had seized most of the old European nations including the middle east; and this was the time when God came to earth, in the person of Jesus Christ, and in the small country known now as Israel.

 

God saw that the earth is empowered by human sinfulness again after the flood in Noah's days. Sin was running amok once more that lingered until now. God knew sin will never go away in this world He created. Sin will continue to dominate this world, until such time when He ends evil in this world once and for all.

 

Sin is self-centeredness in true form- love of self and we are all guilty of it.  Self-centeredness is the cause of all the ills of the world. Wars, murder, adultery/lust, gluttony, greed, wrath, pride and envy and many more sins, start in self-centeredness.

 

In His teaching, Jesus emphasized that in all the commandments given by God, the greatest and foremost of them is to love God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your mind. And then Jesus said that second greatest command of God is to love your neighbor as you love yourself.

 

If you think about it, we can never love people the way God loves humans. If we hope to have peace in this world, that is an impossible task as people are engrossed in doing what is good for them and nobody else. Therefore, this world is doomed as peace in every sense of the world and unconditional love for another are out of the question.

 

That is why Jesus said to love God with all our hearts, souls and minds is the cornerstone of all the commandments of God.  Without the love for God in our lives, this world will continue to deteriorate based on our sinful nature.  If we try to seek and know God on our own, our effort is futile. God will never reveal His true self without us knowing and following Jesus first.  Without Jesus, our knowledge of God are all hearsays. Without the unconditional love and worship for God, He is separated from us and seems very distant, unforgiving and an angry God.

 

Not until we surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, our life here on earth is full of self-wants that would eventually would lead us lonely, depressed and ill-fated human beings.

 

That is why Jesus said that He was on earth two thousand years ago to show us the way and give us life abundantly here on earth and an eternal life after death. Knowing Him will be like living waters flowing inside of us as we learn God's true nature and His wisdom on how to live based on God's will and purposes for our life which are all good for us and in such time when we join Him in heaven.

 

That is why Jesus said that we can only see God and His Kingdom when we leave this earth only through Him. That is why Jesus said to know and follow Him and His teachings will set us free from what this dark world is teaching to make us stay in the dark and remain there and He said that staying in darkness has a worst price to pay after death. He warns us that there is a second eternal death when we don't have love for God. Jesus calls it Hades. Jesus spoke of this place many, many times in His teachings.

 

That is why Jesus wants to save us from Hades. What Jesus offers is redemption from our sins and salvation to eternal life. Jesus said that  although we will all die and leave this world, His saving grace will give us an abundant eternal life in His Father's God Kingdom which is heaven where Jesus also resides. 

Dreaming

Two dreams this week caught my conscious mind.

 

The other day, I remembered a dream so real that it woke me up concerned. In my dream, I was checking everyone's drawers, suitcases and closets. I was sort of nosy and wanted to know what people keep in their hidden places. I was also pulling out one item from what were hidden. The next scene, which scared me was one of the people we've met in our Europe trip this year was abducted and taken and was violently shoved into a car by two men sitting between her. As the car sped off, her blouse came off and I saw the fear on her face. She was petrified and paralyzed with terror. The look on her face was so real to me that it remained in my memory on my waking hours the next day.

 

This morning when I woke up, I remembered about a dream of amusement park tickets. My husband and I were dropped off, by a man that we knew, near an amusement park. We already got entrance and ride tickets before we got there. The intention was that we would look around first before we enter the park. As we said our goodbyes to the driver, I nonchalantly dropped the tickets on the passenger seat.

 

As we walked on the pavement next to the park, I suddenly realized that I did not have the tickets with me. I got panicky and called the driver to come back with our tickets. The driver seemed not concerned and was taking his time. I went to a house to see if I can retrieved the tickets there. In the house, one of my nephew's wife asked me if I signed a document that she needed for a transaction. She was hoping I had it with me. I started thinking that I should have gone to my house instead. I can then sign the document and retrieve the tickets at the same time.

 

I have been sleeping really good and I had waken up restful from my sleep this week. I've been doing breathing exercises and ending the day with sleep meditation and it helped a lot with my slumber.  I just wish that I would have beautiful dreams, and not about the concerns of the day.

 

Shameless Nation

Money Doesn't Talk

 

In Zephania's time some of  the people of Judah were financially secure. However, Zephaniah had a message from the Lord for them on investing. Apparently, some of them had received a bad investment tip and were at risk of losing it all.  Learn the lesson that some things cannot be bought at any price.

 

Personal Application - (This prophesy is still true to this day and applies to all of us)

 

Israel had silver and gold, but no holiness. God said that their riches would not help them when it came time to account for their sins (Zephaniah 1:18).

 

In this life, we often rely on money for a sense of security and power. When we are poor, we feel weak. When we are rich, we feel strong. But wealth doesn't make us right with God. Nor can it buy our salvation or influence God's will. At the final judgment our riches will be worthless.

 

If you're already rich, ask God to help you maintain a humble attitude, use what you have for His glory, and live righteously. If you're middle class or poor, rather than working to accumulate wealth, work at cultivating holiness. It's the one thing you can take with you when you die.

 

Bible Reading

 

Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign LORD, for the awesome day of the Lord's judgment has come. The LORD has prepared His people for a great slaughter and has chosen their executioners. "On that day of judgment," says the LORD, "I will punish the leaders and princes of Judah and all those following pagan customs. Yes, I will punish those who participate in pagan worship ceremonies, and those who steal and kill to fill their masters' homes with loot."

 

"I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem's darkest corners to find and punish those who sit contented in their sins, indifferent to the LORD, thinking He will do nothing at all to them. They are the very ones whose property will be plundered by the enemy, whose homes will be ransacked. They will never have a chance to live in the new homes they have built. They will never drink wine from the vineyards they have planted."

 

Your silver and gold will be of no use to you on that day of the Lord's anger. For the whole land will be devoured by the fire of His jealousy. He will make a terrifying end of all the people on earth.

 

 

Gather together and pray, you shameless nation. Gather while there is still time, before judgment begins and your opportunity is blown away like chaff. Act now, before the fierce fury of the LORD falls and the terrible day of the Lord's anger begins. Beg the LORD to save you -- all you who are humble, all you who uphold justice. Walk humbly and do what is right.  Perhaps even yet the LORD will protect you from His anger on that day of destruction.

 

from the book of Zephaniah

One Year through the Bible, 365 great devotionals to lead you through God's life-changing Word in a year

 

 

 

I opened my eyes and realized

Another dream I'm able to remember before waking up today, is quite amusing.  In my dream, a former supervisor from my old job came barging in my house, a house I've never seen before. She handed me several documents to prove something that I already knew. She started snooping around the house from the first floor to the second floor. Her actions were not making me mad at first. I was more surprised why she even knew where I live. When I asked her, she said she followed me in her car. At this time, my friend and her sister from a choir I used to belong to at the old church I used to attend, came in and were totally disgusted of my former supervisor and told me that I should send her away. In short, shoo her out of the house. At this point, I was still not ready to get rid of my supervisor yet because I wanted to know the reason as to why she even spent so much time to even prepared documentations to prove something is true in her mind. The action was so weird to me.

 

But as she was getting more intrusive in the privacy of my own home, I've asked her to maybe it's time for her to leave. She run upstairs and stayed there for a while as my friends from the old church stared at me in disbelief as to why I was allowing all this rude behavior. I finally shouted out at my supervisor who was still upstairs and screamed at her to get down and asked her if she's ransacking my belongings to use against me.

 

Then I woke up. It woke me up feeling light-hearted.

 

 

"REM sleep is when you dream. If you wake up a person during REM sleep, the person can vividly recall dreams. If you wake up a person during NREM sleep, generally the person will not be dreaming.

You must have both REM and NREM sleep to get a good night's sleep. A normal person will spend about 25 percent of the night in REM sleep, and the rest in NREM. A REM session -- a dream -- lasts five to 30 minutes." from: How sleep works

 

"REM sleep usually begins after a period of deep sleep known as stage 4 sleep."

 

"You don't dream during the deepest part of your sleep cycle. The lighter your sleep is, the more likely you are to remember your dreams, which is why most dreams one can remember occur just before waking up.

Dreaming does not occur during NREM sleep. Dreaming occurs during the less deep REM state, and the dreams one remembers are generally the dreams which occur in the final REM stage which is just before waking. In other words, you are not in deep sleep when experiencing/remembering dreams.

Can you analyze my dreams?

Experts on dreams say that dreams have meanings and the prime basis is what’s happening in your life. There are straight forward dreams, beautiful like paradise dreams and, also visions of unexplainable weird dreams.


This morning, I remember two dreams and woke me up both times. Needless to say, I did not get a well rested sleep as my brain seemed to like to analyze the dream each time I woke up.
The first dream was in a place where I seemed to get off from a car to check a place that got my attention. I was so busy checking and buying things as I walked around the area when reality hit me that the car I was riding in was gone. I stood still and fear overcome me. How would I get back home? I was so fearful that I felt abandoned. Helpless, I did not know where to turn.
The second dream that was so vivid and realistic too was in a cheap hotel without any bed and furniture; just full of clothes scattered on the floor and some traveling bags. It seemed like I just woke up and started looking around. I noticed that my purse was empty. I checked my tote bag and realized I did not have anything in it, my wallet and my ID and credit cards were all gone. I panicked and run to the door and opened it and saw an old woman looking up to me and had a big grin on her face. I was trying to scream for help but no words came out from my mouth. I was so devastated and again helpless.


The second dream completely threw me off and made me wide awake. I could not seem to get back to sleep.


Dream experts said that whatever you were thinking just before you’ve gone to bed is what will manifest in your dream or dreams. Which is true in some of my dreams, but does not apply to these recent dreams. It could probably be a suppressed feelings I have in the back of my mind.
My dreams seem to be about abandonment and being alone; like all of what is mine are being stolen and I was left with nothing. In these dreams, there was nobody I knew in real life was around, like they just left me.


For one thing, I never liked the feeling of losing sleep the next morning. I only had about a six hours of sleep and I don’t like it one bit.


Power nap, here I come to join you later! Probably…


update 9/5/14: This Bible verse played in my mind yesterday in connection to my dream:


Deuteronomy 31:6
⁶ “Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.”     The Message (MSG)

Lemon Water and Body Alkalizing

I've heard so much about how lemon is beneficial to your health and around your kitchen. I really thought it was just a wives' tale; not until I tried using it myself.

 

My first attempt with its use is to sanitize our kitchen sink after preparing food for cooking; especially poultry and meat products. The lemon leaves a clean scent  on the sink and the kitchen. I also use it to clean our cutting boards.

 

Then, as I increased and added more vegetables and fruits in my daily diet, I've also used lemons to wash and clean my sustainable farmers' produce.

 

Early in Spring this year, I've started drinking warm lemon water after I wake up and before I start my day and on an empty stomach. I've had consumed lemon water on and off in the past, especially when I would catch a cold. Definitely this year, after I've read a book on how alkalizing your body can greatly benefit your health, I've added this morning routine to see if it does make a difference.

 

As of this writing, I can say lemon water does my body good. I feel that it gives me so much energy. The pains I would feel from time to time before I started this regimen are all gone. I feel good. It does help also when I've started eating more fruits and vegetables each day. My body just seems to appreciate the caring I'm giving to it and my immune system is as healthy. As a precaution since lemons can erode the enamel of my teeth overtime, I drink my lemon water using a straw and I gargle after I had lemon water.

 

Through the years, I've become unyielding or adamant about taking over the counter drugs and prescription pills. Conventional drugs are not part of my healing process especially this year. With all those side effects I see on TV, I can well say, I do not take any prescription drugs nor the over the counter ones. I've gotten scared on how they will damage the insides of my body.

 

Recently, I bought some ph balance test strips, and I can say that my body is now more alkaline than acidic.

Good Sleeping Hygiene

I used to have a problem with sleeping. In the past years, with work, media news, internet, TV watching and busy schedules on weekdays and weekends, sleep was not a priority. I had to force myself to go to sleep. I was so wired up that it would take me an hour or two to get a shut eye. No wonder I was so exhausted most of the time.

Understandably, I also would get sick with colds. Not so much with flu, but I remember getting strep throat, which I caught from someone at work. I learned later that I had a compromised immune system. One time, I just lost my voice. I had laryngitis. I also had appendicitis where my appendix burst! Worst side effect of sleep deprivation to the body is depression. I was depressed most of the time. What helped me in this department has been the amino acid Gaba Plus.

On top of this, I was dehydrated. My body lacked caring. I thought working out was enough to take care of my body. I only learned in the past year that these side effects of deprived sleep happened to me because I did not know how to take care of my body.

Eventually, I changed my lifestyle where good sleep and right food choices are now my life's priorities. It helped a lot, too, now that I am no longer working. I was so blessed in that department. But still, it took me years after I stopped working to get my body feeling healthy.

One of the things I've reorganized is my sleeping habits. I found and bought a book at one of our fuel stops during one of our roadtrips. The title of the book is The New Bible Cure for Sleep Disorders. It was heaven sent. It detailed latest findings, ancient truths about sleep and natural remedies to a better goodnight rest.

At first, it was hard to change sleeping patterns. I took the advice given in the book about taking herbal sleeping supplements; but most of all, I made it a point to sleep at the same time each night and waking up at the same time each morning.  It took me awhile to be able to sleep from 7 to 8 hours each time. But what helps me the most is this sleeping herbal supplement called Deep Sleep. It promotes restful sleep and waking up refreshed. It doesn't have side effects.  I started taking one softgel one hour before I get to bed, and another one at bedtime. Now, I only take one softgel one hour before bedtime and once I hit my pillow, I'm out like a light. When I wake in the morning, I feel so restful and I am ready to start my new day.

It is very true that following a sleeping schedule each night helps my body heals properly. Sleep is a very powerful process in curing and preventing long term chronic illnesses that can develop when I am sleep deprived. Amazingly, I feel my body being healed.

The realization of caring and giving my body enough rest is a revelation by itself. It opened my mind as to why in the hospitals, doctors and nurses want the patients to get a lot of sleep. Sometimes, they will medically induce coma on a patient to let the body system heals naturally. I realized I have allies inside my body who are willing and able and tireless in getting me back to how my body should naturally feel.

Love your HEART!

February is National Heart Month-- Take care of your Heart!

February 7, 2014 at 12:06pm

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I will bless the LORD who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me. Psalm 16:7

I had a very relaxing sleep last night after I've read this:

God's Presence doesn't leave us when we sleep. He doesn't guide us only when we're consciously focusing on Him and intellectually processing His Word. According to Proverbs 16:9, He determines our steps in spite of all our plans; and in Psalm 16:7, He moves in our hearts even while we sleep. When His Spirit is allowed to dwell freely within us, we are always being shaped.

That ought to put us at ease about getting direction for our lives. Yes, our path looks very uncertain from our perspective as we try to discern God's will and sort out the open and closed doors He has put in front of us. But He isn't worried at all about whether we "get it right." He has ways of moving us into the right spot at the right time. And He has ways of turning our hearts even during the night.

We need to seek God's will and zealously desire to walk in it. But we don't have to feel pressure to perfectly know which steps He wants us to take. If we're doing our best to follow Him and make a misstep, He'll get us back on the right parth. Unless we're walking in rebellion, our Guide doesn't lead us on a pass-fail basis. He knows how to get us from point A to point B.

Trust God's Presence within you to guide you. Pay attention to the things He is doing in your heart. Ask Him every night before you go to sleep to fill you with His will --- to "program" your mind with divine downloads that set your course from within. Then be sensitive to the ways He leads. You can let your heart instruct you because He instructs your heart.

~Father God, I bless You as the Lord who guides me. Instruct my heart at night, then teach me to hear the instructions You have given. Help me always to step into Your will. In Jesus Name I pray...~

from: Experiencing God's Presence

God's Mercy, His Amazing Grace!

TITUS 3:5-7 God saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.


The title is: Does God want people to be afraid of Him?

An elderly person may be hesitant to walk on icy streets during the winter, fearing a slip, fall, and broken bones. A person may be afraid to climb aboard an airliner that has not passed its safety certification. A child may be fearful of walking past a dog that barks and bares its fangs. Folks need to be afraid of some things. Yet where does God fit into the fear equation? Does God want people to be afraid of Him?
Fear is a natural reaction to a person, place, or thing that threatens an individual. The Bible indicates such fear is appropriate when one is confronted with God. Jesus told His disciples they should fear God more than they feared people because God has the power to send someone to hell. God is not someone to be taken lightly, since He holds ultimate power over your life. In that sense, then, God does want people to be afraid of Him.

Yet the Bible says your fear of God can be the means to a deeper trust in Him. When that happens, terror is transformed into reverence, awe, and respect for God. Genesis says that happened to Jacob. As Jacob prepared for bed, a strong adversary attacked him and wrestled him to the ground. All night long, the two fought until Jacob’s adversary said, “Enough!” By then Jacob had realized he was wrestling with God. Any time during the wrestling match, God could have snuffed out Jacob’s life, but He did not. And Jacob, recognizing that fact, held more tightly to God, refusing to let Him go until God blessed him. What began in Jacob as a deep-seated fear for his life was replaced with a deeper trust in God and a longing for His goodness. Being fearful of what God can do to you can become the means for bringing you closer to Him, too. The Bible promises God will always bless those who fear and reverence Him.
The Bible says the fear of God is to be seen and expressed by God’s children in their words, actions, and worship.

The fear of God will act as a key to unlock the treasures of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge and to help build a sure foundation for your life.

The Bible says possessing a fear of God will lead to a proper respect for others, a positive attitude toward work, and a building of right relationships among God’s people.
from:100 answers to 100 questions about God
“Some people think that God peers over the balcony of heaven trying to find anybody who is enjoying life. And when He spots a happy person, He yells, “Now cut that out!” That concept of God should make us shudder because it is blasphemous.” Paul Little

In with the new you!

 

Out with the old, in with the new! It's good to start 2014 on the right track...

 

And, I like to start it with these guidelines:

 

http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/ss/slideshow-longer-life-secrets?ecd=soc_fb_010114_livelonger

 

So, here's...