Sunday, May 16, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Ordinary People
Girl, I'm in love with you But this ain't the honeymoon We've passed the infatuation phase We're right in the thick of love At times we get sick of love It seems like we argue every day I know I misbehaved And you made your mistakes And we've both still got room left to grow And though love sometimes hurts I still put you first And we'll make this thing work But I think we should take it slow We're just ordinary people We don't know which way to go Cause we're ordinary people Maybe we should take it slow Take it slow, oh oh, this time we'll take it slow Take it slow, oh oh, this time we'll take it slow This ain't a movie, no No fairytale conclusion y'all It gets more confusing every day Sometimes it's Heaven sent Then we head back to Hell again We kiss, then we make up on the way I hang up, you call We rise and we fall And we feel like just walking away As our love advances We take second chances Though it's not a fantasy I still want you to stay We're just ordinary people We don't know which way to go Cause we're ordinary people Maybe we should take it slow Take it slow, oh oh, this time we'll take it slow Take it slow, oh oh, this time we'll take it slow Take it slow Maybe we'll live and learn Maybe we'll crash and burn Maybe you'll stay Maybe you''ll leave Maybe you'll return Maybe another fight Maybe we won't survive Maybe we'll grow We'll never know Baby, you and I We're just ordinary people We don't know which way to go Cause we're ordinary people Maybe we should take it slow, hey We're just ordinary people We don't know which way to go Cause we're ordinary people Maybe we should take it slow Take it slow, oh oh, this time we'll take it slow Take it slow, oh oh, this time we'll take it slow Take it slow,slow [fade]
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Open up your heart..
"Today if ye hear his voice, harden not your hearts." (Hebrews 4:7)
The Pharaoh of the Exodus has come down through history as the ruler with the hardened heart. When the Israelites were in Egyptian captivity it was the Pharaoh whose hardened heart refused, over and over again, to let God's people go. As the result of his stubbornness God's wrath fell upon the land of the Nile. Furthermore, Pharaoh's defiant attitude caused him to lose 600 chariots and 1,200 of his best men when they were all engulfed and drowned in the Red Sea.
The hardened heart is a stubborn attitude that leads a person to reject God's will. It is an act of defiance, but seldom one of ignorance. We know the message, but we reject part or all of it. We may, for instance, believe that God's laws are primarily designed to promote a harsh, sanctimonious view of others. This is what many New Ager's think -- that traditional Christians are too judgmental. So they pick the part of God's message they like -- love, for instance -- and apply that as the essence of the law, while rejecting the rest of it. They are dead wrong, of course. Forbearance and humbleness is the way of Christ, not self-righteousness. But their hardened hearts will not accept this truth. They believe what their hardened hearts want to believe. Amen!
When God's ethical standards seem too high, people can suffer hardened hearts. When He allows personal tragedy to strike, hearts may harden against Him. When He leads us on paths where we do not want to go, that may harden hearts. Total submission to His will softens hearts, and God's people must always have a soft heart toward their Creator. A soft heart is also an open heart, open to His will and open to His plan for our lives.
The Pharaoh of the Exodus has come down through history as the ruler with the hardened heart. When the Israelites were in Egyptian captivity it was the Pharaoh whose hardened heart refused, over and over again, to let God's people go. As the result of his stubbornness God's wrath fell upon the land of the Nile. Furthermore, Pharaoh's defiant attitude caused him to lose 600 chariots and 1,200 of his best men when they were all engulfed and drowned in the Red Sea.
The hardened heart is a stubborn attitude that leads a person to reject God's will. It is an act of defiance, but seldom one of ignorance. We know the message, but we reject part or all of it. We may, for instance, believe that God's laws are primarily designed to promote a harsh, sanctimonious view of others. This is what many New Ager's think -- that traditional Christians are too judgmental. So they pick the part of God's message they like -- love, for instance -- and apply that as the essence of the law, while rejecting the rest of it. They are dead wrong, of course. Forbearance and humbleness is the way of Christ, not self-righteousness. But their hardened hearts will not accept this truth. They believe what their hardened hearts want to believe. Amen!
When God's ethical standards seem too high, people can suffer hardened hearts. When He allows personal tragedy to strike, hearts may harden against Him. When He leads us on paths where we do not want to go, that may harden hearts. Total submission to His will softens hearts, and God's people must always have a soft heart toward their Creator. A soft heart is also an open heart, open to His will and open to His plan for our lives.
How does God answer our prayers?
Thomas Edison, whose knowledge is pretty profound, wrote in August, 1921, "We don't know the millionth part of one per cent about anything. We don't know what water is. We don't know what light is. We don't know what gravitation is. We don't know what enables us to keep on our feet to stand up. We don't know what electricity is. We don't know what heat is. We don't know anything about magnetism. We have a lot of hypotheses, but that is all." But we do not allow our ignorance about all these things to deprive us of their use! We do not know much about prayer, but surely this need not prevent us from praying! We do know what our Lord has taught us about prayer. And we do know that He has sent the Holy Spirit to teach us all things (John 14:26). How, then, does God answer prayers?
He reveals His mind to those who pray. His Holy Spirit puts fresh ideas into the minds of praying people. We are quite aware that the devil and his angels are busy enough putting bad thoughts into our minds. Surely, then, God and His holy angels can give us good thoughts? Even poor, weak, sinful men and women can put good thoughts into the minds of others.
God has many things to say to us. He has many thoughts to put into our minds. We are apt to be so busy doing His work that we do not stop to listen to His Word. Prayer gives God the opportunity of speaking to us and revealing His will to us. May our attitude often be: "Speak, Lord, Thy servant heareth." God answers other prayers by putting new thoughts into the minds of those we pray for.
It is when we pray that God can help us in our work and strengthen our resolves. For we can answer many of our own prayers.
But we should never think it unreasonable that God should make some things dependent upon our prayers. Some people say that if God really loves us He would give us what is best for us whether we ask Him or not. There was a man who has so beautifully pointed out that God has left man many things to do for himself. He promises seed time and harvest. Yet man must prepare the soil, sow, and till, and reap in order to allow God to do His share. God provides us with food and drink. But He leaves us to take, and eat, and drink. There are some things God cannot, or at least will not, do without our help. God cannot do some things unless we think. He never decorates His truth upon the sky. The laws of science have always been there. But we must think, and experiment, and think again if we would use those laws for our own good and God's glory.
God cannot do some things unless we work. He stores the hills with marble, but He has never built a cathedral. He fills the mountains with iron ore, but He never makes a needle or a locomotive. He leaves that to us. We must work.
The momentous question for you and me is not, however, "How does God answer prayer?" The question is, "Do I really pray?" What a marvelous power God places at our disposal! Do we for a moment think that anything displeasing to God is worth our while holding on to? Trust Christ wholly, and you will find Him wholly true.
Let us give God the chance of putting His mind into us, and we shall never doubt the power of prayer again. Amen!
He reveals His mind to those who pray. His Holy Spirit puts fresh ideas into the minds of praying people. We are quite aware that the devil and his angels are busy enough putting bad thoughts into our minds. Surely, then, God and His holy angels can give us good thoughts? Even poor, weak, sinful men and women can put good thoughts into the minds of others.
God has many things to say to us. He has many thoughts to put into our minds. We are apt to be so busy doing His work that we do not stop to listen to His Word. Prayer gives God the opportunity of speaking to us and revealing His will to us. May our attitude often be: "Speak, Lord, Thy servant heareth." God answers other prayers by putting new thoughts into the minds of those we pray for.
It is when we pray that God can help us in our work and strengthen our resolves. For we can answer many of our own prayers.
But we should never think it unreasonable that God should make some things dependent upon our prayers. Some people say that if God really loves us He would give us what is best for us whether we ask Him or not. There was a man who has so beautifully pointed out that God has left man many things to do for himself. He promises seed time and harvest. Yet man must prepare the soil, sow, and till, and reap in order to allow God to do His share. God provides us with food and drink. But He leaves us to take, and eat, and drink. There are some things God cannot, or at least will not, do without our help. God cannot do some things unless we think. He never decorates His truth upon the sky. The laws of science have always been there. But we must think, and experiment, and think again if we would use those laws for our own good and God's glory.
God cannot do some things unless we work. He stores the hills with marble, but He has never built a cathedral. He fills the mountains with iron ore, but He never makes a needle or a locomotive. He leaves that to us. We must work.
The momentous question for you and me is not, however, "How does God answer prayer?" The question is, "Do I really pray?" What a marvelous power God places at our disposal! Do we for a moment think that anything displeasing to God is worth our while holding on to? Trust Christ wholly, and you will find Him wholly true.
Let us give God the chance of putting His mind into us, and we shall never doubt the power of prayer again. Amen!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Sleeping Personalities
Our lives, the amount of sleep we get, and how well we actually rest during those nighttime hours may change drastically over time. However, one sleep researcher says that our body position in bed could say something about who we are, not just what else is happening in our lives.
Professor Chris Idzikowski, director of the Sleep Assessment and Advisory Service, says that a study of 1,000 Brits revealed that the six most common sleeping positions are indicative of personality types.
If this sounds ridiculous (and honestly, I'd love to see information on this study and the analysis fleshed out further than any of the reports I could find), consider that Idzikowski says it comes down to body language.
"We are all aware of our body language when we are awake but this is the first time we have been able to see what our subconscious posture says about us," Idzikowski said. "What's interesting is that the profile behind the posture is often very different from what we would expect."
The research also links certain sleeping positions with health risks. Some aid digestion while others spur on snoring and restlessness.
Here are the six common sleeping positions and correlated personality traits and health implications, according to this study.
* Fetus position - A whopping 41% of participants sleep in this curled-up manner. Women are twice as likely to rest like this and it is listed as the most common position. These sleepers are said to have a tough exterior but are still sensitive and may appear to be shy but warm up quickly.
* Log position - If you sleep on your side with both arms down, you are a social, easy-going person who is trusting, sometimes to the point of being gullible. The study showed 15% of people sleep like a log.
* Yearner position - A close third is the side-lying position with both arms out in front of the body, with 13% of partipants sleeping like this. Yearners are noted to be open-minded and still cynical, suspicious, and stubborn about sticking to decisions once they are made.
* Soldier position - These sleepers lie on their backs with arms down and kept close to the body. This 8% study is said to be reserved, quiet, without fuss, and hold themselves and others to a high standard. Soldier sleepers have a higher likelihood for snoring due to the flat-back position, which may not cause them to wake up often but may result in a less restful night's sleep.
* Freefall position - Those people who lie on their bellies with arms under or wrapped around a pillow with head turned to the side, make up 7% of the population studied. Freefallers are brash, outgoing, and are very uncomfortable with criticism.
* Starfish position - Sleepers who lie on their backs with arms up near their head or the pillow account for 5% of participants. These people are good listeners, helpful, and are uncomfortable being the center of attention. People who sleep in starfish position are more likely to snore and to suffer from a poor night's sleep more often.
If you think you are one of those people who move through all of these positions, that's not likely to really be the case. Idzikowski said the research reveals most people stay in the same position all night and only 5% lay differently night by night. Also interesting is that the study showed only one in ten people cover their bodies entirely with a blanket, with most people exposing an arm, leg, or both feet.
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