On Jan 25, 1990, Avianca Flight 52 from Colombia crashed just 15 miles short of New York's Kennedy International Airport, killing 73 passengers. Reason: the plane just ran out of gas. Under international regulations, an airliner must carry enough fuel to reach its destination as well as its assigned alternate, plus enough extra to handle at least 45 minutes of delays. Due to low fuel condition, the Avianca pilots had requested "priority" (not "emergency") landing. Because the exact word "emergency" was not used, and due to heavy traffic and bad weather conditions, the ill-fated plane was placed on a holding pattern...until it simply ran out of gas.
Source Unknown.
________________________________________
A first-grader wondered why her father brought home a briefcase full of work every evening. Her mother explained, "Daddy has so much to do that he can't finish it all at the office." "Well, then," asked the child innocently, "why don't they put him in a slower group?"
Do you have too many problems staring you in the face? Too much to do and not enough time and energy to tackle what needs to be done? If so, you’re probably feeling overwhelmed. But there are ways out.
Matthew 11:28-30:
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
A yoke is a heavy wooden harness that fits over the shoulders of an ox or oxen.
It is attached to a piece of equipment the oxen are to pull. A person may be carrying heavy burdens around themselves. Jesus came to free people from all these burdens.
The rest that Jesus promises is love, healing, and peace with God, not the end of all labor. A relationship with God changes meaningless, wearisome toil into spiritual productivity and purpose.
In what sense was Jesus yoke easy? The yoke emphasizes the challenges, work, and difficulties of partnering with Christ in life.
Responsibilities weigh us down, even the effort of staying true to God. But Jesus yoke remains easy compared to the crushing alternative.
Jesus doesn’t offer a life of luxurious ease- the yoke is still an oxen’s tool for working hard.
But it’s a shared yoke, with weight falling on bigger shoulders than yours.
Someone with more pulling power is up front helping. Suddenly you are participating in life’s responsibilities with a great Partner- and now that frown can turn into a smile, and that gripe into a song.
All of us will have trouble in this world from time to time, and on this fact we can all agree; however, Jesus tells us in John 16:33, "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world." Notice that He did not say that we might have trouble in this world, but instead, He specifically says that we will have trouble.
In spite of the inevitable struggles we will face, we will not face them alone. Jesus does not abandon us to our struggles. If we remember that the ultimate victory has already been won, we can claim the peace of Christ in our most troublesome times.
Be still, and know that I am God: (Psalm 46:10) Take time each day to be still and to honor God.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
Stress!!! How to deal
What happens when you are stressed?
Stress is what you feel when you have to handle more than you are used to. When you are stressed, your body responds as though you are in danger. It makes hormones that speed up your heart, make you breathe faster, and give you a burst of energy. This is called the fight-or-flight stress response.
Some stress is normal and even useful. It can help if you need to work hard or react quickly. For example, it can help you win a race or finish an important job on time.
But if stress happens too often or lasts too long, it can have bad effects. It can be linked to headaches, an upset stomach, back pain, or trouble sleeping.
It can weaken your immune system, making it harder to fight off disease. If you already have a health problem, stress may make it worse. It can make you moody, tense, or depressed. Your relationships may suffer, and you may not do well at work or school.
How can you relieve stress?
You will feel better if you can find ways to get stress out of your system. The best ways to relieve stress are different for each person
How to deal with stress
Matthew 6:34 says, don’t worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Planning for tomorrow is time well spent. Worrying about tomorrow is time wasted.
Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference. Careful planning is thinking ahead about goals, steps, and schedules, and trusting in God’s guidance.
Worriers by contrast are consumed by fear and find it difficult to trust God. They let their plans interfere with their relationship with God. Don’t let worries about tomorrow affect your relationship with God today.
1. Concentrate on things that are calming.
Philippians 4:8-9 says fix your thoughts of what is true, and honorable, and right and pure and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice, all you’ve learned and received from me-everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
It’s not enough to hear and read the Word of God, or even know it well. We must also put it into practice .How easy it is to listen to a sermon and forget what the preacher said.
How easy is it to read the Bible and not think about how to live differently? How easy it is to debate what a passage means and not live out that meaning. Exposure to God’s Word is not enough. It must lead to obedience.
A. Today’s society is caught up in noise and confusion. And its music is loud and thunderous; its entertainment is explosive, sometimes destructive.
B. Deal with stress, by concentrating on calming influences. Such as go on a nature walk; gaze upon a flowing river, calming things brings relaxation.
C. Listen to the soothing hymns of the church. Pray and fellowship with God while meditating on his promises.
2. Cooperate with inevitable (incapable of being avoided) conditions
Romans 8:28 says and we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
God works in everything-not just isolated incidents-for our good. This does not mean that all that happens to us is good. Evil is prevalent in our fallen world, but God is able to turn every circumstance around for our long range good.
Note that God is not working to make us happy but to fulfill his purpose.
A. Many Christians suffer stress, because they struggle with and fight against inevitable conditions.
B. Jesus conquered stress because he did not fret about difficult situation. He simply turned in possibilities into opportunities. We should do likewise.
C. Sometimes we must accept situations that we are powerless to change, doing our best and trusting God for the rest.
Serenity Prayer:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change
Courage to change the things I can
and wisdom to know the difference
Living one day at a time
Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.
3. Comfort others, who have complaints,
Second Corinthians 1:4 says, he comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
Many think that when God comforts us, our trouble should go away. But if that were always so, people would turn to God only out of a desire to be relieved of pain and not out of love for him.
We must understand that being comforted can also mean receiving strength, encouragement, and hope to deal with our troubles.
The more we suffer the more comfort God gives us. If you are feeling overwhelmed, allow God to comfort you. Remember that every trial you endure will help you comfort other people who are suffering similar troubles.
A. Many Christians fail to comfort others as they should. They are too concerned about selfish interests.
B. Jesus cared about the difficulties of others he healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, and for gave the sinful.
C. We should get involved in helping the less fortunate also. Comforting others who have problems will also help to solve our own complaints.
4. Constantly trust God with all our concerns.
Psalms 6: 8says trust in him at all times.
A. If we are to conquer stress, we should be aware of God’s presence at all times. We do not always feel his presence, but through faith we know He is near.
B. We are able to trust God, because we are not alone. He promised, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
C. We must also yield ourselves to God’s will, letting him do his work through us, carrying the responsibility.
Romans 6:13 says do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead give yourself completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
Will you give yourself completely to God, asking him to put you to good use for his glory?
Diamonds take time and stress - diamonds are produced from coal that outlasted the pressures placed upon them.
Second Corinthians 4:8 says We are experiencing trouble on every side, 1 but are not crushed; we are perplexed but not driven to despair;.
Though we may feel we are at the end of a rope, we are never at the end of our hope.
Stress is what you feel when you have to handle more than you are used to. When you are stressed, your body responds as though you are in danger. It makes hormones that speed up your heart, make you breathe faster, and give you a burst of energy. This is called the fight-or-flight stress response.
Some stress is normal and even useful. It can help if you need to work hard or react quickly. For example, it can help you win a race or finish an important job on time.
But if stress happens too often or lasts too long, it can have bad effects. It can be linked to headaches, an upset stomach, back pain, or trouble sleeping.
It can weaken your immune system, making it harder to fight off disease. If you already have a health problem, stress may make it worse. It can make you moody, tense, or depressed. Your relationships may suffer, and you may not do well at work or school.
How can you relieve stress?
You will feel better if you can find ways to get stress out of your system. The best ways to relieve stress are different for each person
How to deal with stress
Matthew 6:34 says, don’t worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Planning for tomorrow is time well spent. Worrying about tomorrow is time wasted.
Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference. Careful planning is thinking ahead about goals, steps, and schedules, and trusting in God’s guidance.
Worriers by contrast are consumed by fear and find it difficult to trust God. They let their plans interfere with their relationship with God. Don’t let worries about tomorrow affect your relationship with God today.
1. Concentrate on things that are calming.
Philippians 4:8-9 says fix your thoughts of what is true, and honorable, and right and pure and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice, all you’ve learned and received from me-everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
It’s not enough to hear and read the Word of God, or even know it well. We must also put it into practice .How easy it is to listen to a sermon and forget what the preacher said.
How easy is it to read the Bible and not think about how to live differently? How easy it is to debate what a passage means and not live out that meaning. Exposure to God’s Word is not enough. It must lead to obedience.
A. Today’s society is caught up in noise and confusion. And its music is loud and thunderous; its entertainment is explosive, sometimes destructive.
B. Deal with stress, by concentrating on calming influences. Such as go on a nature walk; gaze upon a flowing river, calming things brings relaxation.
C. Listen to the soothing hymns of the church. Pray and fellowship with God while meditating on his promises.
2. Cooperate with inevitable (incapable of being avoided) conditions
Romans 8:28 says and we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
God works in everything-not just isolated incidents-for our good. This does not mean that all that happens to us is good. Evil is prevalent in our fallen world, but God is able to turn every circumstance around for our long range good.
Note that God is not working to make us happy but to fulfill his purpose.
A. Many Christians suffer stress, because they struggle with and fight against inevitable conditions.
B. Jesus conquered stress because he did not fret about difficult situation. He simply turned in possibilities into opportunities. We should do likewise.
C. Sometimes we must accept situations that we are powerless to change, doing our best and trusting God for the rest.
Serenity Prayer:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change
Courage to change the things I can
and wisdom to know the difference
Living one day at a time
Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.
3. Comfort others, who have complaints,
Second Corinthians 1:4 says, he comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
Many think that when God comforts us, our trouble should go away. But if that were always so, people would turn to God only out of a desire to be relieved of pain and not out of love for him.
We must understand that being comforted can also mean receiving strength, encouragement, and hope to deal with our troubles.
The more we suffer the more comfort God gives us. If you are feeling overwhelmed, allow God to comfort you. Remember that every trial you endure will help you comfort other people who are suffering similar troubles.
A. Many Christians fail to comfort others as they should. They are too concerned about selfish interests.
B. Jesus cared about the difficulties of others he healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, and for gave the sinful.
C. We should get involved in helping the less fortunate also. Comforting others who have problems will also help to solve our own complaints.
4. Constantly trust God with all our concerns.
Psalms 6: 8says trust in him at all times.
A. If we are to conquer stress, we should be aware of God’s presence at all times. We do not always feel his presence, but through faith we know He is near.
B. We are able to trust God, because we are not alone. He promised, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
C. We must also yield ourselves to God’s will, letting him do his work through us, carrying the responsibility.
Romans 6:13 says do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead give yourself completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
Will you give yourself completely to God, asking him to put you to good use for his glory?
Diamonds take time and stress - diamonds are produced from coal that outlasted the pressures placed upon them.
Second Corinthians 4:8 says We are experiencing trouble on every side, 1 but are not crushed; we are perplexed but not driven to despair;.
Though we may feel we are at the end of a rope, we are never at the end of our hope.
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