Most of you know that I am on a pretty rigorous diet. I am losing weight and doing well - and I am having some insights about my relationship with food. Food is one of my hobbies - and I am thinking about that and how I am going to have to have a better perspective of food, be in balance so I don't become overweight again.
Yesterday I bought a french baguette, it was perfect, for the family - I was not eating any of it, of course, on this diet. I had to break a piece off for B, and the crust was just exquisite - I could imagine cold, salty butter slathered on a hunk of it; I could taste it; I could feel it. I wasn't physically hungry - but then wanted to eat it. It would have been a simple pleasure, and I would have enjoyed it. Also, earlier in the day, I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for B - I could imagine the taste, the texture and the way I would feel full and satisfied.
All of this made me think of Jesus statement in a new way - you know when he said, "My food is for me to do the will of my Father who sent me"? I had an understanding that it was more than just "sustenance" which alone was significant - his very life - but, it was pleasurable for him, he enjoyed it.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
More Useless Nonsense - the term "Bookie"
Sadly, the beloved author, Dick Francis died last weekend - he was 89. I have read every one of his books, and was reading his most recent (his last book will be published posthumously) book called Even Money. All of his books are set somehow in the racing world, and this one is about bookies, the people who take the bets on horses at races. He explains where the term originated:
"In the good old days, when bookmaking was an art rather than a science, every transaction was written down in "the book" by an assistant. Nowadays, as in most things, it was on a computer that everything was recorded."
A Duh! moment for me. So there you go. Another brain cell fired and now you know this - how you will use it, I can NEVER IMAGINE, but it was fun, wasn't it?
Last spring I took the kids and several of their friends to a thoroughbred race track for an afternoon of racing - everyone should see a horse race at least once in their life.
"In the good old days, when bookmaking was an art rather than a science, every transaction was written down in "the book" by an assistant. Nowadays, as in most things, it was on a computer that everything was recorded."
A Duh! moment for me. So there you go. Another brain cell fired and now you know this - how you will use it, I can NEVER IMAGINE, but it was fun, wasn't it?
Last spring I took the kids and several of their friends to a thoroughbred race track for an afternoon of racing - everyone should see a horse race at least once in their life.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
The Way WE Think of Ourselves vs. God's
I heard a couple of things this week from 2 different people I wanted to relate - Do you think you are worthless in God's eyes or that he has decided you are not good enough?
"As regards whatever our hearts may condemn us in, ...God is greater than our hearts and knows all things." 1 John 3:20
That word, condemn, in the original Greek carries the meaning of "sentencing to death" -so while WE may in essence sentence ourselves to death because of the way WE are thinking about ourselves or the way WE have decided what Jehovah must think of us, Jehovah says he is greater than our hearts - that he sees or knows us differently.
Our feelings come from our thoughts. We would agree that our thoughts of ourselves, because of imperfection and many times because of the things we may have suffered and impacted us growing up, are not accurate - Jehovah's thoughts or perceptions of us, however, would always be accurate. So a short way of saying the same thing is that the way Jehovah perceives us is not the way WE perceive ourselves.
We are told that, "No man can come to me unless the Father draws him." John 6:44. The fact that you were drawn to the truth reveals that Jehovah looked at you and saw desirable, good things about you. Otherwise he would not have drawn you. The word drawn in this scripture carries the thought of there being resistance with it though. When the apostles were trying to catch fish all night and nothing happened, and then Jesus made the nets full, the scripture used that same word of "drawing" in the nets, that they were so heavy that there was resistance. So the idea is that Jehovah looked at YOU, saw/sees the good in you that you cannot even see and wants you, draws you, even if there is resistance - even if that resistance is because of the way WE think of ourselves.
And what if we fall, lose faith, take a misstep? Is is over? "For the righteous one may fall even seven times, and he will certainly get up . . " This point of seven times is an idiom in Hebrew for "often". The point is that the righteous fall. Often.
But you can get up. You can get up because even though you are lying there thinking, perceiving yourself as being condemned, sentenced to death - the way Jehovah perceives you is not that way.
In the bible reading this week, Samson compromises his faith and pays a very heavy price. Interestingly, he is listed in Hebrews 11 as a an example of faith. When we look at Samson or maybe when Samson looked at himself, all he could see was the negative. But that is not the way Jehovah looked at him. He is listed as a man of faith, not a man of compromise. Jehovah sees the good - just like you.
"As regards whatever our hearts may condemn us in, ...God is greater than our hearts and knows all things." 1 John 3:20
That word, condemn, in the original Greek carries the meaning of "sentencing to death" -so while WE may in essence sentence ourselves to death because of the way WE are thinking about ourselves or the way WE have decided what Jehovah must think of us, Jehovah says he is greater than our hearts - that he sees or knows us differently.
Our feelings come from our thoughts. We would agree that our thoughts of ourselves, because of imperfection and many times because of the things we may have suffered and impacted us growing up, are not accurate - Jehovah's thoughts or perceptions of us, however, would always be accurate. So a short way of saying the same thing is that the way Jehovah perceives us is not the way WE perceive ourselves.
We are told that, "No man can come to me unless the Father draws him." John 6:44. The fact that you were drawn to the truth reveals that Jehovah looked at you and saw desirable, good things about you. Otherwise he would not have drawn you. The word drawn in this scripture carries the thought of there being resistance with it though. When the apostles were trying to catch fish all night and nothing happened, and then Jesus made the nets full, the scripture used that same word of "drawing" in the nets, that they were so heavy that there was resistance. So the idea is that Jehovah looked at YOU, saw/sees the good in you that you cannot even see and wants you, draws you, even if there is resistance - even if that resistance is because of the way WE think of ourselves.
And what if we fall, lose faith, take a misstep? Is is over? "For the righteous one may fall even seven times, and he will certainly get up . . " This point of seven times is an idiom in Hebrew for "often". The point is that the righteous fall. Often.
But you can get up. You can get up because even though you are lying there thinking, perceiving yourself as being condemned, sentenced to death - the way Jehovah perceives you is not that way.
In the bible reading this week, Samson compromises his faith and pays a very heavy price. Interestingly, he is listed in Hebrews 11 as a an example of faith. When we look at Samson or maybe when Samson looked at himself, all he could see was the negative. But that is not the way Jehovah looked at him. He is listed as a man of faith, not a man of compromise. Jehovah sees the good - just like you.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Persuade your heavenly Father?
Briggs Crites delivered the Dedication and Baptism talk at the circuit assembly this weekend, and he said to the candidates:
"You cannot persuade your heavenly Father that you do not have time to read his word the Bible every day."
This quote really jumped out at me - it was actually the only thing I wrote down as "notes" during his talk, and at lunch I went over to talk with him about it, to tell him how much it resonated with me. He told me this quote was actually one he "borrowed" from Bro. Loesch's talk at the Delaware KH dedication. He also related that in that talk Bro. Loesch said that he used to smoke (surprise! I thought he was always a JW too.) He said that the 2 best cigarettes of the day were the 1st one in the morning and the last one before going to bed - and that if you were sitting on the edge of the bed, ready for that last smoke and found out you did not have any cigarettes, you would get dressed and go to the store to get more. Smile - kind of a funny way to relate the necessity we want to feel to read the bible every day, but it underlines the point, doesn't it?
I read the bible with Bronwyn before she goes to bed - there have been nights that she has said, "What about the bible reading?", and I have replied, "Not tonight, it is too late." But it is true, I really could not persuade our Heavenly Father that there isn't time to read his word . . . and so this is indeed a case of ME having to transform my thinking (and therefore my feelings too.)
"You cannot persuade your heavenly Father that you do not have time to read his word the Bible every day."
This quote really jumped out at me - it was actually the only thing I wrote down as "notes" during his talk, and at lunch I went over to talk with him about it, to tell him how much it resonated with me. He told me this quote was actually one he "borrowed" from Bro. Loesch's talk at the Delaware KH dedication. He also related that in that talk Bro. Loesch said that he used to smoke (surprise! I thought he was always a JW too.) He said that the 2 best cigarettes of the day were the 1st one in the morning and the last one before going to bed - and that if you were sitting on the edge of the bed, ready for that last smoke and found out you did not have any cigarettes, you would get dressed and go to the store to get more. Smile - kind of a funny way to relate the necessity we want to feel to read the bible every day, but it underlines the point, doesn't it?
I read the bible with Bronwyn before she goes to bed - there have been nights that she has said, "What about the bible reading?", and I have replied, "Not tonight, it is too late." But it is true, I really could not persuade our Heavenly Father that there isn't time to read his word . . . and so this is indeed a case of ME having to transform my thinking (and therefore my feelings too.)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)