Sunday, September 23, 2012
The Entrepreneur ... Spirit unified is the power
by Dale Shumaker
Spirit Savvy Network
www.spiritsavvy.net
Finding your mission, Empowering your life through prayer,
Becoming a Missionary in the Marketplace,
Leading others to be Missionaries in the Marketplace
The Entrepreneur by Robert Ringer is about an entrepreneur approach on restoring the U.S. economy.
Ringer states that progressivism today is really retrogressive. "It's not revolution but invention that will liberate slaves." Innovation is the answer and that's what entrepreneurs thrive on. The entrepreneur is not interested in what someone else is going to do, he wants to know what he's done, and figure out a better way and get it done. He learns quickly through experience, seeks freedom to get it done. In other words, "get out of my way and let me do it."
The ultimate weapon is speed. Getting it done better, faster, more efficiently is his focus... he lives in a constant sense of urgency.
The life span of an entrepreneur depends on profits... produce more products, provide more services that people want, engage more people in what he does -- jobs.
The entrepreneur puts it all on the line. Not a safety net path... he could lose it all. He's not afraid of failure. Failure is actually a good thing because it serves to teach him valuable lessons, positive learning experiences. Some despise those who fail but it's the treacherous road to success. Thomas Jefferson died broke although it would be hard to convince anyone that he was a failure.
People must be allowed to fail. The world is not risk free, it's not one's place to make it risk free... the lessons from failure, character building from failure, life values from failure are its nurturing benefits for future stabilities. The entrepreneur sees failure as bringing him one step closer to success.
The entrepreneur knows that he cannot afford to procrastinate, and that without action neither freedom nor success is possible. Most of what we worry about never happens.
The entrepreneur lives with the willingness to go far beyond what others are willing to do. They do "whatever it takes." They do it willingly. Negativism surrounds the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs must have the self-confidence to rise above the derision and ridicule of his critics and keep moving forward.
Entrepreneurs are self-disciplined, persistent, resourceful. Their success creates jobs, stimulates the economy, results in better products and services at lower prices for everyone. He is a hero in the true sense of the word.
More on Robert Ringer's views at Robert Ringer.com
What led us out of the Great Depression remains as the foundation for advanced thinking today. What are the threads that when woven together form invincible strength in a business vision or mission?
1. Faith. They all had faith, believing in something much better than themselves can happen. Their faith was enlarged by their faith in God. Everything was believed to be possible, because they saw God as an active part of the process, since His Spirit creates through those who believe in His Power at work. This bred enthusiasm... (enthusiasm means God is within). So all things are possible outside of them. Vision faith then becomes a powerful force in their lives... a creative vision of new potential.
2. Transformation of the mind. The mind had to be reprogrammed to a new way of thinking, continuous learning and learning from others. It takes deliberate mental rehearsal to accomplish this.
Moving the mind from negative to Positive,
from critical to the Possible,
from what's wrong to "How I can fix it!" way of thinking.
We do this by inundating our mind with Spiritual Thought, continually; by listening, thinking, speaking, reading, interacting... constantly cultivating a frame of mind of positive potential.
3. Form Dreaming Teams. A Dreaming Team includes those who dream with you for positive solutions. Those who collaborate to find ways to carry them out, to create new results. Napoleon Hill called them mastermind groups. Jesus said where two or three agree it will be done. When minds are in harmony great power is released... ideas which engage the powers of God's Spirit.
4. Strategic Action
Napoleon Hill, W. Clement Stone, Og Mandino all had Strategic Action in their plans. The strategic actions included Divine Guidance as part of them. In other words, they relied on God-Inspired ideas and sought God-orchestrated direction. They believed everyone can hear from God and have His High level of intelligence at work with them.
They combined knowledge with Divine Strategy and added collaborating, cooperative action.
5. Making Noble contributions to a society is what motivated them.
They become cause based and labored in a strong sense of mission. All problems that they solved had a Higher purpose. The opportunities which become evident were an important contribution to society and met the needs people were struggling with.
Today's statistics verify how inept business is today.
Two skills are essential.
Having personal skills of business, and mission,
and effectively using Spiritual skills.
Stephen Covey, author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, says the one critical intelligence lacking in America is the use of Spiritual Intelligence. We don't understand it or know how to use it. We get hung up on religious themes and over look the fundamentals of its power.
Unity of minds and spirit is where the power is. We must partner and work as units.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
The Power of Communication ... the Ultimate Communication Power
by Dale Shumaker
Spirit Savvy Network
www.spiritsavvy.net
Finding your mission, Empowering your life through prayer,
Becoming a Missionary in the Marketplace,
Leading others to be Missionaries in the Marketplace
The Power of Communication by Helio Fred Garcia is about using the Marine Corps' strategy doctrine in Warfighting as a leadership communications strategy. War is not about killing but about outcomes, reaction time and change.
What is communication?
Communication is an act of will directed toward a living entity that reacts.
Effective communication is intentional, goal oriented, strategic. It's not impulsive and top of the mind. Understand your audience and its preoccupations, barriers that prevent acceptance on what you are saying. You need to change sometime and provoke a reaction.
Three communication standards to follow, taught by the Marines.
1. Engage. Speak with people who are asking you to.
2. Tell the truth. Don't lie or give away sensitive information.
3. Stay in your lane. Talk about what you know, not what is someone else's area.
The goal of communication to accomplish a tangible goal.
Words Matter
Communication is basically an interactive social process.
Strategic communication begins by asking questions in a certain sequence.
What do you have? What do you want? Who matters? What do we need them to think?
What do they need to see us do, hear us say, or hear others say about us?
How to we make it happen?
We are constantly in mutual process of adaption, of give and taking, of move and counter-move.
Taking audiences seriously.
We should not assume every audience thinks like we do, decides as we do, and has the same
values as we do. We must see ourselves through our audience eyes and adapt to get our
desired outcome. Get inside the audience thought processes and see the audience as it sees itself.
Words aren't enough
Communication rarely goes as it is anticipated. It seems to take its own course as it unfolds. We should base decisions on awareness, not mechanical habit.
Speed, Focus, and First Mover Advantage
Speed is rapidity in action, a tempo and ability to operate quickly, move rapidly.
Speed is a weapon for competitive advantage... communicate first and keep communicating. We achieve focus through consistency of message, tone, delivered in a timely way, across multiple spokes persons and communication channels.
Initiative, Maneuver and dis-proportionality
Incremental changes or minor events can have a greater-than-incremental impact on outcomes. By taking the initiative we dictate the terms of the discussion and influence the audience. Communication is based on rapid, flexible, and opportunistic maneuver to gain a competitive advantage. It's continuous initiative and response. Initiative is the preferred form to impress your will on your audience.
Goals, strategies, tactics: preparing and planning
Planning isn't looking at a calendar, it is an attempt to shape the conditions under which our communication will work. Activities of communication take place at several interrelated levels... strategic, operational, tactical. The strategic level focuses directly on achieving business objectives. Winning in the marketplace. The operational level links the strategic level with tactics. The tactical level focus is on engaging the audience.
Then it moves on to the performance... how to engage the audience. The content deals with the way people think, feel understand and shaping their human emotions.
The Power of Communication is a skill framework to to follow so to persuade minds and move hearts.
More at
http://thepowerofcommunication.net/
Communication with God is a two-way street. As Oswald Chambers says,
"When a person is born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve or nourish that life. Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished. Our common ideas regarding prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself." ( My Utmost for His Highest, 8/28).
God said through the prophet Jeremiah, "Ask of me, and I will tell you remarkable secrets that will come and know one knows about yet." (33:3) The biggest part communicating with God is what he wants to share with us. It's the mission He puts us on and sets on our hearts on that makes His relationship and communication so incredible with us.
It goes beyond that... He empowers us, with His Power, and goes before us with His power, to get the job done He sets us on. We are all so unique and He uses us uniquely and speaks to us uniquely.
As Jesus said He will teach us everything and tell us what we need to know when we need to know it (John 14). All this comes from "prayer" which is our communication with God. In His Spirit, He teaches us, guides us with the special strategies and tactics He is lining up for all that faces us. That's what prayer is all about... our communication, communion with God of the Universe.
Saturday, August 04, 2012
What is the Spirit Savvy Network?
The Spirit Savvy Network is a new service by Dale Shumaker.
Spirit Savvy Network
www.spiritsavvy.net
It's about:
Finding your mission,
Empowering your life through prayer
Becoming a Missionary in the Marketplace
Leading others to be Missionaries in the Marketplace
Spirit Savvy Network is loaded with resources to help you,
and many are free.
www.spiritsavvy.net
It's about:
Finding your mission,
Empowering your life through prayer
Becoming a Missionary in the Marketplace
Leading others to be Missionaries in the Marketplace
Spirit Savvy Network is loaded with resources to help you,
and many are free.
Smart Trust ... purpose of prayer
by Dale Shumaker
Spirit Savvy Network
www.spiritsavvy.net
Finding your mission,
Empowering your life through prayer
Becoming a Missionary in the Marketplace
Leading others to be Missionaries in the Marketplace
Spirit Savvy Network is loaded with resources to help you,
and most are free.
www.spiritsavvy.net
Finding your mission,
Empowering your life through prayer
Becoming a Missionary in the Marketplace
Leading others to be Missionaries in the Marketplace
Spirit Savvy Network is loaded with resources to help you,
and most are free.
Smart Trust by Stephen M. R. Covey is about creating prosperity, energy,
and joy in a low-trust world. He outlines five trust actions
1. Choose to believe in trust. Believe in being worthy of trust, believe that most people can be trusted, and believe that extending trust is a better way to lead.
2. Start with self. When we don't trust others, the origin of the problem is that we don't trust ourselves.It is hard to see others trustworthy when I know I am not. The first step is to live yourself up with the trust principles.
3. Declare your intent and assume positive intent of others. Define your purposes and what you intent to do and assume positive intent in others. In other words, be clear on what you intend to do and why.
4. Do what you say you are going to do. Be honest with yourself and others and do exactly what you say, even if they don't see it directly.
5. Lead out in extending smart trust to others. Begin trusting all you interact with daily. If you hold it back, it will not develop in you and in others.
Basically, learn to trust yourself(be honest in all your dealings), let someone know what they will do, do it as you said, and let them know how and when you did it. Begin practicing it with everyone, and not be selective with whom you extend trust.
Check out Smart Trust and Franklincovey websites for more on Smart Trust.
Purpose in Prayer is a prayer classic by E. M. Bounds.
Man is looking for better methods. God is looking for better men. Man is God's method.
Prayer is deathless. They never die. Although we may die and our lips may be closed, prayer lives before God and God's heart is set on them. Prayers outlive the lives of those who utter them; outlive a generation, outlive an age, outlive a world.
The mightiest successes that come through God are created by prayer.
Ask of me, Jesus said. This one condition puts in the very advance and triumph of His cause. The secret to the success in God's Kingdom is the ability to pray. The one who can wield the power of prayer is the strong one.
More from the Purpose of Prayer by E. M. Bounds is online. Please read the introduction and first chapter.
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/bounds/purpose
1. Choose to believe in trust. Believe in being worthy of trust, believe that most people can be trusted, and believe that extending trust is a better way to lead.
2. Start with self. When we don't trust others, the origin of the problem is that we don't trust ourselves.It is hard to see others trustworthy when I know I am not. The first step is to live yourself up with the trust principles.
3. Declare your intent and assume positive intent of others. Define your purposes and what you intent to do and assume positive intent in others. In other words, be clear on what you intend to do and why.
4. Do what you say you are going to do. Be honest with yourself and others and do exactly what you say, even if they don't see it directly.
5. Lead out in extending smart trust to others. Begin trusting all you interact with daily. If you hold it back, it will not develop in you and in others.
Basically, learn to trust yourself(be honest in all your dealings), let someone know what they will do, do it as you said, and let them know how and when you did it. Begin practicing it with everyone, and not be selective with whom you extend trust.
Check out Smart Trust and Franklincovey websites for more on Smart Trust.
Purpose in Prayer is a prayer classic by E. M. Bounds.
Man is looking for better methods. God is looking for better men. Man is God's method.
Prayer is deathless. They never die. Although we may die and our lips may be closed, prayer lives before God and God's heart is set on them. Prayers outlive the lives of those who utter them; outlive a generation, outlive an age, outlive a world.
The mightiest successes that come through God are created by prayer.
Ask of me, Jesus said. This one condition puts in the very advance and triumph of His cause. The secret to the success in God's Kingdom is the ability to pray. The one who can wield the power of prayer is the strong one.
More from the Purpose of Prayer by E. M. Bounds is online. Please read the introduction and first chapter.
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
The Charge ... set yourself free
by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
The Charge by Brendon Burchard explains the ten human drives we have to make us feel alive and how to activate them. The Charge challenges you to live your best life. A charged life is a consciously designed existence that feels evenly engaged, energized, and enthusiastic. A near fatal car crash forced Burchard to face three questions:
Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter?
We live in one of three lives. We live a life caged in the past, in the expectation of others. Or many live what they feel is a comfortable life, in work, lifestyle, circumstances, but we ask, "How did I end up here, where did my ambition and excitement go? Or we can live a charged life. The first two options(caged, comfortable) wonder if they will survive or will I be accepted and succeed? The Charged life asks am I living my true and actual potential; am I living an inspired life and inspiring others?
The focus is on serving and contributing to the world, asking not what I am getting from the world, but asking what am I giving to the world?
The Chargers, those living a charged life have these attributes:
1. Open and servant in the moment
2. Future oriented
3. Challenge seekers
4. Deeply interested in and authentically connect with others
5. Self-reliant
6. Creatively driven
7. Meaning makers
The Chargers decide to transform their lives from caged and comfortable to put life into their lives.
Ten Human Drives that Drive us
Five Baseline Drives.
1. Control: the desire to regulate and influence of overall life experience. Control outlook and character, whether we are purposely acting out our highest selves. Control for new, adding satisfying new experiences in our lives constantly, with novelty and challenge. This can be as simple as a get away every 90 days, eating at a different restaurant, seeing a new show or entertainment event, a travel adventure, expanding a peer circle, or develop a new skill. Control your workflow and participate only in projects you can be fully invested in and be part of from the beginning to end. (Burchard has a 1-page productivity sheet at his website for free download, TheChargedBook).
2. The second baseline drive is a drive for competence.
The more competence you feel, the more confident you are in trying new things, and taking on new and bigger challenges. Understand your world, successfully perform in it, and master it. Competence determines what you give attention to, your choice of tasks and activities, your effort level, adaptability and resilience, whether you lead or follow. Assess and direct your desire to learn, set a real challenge with coaching, integrate success and attach your identity to those times in your life when you accomplished and achieved something important to you.
3. The third baseline is congruence. Are we congruent with who we think we are? Unify your self image with who you are and who you want to be. Set new standards for yourself and be that. Be living into your future and how you define yourself. Set your mood meter and have positive, sustained, even emotional energy about yourself... so that your emotions are congruent to what you want to feel in life. Keep your word and follow through with it. It's not just doing what we say, but doing what we know we should do from start to finish.
4. The fourth baseline drive is the drive for caring. Be a person of heart, kindness to others, care for others' emotions and experiences. Care for yourself and do what replenishes it... proper sleep, nutrition, exercise, meditate, drink water. Be vulnerable and allow others to care for you. Ask for help where others can help you. Read books, use counselors. Be more present, interested and attentive to others. Use the "Wow" word when someone shares with you and ask them to share more.
5. The fifth baseline drive is the drive for connection. We value connection so much we sometimes spend way too much time with some people far more than they deserve. Good connections stir up our brain candy, dopamine, making us feel euphoric. Define and design your ideal relationships. What kind of friends do you you really want. Practice positive projection. You get what you look for and if you project positive traits and expectations to others, they tend to live up to them. Find and cultivate growth friends. What friends contribute to you feeling energized, inspired, puts you in a good mood. Get in touch with some you need to stay in touch with. Renew and cultivate the relationships that give you zest and energy.
The focus is on serving and contributing to the world, asking not what I am getting from the world, but asking what am I giving to the world?
The Chargers, those living a charged life have these attributes:
1. Open and servant in the moment
2. Future oriented
3. Challenge seekers
4. Deeply interested in and authentically connect with others
5. Self-reliant
6. Creatively driven
7. Meaning makers
The Chargers decide to transform their lives from caged and comfortable to put life into their lives.
Ten Human Drives that Drive us
Five Baseline Drives.
1. Control: the desire to regulate and influence of overall life experience. Control outlook and character, whether we are purposely acting out our highest selves. Control for new, adding satisfying new experiences in our lives constantly, with novelty and challenge. This can be as simple as a get away every 90 days, eating at a different restaurant, seeing a new show or entertainment event, a travel adventure, expanding a peer circle, or develop a new skill. Control your workflow and participate only in projects you can be fully invested in and be part of from the beginning to end. (Burchard has a 1-page productivity sheet at his website for free download, TheChargedBook).
2. The second baseline drive is a drive for competence.
The more competence you feel, the more confident you are in trying new things, and taking on new and bigger challenges. Understand your world, successfully perform in it, and master it. Competence determines what you give attention to, your choice of tasks and activities, your effort level, adaptability and resilience, whether you lead or follow. Assess and direct your desire to learn, set a real challenge with coaching, integrate success and attach your identity to those times in your life when you accomplished and achieved something important to you.
3. The third baseline is congruence. Are we congruent with who we think we are? Unify your self image with who you are and who you want to be. Set new standards for yourself and be that. Be living into your future and how you define yourself. Set your mood meter and have positive, sustained, even emotional energy about yourself... so that your emotions are congruent to what you want to feel in life. Keep your word and follow through with it. It's not just doing what we say, but doing what we know we should do from start to finish.
4. The fourth baseline drive is the drive for caring. Be a person of heart, kindness to others, care for others' emotions and experiences. Care for yourself and do what replenishes it... proper sleep, nutrition, exercise, meditate, drink water. Be vulnerable and allow others to care for you. Ask for help where others can help you. Read books, use counselors. Be more present, interested and attentive to others. Use the "Wow" word when someone shares with you and ask them to share more.
5. The fifth baseline drive is the drive for connection. We value connection so much we sometimes spend way too much time with some people far more than they deserve. Good connections stir up our brain candy, dopamine, making us feel euphoric. Define and design your ideal relationships. What kind of friends do you you really want. Practice positive projection. You get what you look for and if you project positive traits and expectations to others, they tend to live up to them. Find and cultivate growth friends. What friends contribute to you feeling energized, inspired, puts you in a good mood. Get in touch with some you need to stay in touch with. Renew and cultivate the relationships that give you zest and energy.
The next five are forward drives taking us beyond the baseline drives which create stability and love, so we can move on to challenge ourselves. Forward drive moves us to the challenges we want to take on in our lives. They shake us up so we can ultimately feel satisfied. They are harder and more uncomfortable, we experience more resistance to activate them. They are future oriented and demand boldness. Change kicks them off into our new future, challenge makes us more engaged, creative expression amplifies satisfaction in life, contribution makes our drives matter building pride and fulfillment, consciousness transcends ourselves to connect with something greater. The forward drives are of a higher order, but are the most important, all in motion, to live life at its happiest and most satisfying level.
The Drive for Change moves us into the future. It is something new in all areas. Change into the person you can be. In every new effort our life expands. Ask yourself if you both welcome and cause change. Change is the only path to your dreams, it forces you to move from here to there. Make change about gains, not losses. Focus on the benefits of change, not fears of loss. Expect process pain, keep your eyes on the benefits. Get clarity, think big, and be bold.
Make real choices about
want you want, and don't want;
do more of this, no more of that;
when this happens, do that;
always choose this, not that;
do this now, then that.
The Drive for Challenge. Stretch your self concept, skills, beliefs, mental and physical capacities. There's a difference of being busy and being challenged. Rise above the mundane. Hit the gas pedal of your potential hard, activate challenge, engagement and progress in life. Choose fulfilling challenges. Demand singularity of focus, stretch your efforts and capabilities, score your performance, sense completion(we did it, finished it, succeeded), allow sharing of experiences and achievement with someone else. Focus on the journey and don't fear rejection. Some will reject you but don't let that distract you. Significant rejection rarely happens as we may make it seem that way. Ignore your critics and have sympathy for them as they lack the courage you have to pursue a bigger challenge. Stay in the present and enjoy the journey. Celebrate daily effort. Push yourself to do great things for great causes.
The Drive for Creative Expression is the inspiration which comes through physically and socially manifesting our unique talents, strengths, and perspectives. Activating this drive is one of the fastest strategies for finding happiness and fulfillment. Apply creative expression in all areas of your life. Study people and design. Watch people and their unique manner. We can pick up some unique things within our selves. Create more and share more. Do new things and share it with someone else. It can be something physically your create, or a new idea you tried... show it or share it with others.
The Drive for Contribution. When we feel like we are contributing to the world we gain a profound sense of meaning and purpose. Give of yourself. Being who you are is contributing to the world in a significant way. A manager of bank tellers can contribute to the lives of all they manage. Give to others and broader causes with a goal to make an impact. Find endeavors you find meaningful. It's about choosing the right activity, getting involved in the right cause that you find novel, challenging, socially connected, meaningful and make us happy. Mentor other people. We all have life experiences that we learned from. Help others going through, or involved in the same thing. You don't have to be an expert but a good friend who's been there.
The Drive for Consciousness is living at the highest level. A traumatic experience may push us to transcend into a higher level of consciousness. Focus your consciousness. Be conscious of your thoughts, your emotional and your physical energies, your behavior, others' behavior, and your progress. Transcend to what is infinite, of a higher meaning and purpose than just this world. We have a drive to enter in this. Be conscious of the present moment, coincidence and intuition, of love. Live a life of virtue and faith. Live in a state of wonder of everything, every thought, every encounter. Life is full of wonder. Notice and live in it.
Celebrate your existence. More on The Charge at
http://www.thechargebook.com/
In Set Yourself Free, Robert Heidler outlines a process for deliverance from what binds you, habitual habits, reoccurring sins and indiscretions in your life. It takes repentance and constant attention to relieving ourselves of what has a hold on us that we struggle to let go. It can be depression, anger, stealing, lying, moral breakdown. In many cases we don't want to do these things and feel bad afterwards. Each time we may ask God to help us not do it again. But many times they reoccur.
So daily attention is needed. The Lord's prayer, if prayed daily, deals with temptations. "... lead me not into temptation, and deliver me from evil. Forgive me my sins as well as I forgive others." This, repeated daily, helps to protect us.
Also having a close support partner that we can confide in strengthens our ability to resist the mental attacks of Evil that flash through our minds. When left to dwell on, it will give birth to outside action, a response to it. With someone to share these moments and who believes in the the Power of Jesus and God's Spirit to overcome, we get immediate strength.
In some cases we may not have someone to confide with, pray with, and support each other. Heidler outlines a personal process we can follow. It would serve us well to do this more in-depth, within a concentrated time frame, weekly or at least monthly.
Be careful not to let guilt get a hold of you for not having steady, constant victory. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you, obey His directions, then rejoice that His Grace is with you.
From Set Yourself Free, follow this process.
1. Confess your sin, as you are aware of it. Many times while doing devotions or spending time with the Lord, the Holy Spirit will bring something to mind we need to deal with. Or we may have failed in our life walk in the Spirit and we feel we can't approach God on a matter. It is then we should confess it to the Lord and ask Him to help us.
2. Renounce the sin. When we do wrong, that the Spirit as shown us as wrong, we should renounce it openly, out loud. Disown it, and reject it as being part of your life.
3. Release others. That is to forgive others. Unforgiveness is an attempt to keep a grudge against someone who has hurt us. It is important to release grudges, bitterness, resentment from our spirit and forgive the other person... who has harmed us intentionally or unintentionally.
4.Restore what you have taken or damaged. If you have stolen, cheated, said bad things of another, restore what you have taken, and speak to the other person to seek forgiveness. This is very hard to do, as it is humiliating and our pride will many times hold us back. Restitution where possible is vital to settle the matter in your spirit to be sense freedom in your Spirit.
5. Submit to authority. In all circumstances be respectful to all authority you encounter... from government officials, police, a business owner, parents, those older than you, Spiritual leaders, those in service to others. The Scriptures say to submit one to another. When in doubt, be a servant to all, and cover all the bases of humility, meekness, and expressing respect to others. The Scriptures go on to say, when you entertain strangers, you may be entertaining Angels.
6. Recommit to God. Repentance means to turn from sin and to God. When you have renounced the sin(s) you identified, turn back to God. He welcomes you, and deliberately turn to Him in worship, obedience, service. Constantly recommit your life to His service and purposes for you in your life.
7. Abide in Jesus. In John 14, Jesus talks about abiding in Him, He is the vine, we are the branches. Keep asking yourself if you are walking in Fellowship with Jesus and who He is and what you share together. Be One in Him, and live in Him as One. So when others see you, they also see Jesus through you.
Keep in mind, when we sin, or do things we feel are not pleasing to God, He will welcome us back quickly. So be quick to confess wrong doing, and Ask Him for His Presence. When we do this, we keep the sin from becoming a habit and it keeps us from becoming desensitized in doing it. We can sear our conscience if we continue without repentance and dealing with it. Although, as the flesh is weak, He understands and quickly welcomes us back when we are quick to ask His forgiveness. Do this process as much as needed and you will overcome and live in Holiness as the Scriptures declare.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Open Heavens ... praying for others
by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
In Open Heavens, Augusto Perez leads us
into how the Lord trains us to pray for family, friends, others.
The
following is an excerpt from his book.
If the Lord is showing you something, do not start just to pray for it, but wait until the Lord shows you how to pray. Maybe you will only speak protection and blessing on someone. Perhaps you will stand in the gap and repent for someone, or you may release the will of the Lord on them through a decree or you will go into warfare on behalf of them.
Wait to see what the Lord really wants to do. Do not push through it impatiently, but pray and stay with it until you are through and feel a peace in your spirit about it. Do not give up before it’s time. You will feel it, and know when it is time to stop. You need to let the Holy Spirit lead you.
Intercessory prayer is exciting and awesome, but it is hard work. It is more than just praying for another person’s needs. It sometimes may mean not only praying for another person, but praying as another person. How can you fully pray on behalf of another without fully understanding their given situation and what is on their heart?
The Lord sometimes gives the intercessor the ability to enter into the Spirit and feel, know and experience the very conflict and agony that person is going through. The intercessor will sometimes experience the same pain and anguish in the body of that other person. The intercessor will begin to groan, wail, travail and feel despair.
This can be very confusing if you don’t know what is taking place. What is happening to you as an intercessor is that you have literally become that person in the spirit, and are praying as that person in the Spirit, petitioning God on behalf of that person. Jesus is the greatest intercessor ever. He is praying for you. Every time you sin, He intercedes for you.
Travail
Travail is “to writhe in pain”. The process of child birth again illustrates this very well. Just like a mother experiences labor pains in giving physical birth to her baby, the same is true in the spiritual realm. For every person that is born again, someone has interceded and travailed for them (Isaiah 66:8; Romans 8:26-27; Galatians 4:19). Most Christians today do not even pray for the lost, let alone travail. No wonder so few people are being won to the Lord in this nation.
Intercession and travail is very different from normal devotional prayer. You can pray that kind of prayer at any moment, but not travailing prayer. Intercessory prayer is imparted by the Lord and is the kind of prayer that comes with a burden. This is a feeling of sadness, concern, even anxiety. You may or may not know for who the burden is.
Sometimes the Lord may bring the face of the person or name to mind. Immediately you may feel unusual sympathy or concern for the individual. This is how God calls us to pray. But unless you take time to give yourself to intercession, you will not experience “parturition”, the actual joy and relief that comes with having given birth to the will of God and having “prayed through” (Isaiah 66:8).
When you intercede for people like this, you may experience excruciating agony and pain like in childbirth, actually feeling a person’s grief, pain and loneliness. When the Lord places a burden on you to pray it is called: “The burden of the Lord”. This is a supernatural experience where God is allowing us to feel His burden, sadness, love and grief. You become pregnant with a burden that is given by the Lord and you travail or groan in delivery until it is accomplished.
Remember that the Holy Spirit will only intercede through those who are both willing and obedient. If you are, simply tell the Lord you are both available and willing. Then as you start to feel deep within an intercessory burden begin to stir, come apart and allow the Holy Spirit to move upon you until that for which you are burdened is birthed. Lack of travail is the reason why we do not see results in winning the lost to Christ.
More from Augusto Perez at:
http://theappearance.com/
The Appearance Ministries website
Sunday, June 24, 2012
The Art of Talking to Anyone ... including conversational prayer
by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
The Art of Talking to Anyone by Rosalie Maggio has good advice on conversational people skills for any situation. The book covers general conversation principles plus how to talk to anyone in the workplace, meetings and conferences, business-social events, public places, the telephone, in times of trouble, family and friends and romantic encounters.
To succeed in any conversation, start to finish:
Decide you want to go to an event/place and be convinced of the reasons for doing it. Have something to say.
Take your best self with you.
People will catch and mirror your emotional states. Remember people tend to behave as you expect them.
Check out your body language.
Your posture... stand up straight, sit up straight. Avoid blushing, facial contractions, fiddling, crossing arms, clearing throat a lot and blinking too much.
Smile frequently to meaningful comments. A good smile works miracles used well.
When introducing someone to someone else, add how you know them. "We worked on a project together." "He's my neighbor and makes the best home made pizza."
Shaking someone's hand will give the person the first impression of you. So work on a good handshake. Be the first to reach out your hand to shake the other persons. Avoid the finger grabbing handshake, and reach back to the web between the thumb and index finger. Be firm, hold for a second and look directing into the person's eyes.
Basic conversational principles.
1. The goal of the first few seconds of someone you don't know is to find a few things out about the other person, tell a few things about yourself, find some common ground between you. When you find common ground build on it.
2. A conversation should be back and forth. Not short quips like a tennis match, but more like golf. One hits the ball and the other comments on it, and back to the other person.
3. Vary the contributions to the conversation. Make a statement, ask a question, offer a piece of information about yourself, ask something(not too personal) about the other person. Use this as a pattern to go over and over again, and you will see a nice conversational flow.
4. A frequent way to start is to ask about a person's work, or if not special activities they are part of. Set the tone by sharing some things about yourself, they can then match it to their own life.
5. Use the "you" word more than "I". "How did you get into this type work?" And with other people as part of the conversation, bring the other person in too by asking them a similar question. Try to be a moderator when more than one is in the conversation and bring someone into it who may not speak as much.
6. When someone brings up a subject you don't know much about, it is a good time to get them to share more or elaborate. "Honestly, I don't know much about gardening, tell me more about what goes into it." Most people love to explain what they do and love doing. So it's a great time to let them tell you the intricacies about it.
7. Use details, precise descriptions, colorful nouns when explaining something. For example instead of just saying I'm a chef, go on to say for whom, and what you are good at preparing, and why you like it. Think about details of what you do and analogies you can use so others understand it.
8. Try to establish a feeling you are on the same wavelength. It's finding that common ground and building on that.
9. Pick up the other person's rhythm of speech and speak in the same way and style.
10. Match posture and mannerisms the other person uses.
Use touch to connect stronger.
A handshake with a hand tapping the shoulder as you release a handshake. Touching the side of the arm as you speak. Tap on the shoulder as you depart. Or in some cases a squeeze on the upper forearm to show appreciation.
Ending the conversation
Always express appreciation for the time to talk, and make a reference to something said.
Listening
This is the most important part on your part.
Listening is showing you are interested by being attentive, nodding or saying "ah-hah" occasionally. Keeping good eye contact, but not a fixed stare. Model the other person... smiling, frowning, laughing when they do. Repeat back to them what they said in your own words so they can clarify it, if it is not what you wanted them to hear.
Keep the conversation moving with conversation fillers... phrases such as "and then what, oh, no kidding, how did that go, who, how does that work..." It shows you are listening and encouraging more. Ask probing, expanding, clarification questions.
Asking good questions are important in a conversation. Bad questions are judgmental, or aggressive, intrusive, numerous, too broad, why, or something too personal. Good questions relate to what the other person just said, help you find the all important common ground, move the conversation along, lead to more detailed answers, are sensitive and neutral and concrete. When a person asks a bad question, divert to a question that a lot ask you that you want to answer, or have another story in your belt to tell them. "First, let me share a story with you."
Rosalie Maggio continues on in her book to give guidance on telling jokes, dealing with conversation predicaments, being an unpopular conversationalist; and she explains the specifics of conversing in the workplace, meetings and conferences, business social events, public places, telephone, friends and romance.
More from Rosalie at
To succeed in any conversation, start to finish:
Decide you want to go to an event/place and be convinced of the reasons for doing it. Have something to say.
Take your best self with you.
People will catch and mirror your emotional states. Remember people tend to behave as you expect them.
Check out your body language.
Your posture... stand up straight, sit up straight. Avoid blushing, facial contractions, fiddling, crossing arms, clearing throat a lot and blinking too much.
Smile frequently to meaningful comments. A good smile works miracles used well.
When introducing someone to someone else, add how you know them. "We worked on a project together." "He's my neighbor and makes the best home made pizza."
Shaking someone's hand will give the person the first impression of you. So work on a good handshake. Be the first to reach out your hand to shake the other persons. Avoid the finger grabbing handshake, and reach back to the web between the thumb and index finger. Be firm, hold for a second and look directing into the person's eyes.
Basic conversational principles.
1. The goal of the first few seconds of someone you don't know is to find a few things out about the other person, tell a few things about yourself, find some common ground between you. When you find common ground build on it.
2. A conversation should be back and forth. Not short quips like a tennis match, but more like golf. One hits the ball and the other comments on it, and back to the other person.
3. Vary the contributions to the conversation. Make a statement, ask a question, offer a piece of information about yourself, ask something(not too personal) about the other person. Use this as a pattern to go over and over again, and you will see a nice conversational flow.
4. A frequent way to start is to ask about a person's work, or if not special activities they are part of. Set the tone by sharing some things about yourself, they can then match it to their own life.
5. Use the "you" word more than "I". "How did you get into this type work?" And with other people as part of the conversation, bring the other person in too by asking them a similar question. Try to be a moderator when more than one is in the conversation and bring someone into it who may not speak as much.
6. When someone brings up a subject you don't know much about, it is a good time to get them to share more or elaborate. "Honestly, I don't know much about gardening, tell me more about what goes into it." Most people love to explain what they do and love doing. So it's a great time to let them tell you the intricacies about it.
7. Use details, precise descriptions, colorful nouns when explaining something. For example instead of just saying I'm a chef, go on to say for whom, and what you are good at preparing, and why you like it. Think about details of what you do and analogies you can use so others understand it.
8. Try to establish a feeling you are on the same wavelength. It's finding that common ground and building on that.
9. Pick up the other person's rhythm of speech and speak in the same way and style.
10. Match posture and mannerisms the other person uses.
Use touch to connect stronger.
A handshake with a hand tapping the shoulder as you release a handshake. Touching the side of the arm as you speak. Tap on the shoulder as you depart. Or in some cases a squeeze on the upper forearm to show appreciation.
Ending the conversation
Always express appreciation for the time to talk, and make a reference to something said.
Listening
This is the most important part on your part.
Listening is showing you are interested by being attentive, nodding or saying "ah-hah" occasionally. Keeping good eye contact, but not a fixed stare. Model the other person... smiling, frowning, laughing when they do. Repeat back to them what they said in your own words so they can clarify it, if it is not what you wanted them to hear.
Keep the conversation moving with conversation fillers... phrases such as "and then what, oh, no kidding, how did that go, who, how does that work..." It shows you are listening and encouraging more. Ask probing, expanding, clarification questions.
Asking good questions are important in a conversation. Bad questions are judgmental, or aggressive, intrusive, numerous, too broad, why, or something too personal. Good questions relate to what the other person just said, help you find the all important common ground, move the conversation along, lead to more detailed answers, are sensitive and neutral and concrete. When a person asks a bad question, divert to a question that a lot ask you that you want to answer, or have another story in your belt to tell them. "First, let me share a story with you."
Rosalie Maggio continues on in her book to give guidance on telling jokes, dealing with conversation predicaments, being an unpopular conversationalist; and she explains the specifics of conversing in the workplace, meetings and conferences, business social events, public places, telephone, friends and romance.
More from Rosalie at
http://www.rosaliemaggio.com/
How to have a conversation with God. Prayer is actually a conversation with God. Rosalind Rinker wrote a book on Conversing with God. It has become a prayer classic It is also posted free online at
How to have a conversation with God. Prayer is actually a conversation with God. Rosalind Rinker wrote a book on Conversing with God. It has become a prayer classic It is also posted free online at
http://www.ccel.us/prayer.toc.
She has an excellent easy-to-do outline on making a person's devotional life very rewarding in being in God's Spirit. Here's her method.
She has an excellent easy-to-do outline on making a person's devotional life very rewarding in being in God's Spirit. Here's her method.
There are several practical points which may help you to make this practice of secret prayer part of your daily life.
1. Have a definite place to pray alone. Every time you pass that place, whether it is by a chair, or your bedside, an unused room, a little closet, your desk or your car, you will be reminded that both physical and spiritual refreshment await you there.
2. Anticipate meeting One who loves you in a personal intimate way. Before you arrive at this special place, let your mind constantly say, "I am going to meet Him, I am going to be consciously aware of Him." After you are there, say: "Here in this quiet place, He can show me Himself. I am His. I can put aside all else and worship You, my Lord, and my God."
3. Let your prayers be semi-audible. You are speaking to a Person, and hearing your own voice will keep your thoughts centered on Him, although sometimes there will be only deep unspoken torrents of love and adoration welling up from within.
4. Use a daily devotional book, and use some kind of study book to give you needed direction in your daily Bible reading. Have a modern translation study Bible close by for reference. (Note: the internet has several Bible Translation websites online. This are free, including the whole Bible.)
We need to learn the art of conversation. We need to learn to pray in His Presence, and to let Him speak with us, to be in tune with Him until we are willing to hear what He has to say to us. For more on prayer visit the Facebook, Biz Prayer Network.
1. Have a definite place to pray alone. Every time you pass that place, whether it is by a chair, or your bedside, an unused room, a little closet, your desk or your car, you will be reminded that both physical and spiritual refreshment await you there.
2. Anticipate meeting One who loves you in a personal intimate way. Before you arrive at this special place, let your mind constantly say, "I am going to meet Him, I am going to be consciously aware of Him." After you are there, say: "Here in this quiet place, He can show me Himself. I am His. I can put aside all else and worship You, my Lord, and my God."
3. Let your prayers be semi-audible. You are speaking to a Person, and hearing your own voice will keep your thoughts centered on Him, although sometimes there will be only deep unspoken torrents of love and adoration welling up from within.
4. Use a daily devotional book, and use some kind of study book to give you needed direction in your daily Bible reading. Have a modern translation study Bible close by for reference. (Note: the internet has several Bible Translation websites online. This are free, including the whole Bible.)
We need to learn the art of conversation. We need to learn to pray in His Presence, and to let Him speak with us, to be in tune with Him until we are willing to hear what He has to say to us. For more on prayer visit the Facebook, Biz Prayer Network.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Conversing with God ... naturally talking to God
by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
Conversing with God by Rosalind Rinker outlines some very practical guidelines on making prayer a very natural "conversation" with God. Below are several excerpts from her book. The complete book is at
http://www.ccel.us/prayer.toc.
The term "conversational prayer" is not an unusual one. Neither is it original. I've found many groups of young people and adults using this direct, honest approach to God. Yet the word “conversation” needs a fresh defining.
What is conversation?
It is a method which should provide communication between two or more people. Unfortunately, it is usually listed among the lost arts of today.
To understand conversational prayer, it will be a great help if we get the following four points about real conversation clearly in our minds.
1. When we converse, “we become aware.” Aware of the other person, his rights, his privileges, his feeling, and if we converse long enough, his total personality.
2. Good conversation implies that we must take turns and do it gracefully. When one person does all the talking we call it (if we are polite) a monologue.
3. Finally, it should be clear that to converse we must all pursue the same subject, and pursue it by turns. We are, in a sense, the listening and speaking members of a team. We have agreed to agree upon our subject of conversation, and to do this each one must decide what is relevant and important at the moment.
http://www.ccel.us/prayer.toc.
The term "conversational prayer" is not an unusual one. Neither is it original. I've found many groups of young people and adults using this direct, honest approach to God. Yet the word “conversation” needs a fresh defining.
What is conversation?
It is a method which should provide communication between two or more people. Unfortunately, it is usually listed among the lost arts of today.
To understand conversational prayer, it will be a great help if we get the following four points about real conversation clearly in our minds.
1. When we converse, “we become aware.” Aware of the other person, his rights, his privileges, his feeling, and if we converse long enough, his total personality.
2. Good conversation implies that we must take turns and do it gracefully. When one person does all the talking we call it (if we are polite) a monologue.
3. Finally, it should be clear that to converse we must all pursue the same subject, and pursue it by turns. We are, in a sense, the listening and speaking members of a team. We have agreed to agree upon our subject of conversation, and to do this each one must decide what is relevant and important at the moment.
4. To carry on a conversation of any significance or interest, each
person must use his memory to recall, his patience to wait, his
alertness to jump in, his willingness to get out, and above all his
capacity to hold back the disruptive. In other words, he should be in
tune.
There are several practical points which may help you to make this practice of secret prayer part of your daily life.
1. Have a definite place to pray alone. Every time you pass that place, whether it is by a chair, or your bedside, an unused room, a little closet, your desk or your car, you will be reminded that both physical and spiritual refreshment await you there.
2. Anticipate meeting One who loves you in a personal intimate way. Before you arrive at this special place, let your mind constantly say, "I am going to meet Him, I am going to be consciously aware of Him." After you are there, say: "Here in this quiet place, He can show me Himself. I am His. I can put aside all else and worship You, my Lord, and my God."
3. Let your prayers be semi-audible. You are speaking to a Person, and hearing your own voice will keep your thoughts centered on Him, although sometimes there will be only deep unspoken torrents of love and adoration welling up from within.
4. Use a daily devotional book, and use some kind of study book to give you needed direction in your daily Bible reading.
We need to learn the art of conversation. We need to learn to pray in His Presence, and to let Him speak with us, to be in tune with Him until we are willing to hear what He has to say to us.
There is an intimate relationship between the Shepherd and the sheep which is always initiated by the Shepherd Himself. But there is something for the sheep to do when he enters the fold. He has to be willing to hear and respond to the Shepherd's voice. Frequently we need the help of one or two other "sheep" who already know His voice in order to make our response a complete
one. We need to learn to pray with one another. We are all sheep of His pasture, and we need to be together.
But more is involved than merely being willing to pray together.
When part of a group, here is a method to consider.
“Instead of going around the circle, let's remember consciously that the Lord Jesus is right here, in the center of this circle with us. He promised, “where two or three are gathered, there am I.” Speak directly to Him, simply, honestly, just as we talk to anyone in whom we have real confidence. Say 'I' when we mean I, and 'we' if we mean the whole group.”
“Another important thing is to pray by subjects. If someone starts to pray for someone, two or three of the rest of you feel perfectly free to pray for him, too. Be direct and simple. Then wait a moment before introducing a new name. The Spirit will guide us. You can each pray four or five times if you want to, but keep to one subject at a time, and pray back and forth. As we open our hearts, the Holy Spirit will guide us concerning who to pray for, what to pray for and when to pray."
"Now remember, the Lord is here. We are speaking to Him. Pray in short sentences, and then let someone else have a chance. He will guide us."
Keep in mind, when we pray, to whom are we really speaking?
There are several practical points which may help you to make this practice of secret prayer part of your daily life.
1. Have a definite place to pray alone. Every time you pass that place, whether it is by a chair, or your bedside, an unused room, a little closet, your desk or your car, you will be reminded that both physical and spiritual refreshment await you there.
2. Anticipate meeting One who loves you in a personal intimate way. Before you arrive at this special place, let your mind constantly say, "I am going to meet Him, I am going to be consciously aware of Him." After you are there, say: "Here in this quiet place, He can show me Himself. I am His. I can put aside all else and worship You, my Lord, and my God."
3. Let your prayers be semi-audible. You are speaking to a Person, and hearing your own voice will keep your thoughts centered on Him, although sometimes there will be only deep unspoken torrents of love and adoration welling up from within.
4. Use a daily devotional book, and use some kind of study book to give you needed direction in your daily Bible reading.
We need to learn the art of conversation. We need to learn to pray in His Presence, and to let Him speak with us, to be in tune with Him until we are willing to hear what He has to say to us.
There is an intimate relationship between the Shepherd and the sheep which is always initiated by the Shepherd Himself. But there is something for the sheep to do when he enters the fold. He has to be willing to hear and respond to the Shepherd's voice. Frequently we need the help of one or two other "sheep" who already know His voice in order to make our response a complete
one. We need to learn to pray with one another. We are all sheep of His pasture, and we need to be together.
But more is involved than merely being willing to pray together.
When part of a group, here is a method to consider.
“Instead of going around the circle, let's remember consciously that the Lord Jesus is right here, in the center of this circle with us. He promised, “where two or three are gathered, there am I.” Speak directly to Him, simply, honestly, just as we talk to anyone in whom we have real confidence. Say 'I' when we mean I, and 'we' if we mean the whole group.”
“Another important thing is to pray by subjects. If someone starts to pray for someone, two or three of the rest of you feel perfectly free to pray for him, too. Be direct and simple. Then wait a moment before introducing a new name. The Spirit will guide us. You can each pray four or five times if you want to, but keep to one subject at a time, and pray back and forth. As we open our hearts, the Holy Spirit will guide us concerning who to pray for, what to pray for and when to pray."
"Now remember, the Lord is here. We are speaking to Him. Pray in short sentences, and then let someone else have a chance. He will guide us."
Keep in mind, when we pray, to whom are we really speaking?
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Talking to People You Don't Know ...but you can know them
by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
How do you talk to people you don't know? In an article by Susan Krauss Whitbourne,
she shares how to be successful with small talk. She takes her insights from what
she has learned in therapeutic psychology. If we follow her ten points, in any occasion
we will be effective in relating to people, having them trust sharing with us and being
more truthful with us.
1. Listen. When we first meet people, we feel we need to talk, but the best first
step is to listen. Listen first, talk second. Don't worry so much about what
you say, but what the other person is saying. So come prepared with some good
open-ended initial questions.
2.Be emphatic and reflect what they say. Tell people what you are hearing them
say. This way they know you are listening, and it gives the other person a chance to clarify
what they said so you don't make the wrong judgement on what they said.
3. Pay attention to their body language. Did something you say make them feel
uncomfortable? Be ready to back off a line of conversation if they pull away from you.
People would rather not talk about some things. Move on to a new path if you sense this.
4. Avoid making snap judgements. Follow points one to three above and you will
avoid your own mental miscues. There may be a lot more to the story that will
create understanding if you know the whole story. In a short conversation, you
may not get all these necessary details.
5. Be somewhat of a behavior profiler. If you know you will be meeting someone,
try to get some background on them, so you can ask some questions they will enjoy
answering.
6. Don't assume people will agree with you. Social psychology has shown many of
us in a conversation will assume the other person agrees with us, before knowing them.
Keep things open ended as much as possible and ask questions first. Go with the
flow and show some understanding to their point of view.
7. Try to learn from each interaction with a person. By asking questions and asking
a person to clarify what they said, it opens them up to share more information.
By being inquisitive and probing, without opinion, it opens doors lo learn from
your conversation.
8. Stay on top of news, current events and unusual events in the world...
places where we have common knowledge. This is the easiest place to start. By
being open we can learn from others' perspective on things, and find out more
of their true philosophies on things.
9. When not to talk. When on public transportation, waiting for a flight, or some
other neutral environment, some prefer not to talk. Observe to see if they are open.
If you get eye contact once in a while, may mean they are open to chat. Respect places
where others prefer their privacy. Even at social gathers, some are reluctant to talk
very much.
10. Don't over share. Sharing too much personal information too soon may make the
other person feel uncomfortable with you. Love affairs, medical conditions, personal
disputes may seem to be too intimate information for others. When you share negative
things, it creates a feel you are a complaining type person, or just a negative person.
Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D., has written The Search for Fulfillment
and you find more from her at her website:
http://www.
A classic example on talking to people you don't know was when Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman at the well.
One quality of Jesus was He knew people. The Scriptures said He knew all man's thoughts. In the case of the woman at the well, she was bewildered that a Jew would talk to a Samaritan. It was forbidden back then, so it was an unusual situation. She was very shocked by what Jesus already know about her and went back to her people to tell them, "this man told me everything about me." Everyone was so impressed they invited Jesus to come stay with them for a while.
This is the goal of communication... to get people to want to spend some more time with us. If they feel we know them, it opens up the door of acceptance.
Jesus also knew the motives of men. When some questioned Him, He knew if they were sincere or trying to trap Him. As we hear in a court trial, leading questions would be thrown out for trying to lead the witness. Some questions asked Jesus were leading questions. The questions were to trap Him in a statement they would hold against him, not for sincere discovery of what He was about.
Where did Jesus get this ability? Jesus said He only tells what the Father tells Him. In the times off alone in prayer He was able to hear from God on the specifics He would be dealing with that day, and how to handle them. He knew every one's heart and who was trying to entrap Him.
If people feel we are on to their evil intentions, it will cause them to back off from doing harm to us.
We can get the same insight in times of prayer, refection, allowing the thoughts of the Holy Spirit to enter our minds. Keep the listening process in place to sort out what God's Spirit is communicating to us.
What we call prayer is really this Divine time of Divine Communication. It's a time of presenting problems, asking for solutions, and taking what is impressed on us as Divine Direction.
The Scriptures encourage us to be still before God. In the middle of the night, both late night, early morning, we can hear when in the stillness around us. Make those times sacred to hear the impressions of Spirit sent through our minds. Trust those times as hearing from God, a sacred time of His time to speak to us. When we cultivate those, we continue to hear His directions, thoughts, impressions throughout the day. Start in faith, trust, and obey what is transmitted to Spirit to you. Act in faith that they are insights from the Holy Spirit for you.
The Holy Spirit is the creator of all things. Listen, respond and know how to speak to all men. The Spirit also gives us favor with people so they will listen to what we have to say.
she shares how to be successful with small talk. She takes her insights from what
she has learned in therapeutic psychology. If we follow her ten points, in any occasion
we will be effective in relating to people, having them trust sharing with us and being
more truthful with us.
1. Listen. When we first meet people, we feel we need to talk, but the best first
step is to listen. Listen first, talk second. Don't worry so much about what
you say, but what the other person is saying. So come prepared with some good
open-ended initial questions.
2.Be emphatic and reflect what they say. Tell people what you are hearing them
say. This way they know you are listening, and it gives the other person a chance to clarify
what they said so you don't make the wrong judgement on what they said.
3. Pay attention to their body language. Did something you say make them feel
uncomfortable? Be ready to back off a line of conversation if they pull away from you.
People would rather not talk about some things. Move on to a new path if you sense this.
4. Avoid making snap judgements. Follow points one to three above and you will
avoid your own mental miscues. There may be a lot more to the story that will
create understanding if you know the whole story. In a short conversation, you
may not get all these necessary details.
5. Be somewhat of a behavior profiler. If you know you will be meeting someone,
try to get some background on them, so you can ask some questions they will enjoy
answering.
6. Don't assume people will agree with you. Social psychology has shown many of
us in a conversation will assume the other person agrees with us, before knowing them.
Keep things open ended as much as possible and ask questions first. Go with the
flow and show some understanding to their point of view.
7. Try to learn from each interaction with a person. By asking questions and asking
a person to clarify what they said, it opens them up to share more information.
By being inquisitive and probing, without opinion, it opens doors lo learn from
your conversation.
8. Stay on top of news, current events and unusual events in the world...
places where we have common knowledge. This is the easiest place to start. By
being open we can learn from others' perspective on things, and find out more
of their true philosophies on things.
9. When not to talk. When on public transportation, waiting for a flight, or some
other neutral environment, some prefer not to talk. Observe to see if they are open.
If you get eye contact once in a while, may mean they are open to chat. Respect places
where others prefer their privacy. Even at social gathers, some are reluctant to talk
very much.
10. Don't over share. Sharing too much personal information too soon may make the
other person feel uncomfortable with you. Love affairs, medical conditions, personal
disputes may seem to be too intimate information for others. When you share negative
things, it creates a feel you are a complaining type person, or just a negative person.
Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D., has written The Search for Fulfillment
and you find more from her at her website:
http://www.
A classic example on talking to people you don't know was when Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman at the well.
One quality of Jesus was He knew people. The Scriptures said He knew all man's thoughts. In the case of the woman at the well, she was bewildered that a Jew would talk to a Samaritan. It was forbidden back then, so it was an unusual situation. She was very shocked by what Jesus already know about her and went back to her people to tell them, "this man told me everything about me." Everyone was so impressed they invited Jesus to come stay with them for a while.
This is the goal of communication... to get people to want to spend some more time with us. If they feel we know them, it opens up the door of acceptance.
Jesus also knew the motives of men. When some questioned Him, He knew if they were sincere or trying to trap Him. As we hear in a court trial, leading questions would be thrown out for trying to lead the witness. Some questions asked Jesus were leading questions. The questions were to trap Him in a statement they would hold against him, not for sincere discovery of what He was about.
Where did Jesus get this ability? Jesus said He only tells what the Father tells Him. In the times off alone in prayer He was able to hear from God on the specifics He would be dealing with that day, and how to handle them. He knew every one's heart and who was trying to entrap Him.
If people feel we are on to their evil intentions, it will cause them to back off from doing harm to us.
We can get the same insight in times of prayer, refection, allowing the thoughts of the Holy Spirit to enter our minds. Keep the listening process in place to sort out what God's Spirit is communicating to us.
What we call prayer is really this Divine time of Divine Communication. It's a time of presenting problems, asking for solutions, and taking what is impressed on us as Divine Direction.
The Scriptures encourage us to be still before God. In the middle of the night, both late night, early morning, we can hear when in the stillness around us. Make those times sacred to hear the impressions of Spirit sent through our minds. Trust those times as hearing from God, a sacred time of His time to speak to us. When we cultivate those, we continue to hear His directions, thoughts, impressions throughout the day. Start in faith, trust, and obey what is transmitted to Spirit to you. Act in faith that they are insights from the Holy Spirit for you.
The Holy Spirit is the creator of all things. Listen, respond and know how to speak to all men. The Spirit also gives us favor with people so they will listen to what we have to say.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Why Work for Heaven ... Its Rewards
by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
What is Heaven like?
Why would we look forward to building for Heaven
and put all our energies into that future instead our future on earth?
What makes Heaven so attractive,
so that we would want to spend our earthly time working for this reward,
more than the rewards and recognitions earth can bring?
Catching a Glimpse of Heaven by E. M. Bounds gives us a sneak preview.
Heaven is a place, according to E. M. Bounds. it's a tangible state with local inhabitants. It has a rare charm, a place of comfort and strength. Heaven has no tenants, everyone will be property owners. After our resurrection, we will have bodies made just for Heaven. The whole purpose of Jesus and His resurrection and people seeing Him in His new body, was to give us hope for our own resurrection. We will have bodies like Jesus and some say, we will be at our prime, our most appealing age... a Heavenly age. We will have houses to live in. When absent of our present earthly bodies, we have the assurance we will be at home with the Lord.
Heaven is stable, breath-takingly attractive, and enduring forever. Nothing will wear out. All plants, flowers, streams will be fresh forever. With its matchless, exquisite beauty, it will always be incorruptible and undefiled. It is a kingdom. Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Heaven is His, a dwelling place and it receives its glory from the Father. Earth cannot rival heaven. Heaven is filled with harmony, beauty and ecstasy. Earth is not safe, but Heaven is. On earth thieves steal, in Heaven no treasures are lost. The remarkable thing is we can lay up treasures for Heaven, and have them waiting for us when we get there. We will never lose those treasures.
Jesus emphasized Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is referred to over 40 times in Gospel of Matthew. Heaven is the Heart and Soul of every being. There is absolute safety in heaven, with no tears, no illness, no aches and pains, no sorrows or heartbreaks, no losses to mourn. Our earthly fears originate from the lack of knowing that our Heaven Father is constantly watching over us. He sees all we do, and, in Heaven, all rewards are guaranteed. Heaven is where Jesus lives and He is preparing our special place to live with Him there. It is a real place and our Father lives there.
All sorrow, disappointments from the past will be forgotten. We will be so over-awed by the magnitude of Heaven, earth will seem so small. We will have a transfigured mind and memory, purified thought and love, a transfigured body shining like a noon-day sun on a warm spring day, our eternal inheritance. All things will become new, and will be new always.
Heaven is a city beyond this life with close union to God, Jesus and each other. It is full, strong, magnificent, glorious, perfect. It will be full of vigor, like a deep river, fresh, inexhaustible, wide and buoyant. God's power and love will be seen and felt continually. The tree of life there will give fresh fruit frequently. A flow of energy will never subside.
There is an absence of every form of evil and the presence of every form of good. The Heavenly home, a place of grand glory, is an unspeakable joy.
Victoria Boyson had this vision of Heaven. Just a few excerpts from her article.
Visit her bog site at:
http://www.boyson.org/
"The Lord told me He had something He wanted to show me - I took his hand and suddenly I was in the spirit atop a great hill in heaven. He was happy to be able show me His favored landscape and the hills of His home. It was all so breathtaking. You could stand in one spot and look for miles in all directions enjoying the beautiful hills. He was pleased with my delight.
Then, we walked down the hill toward a grove of large trees. To my surprise, He showed me a tunnel formed by the trees that had grown there. They had grown intertwining together to form a tunnel that almost blocked out the light. It seemed endless and although we did not walk the distance of it, He told me it went all the way to the other side of the valley we were in.
As we exited the tunnel, I saw a small pond near the grove of trees. I asked the Lord if we could stop and look at the fish - there were very large gold fish that were absolutely beautiful. I asked if I could hold one and as He agreed, a large fish came up to where I stood at the edge and stared up at me as if it were offering itself to me like a kitten or dog wanting to be held. Picking it up, I pet its golden scales as it looked up at me.
The Lord was happy I enjoyed it so much.It was this tremendous feeling of acceptance which seemed to overwhelm me. It was evident even in the animals, who had no fear. The people in heaven celebrated one another and each trusted in the knowledge they were not just tolerated, but were able to truly enjoy one another. Jesus was proud of this most of all - proud to show me the greatest treasure of His kingdom - love. And what a glorious treasure it is!"
Another interesting work is Heaven is for Real. It features a story of a child's experience in Heaven. In it he says he met loved ones, a sister that died before birth and everyone was at their prime age and very attractive... everything there was at its best. He too said we knew what was going on in earth, and had influence there. Heaven is actively engaged with activities on earth. The Holy Spirit shoots power down on earth for circumstances as needed. This may very well be the great cloud of witnesses the Hebrew writer refers to... fight on for your great reward is guaranteed in Heaven. The Great Cloud of Witnesses who have gone before you are cheering you on.
Glory and bliss are all part of Heaven. It is not a boring place, but the ideal life of existence God has always meant for His creation. Live for Heaven... it is real and beautiful. The treasures you invest there will never lose value.
and put all our energies into that future instead our future on earth?
What makes Heaven so attractive,
so that we would want to spend our earthly time working for this reward,
more than the rewards and recognitions earth can bring?
Catching a Glimpse of Heaven by E. M. Bounds gives us a sneak preview.
Heaven is a place, according to E. M. Bounds. it's a tangible state with local inhabitants. It has a rare charm, a place of comfort and strength. Heaven has no tenants, everyone will be property owners. After our resurrection, we will have bodies made just for Heaven. The whole purpose of Jesus and His resurrection and people seeing Him in His new body, was to give us hope for our own resurrection. We will have bodies like Jesus and some say, we will be at our prime, our most appealing age... a Heavenly age. We will have houses to live in. When absent of our present earthly bodies, we have the assurance we will be at home with the Lord.
Heaven is stable, breath-takingly attractive, and enduring forever. Nothing will wear out. All plants, flowers, streams will be fresh forever. With its matchless, exquisite beauty, it will always be incorruptible and undefiled. It is a kingdom. Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Heaven is His, a dwelling place and it receives its glory from the Father. Earth cannot rival heaven. Heaven is filled with harmony, beauty and ecstasy. Earth is not safe, but Heaven is. On earth thieves steal, in Heaven no treasures are lost. The remarkable thing is we can lay up treasures for Heaven, and have them waiting for us when we get there. We will never lose those treasures.
Jesus emphasized Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is referred to over 40 times in Gospel of Matthew. Heaven is the Heart and Soul of every being. There is absolute safety in heaven, with no tears, no illness, no aches and pains, no sorrows or heartbreaks, no losses to mourn. Our earthly fears originate from the lack of knowing that our Heaven Father is constantly watching over us. He sees all we do, and, in Heaven, all rewards are guaranteed. Heaven is where Jesus lives and He is preparing our special place to live with Him there. It is a real place and our Father lives there.
All sorrow, disappointments from the past will be forgotten. We will be so over-awed by the magnitude of Heaven, earth will seem so small. We will have a transfigured mind and memory, purified thought and love, a transfigured body shining like a noon-day sun on a warm spring day, our eternal inheritance. All things will become new, and will be new always.
Heaven is a city beyond this life with close union to God, Jesus and each other. It is full, strong, magnificent, glorious, perfect. It will be full of vigor, like a deep river, fresh, inexhaustible, wide and buoyant. God's power and love will be seen and felt continually. The tree of life there will give fresh fruit frequently. A flow of energy will never subside.
There is an absence of every form of evil and the presence of every form of good. The Heavenly home, a place of grand glory, is an unspeakable joy.
Victoria Boyson had this vision of Heaven. Just a few excerpts from her article.
Visit her bog site at:
http://www.boyson.org/
"The Lord told me He had something He wanted to show me - I took his hand and suddenly I was in the spirit atop a great hill in heaven. He was happy to be able show me His favored landscape and the hills of His home. It was all so breathtaking. You could stand in one spot and look for miles in all directions enjoying the beautiful hills. He was pleased with my delight.
Then, we walked down the hill toward a grove of large trees. To my surprise, He showed me a tunnel formed by the trees that had grown there. They had grown intertwining together to form a tunnel that almost blocked out the light. It seemed endless and although we did not walk the distance of it, He told me it went all the way to the other side of the valley we were in.
As we exited the tunnel, I saw a small pond near the grove of trees. I asked the Lord if we could stop and look at the fish - there were very large gold fish that were absolutely beautiful. I asked if I could hold one and as He agreed, a large fish came up to where I stood at the edge and stared up at me as if it were offering itself to me like a kitten or dog wanting to be held. Picking it up, I pet its golden scales as it looked up at me.
The Lord was happy I enjoyed it so much.It was this tremendous feeling of acceptance which seemed to overwhelm me. It was evident even in the animals, who had no fear. The people in heaven celebrated one another and each trusted in the knowledge they were not just tolerated, but were able to truly enjoy one another. Jesus was proud of this most of all - proud to show me the greatest treasure of His kingdom - love. And what a glorious treasure it is!"
Another interesting work is Heaven is for Real. It features a story of a child's experience in Heaven. In it he says he met loved ones, a sister that died before birth and everyone was at their prime age and very attractive... everything there was at its best. He too said we knew what was going on in earth, and had influence there. Heaven is actively engaged with activities on earth. The Holy Spirit shoots power down on earth for circumstances as needed. This may very well be the great cloud of witnesses the Hebrew writer refers to... fight on for your great reward is guaranteed in Heaven. The Great Cloud of Witnesses who have gone before you are cheering you on.
Glory and bliss are all part of Heaven. It is not a boring place, but the ideal life of existence God has always meant for His creation. Live for Heaven... it is real and beautiful. The treasures you invest there will never lose value.
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