If It Is The Lords Will I Will Live
If It Is The Lords Will I Will Live
My thoughts can get a little edgy at night. Possibly even deep. Reflecting on almost a half century of life. Some of it better than I would have imagined in my youth. Some not.All in all I am glad that this present life is not all I have been given from the hand of God. At night I tend to wonder what it will be like to be on the other side of death's door.According to the Reverend Gary Davis "Death don't have no mercy in this land." Thank God, Jesus does. Two or three mild strokes and a minor heart attack over the last 6 years could well have something to do with the way the stream of my consciousness flows.Not melancholy thoughts. Thoughts of a hope and future God has prepared for me beyond the valley of the shadow of death. Makes me want to do right and be appreciative of what He has given me on this side of the valley and yet not to pin all my hopes and dreams on family and friends and the things that make life enjoyable in the present.There is a day of reckoning and a day of rewards coming which will fit all of us out for eternal life. James, the brother of Jesus says it much better than I could hope to.James 4:13-15 Weymouth NTJam 4:13 Come, you who say, "To-day or to-morrow we will go to this or that city, and spend a year there and carry on a successful business,"Jam 4:14 when, all the while, you do not even know what will happen to-morrow. For what is the nature of your life? Why, it is but a mist, which appears for a short time and then is seen no more.Jam 4:15 Instead of that you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we shall live and do this or that."I need to learn humility. I wrote "we need" first but decided that was a cop out. This isn't a lecture, it's me sitting here in a nice warm quiet room, comfortably reflecting on the nature of human life.What is the nature of human life? Nothing substantial, whether it's you, me or Michael Jackson. We live our lives from day to day and at any moment our breath could be terminated and our next conscious thought would occur before the presence of almighty God.This life which seems so concrete to us is no more solid than a mist or vapor, a fog we walk through while heading towards God's light. That doesn't mean it is unimportant but it is impermanent and insubstantial compared to the life awaiting beyond the confines of incorporation.Instead of steadfastly setting our faces towards our own plans and purposes, there I go with that "we" business again. You have to figure this out for yourself, you can't ride on my revelation of impermanance.Anyhow, here's my thought:I have some things I want to do and accomplish while still in the body, but I need to learn to temper my desires with the the fact that, "If it is the Lord's will, I shall live and do this or that." If it is not His will then I will be moving on to bigger and better things in the presence of the Lord.Peace.About The AuthorPastor Ray Stark
Celebration Christian Chuch
After a half century of life
30 years of marriage
22 years of pastoral and missionary work
and 20 years of parenting I hopefully have something helpful to pass on to you. Peace.website: http://www.celebratingjesus.orgblog: http://www.celebratingjesus.blogspot.com
Parenting: The Road I Chose
Parenting: The Road I Chose
Tripping over the shoes and toys that seem to clutter my living room floor on a constant basis, just seems to be part of the game of parenting. I realize it doesn't have to be that way. I could spend my time picking up after the little hon-yocks, and screaming at them to do their chores, but it's more fun my way. (I never know where I'm going to land.)A night of walking over hot wheels and leggos has special meaning for me, and I doubt I will ever forget the night of the little tykes tractor story, but life does have a purpose - and for me that purpose is in the form of children. It's the loving, the kisses, the hugging, the owies, and all the problems and hassles of parenthood, as well as the joys of being a mother. Nothing else compares.I can't imagine life without my *treasures* or living without the fun of parenting teenagers, toddlers, and tweens, and yet somehow I can imagine that life without them, for someone who never had children is pretty much the same as mine - FULL and SATISFYING. My friends who don't have children seem to find ways to utilize the spirit of nurturing that God gave them, and it seems to give them pleasure in the same way.I meet people throughout life who have children who do not feel the need or desire to be fully involved parents and I wonder if they realize what they are missing. But, when I share the joys of parenting with them, they just don't understand. So, I suppose there are those among us who just don't get it, but for those, I'm sure God has a plan somewhere in his massive order of life to satisfy. I just really wonder what that plan could be.For me, the oatmeal kisses, band aide covered knees, broken trophies of my past, and scattered clutter are all made worth it by the years of love and honor that my children bestow up on me in the single moment when they proudly introduce me as mom.Copyright
But I Dont Want Muscles! Part 1: What Muscle is, and how to Build (or Avoid) It – Build-Muscle
But I Dont Want Muscles! Part 1: What Muscle is, and how to Build (or Avoid) It
One of the common comments I hear from my female clients is, "Please don't give me any weights work ? I don't want any muscle, I just want to tone." The reasons differ from client to client, but it most often they seem to be based on a misunderstanding of what muscle is, how we build it, what it has to do with weight loss ? or some combination of the above. There's a lot of misinformation outside of the fitness world about muscles and what they do, so I'd like to spend the next two articles exploring the realities behind the myths.WHAT IS MUSCLE?When I was younger, I'd never really thought about what the 'stuff' between my skin and my bones was made of. I understood that muscles were what bodybuilders had, and fat was something that made you fat, and that I had some of each. I think, though, that I believed that they existed inside some kind of other substance that filled the space between my skin and my bones. Then, in secondary school, I learned that, in a healthy person, most of this magical substance was just muscle. In fact, I learned that, aside from my body's networks of organs, blood vessels and nerves, and my skeleton there isn't really much under my skin except for muscle and fat.I learned that muscles were an incredible network of fibres that allowed me to move my limbs, to stay sitting or standing upright, to talk, breathe, and pretty much to translate any thought I had into action of some kind. I learned that if I didn't use them, muscles would shrink and weaken, and if I did, they'd grow stronger. And I learned that as my muscles grew stronger, so did I.All of this was quite a revelation for me at the time, so I can understand the initial confusion that exists amongst so many of my clients ? why they want to tone without building muscles. The truth though, is that muscle is the only thing under their skin that can be toned, and that 'toning' often simply means that muscles become slightly more visible (which then makes the whole body look smoother and firmer). So without enough muscle to start with, there's nothing there that can be toned.BULIDING THE RIGHT SIZED MUSCLESOften, the clients I speak to don't have a problem with the idea of a little muscle. The problem is that many don't realise it isn't an 'all or nothing' thing. Unfortunately, because of the lack of clear information out there in the media, the only image they have to associate 'women' with 'muscle' is one of a female bodybuilder at the peak of her competition physique. Not that there's anything wrong with wanting such a physique if that's a client's aim, but for most of the women I speak to, the possibility of developing such large, defined muscles is really quite scary!Those kinds of muscles, however, don't happen quickly or easily. Really large muscles require long, intense workouts over a period of time, and a base level of testosterone ? a hormone most women don't have in sufficient quantities (without the use of steroids, anyway) for size to become a problem. Granted, there are women with naturally high testosterone levels (and I'm one!), who will put on muscle more quickly. But even for me, muscles don't suddenly appear, fully-formed overnight. So if I notice I'm gradually building size in an area I don't want it, it's not difficult for me to change my training in that body area to gradually reduce the size again.Also, many people believe any kind of weights work will automatically increase muscle size. The truth is that not all training produces size increases. There are a number of variables you can play with in strength training ? the heaviness of the weight, the number of repetitions of the movement, and the time you allow yourself to rest between groups of repetitions (or sets). Very generally speaking, training with a heavy weight and low repetitions in each set will increase strength; training with a medium-to-heavy weight and medium repetitions will increase muscle size; and training with a lighter weight with high repetitions per set will increase endurance.In practice, it's not actually quite this simple, and there are other factors to consider. The important point is that not all training will increase muscle size, that some muscle is necessary if you want to tone, and that working with a competent trainer will help ensure you get only the results that you want from your training.In Part 2 of the article (http://optimumlife.co.nz/Fitness%20Articles/Muscle/Muscle2.htm), we look at why muscle is so important for weight management and long- term health.Copyright 2005 Tanja GardnerOptimum Life's Tanja Gardner is a Personal Trainer and Stress Management Coach whose articles on holistic health and relaxation have appeared in various media since 1999. Optimum Life is dedicated to providing fitness and stress management services to help clients all over the world achieve their optimum lives.To read more articles like this one, please subscribe to Optimum Fitness News at http://optimumlife.co.nz/Newsletter%20Signup.htm.To find out more about how you could benefit from online personal training, please visit http://www.trainerforce.com/optimumlife/.To find out more about holistic fitness and stress management please visit http://optimumlife.co.nz, or contact Tanja on tanja@optimumlife.co.nz.