We all have expectations of how others should act. Mary, Martha, Lazarus and Jesus Christ were friends. When Mary and Martha called on Jesus to heal Lazarus, their brother who was dying, they expected Jesus to come soon and heal Lazarus. When Jesus didn't come right away, they didn't understand.
In the movie The Flowers of War a Chinese father assists the invading Japanese soldiers as a way to get his daughter to safety. The daughter doesn't understand her dad's involvement with the Japanese, and she thinks his involvement is evidence that he is a bad person.
Doing the unexpected does not necessarily mean doing something unkind. Jesus Christ delayed His visit to Mary, Martha and Lazarus because He wanted to show that what He had been saying (Jesus Christ is God; God can raise the dead; and God can give eternal life) was possible and true. Jesus' delay allowed Jesus to raise a dead and decaying person (Lazarus) from the dead to new life, showing God is truthful and powerful.
When it seems that the Japanese are going to rape and murder the daughter in The Flowers of War, the daughter is discouraged about being rescued and decides to lead herself and other girls to commit suicide.
The devil specializes in creating circumstances to discourage people. A Japanese proverb says, "An evil act runs a thousand miles." Chinese authorities are trying to discourage people from protesting China's one-child policy. Zhang Yimou, the director of The Flowers of War, is being threatened by Chinese authorities with a fine of nearly $27 million for allegedly fathering seven children. After Chen Guangcheng filed a 2005 lawsuit against local officials practicing forced abortions and forced sterilizations as part of China's one-child policy, he went to jail and house arrest. He only got out of house arrest by escape and by negotiation between the U.S. and China. Many boys and girls haven't gotten out and have been killed by forced abortions, and many parents have been involuntarily sterilized.
The advocates of discouragement are not destined to ultimately win. Christian Minister and Human Rights Activist Desmond Tutu says in part of "An Easter Message:"
"Nothing could have been deader than Jesus on the cross that first Good Friday. And the hopes of his disciples had appeared to die with his crucifixion. Nothing could have been deeper than the despair of his followers when they saw their Master hanging on the Cross like a common criminal. The darkness that covered the earth for three hours during that Friday symbolized the blackness of their despair.
And then Easter happened. Jesus rose from the dead. The incredible, the unexpected happened. Life triumphed over death, light over darkness, love over hatred, good over evil. That is what Easter means--hope prevails over despair. Jesus reigns as Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Oppression and injustice and suffering can't be the end of the human story. Freedom and justice, peace and reconciliation, are his will for all of us, black and white, in this land and throughout the world. Easter says to us that despite everything to the contrary, his will for us will prevail, love will prevail over hate, justice over injustice and oppression, peace over exploitation and bitterness."
Awesome leaders are born in adverse times. Not long after Jesus Christ was born, Herod ordered that the male babies of Bethlehem, Israel, be killed. Christian Minister and Civil Rights Activist Martin Luther King, Jr., was born in 1929 during the American Great Depression.
Even though more than 330 million boys and girls have lost their lives to abortion in China since the implementation of China's one-child policy, and more than 55 million American babies have been killed by abortion since Roe v. Wade, God is up to something good. Unexpected heroes in The Flowers of War rescue the suicidal daughter and girls. Fred Hammond started out as a baby on whom an abortion was attempted; today he is an adult Gospel singer. Don't let the devil suck you into discouragement. Continuously stand up for life, love and freedom. Un dicho (a proverb) dice, "El que persevera triunfa." (Whoever perseveres, triumphs.") An Ethiopian proverb says, "Anticipate the good so that you may enjoy it." God lives inside of creyentes (believers) giving us the power to live 1 Corinthians 13:7 Amplified Bible which says, "Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]."
What are some stories of enduring love and the unexpected? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P. O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/michelelove30.
Showing posts with label Expectations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Expectations. Show all posts
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Audacious Escapes
"You shall not give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall not wrong him," says Deuteronomy 23:15-16 English Standard Version Bible. Many Native Americans may not have known the Bible, but they practiced this part of the Bible by sheltering African-American slaves who fled their slave masters searching for freedom in Native American communities.
Rafael and I love to travel to Florida. Before 1819 when Spain sold Florida to the United States of America, Florida was a popular place for runaway slaves to live among the Native Americans. African-American slaves and free people intermarried with Native Americans. The Seminoles consist of Native Americans, African Americans and people who are a mix of both Native Americans and African Americans.
John Horse was of mixed Native American and African-American heritage. Like others like him Horse played a role in Native-American leadership. John Horse and Wild Cat defeated an American army led by Colonel Zachary Taylor at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee. Later John Horse led a group of black Seminoles into Mexico where they were allowed to live in return for guarding the border against rustlers and bandits.
No matter if people are African, European, Asian, Latino or some mixture, God created people with a desire to be free. Sometimes we consider certain practices acceptable for other people that we would never consider acceptable for ourselves. Former US President Abraham Lincoln said, "Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally." How many people really wish that their parents would have aborted them instead of allowing them to live? Gospel singer Fred Hammond's mom tried to abort him, but Hammond survived. Read his story and more in my article "Thoughts About Abortion."
Proverbs 11:27 Amplified Bible says, "He who diligently seeks good seeks [God’s] favor, but he who searches after evil, it shall come upon him." President Lincoln said, "As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy." Lincoln fought for his idea. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, encouraging border states to outlaw slavery. Lincoln helped push through Congress the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which finally freed all the slaves nationwide in December 1865.
Rafael and I would probably be slaves today if it were not for President Lincoln.
Not only African Americans but many would probably not be enjoying the freedoms we have today if it were not for President Lincoln. Lincoln led the United States through the American Civil War preserving the Union.
Many people have low expectations of people with mental illness, but Lincoln accomplished great things even while he battled periods of depression. Do we have a Federal, American holiday recognizing the accomplishments of people with mental illness?
Printing transformed literature globally. Printing was invented in China. The written word is a wonderful way to inspire change.
Native Americans and President Lincoln helped African Americans escape slavery. Many Latino countries are experiencing social, political and economic turmoil leading some to immigrate to America. What can we do to help them?
Rafael and I love to travel to Florida. Before 1819 when Spain sold Florida to the United States of America, Florida was a popular place for runaway slaves to live among the Native Americans. African-American slaves and free people intermarried with Native Americans. The Seminoles consist of Native Americans, African Americans and people who are a mix of both Native Americans and African Americans.
John Horse was of mixed Native American and African-American heritage. Like others like him Horse played a role in Native-American leadership. John Horse and Wild Cat defeated an American army led by Colonel Zachary Taylor at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee. Later John Horse led a group of black Seminoles into Mexico where they were allowed to live in return for guarding the border against rustlers and bandits.
No matter if people are African, European, Asian, Latino or some mixture, God created people with a desire to be free. Sometimes we consider certain practices acceptable for other people that we would never consider acceptable for ourselves. Former US President Abraham Lincoln said, "Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally." How many people really wish that their parents would have aborted them instead of allowing them to live? Gospel singer Fred Hammond's mom tried to abort him, but Hammond survived. Read his story and more in my article "Thoughts About Abortion."
Proverbs 11:27 Amplified Bible says, "He who diligently seeks good seeks [God’s] favor, but he who searches after evil, it shall come upon him." President Lincoln said, "As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy." Lincoln fought for his idea. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, encouraging border states to outlaw slavery. Lincoln helped push through Congress the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which finally freed all the slaves nationwide in December 1865.
Rafael and I would probably be slaves today if it were not for President Lincoln.
Not only African Americans but many would probably not be enjoying the freedoms we have today if it were not for President Lincoln. Lincoln led the United States through the American Civil War preserving the Union.
Many people have low expectations of people with mental illness, but Lincoln accomplished great things even while he battled periods of depression. Do we have a Federal, American holiday recognizing the accomplishments of people with mental illness?
Printing transformed literature globally. Printing was invented in China. The written word is a wonderful way to inspire change.
Native Americans and President Lincoln helped African Americans escape slavery. Many Latino countries are experiencing social, political and economic turmoil leading some to immigrate to America. What can we do to help them?
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
How to Stop Spinning Out of Control
Sometimes we are in relationships with believers and certain interactions repeatedly spin out of control. Neither one of us wanted to end up in sins of anger, envy, selfishness, etc., but we seem to repeatedly move there. Often these interactions condition us to have a mindset of fear regarding how we will behave in certain circumstances. Fearing the worst behavior or something less than the best behavior is not believing the best. God calls us to the best. 1 Corinthians 13:7 Amplified Bible says, "Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]."
As believers, "Esperamos." Our hope and confidence is not in someone's ability to change to good behavior, but in God's ability to change someone. As long as our hope and confidence is in people we will be prone to expect failure, and we will try to flee and/or fight as a means of protecting ourselves from sin. Placing our confidence in God and walking in love is not operating with unrealistic thoughts about human behavior. Rather love sees and understands the truth about ourselves and others and turns us over to God for the ability to do good in increasing likeness of God.
Examine ourselves. Ask questions like, "What behavior am I afraid he/she will do?;" "Why do I respond in fear?" Then ask God to set us free from the fearful thought pattern that is motivating us to respond in an unloving way. Ungodly fear entangles us in more sin because wisdom declines and low expectations increase.
God has already placed Himself in believers giving us self-control to master the fear and to respond in love.
When we are walking in self-control we are in God's will. We don't have a perfect body yet, so we will not walk in perfect self-control. A Japanese proverb says, "Fall down seven times, get up eight times."
God is already aware of and taken care of all the sins we ever did, are doing and will do. When we are imperfect, but chasing God, God is willing to make the changes we ask Him. 1 John 3:22-23 Amplified Bible says, "And we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we [watchfully] obey His orders [observe His suggestions and injunctions, follow His plan for us] and [habitually] practice what is pleasing to Him. And this is His order (His command, His injunction): that we should believe in (put our faith and trust in and adhere to and rely on) the name of His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah), and that we should love one another, just as He has commanded us."
Contact Michele Jackson and Rafael Fowler at email address michefrancesjackson@gmail.com to join our live relationship group to conquer fear and to live in love and self control among other things. God created us and preserves our life from fertilization through birth, youth, old age and beyond death for people who are African, European, Asian, Hispanic, male, female, working all different kinds of assignments at all different kinds of hours and with different minds and abilities and with multiple mixtures of these characteristics. God created us to have a good relationship with Him and to be in relationships with people who are just right for us.
As believers, "Esperamos." Our hope and confidence is not in someone's ability to change to good behavior, but in God's ability to change someone. As long as our hope and confidence is in people we will be prone to expect failure, and we will try to flee and/or fight as a means of protecting ourselves from sin. Placing our confidence in God and walking in love is not operating with unrealistic thoughts about human behavior. Rather love sees and understands the truth about ourselves and others and turns us over to God for the ability to do good in increasing likeness of God.
Examine ourselves. Ask questions like, "What behavior am I afraid he/she will do?;" "Why do I respond in fear?" Then ask God to set us free from the fearful thought pattern that is motivating us to respond in an unloving way. Ungodly fear entangles us in more sin because wisdom declines and low expectations increase.
God has already placed Himself in believers giving us self-control to master the fear and to respond in love.
When we are walking in self-control we are in God's will. We don't have a perfect body yet, so we will not walk in perfect self-control. A Japanese proverb says, "Fall down seven times, get up eight times."
God is already aware of and taken care of all the sins we ever did, are doing and will do. When we are imperfect, but chasing God, God is willing to make the changes we ask Him. 1 John 3:22-23 Amplified Bible says, "And we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we [watchfully] obey His orders [observe His suggestions and injunctions, follow His plan for us] and [habitually] practice what is pleasing to Him. And this is His order (His command, His injunction): that we should believe in (put our faith and trust in and adhere to and rely on) the name of His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah), and that we should love one another, just as He has commanded us."
Contact Michele Jackson and Rafael Fowler at email address michefrancesjackson@gmail.com to join our live relationship group to conquer fear and to live in love and self control among other things. God created us and preserves our life from fertilization through birth, youth, old age and beyond death for people who are African, European, Asian, Hispanic, male, female, working all different kinds of assignments at all different kinds of hours and with different minds and abilities and with multiple mixtures of these characteristics. God created us to have a good relationship with Him and to be in relationships with people who are just right for us.
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