It is all about size and perception

“Your view of God --- How big you think He is - will decide the size of your faith.”
― Tony Evans, A Kid's Guide to the Armor of God   

Earthly Permission

“Simply defined, prayer is earthly permission for heavenly interference.”
― Tony Evans, Victory in Spiritual Warfare   

It Is Appointed

Death & Judgement -



Hebrews 9:27 often times leaves us with a very frightening picture. It seems to have the opposite effect of boosting our faith...however, for those who have their faith embedded in Christ, God's plan of salvation, this verse is there to encourage.
'27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,' (NKJV)

There are 2 facts mentioned here by the author of Hebrews:
1) We are all destined to die once
2) We will ALL give an account of our lives Some struggle to understand this portion of Scripture.
Ray C. Stedman gives a beautiful explanation to put our minds and hearts at ease...

"'For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body. (2 Corinthians 5:10 RSV) This is oftentimes a very frightening and misunderstood concept to many people.

The apostle speaks of a "judgment seat," and that always strikes terror to our hearts. Many people, I am afraid, identify this with that sobering and imposing scene in the 20th chapter of Revelation where all the dead, small and great, are standing before the "great white throne" of God. In an awesome moment of judgment "the books are opened" (Revelation 20:12), it says, lives are reviewed and eternal destinies are settled. It is a terribly impressive scene, and many think that this is what this refers to. But, if you read it that way, you have totally missed the point of the Scripture.

This is not a judgment to settle destiny. This is a personal evaluation given to each individual by the Lord himself of what his life has really been like. It is as though you and the Lord walked together back through all the scenes of your life and he pointed out to you the real nature of what you did and what you said and what was behind it all. The primary characteristic of the "judgment seat" is that it is a time of disclosure to us of what has been hidden in the silent, inner reaches of our own hearts. And not only a disclosure to us, but also to others. In fact, the word that is used here is a very interesting one. It says, "we shall all appear."

Literally it is, "we shall all be manifested," "we shall all be unveiled," in a sense, at the judgment seat of Christ, in the eyes of everyone. That is the point. This is the moment Jesus spoke of when he said, "Whatever is spoken in the secret places shall be shouted from the housetops." And it is described for us in the First Corinthian letter, Chapter 4, where Paul says, "Therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart," (1 Corinthians 4:5 RSV). That is what he is talking about."*

Stay Blessed

Pr Paddick

#LDMI #Hebrews9

© Paddick Van Zyl - LDMI - 2016

*http://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/2-corinthians/whats-there-to-live-for   pic. www.toolsformoney.com/

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Forgive Thyself

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“We need to forgive ourselves. For all the things we didn't do. All the things we should have done. You can't get stuck on the regrets of what should have happened.”
― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie   

Emotions

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“Don't cling to things, because everything is impermanent... But detachment doesn't mean you don't let the experience penetrate you.
On the contrary, you let it penetrate you fully. That's how you are able to leave it...You're afraid of the pain, you're afraid of the grief... But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your head even, you experience them fully and completely. You know what pain is. You know what love is. "All right. I have experienced that emotion. I recognize that emotion. Now I need to detach from that emotion for a moment.”
― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie   

Pity Party

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“I thought about all the people I knew who spent many of their waking hours feeling sorry for themselves. How useful it would be to put a daily limit on self-pity. Just a few tearful minutes, then on with the day.”
― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie

Dying Is Inevitable

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“Everyone knows they re going to die,' he said again, 'but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently.”
― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie

An Open Heart

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“If you're trying to show off for people at the top, forget it. They will look down on you anyhow. And if you're trying to show off for people at the bottom, forget it. They will only envy you. Status will get you nowhere. Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone.”
― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie   

The Watching Family

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"This is part of what a family is about, not just love. It's knowing that your family will be there watching out for you. Nothing else will give you that. Not money. Not fame. Not work."

Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie

Suicide and the Christian

What about suicide when I am a Christian?

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Watch this video by Author and Pastor, Redeemer Fellowship, Joe Thorn...

Joe Thorn on Suicide and the Christian Crosswalk

Stay blessed

Paddick Van Zyl

www.crosswalk.com

©Paddick Van Zyl - Laus Deo Ministries, Coram Deo Ministries

The Passage of Grief

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"Grief never ends...but it changes. It's a passage, not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith... It is the price of love."
Unknown Author

There are so many golden nuggets to be gleaned from this one quote.

• Grief is something we will all have to face at one time or another in our lives
• Grief is pretty much an ongoing 'emotional' aspect
• It changes us
• Most important - grief should never be a dwelling place, a place in life where we get stuck and where we end up moving in. It is a journey designed to change and empower but also teach us
• Grief should never be viewed as a weakness, frailty or disability
• Grief strengthens our faith in that we can be assured of our loved one being much better off if they had faith to believe God's Word for salvation
• Grief gives us a future hope of heaven

When God designed us, He also designed grief as part of the process we would go through to heal. Always remember - everyone grieves and mourns in their own unique way and there are no prescribed processes or ways of grieving.

Stay blessed.

Pr Paddick Van Zyl

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© Paddick Van Zyl - Laus Deo Ministries & Coram Deo Ministries

The Irish Blessing

Some beautiful and meaningful Irish blessings;

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“May your blessings outnumber The shamrocks that grow. And may trouble avoid you Wherever you go. Irish blessing”
― Stephen Revell, Picture Perfect

 “May you always have a friend that is worth that name. Irish blessing”
― Faith Lyon, Alice

 “May those that love us, love us. And those that don’t love us, May God turn their hearts. And if he doesn’t turn their hearts, May he turn their ankles, So we’ll know them by their limping.”
― Jean Legrand, IRISH BLESSINGS - Over 100 Irish Blessings in 8 Categories   

To Judge or Not To Judge

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“We never know the quality of someone else's life, though we seldom resist the temptation to assume and pass judgement.”
― Tami Hoag, Dark Horse   

 Why is it that we as human beings simply enjoy passing judgment, being mean to our fellow earth inhabitants? Do we really make ourselves feel better by judging another instead of looking to ourselves?

To assume something without the facts is to err, to be a fool for only a fool will make conclusions based on myth and hearsay.

Rather be slow in speech and judgment...

Stay blessed

Paddick Van Zyl

© Paddick Van Zyl & Refelctions on Life

I use http://www.quetext.com

The Cost

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“The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden   

The Choice

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“Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you.”
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay

How Much love?

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“I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will not ask, 'How many good things have you done in your life?' rather he will ask, 'How much love did you put into what you did?”
― Mother Teresa

Memories

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“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.”
― Gabriel Garcí­a Marquez


These words are so true. We all go through misfortunes, misery, and the like throughout our lives. And many times these events leaves scars that are deep and perhaps never fully heal. However, the memory of the good, the amazing and the beautiful is what is important. It is all about perspective, at the end of the day.... that makes the difference.

Stay blessed in life.

Paddick Van Zyl

© Paddick Van Zyl & Refelctions on Life 2016

Ambiguity

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“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.
Delicious Ambiguity.”
― Gilda Radner

Death

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“Death ends a life, not a relationship.”
― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie   

Happiness

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“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
― Albert Camus