INHERITED DEPRAVITY?  BY STEVE FINNELL

Cannot Wait to see you Again.... :-)

How can you not?

How could you NOT fall in love with the glow of the moon and stars, the warmth of the sun, the ancient life within the trees, and the sweet melodies of the winds?

Shalom.

I will be happy.

I will be healthy.

I will be financially stable.

I will prosper.

I will succeed.

Living His Word

Don’t brag about tomorrow,    since you don’t know what the day will bring. Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth–    a stranger, not your own lips. - Proverbs 27:1-2

Humility is an essential and fundamental quality of the Christian life. It is essential and fundamental because of the position human beings have in the great scheme of things. God is the sovereign ruler over all creation. We exist in the creation that He made. Although He made us in His image and placed us in a position above all other creatures (Genesis 1:26-28), we are still subject to His divine providential control. He determines the story of creation and He determines the story of our lives within His creation.

True humility, then, recognizes and acknowledges the subservient place we have in the great scheme of things. Although we may think we know what the day will bring, we can make no guarantees. As the Proverb says, “We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps” (Proverbs 16:9). And that’s why James warned us not to boast about tomorrow. Instead, he said we should say, ’“If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that”’ (James 4:15). After all, unlike the sovereign and eternal God who controls all things, our lives are “like the morning fog–it’s here a little while, then it’s gone” (James 4:14).

The true humility that recognizes and acknowledges our subservient place also knows that boasting about one’s accomplishments does not properly reflect our status in reality. Although there may be occasions when public acknowledgment of one’s accomplishments is necessary for personal vindication or for the edification of others, as was the case with Paul and the Corinthian church (II Corinthians 11:12), gratuitous boasting has no place in God’s Kingdom. We are dependent creatures. We are dependent upon God for everything we have and everything we are. Instead of boasting about ourselves, then, we should boast about God (II Corinthians 10:17).

Paul said, “When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.” (II Corinthians 10:18). One of the ways that the Lord can do this is by having others ? strangers even ? praise us. And in the next life, of course, the Lord Himself will do the job personally (I Corinthians 4:5).

We don’t have to brag about tomorrow or praise ourselves. God can see to it that we get the acknowledgement and the encouragement we need.

© 2016 by Bible League International

Wishes.

Always. 💓

🌸 May affirmations 🌸

🌿 My life is flowing in the right direction

🌿 I am surrounded by love and kindness

🌿 I am filled with inspiration and creativity

🌿 My heart and mind are in harmony

🌿 I fuel my mind with positive thoughts

🌿 I am balanced, grounded and energized

🌿 I attract abundance to every area of my life

🌿 Everything is happening for my highest good

LOVE This! ☀️💙

The Perfect Quarantine Morning Routine:

1. As soon as you wake up, drink some water:

Drinking water first thing in the morning wakes up your system, flushes out toxins, and boosts your metabolism (helps you breath, think, digest, circulate blood)! Try to drink at least 500 ml, that’s about 1 water bottle when you wake up. Now that you’ve drunk 500 ml of water in the morning, you only need 500 more to make it to 1 Liter! Yes, just like that you’re already close to meeting your daily recommendation of water intake (2 liters).

2. Spend some time reading The Word (Jesus time) or journaling:

Wether it’s spending time with God or journaling, do something that gives you a mental break. Do something that lets you escape to your own world where you are not focusing on the outside noise. Reading the Bible is a great mental escape, it keeps you grounded and reminded of your purpose, value, and how much you’re ur loved. Spending time in the Word will give you an overwhelming sense of peace and pure satisfaction. Use that time to de-stress.

Journaling on the other hand is a great way to keep your thoughts organized and inspire creativity! Let your mind explore. Wether it’s writing down your dreams, a simple to-do list, or your dream life, use this time to relax. Also, you can use this time to remind yourself of your daily/weekly goals or just simply read your affirmations for the day.

3. Expose yourself to sunlight:

Besides the fact that sunlight gives us vitamin D, the right amount can actually improve our mood! Exposure to sunlight can help increase the brains release of serotonin (associated with boosting moods to help you feel calm and focused). So please, go for a walk in your neighborhood, open your window, workout outside, eat breakfast outside, just expose yourself to some sunlight!

4. Get your morning workout in:

This is a must! Not only is working out amazing for your physical health, but it is also great for your mental health. Try to get in at least a 10-30 minute workout! It is best in the morning because that means you won’t have to do it later. Do at-home pilates, some form of cardio, weight training, or do some simple stretching (all available on YouTube). Whatever it is, just get your body moving! You will not regret it.

5. Take a cold or warm shower:

What’s more refreshing than cold water hitting your skin after an amazing workout? Cold showers helps you feel more awake and increases circulation! For people, like myself, that are too afraid of cold showers in the morning, go a for a warm shower.

6. Have a healthy and filling breakfast:

Try to include fruits or vegetables in your breakfast. Fruits and vegetables are refreshing, and are full of rich vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants! Make sure your breakfast is also filling. When you eat a filling breakfast, it helps your appetite stay under control for the rest of the day! The better you eat, the better you feel!

7. Start your day:

Now it is officially time to start your day! Get in your zone and stay focused. Although there is a pandemic going on, that is no excuse to be lazy. Stimulate your mind! Work on a project, complete some assignments, plan a business, read a book, do research on something you’ve always been interested in! Whatever you decide to do, make sure you are getting your work in for the day.

Remember, it is okay to be tired, it is okay to give yourself a break, but do not let yourself sit there. Use this time to grow! Set goals for yourself! Plant your seeds now, water them, and watch those beautiful flowers grow in the future! Take care of yourself, you are important, you are valued, and you are loved. You will make it through.

Purity of heart

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. - Matthew 5:8

The Words of Jesus From Matthew 5: 2-12 have always been a commonly spoken about passage throughout church history. Even as a child I remember in children’s church being prompted by teachers to memorize “the beatitudes”. The issue has been that we have become overly familiar with those words, we have adopted the attitude “oh I’ve got those ones, I know that passage”. I want to take a few moments here to invite you to once again peer into the words of Jesus found here; and allow yourself to be filled with the Spirit of revelation at these eternal words spoken from the lips of the one whom from His mouth comes a sharp two-edged sword (see Revelation 1:16). The greatest vision that a man can have is the vision of God, the greatest glimpse that spirit of man can see is the very likeness of God.

Jesus knew this, being the one from the bosom of the Father. So he calls out to a great hidden desire in the depths of 1 “Purity of heart is the pathway to the great hidden longing of the human design; and that is to behold the One whose image you were made in” fallen man, the desire to behold the eternal glory of God. “Blessed, truly happy” He declares are the pure in heart because their spirit gets the great reward of clearer vision of the uncreated God! Think about Ezekiel at the river Chebar; after having visions of God’s uncreated glory he sat there for 7 days astonished! (See Ezekiel 2: 15). Hollywood has never dreamed of such a movie or production that could leave a man or woman stunned out of their mind for 7 days unable to move at what they had just witnessed. Let the declaration of Jesus here that “blessed are the pure in heart” grip your heart and draw you in to what you are longing for in the deepest place of your human spirit; which is to see God more clearly.

Purity isn’t some boring thing that God thought up to impose rules on you to keep you from enjoying life, purity is the pathway to the greatest pleasure! Purity of heart is the pathway to the great hidden longing of the human design; and that is to behold the One whose image you were made in. When you see Him every question you have ever had about yourself is answered. I hope the Spirit uses these weak words to stir up that great longing in your heart. And I hope you find yourself in the place of growth into the greater pleasure of beholding Him more fully.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. - 2 Corinthians 13:14

Author: Michael Woodward

favorite language learning resources

duolingo- a lot of language learners have issues with it but it’s good to get a base on the language and they’re always adding new languages!

memrise- good for vocabulary and memorizing, they have a wide list of languages

babbel- really effective if you want to learn how to communicate with people or get around, costs money for the full version but they have sales all the time

hellotalk- language exchange app, i’ve had really good experiences with this app, the only downside is that you have to pay to select more than one language you want to learn

tandem- similar to hellotalk, i like it slightly less but it allows you to choose as many languages as you want!

forvo- you can listen to native speakers pronounce things! it’s amazing!

ipachart- interactive chart with the international phonetic alphabet

wordreference- online dictionary for french, spanish, german, italian, portuguese, dutch, swedish, russian, polish, romanian, czech, greek, turkish, chinese, japanese, korean, and arabic

bab.la- another online dictionary with 24 languages

linguee- really great for learning phrases and seeing words in context

omniglot- encyclopedia of writing systems and languages, really great for learning new writing systems & also basic phrases! also has links to other resources!

the great language game- game for testing listening comprehension to several dozen languages!

ba ba dum- fun vocabulary game

easy languages- youtube channel featuring native speakers speaking a variety of languages but mostly spanish, french, and german

wikitongues- youtube channel attempting to document every language in the world

languagepod101- offers podcasts and youtube videos in a wide variety of languages

verbix- verb conjugating website with a wide variety of languages

quizlet- flashcard website that’s great for compiling vocab lists

lingq- i’ve only used it a little but it seems helpful especially for beginners!

tunein- allows you to listen to radio in a variety of languages

wikipedia- they have thousands to millions of articles in various languages so it’s a great place to test your reading skills, and in addition you can read articles about the language you’re learning and get a grasp on the language’s structure and sound system

lyricstraining- allows you to learn languages using song lyrics, really helpful for comprehension

lang-8- you can post things and have native speakers correct them, and correct things from other people!

feel free to add!