Scriptural Principles to Help Reduce Stress

"Do not become righteous overmuch, nor show yourself excessively wise. Why should you cause desolation to yourself?"

 - Ecclesiastes 7:16

Application: Don't expect perfection of yourself and others.

photo by Charlene N.K.

"That YOU may make sure of the more important things, so that YOU may be flawless and not be stumbling others up to the day of Christ,  and may be filled with righteous fruit, which is through Jesus Christ, to God’s glory and praise."

 - Philippians 1:10,11

Application: Set appropriate priorities.

photo by Charlene N.K.

"For bodily training is beneficial for a little; but godly devotion is beneficial for all things, as it holds promise of the life now and that which is to come."

 - 1 Timothy 4:8

Application: Get regular exercise.

photo by Charlene N.K.

"For you have made me rejoice, O Jehovah, 

because of your activity;

Because of the works of your hands I cry out joyfully.

How great your works are, O Jehovah!

Very deep your thoughts are." 

- Psalm 92:3,5

Application: Enjoy God's creation.

photo by Charlene N.K.

"Eventually, having sent the crowds away, he went up into the mountain by himself to pray. Though it became late, he was there alone." 

- Matthew 14:23

Application: Make some quiet time regularly.

photo by Charlene N.K.

"Better is a handful of rest than a double handful of hard work and striving after the wind."

 - Ecclesiastes 4:6

Application: Get sufficient relaxation and sleep.

photo by Charlene N.K.

Source: Awake magazine, June 2010

The Beauty of Our Creator's Law (video version)

Oh The Beauty of Our Creator's Law!

One reason why I love to read God's Word and share its message to others is  that of the wonderful benefits that it brings to me personally. It gives me joy that can help me cope with adversities. It makes my life beautiful amidst all the ugly things in the world that invade our lives. It gives light to my path and brightens up my days as I strive to follow its wise instructions. It makes my life meaningful and entirely satisfying.

If God's Word does wonderful things to me, I'm sure that it also works beneficially for others who truly desire to be guided by the best Instructor in the whole Universe.

"How I do love your law!
All day long it is my concern.

Wiser than my enemies your commandment makes me,
Because to time indefinite it is mine.

More insight than all my teachers I have come to have,
Because your reminders are a concern to me.

With more understanding than older men I behave,
Because I have observed your own orders.

From every bad path I have restrained my feet,
For the purpose that I may keep your word.

From your judicial decisions I have not turned aside,
For you yourself have instructed me.

How smooth to my palate your sayings have been,
More so than honey to my mouth!

Owing to your orders I behave with understanding.
That is why I have hated every false path."

- Psalms 119:97-104

Food for the Heart

Here's another promise upon which we can set our heart. The world's wasteland and desert plains will flourish with delightful and life-giving vegetation. It will certainly be fulfilled because our Creator promised us about this in countless different ways and hundreds of times.

"The wilderness and the waterless region will exult, and the desert plain will be joyful and blossom as the saffron. Without fail it will blossom, and it will really be joyful with joyousness and with glad crying out." - Isaiah 35:1,2

All mankind will also exult and cry out with joy throughout eternity!

He Will Fulfill His Promises

Mankind's Creator has promised many things to his human creations. Since the beginning of human history, he has personally dealt with some nations and individual people, promising them of future blessings. One instance is that of his promises to the nation of Israel, which used to be His special nation during the time of Moses and Joshua and the "Kings". Here is Joshua's acknowledgment regarding God's ability to fulfill His promises. He addressed these words to the nation of Israel that time: “YOU well know with all YOUR hearts and with all YOUR souls that not one word out of all the good words that Jehovah YOUR God has spoken to YOU has failed. They have all come true for YOU. Not one word of them has failed." (Joshua 23:14)

Many more of His promises at a later time have been fulfilled. Not one word has failed.

Today, only a few of His promises written in the Bible are awaiting fulfillment. It may seem like they would never come at all, but God never lies and He always keeps His words. So we can rely on these words penned by apostle Peter: "Jehovah is not slow respecting his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with YOU because he does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

He wants all of His human creations to be saved from this world that's full of wickedness and sufferings, and to attain that wonderful life that's in store for them in the future. He doesn't want anyone to be destroyed. 

To many, this future is not real, that it's only an illusion. But to some, this is a hope that spurs them to endure in this present world while waiting for that promised future. It may seem to be slow in coming but it will surely come. It's like the SPRING in this part of the world. It didn't come on time, but it did COME, bringing with it all the natural beauties that brought pleasure to the hearts of those who have been waiting for it.

Spring's Promise

After  a long sleep in winter, natural creations wake up to a new day. Once again, colorful vegetation is alive and exudes in fresh beauty. Young plants begin to burst out in an explosion of colors that paint the entire surroundings. The atmosphere gives off a kind of beauty that brings delight to the heart of appreciative humans. To them, the new season is a reminder that there's a loving Creator who put all these wonderful things on earth to make us happy and enjoy our lives.

Such change in season also brings to mind the Creator's promise to make all things new in the future. This old world will be cleansed of all elements that destroy the beauty of this planet, and will be replaced by a new world order where righteous mankind will attain perfection and eternal life. 

 

This is the  essence of paradise. Not just  a beautiful surrounding filled with colorful flowers, but a wonderful place where wickedness, sickness and death are non-existent. It's a place where people can truly enjoy life without any worries at all. (Revelation 21:3-5)

 

Indeed, it's a new beginning, the awakening of all things wonderful...like SPRING.

On Owning Houses With Gardens

Simple houses with lush gardens around them always attract me. I love their grass carpets and their colorful flowers. This photo here is just one of the  many nice houses that I spotted here. Such houses remind me of a prophecy concerning the future of righteous humans. Someday, everyone will have his/her own house with beautiful surroundings. And I believe in the promise quoted below.

"And they will certainly build houses and have occupancy; and they will certainly plant vineyards and eat [their] fruitage. They will not build and someone else have occupancy; they will not plant and someone else do the eating. For like the days of a tree will the days of my people be; and the work of their own hands my chosen ones will use to the full.  They will not toil for nothing, nor will they bring to birth for disturbance; because they are the offspring made up of the blessed ones of Jehovah, and their descendants with them." 

- Isaiah 65:21-23

When the Whole Earth is a Garden

I never expected that I would come across this tulip garden in the picture. It's like a dream come true for me to be with my dream flowers. In the past, I just looked at them in the pictures, magazines and movies. Now, I'm face to face with them. I can touch them, smell them and drink in their fresh and exquisite beauty. Walking in such a garden transports me to paradise.

This is truly a gift from above. "Every good gift and every perfect present is from above, for it comes down from the Father of the [celestial] lights, and with him there is not a variation of the turning of the shadow." - James 1:17

What if the whole earth will be a garden full of colorful lovely flowers? Not a remote possibility. The Giver of such gifts is so generous and He will give us the desires of our hearts. In fact, he is now very close to the point of fulfilling His promise that this whole earth will be turned to Paradise. Soon, righteous mankind who put faith in our Creator's promise will walk forever in a much lovelier garden.

Clothed in Beauty

"Also on the matter of clothing, why are you anxious? Take a lesson from the lilies of the field, how they are growing; they do not toil, nor do they spin; but I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. If now God thus clothes the vegetation of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much rather clothe you....?" - Matthew 6:28-30

This is one of the series of lessons that the Greatest Teacher taught his disciples when he delivered his Sermon on the Mount. He directed his listeners' attention to simple natural creations and showed them what lessons they could learn from them.

In these particular passages, he emphasizes on people's anxieties about what to put on. He stressed that God knows all that we need, including our clothings, and so we should not worry too much about such things because He willl provide for us much more than He provides for His inanimate creations. All we have to do is to  seek  the Kingdom first, and then He will give us whatever we need in due time. And we must also have strong faith in His promise to provide for our necessities. It is also important to keep a "simple eye", not desiring or asking for more than what we essentially need in order to survive.

An Unbelievable Promise Will Be Fulfilled

We have seen many promises broken, even the simple ones that can easily be kept. Sometimes, we stop believing in any promises because we don't trust them anymore. However, there is a promise to us by Someone who has always kept His words. Most of His written promises have been fulfilled, and we are now awaiting for the grand fulfillment of one promise that sounds impossible to us. It is our Creator's promise to restore the original beauty and purity of our home planet where righteous mankind will dwell eternally in perfection. (Psalm 37:10,11,29)

The certainly of the fulfillment of this promise is underscored in the Scripture quoted below, and illustrated by these three pictures that I have taken in winter and spring.

"For just as the pouring rain descends, and the snow, from the heavens and does not return to that place, unless it actually saturates the earth and makes it produce and sprout, and seed is actually given to the sower and bread to the eater,  so my word that goes forth from my mouth will prove to be. It will not return to me without results, but it will certainly do that in which I have delighted, and it will have certain success in that for which I have sent it." - Isaiah 55:10,11

Yes, from the beginning, our Creator had it in His heart to create humans and  for them to enjoy living forever in perfection on a paradise earth without any disturbance. However, that purpose was interrupted by the rebellion of some individuals, but which will be corrected soon. Just like what the Scripture above says, He had said it, and so He will fulfill it; it is His delight, and it must succeed. It's like the rain and the snow that has melted, making it possible for the vegetation to grow.  We can also place our full confidence in this promise because Titus 1:2 says that God cannot lie in His promise to give us everlasting life.

Do You Believe in What You Cannot See?

"To see is to believe." That's what some people say. They believe only in what they can see.  But then, it's a common knowledge now that there are many things that we cannot see and yet we know they exist. For instance, we know that there's a Creator of the universe and every little thing in it though we cannot see him. But how do we know that He exists? The article found in the link below will provide an in-depth analysis on this matter. Reading it gives us insight and an awesome sense of wonder.

http://www.watchtower.org/e/20000615/article_01.htm

Earth's Splendor Restored

Here's a slideshow depicting the beauty of earth in 3d images. The future of the earth will be as splendid as the Creator meant it to be. Follow this link.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/slideshow/5223/earths_splendor_restored.html

 

Ps. 37:9, 11: “Those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth. . . . The meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”

Isaiah 35:5-7: "At that time the eyes of the blind ones will be opened, and the very ears of the deaf ones will be unstopped.  At that time the lame one will climb up just as a stag does, and the tongue of the speechless one will cry out in gladness. For in the wilderness waters will have burst out, and torrents in the desert plain.  And the heat-parched ground will have become as a reedy pool, and the thirsty ground as springs of water. In the abiding place of jackals, a resting-place for [them], there will be green grass with reeds and papyrus plants."

Another Day in the New World

A journey to the future that is soon to come.
Follow the link below.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1979928/another_day_in_the_new_world.html

My First Personal Encounters With the Snow

Exploring the beauty of the snow: my personal views and observations
Please follow the link below
www.associatedcontent.com/article/2700277/my_first_personal_encounters_with_the.html