bible verses – Page 6 – Sugar And Spice… Among Other Things

Following His Path

Posted on April 14, 2019March 5, 2019 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

” 12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! ” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”“Blessed is the king of Israel!” 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: 15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” ” (John 12:12-15)

With today being Palm Sunday, the next one week will take us through the journey of Lord Christ as he is crucified on the “basis of the sins” that he had committed, so that Man can be given a chance at salvation. For us Christians, it is a significant week which recounts the experience and final days that “The Lamb of God” had underwent.

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Essentially Palm Sunday commemorates Lord Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem, as mentioned in the four canonical Gospels. Today the service is marked by the procession of the faithful carrying palms which represents the palm branches the crowd scattered in front of Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem. In certain places, as it was difficult to procure palms, they were substituted with branches of native trees, including box, olive, willow, and yew. The Sunday was often named after these substitute trees, as in Yew Sunday or by the general term of Branch Sunday.

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass.” ( Zechariah 9:9)

Source:https://balay.ph/holy-week-in-the-philippines/

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As per the Old Testament, the procession of Palm Sunday was earlier prophesied through the teachings and words of the Prophet Zechariah. The shout of “Hosanna” holds a significant meaning. The Hebrew word, “hoshi’a na,” when translated into Greek as “(h)osanna” and in English as “hosanna.” The original meaning of the word is “Save Please!”. It is a plea for help, understanding the potential impact of the scenario, the helplessness underwent and need for help to survive and live. Putting this into our spiritual lives, this security is in God. In the purest form, “Hosanna” is worship as we feel we have to come to the end of ourselves and we need God to intervene.

“25 LORD, save us! LORD, grant us success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.” (Psalm 118:25-26)

Reading through the scriptures, another meaning of Hosanna was as a proclamation of “Salvation! Thank you!”. Here “Hosanna” stands for gratitude to the Lord for His Grace, His Mercy and His Love. The liturgical and sermon songs of today as well as messages open with the words of “Hosanna” where it is used as a phrase of adoration, praise and worship. Thereby, “Hosanna” implies both a cry for His Help as well thanksgiving for His Blessings that He has bestowed on us.

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If wounded by words,
There is no reason to be distressed.
You show love affairs
Forgetting about the status, rank.

If rudeness, quarrels, screams
Cause a duel
Do not prepare peaks for battle
No saint cartel.

If someone could not resist,
Released a verbal poison,
You, my friend, is right, since he did not break,
Did not send the poison back.

If the pain is unbearable,
If the word burns like thorns,
Remember, friend, you are God’s Son:
He was humble to death!

Be close to Christ in communion,
asking for the victory of your strength.
Let it be, friend,
Meekness is known to all your people!

Ermolova S.

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Christian, Family and Society, Life, Personal Musings, Reflections, Work

Anxious to Spill

Posted on April 11, 2019February 7, 2019 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” Charles Spurgeon

One of the worse things of happy times and days when everything goes as per the plan, is the niggling sense foreboding that something bad is going to happen. The problem arise most when we are doing well, yet one doesn’t understand how is it so and we often look for an excuse and cause for concern. One thinks of what will happen in a few years, after the exams, when children attend school or when the economy takes a turn for the worse. Worse of all are the thoughts of what will happen when one dies suddenly, about the events after, especially for loved ones, family, spouse, children, inheritance and life in general.

“The truth is that there is no actual stress or anxiety in the world; it’s your thoughts that create these false beliefs. You can’t package stress, touch it, or see it. There are only people engaged in stressful thinking.” Wayne Dyer

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Anxiety is a painful condition often invented by man. Consequently we age ahead of our time; torturing ourselves as well as others with our wandering thoughts, imagination, speculations and scenarios that have yet to happen. Learning to put them to rest and submit our concerns to God, time and Faith will limit the “constant anxiety” which tries to pull us down and bind its’ chains around us.

“Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.” Henry Ward Beecher

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What we very often fail to remember is that our life is a gift from God above. Every second and minute is precious. So worry about each problem or issue once and as they come. For each sequence of events can turn out to be different, many a time, beyond our control. Try not to make our mind overrun with one’s imagination based on the present, for that alone is to blame for the scenarios in the mind that are invented, drawing from events that haven’t yet happened. There is a fine line between imagination and discernment. Learning to distinguish between both will help us enjoy the happiness that the present day life offers.

“My anxiety doesn’t come from thinking about the future but from wanting to control it.” Hugh Prather

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“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:26-27).

Christian, Daily, Family and Society, Personal Musings, Quotes, Stories Around the World

Plans, Eternity and Time

Posted on March 17, 2019February 15, 2019 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

Time and Eternity

A man was taking it easy, lying on the grass and looking up at the clouds. He was identifying shapes when he decided to talk to God. “God”, he said, “how long is a million years?”
God answered, “In my frame of reference, it’s about a minute.”
The man asked, “God, how much is a million dollars?”
God answered, “To Me, it’s a penny.”
The man then asked, “God, can I have a penny?”
God said, “In a minute.”

“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” (Proverbs 16:9 NLT)

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The other day, as the family had gathered post Saturday weekend luncheon, among the various topics being discussed were the renovation of the family homestead, plans for the college admissions and the like. What surfaced to my mind, was the fragility of human plans.

“Faith is putting all your eggs in God’s basket, then counting your blessings before they hatch.” Ramona C. Carroll

Many a time, man has planned numerous events, for the present, the immediate and the distant future. Little do we realize that most of our planning is based on chance. We base the future on a sequence of events believed to happen in a particular manner. When one block is pulled out of the regular, things may still go as per plan. But pull out a couple of them, then most plans come crashing down.

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28 NLT)

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On the other hand, plans are needed to sort out our purpose and drive in life. Yet the whole procedure can be done, putting our Faith and dreams in God’s hand and above all, plan and know one’s limits.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT)

Man needs to plan to grow and progress with time, else idleness and monotony would set in. Yet the lines have to be drawn at when, how, what and which plans to dream of and which not to. We need to dream big; but also realistic, kind, honest and true.

“God and Nature first made us what we are, and then out of our own created genius we make ourselves what we want to be. Follow always that great law. Let the sky and God be our limit and Eternity our measurement.” Marcus Garvey

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Christian, Daily, Life, Quotes, Stories Around the World

As the Facade Crumbles

Posted on March 3, 2019December 30, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“I was like a chocolate in a box, looking well behaved and perfect in place, all the while harboring a secret center.” Deb Caletti

One of the defaults of living in the modern era is to encounter the “art of donning a facade”. As communication, travel and opportunities have evolved, so have interactions and relationships. Consequently at some point of time we all put on a front depending on the scenario, time and situation. The purpose behind this is individual to each one, ranging from self protection, self-preservation to self-glorification or of good intentions versus the bad.

“The unconscious mind is decidedly simple, unaffected, straightforward and honest. It hasn’t got all of this facade, this veneer of what we call adult culture. It’s rather simple, rather childish. It is direct and free.” Milton H. Erickson

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As a rule, facades are dangerous; for the revelations once they are unmasked would blight the work done till that point. Yet at times we are forced to put on facades to survive especially at work and in the community. While we mayn’t be able to control these situations, what we could do is to modulate the facade that we put on. As we evolve and mature through time, we discover that facades that we put on once were unreal and tiring. The underlying principle of “Primum non cere” or “do no harm” would help us find our way out of the chaos.

“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

As narrated by various incidents commonly read on the social sites, while one day we would all be unmasked for who we really; meanwhile living our life by the inner conscience of truth, kindness and tact would help us face these eventual disclosures with quiet grace.

“It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we’re alive – to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are.” Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

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Christian, Daily, Life, Stories Around the World

Combining Our Thoughts

Posted on February 20, 2019February 20, 2019 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“….. but I shall toss my head and have nothing to say to them. Forgetting all about the pail, and suiting the action to the word, she tossed her head. Down went the pail, all the milk was spilled, and all her fine castles in the air vanished in a moment!” (Source: The Milkmaid and Her Pail, Æsop’s Fables, translated by V. S. Vernon Jones (London: W. Heinemann; New York: Doubleday, Page and Company, 1916), pp. 25-26.)

While some of us may heard of the fable of “The Milkmaid and Her Pail”, others may have read of similar tales of other variants like Bidpai’s “The Poorman and the Flask of Oil”, “The Barber’s Tale of his Fifth Brother” from The 1001 Nights and the Jewish story of “The Dervish and the Honey Jar”. Essentially all these resonate the moral of ” Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.” Yet these fables bring to my mind, the dangerous turn of our thoughts and dreams which turn from being simple to lofty leading to depression, anxiousness and the unending pursuit for “the pot of gold” harming our health, mental peace and happiness in the process.

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For instance, we all have suffered from depression, nerves, anxiousness, worries, stress at some point of time. What do all these have in common besides harming our mental peace and happiness ? They all arise from a combination of thoughts. We ponder of something that is yet to happen, guess the course of events and combine one thought, then the other and then the third and so on and so forth. We are all puzzled on how everything will happen or what will happen in one way or another. In the end, the result surprises us as the Lord arranges things in a different way. In such a scenario, what was the point of experiencing the nerves and depressing or worried thoughts?

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Phillipians 4:8)

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When the thoughts of darkness surround us and surface to mind, turning to His Word helps to dispel the darkness and ward off the despair. When we turn to our Faith we destroy speculations and loftiness. As said in the Psalms, “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.” (Psalm 94:19)

On another note, we need to plan and foresee to achieve certain goals for the future but pure conjectures, speculations and lofty thinking don’t help our dreams but rather, crashes them putting them on hold. Learning to distinguish between thinking, planning and pure “counting of chickens before they hatch” is what life and experience teaches us.

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

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Christian, Daily, Family and Society, poetry

Gift of Grace

Posted on February 8, 2019December 7, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.” (Ephesians 4:7)

As time has again and again proven, one of the greatest fallacies of man is that we take a lot of our blessings, gifts and sacrifices of others for granted. There is a fine distinction in learning to respect others when they do their job out of duty or out of love. Come to think of it, how many of us have actually opened our eyes and thought about the numerous people who do their work so that our day goes smoothly.

“Out of the fullness of his grace he has blessed us all, giving us one blessing after another.” (John 1:16)

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Being human, its’ natural to think of the greener fields on the other side than the barren land that also exists. Yet to practice the art of “gratia” or “grace” we need to learn to appreciate all. What we term as “luck, fortune or advantages” are all forms of God’s Grace, which the sooner we learn to appreciate them, the longer we can put them to good use.

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10)

Despite all the successes or uphills that we enjoy, it takes a mere matter of seconds for things to go haywire and then downhill. Being prepared for all eventualities as well as to enjoy the “lucky breaks” and the grace of God requires us to grow a soul of peace, respect and contentment. For then we learn to value not just His Grace but His Mercy as well.

“But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” (James 4:6)

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How quickly we get used to the good,
We often make God ours,
And take grace for granted,
And do not value mercy anymore.

We get used to ordinary problems,
We call our sins with mistakes,
and out of habit we pray and repent,
We take forgiveness as it were.

Trying to solve difficult tasks
And with his head bogged down in bustle,
We take the Cross of Christ for granted,
I’l just forget about the Cross.

We skillfully juggle doctrines,
quote the Scripture for an encore,
But daily recognize the impotence,
When we go with a sin to compromise.

It is so difficult to live in the world quite God’s way,
As for the first time tasting the grace …
How quickly you get used to the good,
God forbid, have to wean

Margarita Kolomiytseva

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

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Christian, Daily, Personal Musings, poetry

Walking with Us

Posted on February 3, 2019November 16, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

During the weekend at the beach, as I watched the waves lapping the shoreline, the words from the poem “Footprints in the Sand” drifted to my mind. During the freshman years in my college, the poster of the poem had graced the hallway leading to the indoor recreational area in the dormitory area. Over the years, the words have been the refuge for me and many of my friends, giving hope and courage in the days we were tested.

“No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Joshua 1:5 and Joshua 1:9 says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

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Many of us at some point in our lives may have come to a point, when we were plagued with fear, doubts, insecurities and uncertainty of whether things would get better or are we alone in this world. These feelings echo in us during the trying times or when go astray and fall into trouble. Yet what we don’t realize is that by His Grace and our Faith in Him, we are never alone. Whenever we feel that no body understands us or we are all alone, the Lord is always there with us, guarding and guiding us through the dark times. As we strengthen our Faith, the feeling that He is always watching over us becomes an inherent part of our being, leaving us feeling cherished all the time.

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19-22

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