HOW TO DEAL WITH STRESS.

When trying to manage stress, Blonna said that many people mistakenly look for a Band-Aid approach. They look for one approach to work with all stressors in all situations at all times. But realistically you can’t rely on one technique. For instance, diaphragmatic breathing is an effective stress reliever but you might not want to use it in a certain situation because you’re feeling self-conscious and don’t want to bring attention to yourself, he said. Similarly, while Blonna is a big believer in meditation, he said it doesn’t work if you’re stuck in traffic, since it’s dangerous to close your eyes.
Instead, “What we need is a toolbox that’s full of techniques that we can fit and choose for the stressor in the present moment,” he said. Stress is complex, so your approach to coping with it has to be “broad-based and adaptive,” he said. Years ago, he developed five levels of strategies for coping with stress or the “five Rs of coping model.” Each level has multiple strategies.
1. Reorganize.
As a health educator, Blonna knows the importance of a healthy lifestyle, especially for stress management. He said that “reorganizing your health” and “develop[ing] hearty habits” provides more energy and builds coping resilience. For instance, exercise not only improves physical functioning but it also helps your brain work better and process information better, he said.
In fact, maybe you “won’t even get stressed in the first place.” Blonna aims to get at least 30 minutes of cardio four to five times a week. As he said, physical wellbeing isn’t “merely your health insurance, but [your] basic defense against stress.”
2. Rethink.
What your mind tells you “about a potential stressor determines whether it becomes an actual stressor,” Blonna said. He gave the example of a student who’s terrified of failing a final exam. He keeps focusing on how he isn’t smart and will do poorly, instead of focusing on the things that will help him do well on the exam, such as meeting with the professor, scheduling a study session with others and studying for the final. The goal is to get over your negative thinking and accept that while you may not be an expert in a certain subject, like in this case, you can still try your best and do what you can to learn the material.
Our scripts from the past also can turn potential stressors actual ones. They can stunt growth in the very areas that we value. From the perspective of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), Blonna said, we carry mental and emotional baggage about past events and experiences. When similar experiences come up, these old scripts lead to negative self-talk. Take the idea of a new relationship, he said. This can be a potential stressor if other relationships didn’t go well. While you’re very interested in this person and you value relationships, old images of past failed relationships, self-doubt and negative scripts keep coming up.
If we let these things become barriers to moving forward, then “we aren’t living lives with what we value,” he said. He likens this baggage to carrying around a duffle bag. “Each of us has this duffel bag filled with negative thoughts, mental images and dialogue.” We have two options: we can “let duffle bag drag us down [or] we can just drop it or put it away.” It’s the idea of accepting that this baggage does exist—“we can’t eliminate it”—but “I don’t have to let it stop me in my tracks,” he said. Plus, once you experience a positive relationship or experience, you create a healthy frame of reference.
In general, “be aware of that baggage and how it’s affecting [your] life in the present moment; how it’s influencing your ability to enjoy life now” and to accept “the fact that that’s how [your] mind works.” But you do have the power to change those negative thoughts and push through self-doubting scripts.
Blonna gave an example from his own life when he was considering becoming an ACT trainer. He had various negative scripts running in his mind, including how he’d inevitably fail and who did he think he was to train psychotherapists with years of experience in the first place. He “almost said no.” But after a while, he decided that he’d do several training sessions. If they were “total failures,” he’d stop. The result? The training sessions went exceptionally well, and he continues to train others.
3. Reduce.
“Sometimes we’re stressed out because of the sheer volume of things we’re involved in,” Blonna said. When you’re overwhelmed, even fun things lose their appeal and become stressors. Take running, for example. If you’re rushing around and have to force running in between two other commitments, this passion may become another source of stress, he said. The key is to find optimal stimulation, so you aren’t understimulated (i.e., bored) with your activities or overstimulated (i.e., overwhelmed).
To do that, consider all the things you’re involved in. It can help to keep a journal to track your activities and your feelings about them, Blonna said. Also, he suggested asking yourself, “Do they mesh with my goals and values? Am I doing things that give my life meaning? Am I doing the right amount of things?”
Other questions that may provide you with good insight: “When you wake up in the morning, do you look forward to what’s on your plate? Are you excited to start the day? Or do you dread getting out of bed because you don’t have any energy?”
Understand that getting to this balanced place takes trial and error. Also, it takes saying no to things that aren’t that important to you. For instance, Blonna has worked with students who take on 19 credits to please their parents, but they get incredibly overwhelmed with the course load. “They can only handle 12 credits and would rather cut back and enjoy the process of learning but allow others to bully them into toughing it out yet they’re miserable,” he said.
4. Relax.
This level is “designed to put your body in a state that’s incompatible with stress,” Blonna said. Interestingly, “a lot of people are so stressed [that] they don’t know what the absence of stress or a calm mind feels like,” he said. But practicing clinically proven relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing or systematic muscle relaxation, for about 20 minutes a day can help tremendously. While you won’t always have the time to devote to these techniques on a daily basis, he said, it is important to make relaxation a priority.
5. Release.
Here, the goal is two-fold, according to Blonna: to reduce muscle tension and to “use up energy that’s mobilized during a stress response.” He divides physical activity into mild, moderate and vigorous activities. Maybe in addition to your physical activity routine, you need something more vigorous to release the tension so you lift weights or go on a brisk walk.

HOW TO DEAL WITH STRESS

When trying to manage stress, Blonna said that many people mistakenly look for a Band-Aid approach. They look for one approach to work with all stressors in all situations at all times. But realistically you can’t rely on one technique. For instance, diaphragmatic breathing is an effective stress reliever but you might not want to use it in a certain situation because you’re feeling self-conscious and don’t want to bring attention to yourself, he said. Similarly, while Blonna is a big believer in meditation, he said it doesn’t work if you’re stuck in traffic, since it’s dangerous to close your eyes.
Instead, “What we need is a toolbox that’s full of techniques that we can fit and choose for the stressor in the present moment,” he said. Stress is complex, so your approach to coping with it has to be “broad-based and adaptive,” he said. Years ago, he developed five levels of strategies for coping with stress or the “five Rs of coping model.” Each level has multiple strategies.
1. Reorganize.
As a health educator, Blonna knows the importance of a healthy lifestyle, especially for stress management. He said that “reorganizing your health” and “develop[ing] hearty habits” provides more energy and builds coping resilience. For instance, exercise not only improves physical functioning but it also helps your brain work better and process information better, he said.
In fact, maybe you “won’t even get stressed in the first place.” Blonna aims to get at least 30 minutes of cardio four to five times a week. As he said, physical wellbeing isn’t “merely your health insurance, but [your] basic defense against stress.”
2. Rethink.
What your mind tells you “about a potential stressor determines whether it becomes an actual stressor,” Blonna said. He gave the example of a student who’s terrified of failing a final exam. He keeps focusing on how he isn’t smart and will do poorly, instead of focusing on the things that will help him do well on the exam, such as meeting with the professor, scheduling a study session with others and studying for the final. The goal is to get over your negative thinking and accept that while you may not be an expert in a certain subject, like in this case, you can still try your best and do what you can to learn the material.
Our scripts from the past also can turn potential stressors actual ones. They can stunt growth in the very areas that we value. From the perspective of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), Blonna said, we carry mental and emotional baggage about past events and experiences. When similar experiences come up, these old scripts lead to negative self-talk. Take the idea of a new relationship, he said. This can be a potential stressor if other relationships didn’t go well. While you’re very interested in this person and you value relationships, old images of past failed relationships, self-doubt and negative scripts keep coming up.
If we let these things become barriers to moving forward, then “we aren’t living lives with what we value,” he said. He likens this baggage to carrying around a duffle bag. “Each of us has this duffel bag filled with negative thoughts, mental images and dialogue.” We have two options: we can “let duffle bag drag us down [or] we can just drop it or put it away.” It’s the idea of accepting that this baggage does exist—“we can’t eliminate it”—but “I don’t have to let it stop me in my tracks,” he said. Plus, once you experience a positive relationship or experience, you create a healthy frame of reference.
In general, “be aware of that baggage and how it’s affecting [your] life in the present moment; how it’s influencing your ability to enjoy life now” and to accept “the fact that that’s how [your] mind works.” But you do have the power to change those negative thoughts and push through self-doubting scripts.
Blonna gave an example from his own life when he was considering becoming an ACT trainer. He had various negative scripts running in his mind, including how he’d inevitably fail and who did he think he was to train psychotherapists with years of experience in the first place. He “almost said no.” But after a while, he decided that he’d do several training sessions. If they were “total failures,” he’d stop. The result? The training sessions went exceptionally well, and he continues to train others.
3. Reduce.
“Sometimes we’re stressed out because of the sheer volume of things we’re involved in,” Blonna said. When you’re overwhelmed, even fun things lose their appeal and become stressors. Take running, for example. If you’re rushing around and have to force running in between two other commitments, this passion may become another source of stress, he said. The key is to find optimal stimulation, so you aren’t understimulated (i.e., bored) with your activities or overstimulated (i.e., overwhelmed).
To do that, consider all the things you’re involved in. It can help to keep a journal to track your activities and your feelings about them, Blonna said. Also, he suggested asking yourself, “Do they mesh with my goals and values? Am I doing things that give my life meaning? Am I doing the right amount of things?”
Other questions that may provide you with good insight: “When you wake up in the morning, do you look forward to what’s on your plate? Are you excited to start the day? Or do you dread getting out of bed because you don’t have any energy?”
Understand that getting to this balanced place takes trial and error. Also, it takes saying no to things that aren’t that important to you. For instance, Blonna has worked with students who take on 19 credits to please their parents, but they get incredibly overwhelmed with the course load. “They can only handle 12 credits and would rather cut back and enjoy the process of learning but allow others to bully them into toughing it out yet they’re miserable,” he said.
4. Relax.
This level is “designed to put your body in a state that’s incompatible with stress,” Blonna said. Interestingly, “a lot of people are so stressed [that] they don’t know what the absence of stress or a calm mind feels like,” he said. But practicing clinically proven relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing or systematic muscle relaxation, for about 20 minutes a day can help tremendously. While you won’t always have the time to devote to these techniques on a daily basis, he said, it is important to make relaxation a priority.
5. Release.
Here, the goal is two-fold, according to Blonna: to reduce muscle tension and to “use up energy that’s mobilized during a stress response.” He divides physical activity into mild, moderate and vigorous activities. Maybe in addition to your physical activity routine, you need something more vigorous to release the tension so you lift weights or go on a brisk walk.

14 Ways of Living a Happy Life

How we achieve happiness can be different for each one of us. Our passions, expectations, life experiences, and even our personalities all contribute to the level of happiness we experience in our lives. Some find happiness in their careers while others prefer the bliss found in their marriages or other intimate relationship.
No matter how you define happiness for yourself, there are certain universal and time-proven strategies to bring, and sustain, more happiness into your life. The following 14 ways to live a happy life can be adapted and even customized to fit your needs. Over time, these strategies will become positive and life-changing habits that will begin to bring more happiness, joy and peace into your life.
1. Notice What’s Right
Some of us see the glass as being half-full, while others see the glass as half-empty. The next time you are caught in traffic, begin thinking how nice it is to have a few moments to reflect on the day, focus on a problem you have been trying to solve, or brainstorm on your next big idea. The next time you get in the slow line at the grocery store, take the opportunity to pick up a tabloid magazine and do some “guilty pleasure” reading. Take all that life throws out you and reframe it with what’s right about the situation. At the end of the day, you will more content, at peace and happy. Take the time to begin to notice what’s right and see the world change in front of your eyes.
2. Be Grateful
How many times do you say the words “thank you,” in a day? How many times do you hear these same words? If you are doing the first thing, saying the “thank yous,” the latter will naturally happen. Learn to be grateful and you will be open to receive an abundance of joy and happiness.
3. Remember the Kid You Were
Do you remember how to play? I’m not referring to playing a round of golf or a set of tennis. I’m talking about playing like you did when you were a child – a game of tag; leap frog, or street baseball when the bat is a broken broom handle and the bases are the parked cars. One way to find or maintain your happiness is to remember the kid you were and play!

4. Be Kind
There is no question that by merely watching acts of kindness creates a significant elevation in our moods and increases the desire for us to perform good deeds as well. Kindness is indeed contagious and when we make a commitment to be kind to ourselves and to others we can experience new heights of joy, happiness and enthusiasm for our lives.
5. Spend Time with Your Friends
Although an abundant social and romantic life does not itself guarantee joy, it does have a huge impact on our happiness. Learn to spend time with your friends and make the friendships a priority in your life.

6. Savor Every Moment
To be in the moment is to live in the moment. Too often we are thinking ahead or looking ahead to the next event or circumstance in our lives, not appreciating the “here and now.” When we savor every moment, we are savoring the happiness in our lives.
7. Rest
There are times when we need the time to unwind, decompress, or to put it simply, just “to chill.” Life comes at all of us hard and fast. Time, as do the days on the calendar, keeps going forward at its own natural pace, which is not always the pace we would choose. Fatigue, stress and exhaustion may begin to settle in on us faster than we may think, or notice. The best remedy for this is indeed rest.
8. Move!
The expression a “runner’s high” does not infer an addiction, but a feeling or a state of mind – a state of euphoria. There is no question exercise, or any physical exertion, elevates your mood and enhances a more positive attitude as well as fosters better personal self-esteem and confidence. Indeed, one way to increase your happiness is to move!

9. Put on a Happy Face
Sometimes we have to fake it until we make it. I’m not suggesting that we not be honest, real or authentic, but I’m suggesting, sometimes, we just need to put on a happy face and keep moving forward. Researchers claim that smiling and looking like we are happy will indeed make us happier. Studies further show that if we act like we are happy then we can experience greater joy and happiness in our lives.
10. Pursue Your Goals
The absence of goals in our lives, or more specifically avoiding to pursue our goals, makes us feel like we are stuck and ineffective. The pursuit of goals in our personal lives, in our relationships, or with our careers, is the difference between having a mediocre life or a life full of passion and enthusiasm. pursue your goals and watch your happiness soar.
11. Finding Your Calling
Some find meaning in religion or spirituality while others find purpose in their work or relationships. Finding your calling may be much more than accomplishing one simple strategy for increasing your happiness, but having a sense of purpose – of feeling like you are here for a reason – can perhaps bring the greatest joy of all
12. Get into the Flow
Flow is the form of joy, excitement and happiness that occurs when we are so absorbed in an activity we love that we can loose ourselves and time seems to stand still. What creates flow is unique to each one of us. To find and sustain true happiness in our lives, we must get off the sidelines and get into the flow.
13. Play to Your Strengths
One way to achieve flow is by understanding and identifying our strengths and core values, and then begin to use these every day. Once we aware of our strengths and we begin to play to your strengths we can better incorporate them in all aspects of our lives.
14. Don’t Overdo It
Know when to say when. What gives you joy and happiness the first time may not work the second time. Too much of a good thing may begin not to feel as good if the “thing” becomes more of a routine, or an expectation. Set healthy and reasonable boundaries for yourself and don’t overdo it.

50 ways that you can achieve success in life

50 Ways to Achieve Greatness in Your Life

39 comments

1. Jump out of bed and crush the floor boards every morning by smashing your feet down and defiantly take on each and every day.
2. Breathe deep in the midst of turmoil.  Be calm and take deliberate action when everyone else is falling apart.
3. Live aggressively and appreciate every second.
4. Make opportunities happen by taking action.  Remember, there is no luck.
5. Always believe in yourself and your dreams.
6. Don’t start counting reps until it burns.

7. Hit 100 push-ups every day.
8. Dance for your kids when their friends are around.

9. Don’t be jealous, be inspired.
10. When you’re talking to someone, listen to them very carefully as if that is the last time you’ll ever hear their voice again.
11. Be Swayze in Point Break, Youngblood or Road House.

12. Show your daughters what kind of guy to look for by how you treat their Mom
13. Remember this quote:

14. Make a special handshake for each of your kids and throw it on them when they’re doing homework, eating, or whenever you can.
15. Realize, when you think you’re working hard, there are many others who are succeeding in their lives by working harder than you.  They’re putting in one more hour, doing one more rep, helping one more person.
16. Leave your kids a special note in their book bag that they’ll find during the day at school.
17. Hold that hug one more second and squeeze hard.

18. Challenge yourself everyday.
19. Find a mentor.
20. Do something you FEAR until it becomes a strength.
21. Commit the poem Invictus to memory and say it everyday.
22. Work hard when everyone else has stopped working. Work when no one is looking. Work when there is no end in sight.
23. Be true to yourself. It will inspire others to be who they really want to be but are too afraid.

24. Always use a weight vest for your bodyweight training.
25. Learn everything you can to make yourself better.  To be a better provider.  To be a better man.
26. Remember that time is NOT constant. The older you get, the faster it ticks away.

27.  Select three important goals that you want to hit each day and rank them in order of importance.  Focus on getting the most important one done first and work from there.
28.  Always have a beginner’s mind.  Approach every learning opportunity with enthusiasm.

29. Drink a gallon of water each day.
30. Find something great about each person you meet and tell them how much you appreciate them for it.
31. Progress, not perfection.  Stop beating yourself up for not being perfect and focus on small changes that make you 1% better everyday.

32. Be humble. Work hard.
33.  Stop being negative.  No one wants to hear it.  Be different and focus on the positive.  Remember, there are many people who are happy with much less than you have.
34.  Take action.  Live in strength and not in fear.

35.  Stop giving your energy to your past.  Live in the present and build your future.
36.  Never give up.  Whatever you do, never give up.
37.  You will fail and make lots of mistakes.  Keep going. See #36.
38. Train every workout like you’ll never get to train again.  Push yourself and drive out your demons with every rep.
39.  A dream. Hope. Sacrifice. All things that money cannot buy.
40.  Encourage others and inspire them to greatness in their lives.  You will get it back ten fold.  When you’ve given all of yourself, give more.
41.  Be completely honest and look people in the eye when you speak with them.
42.  Have no regrets.

43.  Pay it 360
44.  “Fear is the only darkness.”
45. Remember, the most important things in life don’t cost any money. Love, friendship, hope, respect, dignity, character…
46. Go into everything you do with supreme confidence. Never let defeat or negative thoughts enter your mind. See yourself achieving greatness before it happens.

47. Building your legacy and defining your character is about how you treat people who can do absolutely nothing for you.
48. Realize you are powerful beyond measure and capable of 20X more than you ever thought possible.

49. If you have good friends, hold on to them. Tell them everyday how much they mean to you and never let them go. They will give you strength and encourage you when you lose your way.
50. Empower your kids to live their lives without limits.
BONUS
51. Remember to live your life like your kids are taking notes on how they should live their lives

5 WAYS OF ACHIVING GREATNESS

1. Intense dedication/obsessiveness
Those who are great at something become extremely dedicated to it.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was so focused and determined to be a great bodybuilder that he used to break into a local gym when it was closed so he could train.
When he served in the Austrian army, which was compulsory for all 18-year-olds, he was put into military prison for about a week because he sneaked out to participate in the Junior Mr. Europe bodybuilding contest in Germany.
Arnold never stopped thinking about how to improve his performance as a bodybuilder.  With this determination, he would go on to win the top bodybuilder accolade, Mr. Olympia seven times.
It’s hard to see how he would have won without that intense dedication.
If you want to reach greatness, you have to think about it all the time. Think of different ways to improve yourself or different ways to reach your goals.
Start obsessing about it. Don’t focus on anything else.  As Michael Jordan once said, “In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated to your chosen sport.”
Reaching greatness isn’t easy. It takes a lot of dedication to get there. No matter what skill or ability you want to be become great in, you need perseverance and determination to see it all the way to the end.
2. Practice as much as you can
They say it takes 10,000 hours to be proficient in an activity. The only way to reach that number is to put in the time and effort. That means a lot of practice.
Even the best artists and athletes practice constantly.  For example, Michael Phelps trained six hours a day six days a week and consumed 12,000 calories every day.
No one gets a free pass on practice. It takes hours and hours to hone your skills.
There are a lot of people who think greatness comes from natural talent, but that’s not true.
Take Mozart for example. He was a musical genius who occasionally played for kings when was just a little boy.
You might think he was just born gifted.
Look closer and you’ll see all the practice that went into his musical ability. A lot of classical music fans consider one of his earliest and greatest works to be the Piano Concerto no. 9 which he composed when he was 21.
That’s such a young age to reach greatness. But by the time he composed that Concerto, he had been practicing and training for 18 years.
3. Work smarter AND harder
Arnold Schwarzenegger once gave a speech about his rules for success. One of those rules was to work your butt off. He said that while most people are goofing off, there are people who are working harder, getting better and becoming smarter.
He’s right. If you’re not working your butt off to become great, you’re losing ground to someone who is.
This isn’t the same as practicing; it’s about the intensity of your practice.  Working hard means pushing your skills to new levels and abilities.  It’s not about practicing the same things over and over again.
Working smarter is equally important to working harder. If you can find a quicker way to reach your goals and objectives, you’ll get a lot further in a shorter amount of time.
By working smarter, you’re making your hard work pay off more. Think of them working in conjunction with each other. Working smarter is like a catalyst giving you quicker results.
4. Measure everything
You need to measure your progress for two reasons:
• It tells you how well you’re doing
• It tells you what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong
There’s a good reason sport teams measure so many statistics of their players. How else would they know what needs work?
In my personal experience, I can attest to why you need to measure your progress. I’m a weightlifter so gaining muscle is important.
For the longest time, I never measured how much I ate or how often I lifted weights at the gym.
That was a mistake.
I didn’t gain much progress.
Now I measure what I eat and how often I go the gym. That little difference has given me big results. Now I know what I’m doing wrong and what’s working. It makes it so much easier to correct mistakes and get to the next level.
5. Mental preparation/strength
I think we can all agree that reaching greatness is difficult. And it’s not just the hard work, countless hours of practice, time and dedication you need to get there.

PREDESTINATION

Did you know that God foreknew all things from the very beginning and that He foreknew each and everyone of us even before the foundation of the world?

Yes, the Bible said that God is infinite and omnipotent that He foreknew every gnat, every fly, every sparrow, and every man that will ever be born upon the face of the earth. And that included YOU and me. The Scriptures say that God can hear your prayers even before you open up your mouth; the hairs on your head hath He numbered; and that He hath engraved your name on the palm of His hand.

YOU ARE PREDESTINATED

Ephesians 1:5-6 states that God hath “predestinated us according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise and glory of His grace.”

Romans 8:30 further emphasizes this election saying, “Whom He did predestinate, THEM He also called; and whom He called, THEM He also justified; and whom He justified, THEM He also glorified” (past tense). And “their names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world” (Rev.13:8)

If you are truly a child of God, you are foreknown of God even before there ever was a star or moon in the entire universe. Jesus said, “All that the Father has given Me will come to Me and NONE of THEM will be LOST.” The Bible says, “All things work together for good to them that love God”, and that “the footsteps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord.” Surely, you have to recognize yourself today whether you are God’s predestinated or not, for if God has elected you to eternal life, “nothing can pluck you from out of His hand.”
FALL OF MAN: A PERMISSIVE WILL
Did you know that it was God’s permissive will for SIN to come into this world? Strange, but true. He permitted sin in order for Him to display His great attributes of being a SAVIOUR and a REDEEMER. He allowed Adam and Eve, our first parent, to be deceived by the serpent in order to make way for His great redemptive plan of salvation. God Himself wanted to be glorified. He could not have been glorified as a Saviour if there was nobody to be saved in the first place. There had to be sinners first, before He could ever display His attributes of being a Saviour. In the same manner that He had to create sons and daughters in me and you first, so that He could become a Father. Man’s existence and fall, therefore, had made God both Father and Saviour to us, and a Blessed Redeemer, too.

In order to be God, He knew from the very beginning who will be saved and who will not be saved. God was not willing that anyone should perish, but that all might come to repentance. But He, being infinite, knew the end from the beginning. And therefore, He knew who would accept and those who would not accept His provided way of salvation. He knew who would go to heaven and those who would go to hell. If He didn’t, then He isn’t God. But God is unlimited. He is infinite and He makes no mistakes. His works are perfect; and He knows all things. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
JESUS DIED JUST FOR THE ELECT

And God sent Jesus Christ for only one specific purpose : that’s to save and redeem those who God foreknew will be saved; and not the rest of the world. Yes, sir. Notice Jesus in His prayer to the Father in John 17:9-10, “I pray for them : I pray NOT for the world, but for THEM which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine. And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine, and I am glorified in THEM.”

To “REDEEM” simply means to “TAKE BACK” what was originally God’s own. Jesus, as a Redeemer, was to take back only those who once belonged originally to God but were trapped in sin by the natural birth. Jesus shed His precious Blood only for those who had been foreknown of God, and for those whose names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world. Jesus could never redeem the Devil’s children, for they are not of God. They were simply predestinated unto eternal damnation, and were basically created for that purpose. Yes, though this might seem to be a hard saying, but the Scriptures support this truth.
HOW CAN THE POT SAY TO THE POTTER?

Don’t you realize that even sinners and reprobates are predestinated by God? Yes, In 1 Peter 2:8 and it says, “Even to them which stumble at the Word, being disobedient: whereunto they were appointed.” Jude 1:4 says it, too: “Who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness”.

Talk about Judas, Cain, Pharaoh and Balaam - all these men had played their significant part as God’s adversary in God’s greatest drama series, the Bible, without them even realizing it so. “How can the POT say to the POTTER, ‘Why hast Thou made me thus?’ Hath not the Potter power over the clay to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” (Romans 9:21), these words pertain to predestination. God raises evil to fulfill his glorious purpose of greater good. God said in Isaiah 45:7-”I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”

THE GOSPEL IS HID

Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit (Luke 10:21) saying, “I thank Thee Father, O Lord of heaven and earth, for Thou hast HID these things from the eyes of the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight.” This blessed Gospel is, therefore, revealed only to His elected ones. God hid His truth from unbelievers.

Did you know also that one of God’s permissive will has been to allow sickness to afflict mankind? Yes, He sometimes permit sickness and diseases in order for Him to manifest Himself as a Healer. Exodus 16:26 states, “For I am the Lord that healeth thee”. Isaiah 53:5 states this also: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes, we are HEALED”. Doctors simply make the stitches and give us prescriptions, but it’s still God Who does the real Healing, which is multiplication of new cells in the body, which is creation by nature. God truly foreordained all His godly attributes to be displayed unto men and all these attributes were finally fulfilled when God Himself became MAN through His Son Jesus Christ and took the penalty for our sins so that by believing in Him we may be justified and forgiven. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father except by Me.”

Your salvation and my salvation, therefore, is truly dependent upon God’s choosing and approval. Romans 9:16 states, “It is not him that willeth or him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy”. For God saith unto Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” God hath even declared, “Jacob have I loved, and Esau I have hated”, even before the two children were born from their mother’s womb, not having done neither good nor evil. That only proves God’s election to us.

The apostle Paul finally concluded, “But if our gospel be hid, it is HID to them that are lost” (2 Cor. 4:3). Truly, in this day, “Many will be called, but only very few are chosen.” Sincerity and being just religious is not enough. The Pharisees and the Saducees were so sincerely wrong. They spent all their lives studying God in the synagogues yet when the very Messiah-God came to them, they dubbed Him as “Beelzebub” to the extent of crucifying Him on the cross.
NOT EVERYONE SHALL ENTER THE KINGDOM
“Not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,” saith Jesus in Matthew 7:21, “but he that doeth the will of My Father.” The Bible says that we are not saved by any of our good works nor by any of our own personal merits. We are saved by faith alone in the finished atonement of Jesus Christ. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: NOT of WORKS, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9).

Only God’s ELECTED few will be able to receive the full understanding of these mysteries in the Scriptures. Others who are not, will simply continue to hold to man-made dogmas, creeds, rituals, and religious traditions to merit their own salvation. “In vain you do worship Me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men”. That’s what Jesus told the Pharisees. “There seemeth a way that’s right to a man, but the end thereof is the ways of death.” It’s always death to trust in the sinking sands of man’s ideas. The elect will only walk in the way of God’s Bible. The elect of God will hunger and thirst only for the fresh manna of the Word that’s revealed in the age that they are living in. And this is that Word. Receive it.

Discourage Discouragement.

There are just isn't time to do all you want to do and all that you need do. It is easy for us to teach abandoment to others,but the leader knows the price of abandoment,beginning with his own thought processes. What do you think about ? Lets go a step further, What do you talk about ? Someone once said that Little people talk about things, Medium sized people talk about people,and Big people talk about ideas. What kind of people do you like to be around you ? Discouragement is without a doubt,the most expensive luxury we can afford,when i became wealthy i plan to get discouraged for a week at a time,but i can't afford but a few minutes a day right now. Most people i know must really be wealthy now,for all the discouragement they seem to be enjoying. Sometimes i'm asked if i ever get discouraged,and i reply,*yes,often* But i never let anyone know about it,because if i allow you to know how discouraged i am,you'll become discouraged too and also discourage me more than i am. So therefore, abandon discouragement and all the other attitude killers as you become what you are mearnt to be.