Jani Norman's Blog

Monday June 17, 2013

Dealing with it...

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." -Psalm 27:14

Jesus was unhurried, wasn't He? He never seemed to be in a hurry except when He went to the cross. That was it.

When Jesus was called to heal Jairus' daughter, and He encounters all these distractions on the way, He sees God in the distractions. Then He gets to Jairus' daughter and she's dead because He took too long. So He just raises her from the dead. The same thing with Lazarus. Jesus actually finds out about Lazarus and decides to do nothing (John chapter 11). He wants to wait for Lazarus to die so that He can raise him from the dead.

And of course, Jesus, throughout His life, is unhurried because God is unhurried. They're eternal beings who live in a different reality. They're not afraid of things like death or not accomplishing their goals. They live in a completely different reality. Jesus lived, and so should His disciples live, from a place of humility, listening, and an unhurried posture.

The sense of hurry that I normally live out of, and many of us live out of, often comes from either a place of pride or a place of fear. Sometimes when we create space for the Lord of silence or solitude, we have to face our inner demons, we have to face our struggles, our loneliness, our feelings of lack of meaning or fulfillment, and then we have to deal with them. So typically, instead of dealing with them, we just go back and hurry again, and get productive.

However, I don't believe that's what the Lord wants from us. Maybe He actually wants to teach us in those moments that he would rather we slow down so we can live the life he has planned for us.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I want to live the life you have planned for me. Show me the way to live the unhurried life. Amen.

Reflection: What do you think the Lord has planned for you once you slow down and take more time to listen to him?

Jun 07, 2013

Serving God in Ways That Honor Him

Read | 2 Timothy 2:4, 16-25

In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he shared helpful instructions, which apply to all Christians. That epistle is a rich compendium of life lessons he’d learned in full-time service to the Lord.

The apostle knew that while certain people were serving God  out of love, others were “preaching Christ even from envy  and strife” and out of “selfish ambition, rather than from pure motives”  (Phil. 1:15, 17). As for himself, Paul said that from the beginning of his  Christian walk, he had been serving God with a clear conscience (2 Tim. 1:3).

Then, to introduce some guidelines for godly service, he gave Timothy this word picture: “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a  soldier” (2:4).

There are undoubtedly hundreds of ways to become “entangled,” but Paul gave one specific example—in verse 14, he cautioned against quarreling about  words, since that can lead to ruin. He also warned Timothy to avoid “worldly  and empty chatter” (v. 16), and urged him to “refuse foolish and ignorant  speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels” (v. 23). Paul summarized the  idea in the next verse by saying that “the Lord’s bond-servant must not be  quarrelsome,” but instead ought to be “kind to all, able to teach, patient when  wronged.”

How quickly our  service to God can degenerate into an angry debate. We at times think the only way to deal with  error is by strong argument, but there are often opportunities to correct  opponents with gentleness (v. 25).

When you touch someones life it is a privilege.

When you touch someones heart it is a blessing.

When you touch someone's mind it is an honor.

When you touch someones soul it is a triumph.

When you touch someones spirit it is a miracle.

Confidence to Face the Unknown

Read | Hebrews 11:23-29

The phrase “by faith” occurs five times in today’s  short Scripture reading from Hebrews. In fact, it appears in every full  sentence. Essentially, we are told that by faith Moses endured ill  treatment, left Egypt, observed the Passover, and passed through the Red Sea.

Why are the words “by faith” so  critical to this story? The reason is that Moses’ faith allowed him to join a  long list of biblical heroes who were called to move forward into impossible  situations, armed only with their trust in God.

Of course, at times these great men and women—Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, David, and many others—must have been filled with reservation and even fear.  Yet by choosing to place their lives in God’s hands and to follow His call,  each of them was able to accomplish great and mighty things in the name of the  Lord.

The path through life can be dark and  confusing; it can be difficult and at times unsettling to move forward with the  lantern of God’s guidance shining only a step or two ahead of us. We want to  know more, we want to see what lies ahead, and we want a guarantee of success.

Our worries and fears of the unknown,  however, do not in any way diminish or deter our sovereign, omniscient Lord.  Instead, He desires that each of us step forward in faith. He has promised that  when we do so, He will provide us with the guidance we long for (Isa. 30:21).

If you’re  currently being called to move forward by faith but are having trouble doing  so, call upon the Lord of Abraham, Moses, and David. He strengthened each of  them, and He’ll surely strengthen you.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jean Stapleton, the stage-trained character actress who played Archie Bunker's far better half, the sweetly naive Edith, in TV's groundbreaking 1970s comedy "All in the Family," has died. She was 90.
 
Stapleton died Friday of natural causes at her New York City home surrounded by friends and family, her children said Saturday.
 
"It is with great love and heavy hearts that we say farewell to our collective Mother, with a capital M," said her son and daughter, John Putch and Pamela Putch, in a statement. "Her devotion to her craft and her family taught us all great life lessons."
 
Little known to the public before "All In the Family," Stapleton co-starred with Carroll O'Connor in the top-rated CBS sitcom about an unrepentant bigot, the wife he churlishly but fondly called "Dingbat," their daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers) and liberal son-in-law Mike, aka Meathead (Rob Reiner).
 
Stapleton received eight Emmy nominations and won three times during her eight-year tenure with "All in the Family." Produced by Norman Lear, the series broke through the timidity of U.S. TV with social and political jabs and ranked as the No. 1-rated program for an unprecedented five years in a row. Lear would go on to create a run of socially conscious sitcoms.
 
"No one gave more profound 'How to be a Human Being' lessons than Jean Stapleton," Lear said Saturday. In a statement, Reiner added: "Jean was a brilliant comedienne with exquisite timing. Working with her was one of the greatest experiences of my life."
 
Stapleton also earned Emmy nominations for playing Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1982 film "Eleanor, First Lady of the World" and for a guest appearance in 1995 on "Grace Under Fire."
 
Her big-screen films included a pair directed by Nora Ephron: the 1998 Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan romance "You've Got Mail" and 1996's "Michael" starring John Travolta. She also turned down the chance to star in the popular mystery show, "Murder, She Wrote," which became a showcase for Angela Lansbury.
 
The theater was Stapleton's first love and she compiled a rich resume, starting in 1941 as a New England stock player and moving to Broadway in the 1950s and '60s. In 1964, she originated the role of Mrs. Strakosh in "Funny Girl" with Barbra Streisand. Others musicals and plays included "Bells Are Ringing," ''Rhinoceros" and <snip> Yankees," in which her performance — and the nasal tone she used in "All in the Family" — attracted Lear's attention and led to his auditioning her for the role of Archie's wife.
 
"I wasn't a leading lady type," she once told The Associated Press. "I knew where I belonged. And actually, I found character work much more interesting than leading ladies." Edith, of the dithery manner, cheerfully high-pitched voice and family loyalty, charmed viewers but was viewed by Stapleton as "submissive" and, she hoped, removed from reality. In a 1972 New York Times interview, she said she didn't think Edith was a typical American housewife — "at least I hope she's not."
 
"What Edith represents is the housewife who is still in bondage to the male figure, very submissive and restricted to the home. She is very naive, and she kind of thinks through a mist, and she lacks the education to expand her world. I would hope that most housewives are not like that," said Stapleton, whose character regularly obeyed her husband's demand to "stifle yourself."
 
But Edith was honest and compassionate, and "in most situations she says the truth and pricks Archie's inflated ego," she added.
 
She confounded Archie with her malapropos — "You know what they say, misery is the best company" — and open-hearted acceptance of others, including her beleaguered son-in-law and African-Americans and other minorities that Archie disdained.
 
As the series progressed, Stapleton had the chance to offer a deeper take on Edith as the character faced milestones including a breast cancer scare and menopause. She was proud of the show's political edge, citing an episode about a draft dodger who clashes with Archie as a personal favorite.
 
But Stapleton worried about typecasting, rejecting any roles, commercials or sketches on variety shows that called for a character similar to Edith. Despite pleas from Lear not to let Edith die, Stapleton left the show, re-titled "Archie's Place," in 1980, leaving Archie to carry on as a widower.
 
"My decision is to go out into the world and do something else. I'm not constituted as an actress to remain in the same role.... My identity as an actress is in jeopardy if I invested my entire career in Edith Bunker," she told the AP in 1979.
 
She had no trouble shaking off Edith — "when you finish a role, you're done with it. There's no deep, spooky connection with the parts you play," she told the AP in 2002 — but after O'Connor's 2001 death she got condolence letters from people who thought they were really married. When people spotted her in public and called her "Edith," she would politely remind them that her name was Jean.
 
Stapleton proved her own toughness when her husband of 26 years, William Putch, suffered a fatal heart attack in 1983 at age 60 while the couple was touring with a play directed by Putch.
 
Stapleton went on stage in Syracuse, N.Y., that night and continued on with the tour. "That's what he would have wanted," she told People magazine in 1984. "I realized it was a refuge to have that play, rather than to sit and wallow. And it was his show."
 
Stapleton was born in New York City to Joseph Murray and his wife, Marie Stapleton Murray, a singer. She attended Hunter College, leaving for a secretarial stint before embarking on acting studies with the American Theatre Wing and others.
 
Stapleton had a long working relationship with playwright Horton Foote, starting with one of his first full-length plays in 1944, "People in the Show," and continuing with six other works through the 2000s.
 
"I was very impressed with her. She has a wonderful sense of character. Her sense of coming to life on stage — I never get tired of watching," Foote told the AP in 2002. He died in 2009.
 
Her early TV career included guest appearances on series including "Lux Video Theatre," ''Dr. Kildare" and "The Defenders."
 
She and Putch had two children, John and Pamela, who followed their parents into the entertainment industry.
 
Her post-"All in the Family" career included a one-woman stage show, "Eleanor," in which she portrayed the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Stapleton spent summers working at the Totem Pole Playhouse near Harrisburg, Pa., operated by her husband, William. She made guest appearances on "Murphy Brown" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" and even provided the title character's voice for a children's video game, "Grandma Ollie's Morphabet Soup."
 
For years, she rarely watched "All In the Family," but had softened by 2000, when she told the Archive of American Television that enough time had passed.
 
"I can watch totally objectively," she said. "I love it. And I laugh. I think, 'Oh,' and I think, 'Gee, that's good.'"

Top Ten Feng Shui Wealth Enhancers

Posted: 29 May 2013 12:22 PM PDT

May 23, 2013

Why We Miss God’s Will

Read | 1 John 5:13-15

The Father has provided the Holy Spirit to teach His children about His will for their lives (John 14:26). Why, then, do we have difficulty understanding what the plan is?

We make decisions based on emotion. When life presses in on us, our instinct is to move away from the source of stress or pain. At such times, our need to remove difficulties and turmoil from our life can take precedence over the Lord’s plan. We figure He could not possibly want us to feel this way, so we take action and then hope that we are in His will. Our emphasis is on ourselves rather than on God’s purposes.

We focus only on the immediate. Many times we come to the Lord troubled about the choices we or our loved ones are facing. We do not see how this situation could possibly be His will. Our short-term focus prevents us from seeing God’s long-term purposes.

We conduct a superficial search. In our desire for an answer, we can fall into a trap and treat finding God’s will like a checklist—read the Bible, pray, fast, serve, worship, give. Then, satisfied with what we have done, we press the Lord for His answer now. But we have neglected to give God the time and stillness needed for us to hear from Him (Ps. 46:10). Investing time with our Creator is a necessity, not a luxury, and listening to Him without distractions is essential.

How much Bible study is required to find out what our heavenly Father wants for us? What amount of prayer? What quantity of time? The answer is simple: Whatever it takes to hear from God. He will answer. The question is, Will we wait?

May 14, 2013

Jesus: The Only Way to Heaven

Read | John 10:1-11

While there are many religions, there is only one way to heaven. Jesus clearly states that “no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). He used several picturesque descriptions to emphasize this point—He called Himself the way (14:6), the door (10:9), the living bread (6:51), and the good shepherd (10:11).

God does not expect you to follow some kind of ritual to make Jesus the Lord of your life—you can use any words that you like. However, some biblical elements are essential when beginning a relationship with Him:

• Confess your sin and admit your need  for a Savior (1 John 1:9). • Place your trust in Jesus Christ as the only possible Savior, acknowledging that He died for your sins, was buried, and rose again three days later (John 3:16; 1 Cor. 15:3-4). • Believe that your sins are forgiven and your name is written in the Lamb’s Book  of Life (1 John 5:11-13).

Every person has a choice to make. Death is inevitable, but we can decide whether, on exiting this world, we will enter eternal torment or the everlasting beauty of God’s presence. Let me make this very clear: What a person believes about heaven and hell won’t influence God in the slightest. People will be judged not by their attitudes but by the truth of His Word.

Scripture declares there is but one way to heaven—through faith in Jesus Christ. His gospel is a straight path from the pit of sin to the glory of heaven, with the promise of an abundant life in between. What we must do is go through the Door and follow the Way; then the Living Bread will sustain us.

Here are four fundamental things to do to manifest money using the law of attraction.
1. Think more thoughts in a day of abundance than of lack of money.

2. Be happy now, without the money.

3. Be truly grateful for everything you have now.

4. Give the best of yourself to others.

Four easy steps.

You can do them if you want it enough.

A Lifetime of Holiness

Read | Romans 12:1-3

By placing faith in Jesus Christ, a new believer is sanctified—that is, he is set apart for God’s purpose. Unlike salvation, which takes place in a single moment, sanctification is a lifelong process. We who have trusted in Christ as Savior and allow His Holy Spirit to control our lives are currently being sanctified, no matter what we may feel or how our actions appear to others. We are progressively maturing in our faith.

If we are progressing, then we must be working our way toward something. The apostle Paul explained the Christian’s mission this way: “For those whom [God] foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). The character, conduct, and conversation of a believer are to reflect Christ, who lives within through His Spirit.

On our own, we would place too much emphasis on conduct and get caught up following rules and rituals that look Christian but do not actually reflect Christ. God, however, has given each believer His Spirit as a teacher and guide. The Holy Spirit’s work is to transform our minds and hearts so our character is markedly different from that of our unsaved peers. Only when we are under the Spirit’s control can we speak and act according to who we truly are: God’s sons and daughters.

Our heavenly Father wants His children to be living examples and reflections of who He is. He doesn’t expect perfection from us—He knows that we cannot be totally sinless as long as we remain in our human body. Rather, He shows us how to think and act so we may “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which [we] have been called” (Eph. 4:1).

A Time for Courage

Read Judges 6 and 7   

1.Sometimes fear is related to sin. 

Sometimes we feel discontent or anxious because of sin in our lives The sins of worry, impurity, greed, unforgiveness, and many others can open the door to fear. Although believers in Jesus are always indwelt by the Holy Spirit, clearing our conscience of known sins enables us to walk in His power in a fresh, new way.

2. Our lack of courage can enable us to operate in God’s strength.

The Lord works through people who allow Him to use their weaknesses for His glory.

3. Discovering God’s will is an important part of overcoming fear.

The angel of the Lord told Gideon that he had been chosen to lead the people in battle against Midian and that God would give him victory (vv. 14, 16). However, Gideon wanted to make sure this was indeed the Lord talking to him. Gideon overcame his fear, in part because he asked for signs that God was indeed speaking to him.  But the leader’s approach described in verses 36-40 is not recommended anywhere else in Scripture.   While no one should stipulate how the Father is to confirm His promises, we certainly can ask Him to make His will clear to us. 

4. Humanly speaking, God’s path to peace may not make sense at first. The world--and sometimes fellow believers--won’t always understand why we obey the Lord even when His commands defy common wisdom.

5. When we obey God despite our fears, He will fight our battles for us.

 Our Prayer: Father, thank You for the promise that I don’t have to be afraid. You are always with me. I pray that I would learn to magnify You and let my fears fall into perspective. Help me keep a clean conscience and meditate on Your marvelous promises instead of giving in to anxiety. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

Note: If you are suffering debilitating fears that prevent you from carrying out everyday tasks or result in panic attacks, you may want to seek professional help from a pastor or Christian counselor.

April  2013

Faith vs. Reason

Read | 1 Corinthians 1:18-29

Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Another way of saying that is “knowing that God will honor His Word.”

Reason can be the enemy of faith, because it attempts to “trump” trust in God by encouraging us to rely on human intellect. This kind of logical thinking places confidence in man, but since we are not all-knowing or all-powerful, it leads to insecurity and worry.

All the while, God waits patiently for man to acknowledge his need of a Savior and then respond in faith. Reason says, “I can do it.” Faith says, “With God, all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26). Reason says, “Hurry and get yours before it’s gone.” Faith responds, “My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). Reason wrings its hands and says, “There has to be a better way!” Faith looks at Jesus and hears Him whisper, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

God’s Word states that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. It makes no sense whatsoever to them because Satan has blinded their eyes to the truth. But to us who are being saved, the Gospel is the very power of God (1 Cor. 1:18).

In 1 Corinthians 1:19, God says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” Those who are of the world may seem to have the upper hand now, but a time will come when they will wither like grass. Only those belonging to Christ possess eternity. We need to lovingly share this truth with others.

Apr 10, 2013

Our Choices Matter

Read | Galatians 5:13-16

Most people who choose to walk through the wide gate don’t stop to consider the pros and cons of taking the path leading to destruction. Instead, they drift onto that roadway without thinking of the consequences. The narrow gate is different—we must deliberately choose to pass through it and take the sparsely populated way to heaven.

Walking on the narrow road requires faith, discipline, and determination. We must be reading the Bible daily and main- taining an active prayer connection to God. By surrendering our lives to Christ, we keep our hearts on a path of righteousness.

Truthfully, we all have desires—that is, fleshly appetites—that find the easier pathway more attractive. In other words, we are each tempted to sin. As we choose to give in to temptation, our feet may remain on the narrow road, but our hearts return to the broad way. The more we choose to participate in sinful actions and attitudes, the deeper our heart becomes embedded in the worldly way.

We may try to tell ourselves that we are achieving freedom and that it is our right to do what we want. However, the truth is that we are grasping at false contentment while the “genuine article” awaits us if we simply return to obeying God.

And we are not the only ones injured by our rebellion. Fellow travelers on the broad way are watching us. When we act just like them, they make a judgment: “Hypocrite!” In that way, we can easily lose our testimony.

The narrow way may be hard to follow, but God promises constant aid and great reward—salvation and joy now; heaven later. Have you chosen the narrow gate?