Thursday, January 04, 2007

Ah, Those Sweet Angels

Yeah, right!

Now, up front, I'm not against angels, not against collecting them. I've got several myself, one tops my Christmas tree every year.

But are angels the sweet things portrayed?

Here's what the Bible says:

Luke 20: They don't marry
Acts 7: They reveal the law
Zechariah 1: They bring messages from God
Hebrews 1 & Revelation 5: They praise God
Daniel 6 & Acts 12: They protect God's people

Some angels rebelled, some tempt us to sin, work through false teachers, and attempt to separate believers from God.

Angels are not sweet beings, they are powerful, used by God to work in the world (Hebrews 1).

Our focus should not be on them, but on God. God sends them, uses them, orders them.

Now, to throw a cog in the wheel: Have you heard any old timers talk about seeing angels? My grandmother said she saw two of them with my grandfather between them, leading him away, when he died. True? I don't know.


Hints:
It's so-o-o easy to procrastinate doing things we don't want to do. Anyone else suffer from this? This doesn't mean we're not normal. Lots of people procrastinate. But it can be addictive. It's messes up your schedule (day) and you can find at the end of the day, you feel worse or depressed by not accomplishing what you'd wanted done. Here's a few hints to help us get to the bottom of this procrastination-thing:

1) Accept the job at hand. Learn to make lists (waving hand madly, because I do do this! Yeah!) Write it down. Accept that you should be responsible. Tackle that list one thing at a time. Don't look at it as a whole, but as individual items to be checked off.

2) Think of the end result. What happens if you don't get No. 1 checked off? Who's disappointed? How will you feel? How will you feel when it's accomplished?

3) Remember your reward. It doesn't matter whether you get a trophy, a raise, or a pat on the back. It's YOUR satisfaction that matters. You succeeded. A powerful emotion.

4) Make no room for excuses. Push them away. They will always be there. "I don't feel like it." or "I can't do it right anyway." If its your task, if you're responsible for it, if its important and/or urgent, then do it. Don't allow yourself the temptation to postpone.

5) Get to the bottom of your procrastination. There has to be a reason for why you want to procrastinate that job. Example: I hate getting started on many things (research being one), but actually I love research. I enjoy--and probably over research--on things--once I get started. If it's too hard for you, you don't have the expertise (repairing), get someone else to do it.


Quote:
Live as though you believe that the power behind the universes is a power of love, a personal power of love, a love so great that all of us really do matter to Him. --Madeleine L'Engle


Blessings.

2 comments:

Yumanbing said...

Yep. Whenever I hear folks talking about how they'd like to meet a cuddly angel, I remember that in most recorded instances the angel's first words were, "Don't be afraid!". Then they would pick the person up off the ground. They must be frightening creatures!

Caroline said...

I want to think of them as cuddly beings, but I'm afraid I'd be one of those humans suffering from a heart attack if I saw one. Now, hubby's a different story. He might be afraid, but he'd enjoy the experience. Grin.

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