Actitudes de un valiente

Admitir que te equivocaste.

Hacer lo que es correcto, aunque los demás no lo hagan.

Hablarle a alguien que no conoces.

Decir “no” cuando otros están tratando de que hagas algo que sabes que no debes hacer.

Decir la verdad y aceptar las consecuencias.

Defender algo en lo que crees, aunque podría significarte el rechazo o el ridículo o incluso un daño físico.

Defender a alguien a quien se considera impopular o inaceptable.

Vivir tu fe con todo tu corazón, tu mente, tu alma, y tu fuerza, sin importar lo que te cueste.

1 Timoteo 4:12
Ninguno tenga en poco tu juventud; pero sé ejemplo de los fieles en palabra, en conversación, en caridad, en espíritu, en fe, en limpieza.

1 Pedro 2:21
Porque para esto sois llamados; pues que también Cristo padeció por nosotros, dejándonos ejemplo, para que vosotros sigáis sus pisadas.

Josué 1:9
Mira que te mando que te esfuerces y seas valiente; no temas ni desmayes, porque el Señor tu Dios estará contigo en dondequiera que vayas.

Fuente

Learning about God through Dressage By Christine Vandenbrink

For those of you who don’t know, Dressage, (rhymes with the word massage) is “the training of the horse through gymnastics to achieve the balance, lightness, and engagement that can be found in horses in nature.”* First practiced by the ancient Greeks and then the Romans, dressage was used in training horses for battle. During the Renaissance, dressage was brought back into existence at The School of Versailles, the French Court of equitation, promoted greatly by Louis XIV.
The key to dressage and a lot of other types of riding is to get your horse moving from behind, back to front. As Gragorio Billikopf Encina says, “Without forward impulsion the horse cannot be molded… As the horse engages the hindquarter and the front becomes lighter, the horse’s head can also fall in the right frame.”
When I started riding my lesson horse, Kay lee, she was used to being ridden with her head up. She hadn’t used her neck muscles much before at all. So, when I asked her to come from behind and put her head down into a frame, she couldn’t do it for long. It hurt. She wasn’t used to using those muscles and she kept throwing her head back up and tried to speed out of the work. My riding instructor just told me to keep asking. I was taught to hold a steady contact with my horse, and if she wanted to fight she would be pulling on herself.
            “Let her fight it out with herself. She’ll figure it out eventually.”
And she did. Eventually she found that it was easier to accept the bit. I began to see a strong connection between the way I was riding Kay lee and the way God was working in me.
At that time in my life it felt like God was pushing me, driving me forward and yet at the same time, He was holding me back. He was asking me for contentment yet sometimes the tears, the pain and the trials felt like too much. They hurt. Yet I had hope that it was all coming to something. I had to believe that He was and is building up my spiritual muscle; He has a purpose, just like I had a purpose in riding and training my horse. Paul says, in Romans 5, “… not only so, but we rejoice in our sufferings, for we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope…”
Sometimes I struggled, but God would just wait out my struggles and then ask again. I would find too that it was easier to follow His leading than resist it – I would find that it was easier to accept the bit. I knew ultimately, God wanted what was best for me. If I fought I would be fighting against myself.
I learned to see that and realize that my trials - the difficult times, the days of loneliness- were just what He brought into my life so that I would go to Him. He was calling me. He wanted me to seek Him out, trust Him, and take my concerns to Him.
Sue Morris says, “An expression that was very common in Germany in the past and that I haven’t heard in a long time is that the horse has to learn to trust the rider’s hands... the same thing applies to the seat and legs… The horse has to trust especially the rider’s seat not to drop like a rock onto his back every stride in the trot… A horse will actively seek Contact with your hands when he knows he can trust them.” God is kind and loving and gentle, and we must learn to trust Him and know that He wants what is best for us.
Our goal should be that we are in tune with the Master, in tune with His will. His desires are to become our desires. Ultimately, God’s will is for our greater good, for our eternal security. Just as the horse needs to be driven against that contact, that pressure of the bit, just as the horse needs to have impulsion to be molded, we need to be pushed and driven to be molded as well. “Everyone who competes in the games (horses included) goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

El árbol de los problemas

El carpintero que había contratado para ayudarme a reparar una vieja granja, acababa de finalizar un duro primer día de trabajo. Su cortadora eléctrica se dañó y lo hizo perder una hora de trabajo y luego su antiguo camión se negó a arrancar.

Mientras lo llevaba a casa, se sentó en silencio. Una vez que llegamos, me invitó a conocer a su familia.

Mientras nos dirigíamos a la puerta, se detuvo brevemente frente a un pequeño árbol, tocando las puntas de las ramas con ambas manos. Cuando se abrió la puerta, ocurrió una sorprendente transformación.

Su bronceada cara estaba plena de sonrisas. Abrazó a sus dos pequeños  hijos y le dio un beso a su esposa.

Posteriormente me acompañó hasta mi automóvil. Cuando pasamos cerca del árbol, sentí curiosidad y le  pregunté acerca de lo que lo había visto hacer un rato antes.

“Oh, ese es mi árbol de problemas”, contestó. Sé que yo no puedo evitar tener problemas en el trabajo, pero una cosa es segura: los problemas no pertenecen a la casa, ni a mi esposa, ni a mis hijos. Así que simplemente los cuelgo en el árbol cada noche cuando llego a casa. Luego en la mañana los recojo otra vez.

Lo divertido es, añadió sonriendo, que cuando salgo en la mañana a recogerlos, no hay tantos como los que recuerdo haber colgado la noche anterior…

Mateo 6:34
Por tanto, no os preocupéis por el día de mañana; porque el día de mañana se cuidará de sí mismo. Bástele a cada día sus propios problemas.

Mateo 6:25
Por eso os digo, no os preocupéis por vuestra vida, qué comeréis o qué beberéis; ni por vuestro cuerpo, qué vestiréis. ¿No es la vida más que el alimento y el cuerpo más que la ropa?

Mateo 6:27
¿Y quién de vosotros, por ansioso que esté, puede añadir una hora al curso de su vida?

Lucas 10:41
Respondiendo el Señor, le dijo: Marta, Marta, tú estás preocupada y molesta por tantas cosas;

Lucas 12:11
Y cuando os lleven a las sinagogas y ante los gobernantes y las autoridades, no os preocupéis de cómo o de qué hablaréis en defensa propia, o qué vais a decir;

Lucas 12:22
Y dijo a sus discípulos: Por eso os digo: No os preocupéis por vuestra vida, qué comeréis; ni por vuestro cuerpo, qué vestiréis.

Filipenses 4:6

Por nada estéis afanosos; antes bien, en todo, mediante oración y súplica con acción de gracias, sean dadas a conocer vuestras peticiones delante de Dios.

1 Pedro 5:7
echando toda vuestra ansiedad sobre El, porque El tiene cuidado de vosotros.

My neghbor's ducks

“Love your neighbor” (Matthew 19:19)
For most of my life, I have lived on acreage. As a child, I grew up on a wonderful sixty-four acre farm with rolling hills and a creek full of trout. For most of our married life, Marvin and I have lived on small farms. We loved it.
When our children were younger, there was a fad among city folks to buy a small farm in the country and keep a few animals. It was a ‘back-to-nature’ kind of thing; however, most of them had no idea that animals require supervision twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
One of the new neighbors bought ducks. The ducks seemed innocent enough; however, they were allowed to run loose in their yard and the neighbors’ yards – including ours. Our cucumber patch was one of their favorite spots to graze. Often we would ‘shoo’ the ducks home and wonder why there wasn’t a fence to keep them in their own yard.
One day I saw my neighbor in her yard and I asked her if she realized her ducks were ruining my garden. She shrugged it off and told me that they were not her ducks, they were her husband’s ducks and he was away traveling. My attitude and response to her was not gracious.
We realized that the neighbors were not planning to build a fence to keep their ducks at home, so we had our son build one to protect our yard. The ducks now stayed in their own yard. I didn’t see my neighbor again until months later. In all that time, my attitude had not improved.
A women’s church group asked me to speak at their mother and daughter banquet. The topic was “Love.” Much to my chagrin, the first woman I saw when I walked into the church was my neighbor. You can imagine the struggle that began within me. I knew I could not speak about love to these women and their daughters when I hadn’t been patient with my neighbor. So with God’s help, I walked up to her and apologized for my attitude and asked her to forgive me. I should have done it months ago. She was gracious and forgiving and I was able to speak with a clean conscience.
Do you have anybody like that in your life? Let me encourage you, if at all possible, to clear the air between you. Ask God to give you the courage to do it now.
Father, You don’t beat around the bush. You are very clear about what you expect of us. Sometimes we don’t like it and it takes us a while to obey. But thankfully, You have given us the Holy Spirit to empower us to do whatever You ask us to do. Thank you! Amen.
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Corazón valeroso

Se cuenta la historia de un querido amigo y miembro de la iglesia, que falleció luego de una larga vida de amor y servicio.
En el funeral, sus hijos se levantaron uno por uno a contar historias referentes a su padre y pronto pudo notarse un tema común: que su más singular y extraordinaria cualidad fue su voluntad para servir a otros, sin importar cuál fuera la necesidad.
Era uno de esos hombres siempre dispuestos a tender una mano, hacer un favor, algún trabajo peculiar, o simplemente ofrecer un transporte a alguien. Una de sus hijas mencionó que a dondequiera que se dirigía, llevaba consigo una caja de herramientas y un par de vestimentas de mecánico en el maletero del carro, “por si acaso alguien necesitaba alguna reparación”.
Muchas veces, cuando escuchamos la palabra “coraje”, pensamos en actos heroicos en períodos de crisis. , No obstante, en nuestra vida cotidiana, no debemos pasar por alto la valentía de simplemente estar ahí. Las vidas cambian cuando con fidelidad proveemos para nuestras familias, cuidamos de los ancianos, o prestamos atención a un amigo en dificultad. Persistir en hacer de este mundo, un mejor lugar para vivir, es definitivamente una expresión de coraje.
Albert Schweitzer, el gran misionero cristiano, doctor y teólogo, fue una vez interrogado en una entrevista. Le pidieron que mencionara el nombre de una gran persona viva en la actualidad. De inmediato respondió: “La persona más genial en el universo, es aquel individuo incógnito que en este mismo instante, ha acudido en amor a socorrer a otro”.
Mientras se desarrolla tu día, recuerda que podrías ser el héroe de alguien.
3 Juan 1:5
Amado, fielmente te conduces cuando prestas algún servicio a los hermanos, especialmente a los desconocidos.
Fuente

Feelings, forgiveness and peace - Muriel Larson

 

Angelique had never really known her father. He had deserted her mother for his homosexual lover when Angelique was just a toddler. But it often pained her when she saw other children?s fathers at their birthday parties or picking them up after school.

"Why doesn't my daddy ever come to see me?" she asked her mother.

Her mother looked down at her sadly and said, "I don't know, honey. According to Jesus, you have a Heavenly Father who loves you, you know."

Nevertheless, the situation caused heartache for both mother and daughter. When Angelique was nine, her mother went to visit a friend in another state. As they drove through the countryside, Angelique's mother talked about her friend, Donna. "Aunt Donna grew up in a broken home, too," she said. "She never knew her daddy either. So I'm sure she would understand how you feel, Angelique. You can talk about it with Aunt Donna."

The day after they arrived, Donna took Angelique out for breakfast. As she looked across the table, she felt a kinship with the sad-faced freckled little girl. She listened attentively as Angelique poured out her thoughts and feelings.

"Nobody seems to understand how much I wish I had a daddy to take me places," she said. "I try not to get angry at my daddy. But just this morning I felt really bad toward him because he has never come to see me or sent me presents."

"I understand that myself," Donna sympathized. "I went through the same thing."

"Well, I knelt by my bed," Angelique continued, ?and did what Mama told me to do. I prayed to Jesus and I forgave my daddy. And it made me feel better."

Donna was quiet for a moment, remembering the battle she had had with pain and forgiveness. Not only had she needed to forgive her father for deserting her, but she also had had the even harder task of forgiving her mother for the awful physical and emotional abuse the latter had put her through while she was growing up.

Then Donna said gently. "One thing you must realize, Angelique: These feelings will pop up again at certain times in your life - like when you graduate from high school and your father is not there?when you get married and he doesn't give you away, and even when you are my age and you watch your children having fun with their daddy such as you never had. At such times you will again have to look to Jesus and forgive your daddy. For the Lord Jesus can help you forgive again and again, and He can take the pain out of your heart, even as He has done for me."

Donna realized that Angelique wouldn't fully understand what she was saying until those unhappy feelings about her father?s absence assailed her on future days. But she knew from Angelique?s attentiveness that she would remember what was said and would be able to deal with the situation when it arose again.

Feelings and forgiveness

Often when we have dealt Scripturally with bad feelings that have been aroused by a certain situation, we like to believe that we will not suffer them again. In some cases, we don't. But, as human beings, we may experience situations in our lives that stir up painful feelings about certain persons or events. Those feelings in themselves are not sinful. But if we respond to them with unremitting anger and hostility, they can rob us of fellowship with the Lord, His peace and joy, and abundant life. Psalm 37:1 advises us not to fret because of evildoers (Psalm 37:1). We mustn't dwell on the grief others have caused us. Instead, we are to seek the Lord's help, and forgive again.

Samuel Johnson said, "A wise man will make haste to forgive, because he knows the true value of time, and will not suffer it to pass away in unnecessary pain." (The Rambler).

Painful feelings may involve a missing or abusive parent, an errant or abusive mate, an ungrateful, uncaring child, or even something wrong that we did in the past. As an example of the latter, some women I have counseled have told me of their guilt and self-accusation concerning abortions or the breakup of their marriages that have haunted them for years. Even though they had asked the Lord's forgiveness, they had not been able to forgive themselves, until they realized the depth and reality of God?s forgiveness.

According to the psalmist, God has removed our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). Forgiveness is a key remedy for relief from painful feelings. If those feelings are caused by another person, we are wise to follow Jesus. advice when He said we are to forgive those who sin against us a limitless number of times, "until seventy times seven' (Matthew 18:22).

Two ways to go

Jesus gave us this teaching perhaps as much as for our sakes as for those we forgive. How can we enjoy His love, peace, and joy if we harbor wrath, malice, anger, bitterness and hostility toward someone else, or speak slanderously of that person. According to Ephesians 4:30-31, we grieve the Holy Spirit when we do that. And the Spirit is the source of love, peace, and joy (Galatians 5:22). The proper response is given in Ephesians 4:32 "being kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving, even as God for Christ' sake forgives us." How can we do that?

The Son of God knew all things; so He also told us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). According to Roget's Thesaurus, 'persecute' means to molest, wrong, or 'torment' 'to annoy or disturb with hostile intent or injurious effect.'

When I've found it hard to love someone who has hurt me, I hold that person up in my hand to the Lord and ask His help. As I pray for that person I realize what a miserable person he/she must be to cause others pain. This gives me sympathy for that person, and the love of God fills in the rest.

Bitterness and anger at God and others because of past experiences cause many people misery for years. Such hurtful feelings can mar their lives and those of others close to them. How sad that they have thus wasted their lives on self-pity! The best way we can reject bitter thoughts and feelings is through forgiveness. "Make every effort to live in peace..See to it that, no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many" (Hebrews 12:14-15). Wise Christians put their trust in the love and power of God and reject bitterness and self-pity. Like little Angelique, they have in childlike faith forgiven those who have hurt them. Like Donna, they continue to forgive whenever hurt feelings rise again, and turn their thoughts to better things. In so doing they have achieved Christ's abundant life in spite of whatever has happened in their lives. And they enjoy the peace of God that passes all understanding. 

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Los tres sobres

La gente dice que hay dos formas de aprender:

Por la experiencia, la cual se obtiene de los errores cometidos; y por la sabiduría, la cual se obtiene de los errores de otros.

Recomiendo que hasta donde sea posible, se aprenda de los errores de otros.

reflexiones - cartasAprender de los fracasos es siempre más fácil con la ayuda de un buen consejero. Después que cometo mis errores garrafales, pido consejo de algunas personas: mi papá, Jack Hayford, Elmer Towns, y mi esposa Margaret, quien siempre está dispuesta a compartir conmigo sus opiniones acerca de mis fracasos.

Es importante buscar consejo de la persona correcta.

Oí la historia de un servidor público recién nombrado que estaba instalándose en su nueva oficina.

Al sentarse ante su escritorio por primera vez, descubrió que su predecesor le había dejado tres sobres con instrucciones que deberían abrirse únicamente en tiempos de angustia.

No habían pasado muchos días antes que el hombre entrara en conflicto con la prensa, así es que decidió abrir el primer sobre.

La nota decía: «Échele la culpa a su predecesor». Y eso fue lo que hizo.

Durante un tiempo todo anduvo bien. Pero unos pocos meses más tarde, de nuevo estaba en problemas, así es que procedió a abrir el segundo sobre.

La nota decía: «Reorganícese». Y eso fue lo que hizo.

Eso le permitió disponer de más tiempo. Pero debido a que en realidad nunca había resuelto ninguno de los asuntos que estaban complicándole la vida, volvió a tener problemas, y esta vez, peores que nunca. De modo que, desesperado, abrió el último sobre.

La nota adentro decía: «Vaya preparando tres sobres».

Pida consejos, pero asegúrese que sea de alguien que haya aprendido a manejar sus fracasos en forma exitosa.

Maxwell, John C.: El Lado Positivo Del Fracaso; Failing Forward. Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2000; 2003, S. 169

Aprendizaje es un elemento esencial en la vida. Dios es un maravilloso Maestro que nos enseña a través de las circunstancias de la vida. No pierdas ni un solo detalle.

Aun si fuera verdad que me he desviado, mis errores son asunto mío. Job 19:4.

¿Quién está consciente de sus propios errores? ¡Perdóname aquellos de los que no estoy consciente! Salmo 19:12.
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