Copyright (c) 2008 Jon Straumfjord By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. (Hebrews 11:24-26, NKJV) Pharaoh's daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. "Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. (Acts 7:23-25, NKJV) Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.... When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian.... (Exodus 2:11-12,15, NKJV) As an infant, Moses and all other male Israelite children were under a death sentence from Pharaoh. However, because his parents acted in faith by building a boat for him and letting it float in the river, Moses was actually saved by the daughter of Pharaoh himself. Since Moses was now living in the household of Pharaoh, he was living like a prince: he was one of the few people in the entire kingdom who was taught to read, and he always had the best food and clothing available. He lived a life of luxury. Certainly Moses could have ignored the plight of the Israelite slaves, but Moses received a revelation that he was to aid the deliverance of the Jews from Egyptian bondage. Presumptuously, Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating one of his Hebrew brothers, and as a result, he was forced to flee for his own life to the land of Midian. Moses left a life of luxury and ease to live in relative poverty and hardship, all because Moses chose to act on a revelation he had received from the Lord. Abraham was originally told that his descendants would serve another nation for 400 years (Genesis 15:13-14), yet Israel spent 430 years serving Pharaoh, king of Egypt (Exodus 12:40-41). It is therefore very possible that Moses' presumptuous action cost the nation of Israel an extra thirty years of bondage, personally cost him forty unnecessary years in poverty, all because he was unwilling wait for the Lord's timing. So what can we learn about faith from Moses? Unfortunately, this is a case of the good, the bad, and the ugly: It was good that Moses' actions demonstrated that he believed the revelations he had received from the Lord. It was bad that Moses attempted to accomplish the Lord's will in his own power and timing, instead of waiting for the Lord to act. The ugly part, was that Moses had to flea to Midian to escape the wrath of Pharaoh, and may have cost the nation of Israel an extra thirty years of slavery to a tyrant king and him forty unnecessary years of poverty. Yes, it is good to receive the revelations of the Lord in faith, but it is better to wait for the Lord to fulfill those revelations in His time, in His power, and in His way. Anything else will simply produces negative consequences, as it did for both Moses and the nation of Israel. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. (Psalms 37:7, NKJV) About the Author Jon Straumfjord is the author of numerous articles about the Seven Spirits of God and the God of the Bible. He is also the creator of the website http://www.7-spirits.com , and is the author of the book "The Seven Spirits of God."

Copyright (c) 2008 Steven Magill Everyday in your life you come across fraudsters who would grab your hard earned money. You must protect yourself against such con artists who assure you with a true psychic reading and in return give you no real information in the end. - The best method is to listen to your intuition, or the inner 'gut' feeling. If you go for a psychic reading and you don't feel right, leave immediately. - Let everyone in the Universe know that you are after the truth; this in itself will help you to reach a well known psychic reader. - During a psychic reading, never reveal any personal details; con artists may use it to gather information about you and flesh out a reading. While listening to your psychic reading you may get a strange, sinking feeling in your stomach hinting that something is wrong with the reading. This is a signal that the reading isn't authentic and you are merely wasting your time. A few online or phone psychic reading firms will offer you the initial few minutes of your reading free. This will give you adequate time to distinguish if the reading is correct or not. Even a real psychic may get some points incorrect and you will never come across anyone who is 100% accurate in all the readings. They are after all humans, and not perfect receptors. If you find the reading is inaccurate you need to conclude it and try it some other time. Some of the tips to spot the scams that are used by con artists: 1. A good amount of time in the psychic reading will be wasted by the psychic reader talking about unimportant things that cannot be proved. Like, s/he may talk about your guardian angels. If this is short then do not worry, but if s/he goes on and on about this topic then there is something fishy. 2. The Psychic may tell you about yourself, your future, or your life but if it doesn't sound correct or does not make sense to you, then make use of your common sense while listening to the suggestions of the psychic reader. 3. The Psychic reader may describe your future in the most common terms. Like, you are a bachelor s/he may tell you that you will soon bump into a nice girl, but s/he will not tell you how she looks but only give you a hazy description about her. In such case you are probably not facing of a real Psychic. 4. In a case where the Psychic makes predictions about your life and most of it is wrong. Then do not listen any further. In such a situation do not act on his advice. 5. Real Psychics do not work for money; many of them even do not charge a fee, instead they may ask for donations. Most of the famous Psychics ask a huge fee, but then they are sought after that much more than a small town Psychic. The huge fees being charged by such Psychics is not justified. About the Author ESP And Psychic Skills Enhanced Instantly! Works Every Time Without Fail No Extensive Practice Required Feel The Effects In Minutes ESP Success Rate Dramatically Improved http://www.freetarotpsychicreading.com/index.html

When you talk about humility, rarely do you hear of this quality in the secular world of business. As a matter of fact, humility in the business world is looked at as a weakness. There is no place in corporate society for humility. If you were to ask someone, "What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word 'business'?" Long before humility is ever even considered, you would probably say something like, "Dog eat dog world," or something to that effect. What is disappointing is when this same humility-less mentality is found within the walls of the church. Now, I am not naïve; the church is made up of people. Many, if not most of those people, at one time, were living a secular lifestyle, with all the ills of that lifestyle permeating their personalities. The Bible is clear, that even though we may be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, there is still a process of change that needs to take place within our being. The Bible refers to God as the sculptor, and us as the clay. This change that God is working in us, is a lifetime process. Not because God cannot do it instantly, but because God wants us to work through this process ourselves, by seeing the need to change aspects of our lives, as we realize our spiritual shortcomings, through the example set by Jesus. This why it is so important to heed Joshua 1:8, which reads, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." I know many Christians who have accepted Jesus as their personal savior, yet I see very little change in the way that many of them conduct their everyday lives. This should not be the case. You might be asking, "I thought you said that God will work the change in us?" I did, and He will, but He also will not force you to change. The Word of God is powerful; the Bible calls it a two-edged sword. God expects us to utilize it to our benefit; to cut through the darkness and enter His light. I don't think God would have wasted 5,000 years in the completion of having the Word documented for us, for us to neglect it. As you read the Word it will transform your mind to think like Jesus, hence, you will begin to become aware of worldly things in your life, that you didn't think twice about before, that are now convicting you in your heart, and you will want to rid yourself of those worldly things. That is how God changes you. It is not that God is working every minute manipulating circumstances as you walk into them; it is a principle or a law of creation, that God had established in the creation process, that if you seek God, only good can come out of that. If you seek the worlds way, which is morally corrupt, only bad can come out of it. Recently, I had the unfortunate first hand experience of how, even in the church, you have to deal with this secular mentality. This particular person, who I had dealt with does not yet see this flaw in their being. There are personality differences, as well, that make it hard for some people to change. A strong-willed person will find it much harder to soften their hardened heart. There is a much greater warring going on in the spirit and soul of a strong-willed person in regards to this hardness of heart. It is much more difficult for them to humble themselves in a situation that they deem to be a competitive situation; even when such is not the case. These little things that we all have in our personalities, are the things that need to be changed in order to grow into the perfection of Christ. We all need to realize these areas that need to change. It is only through God's Word that He can effectively communicate to us the way that He wants us to live our lives, and interact with our fellow man. About the Author Russell is founder of Plain Bible Truth Ministries. All his writings can be found at Plain Bible Truth's website.

Heb 11:1 - Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 'Substance' here refers to the foundation that supports you in your life. Your faith is going to carry you through 2008. 'Evidence' means 'confidence'. Faith is being confident of what you are going to achieve based on what you see right now. It is an attitude and a posture of confidence that God is leading you all the way. Faith is having the confidence of holding yourself or your own when you are with powerful people, bosses, colleagues, subordinates and even family or strangers. God wants us to walk in confidence. Hebrew 10 tells us to hold on to our confidence and not to throw it away. Without confidence, means without faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God. This confidence is not about arrogance but trusting God and knowing that He will see you through. God's power travels through an atmosphere of faith. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. When God's words are preached, deliverance, healing and all signs of miracles is performed and confirmed through faith. The anointing power travels through our confidence in God. Have confidence that God is with you. With an attitude change, your ministry is changed by having confidence and walking in confidence. Your confidence is the cable where God's power travels like a live wire from heaven to you. When Jesus was attacked by the devil in the desert, he was tempted in the realm of His confidence. Satan was interested in Jesus' life and His confidence. In Matthew 4:1-3, 5-6, 8-9 - especially verses 3, 6, 9 - " notice the words 'if you are the Son of God' that Satan used. Satan was testing Jesus' confidence as the Son of God. He was daring Jesus to prove that He was the Son of God by doing what Satan wanted Him to do. It was necessary for Jesus to show who He was. Satan uses the same techniques on us, too. The devil will tempt us that ‘if we are the children of God, then do this and that'. The devil will always test and shake our confidence again and again in our faith as the child of God. The devil is a scholar of Bible School. He knows the scriptures very well but he twisted it. To defeat the devil, we have to know the bible too. Years ago, there was a newspaper article featuring two young men of a local church who was killed by a drunken driver on their way home from church. The pastor of the church started this church not too long before the accident. After the accident, a Christian friend of the pastor from his previous church came to mock at the pastor. This friend was telling the pastor that 'if the divine blessing of God was upon you and your church, why was there no divine protection upon your congregation?' We know that this is not true. We live in a broken world. Satan attacks not only an individual, he will try to attack the whole church's confidence as well. When we do God's works, the devil will do everything he can to shake your confidence. The devil was trying to shake the pastor's confidence in believing that the church he pastor was not under God's will. But this church, today, stands strong and is still growing. The devil is very cunning and will make you doubt who you are in God. But the beautiful thing is when Jesus was tempted, Jesus did not have to prove to the devil, his enemies or even his disciples that He is the Son of God. It is the ultimate confidence He has in who He is. He did not have to prove Himself. The same goes for us. When we are impacting the realms of arts, media, entertainments, business, education, and so forth, the devil will try to break your confidence and ask you to prove yourself and to men. Even Christians will ask you to prove that God is with you especially in the midst of negative events. But when you worry, the more you will worry. When you focus on the negative, the negative will expand. When you give reason and react to fear, you loose your confidence. In Matthew 11, Jesus wants us to be the light of the world. He mingled and make friends with the tax collector, the sinners, the prostitutes, and the fisherman. He shocked the conservatives of His times. Jesus sent His disciples into the world, to reach out to the world which is directly opposite from what the holy men of His times taught. They taught the people to get out of the world/darkness into the light. They told the 'holy men'� not to mix around with the sinners of the world because they were defiled. Jesus did just the opposite. His disciples went into the world, to go as sheep among the wolves. Even John the Baptist doubted Jesus. John the holy prophet sent his disciple to ask Jesus whether He was truly the Son of God (Matt 11:5). But Jesus did not prove Himself to John or his disciple by performing miracles before them. Instead, He responded by telling John to look at the fruits of His life where the sick were healed, the blind saw, the lame walked. He said to John, 'Blessed are those who were not stumbled because of Me'. Jesus was not bothered with what people thought of Him. He simply did what the Father wanted Him to do. This is the confidence He had of who He is. Go to read Part II and get more at http://www.sermonalive.com About the Author A person who does great commandment by loving God and loving people, great commission by doing mission and the cultural mandate by engaging the market place to God. - Sermon Alive http://www.sermonalive.com

Mark 9:23 Jesus says, 'Everything is possible for anyone who has faith. ' Mark 10:27 Jesus says, 'For all things are possible with God. ' Worry, fear and doubt : What good can possibly come from these? Yet, we live with them everyday. Do you know that these can damage your mind, body, soul and strength? Do you know that it stops your walk with the Lord? Do you know that as long as worry, fear and doubt exists in your life you cannot be connected to God? (you either trust Him or you don't). People have worries, fears and doubts about a lot of things : their job, terrorism, death, identity theft, car theft, weather related items, health, etc., etc. The thing is, if there is something to worry about or fear or doubt, people will be living it. Is this how God wants you to live your life? Of course not. Satan does though, look around you and inside you. Is your soul corupted by this darkness? When you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior did you not put your life into His hands? If you did, then what are worrying about, what do you fear, and why do you doubt? This is satan's world, and he wants you to live in his darkness. Look at the news for instance, we always see bad things on the news, rarely do they show good things, Why? Because they only want to bring you down and let you see satan's world not Gods. It's all about darkness and these are just some of the rotten fruits that are constantly being born. It's sad that people dwell in this realm, a realm of misery. Why doesn't someone have a news show that shows nothing but the good things that happen everyday? Probably because nobody would watch it or sponser it. Everything we do affects other people around us. Most of the time we are not even aware of it or just don't realize it. The way we effect people is by our way of thinking, the things we say and how we act towards others. We send out positive or negative vibrations. These vibrations touch others in ways we see and don't see. It's one way of how love and hate work. Take for example when you smile at someone, if they accept your smile they'll smile back and both of you feel the warmth of that smile. Now if someone was to be grumpy towards you, you could accept that bad vibe and be grumpy back or you could block it and overcome it with a smile and a prayer for them. Worry, fear and doubts have a negative impact on your life and others. Fear will cause depression fueled by worry. Happiness and joy cannot exist in this realm. God is all about Hope, Faith and Love. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said, 'Come to Me, all you who labour and are over burdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes My yoke is easy and My burden light.' In this scripture where does Jesus tell us to worry or have fear? Where does he tell us to doubt God? No, He tells us to come to Him. Why? Because we are overburdened by the way of the world. Our baggage is full of negative vibration (darkness). So, if we truly accepted Jesus into our hearts then why do these things exists? It seems that we started out with faith, did we lose it? Jesus' burden is LIGHT. All positive, wonderful vibrations of light, and this light is love. The one thing we need to understand is that it's one or the other : you believe in the Lord or you don't. You can't have faith one minute and worries, fears, or doubts the next minute. Jesus says in Matthew 7:24-27 'Everyone who listens to these words of Mine and ACTS on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gale blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall : it was founded on rock. But everyone who listens to these words of Mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, flood rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell ; and what a fall it had!' The fall : Revelations 21:8 'But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, they shall have their portion in the pool burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Note the first two : the fearful and unbelieving. People who know about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but do nothing to prove they believe. Knowledge is useless unless it is working. The same goes with as faith. When you first accepted Jesus and told everyone that you believe in Him and He is your personal SAVIOR, that is a form of faith with works Jesus is talking about. But it can't stop there. If someone came up to you and said show me your faith so I too might believe in Jesus Christ, what would you be able to show him? We need to take His yoke and follow Him and He will show us how to fulfill the laws of rightousness and prove the promises of God. Labour for the fruits of the Holy Spirit and clothe yourself in Light. If you think you can be idle and do it your way, then maybe one day Jesus will say to you, 'It is not those who say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, 'who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the person who does the will of My Father in Heaven. When the day comesmany will say to Me, "Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name? Then I shall tell them to their faces : I have never known you ; away from me you evil men! Wow! That is so devastating. Just going to church and bible study is not going to get us into the Kindom of God, no we need to have Jesus show us the way. He is the foundation on which we are to build upon. Read 1Corinthians 3:10-15. So build upon this foundation that will last forever. Turn all your burdens over to the Lord. He knows the best way to handle them. Have faith and trust. This is how we can love God. There's alot about faith in the bible. Read about what happens when people use faith and how God is with them. Also read about what happens when don't let God help and they try to do it themselves or when they lose the faith. Remember the six day war? God was with them then. But look at Israel today, they lost the faith. With God all things are possible, with man... So make the Lord your life and give Him yours. God Bless You and May He Be With You Always. About the Author I am a glazier by trade. I've also been learning about marketing. I enjoy writing articles like these hoping that they will help someone. My web site is http://www.itrustgodonly.com

When thinking of someone that establishes a religion, people often assume that this person would be quiet, meek, mild, and without reproach at any time. Obviously this is an awfully big burden for anyone to bear, and certainly no person is perfect. However, when talking about Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion, there are many details of his short life that might actually surprise people, even those of the Mormon religion itself. For one thing, Joseph Smith based many of his teachings on not just his visions from God but from the King James Version of the Bible, however, he stated that the Bible had been translated incorrectly. As founder of the Mormon religion, Smith took it upon himself to correct what he said were errors in the Christian churches of his day. He felt that he needed to "restore temples," as he referred to as other leaders of the church. Smith's teachings and beliefs put him at odds with many in other Christian churches and with non-Mormon residents of the area where he lived. These groups actually engaged in real battles and skirmishes; more than a few casualties were reported. The founder of the Mormon religion was ready to defend his new church, not only from the pulpit but on the battlefield as well! There are many things that are not absolutely established as fact when it pertains to the founder of the Mormon religion, including accusations of polygamy, shady business practices, theft from other members, and things such as these. Whether or not these things are true, it can be said that at the very least, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion was very sincere in his religious beliefs. About the Author To learn more about the Mormons visit: http://mormons.GeorgeKissi.com

1 Peter 4:1,2 ' Think of what Christ suffered in this life, and then arm yourselves with the same resolution that He had: anyone who in this life has bodily suffering has broken with sin, because for the rest of his life on earth he is not ruled by human passions but only by the will of God.' 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 ' Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, a gentle Father and the God of all consolation, who comforts us in all our sorrows, so that we can offer others, in their sorrows, the consolation that we have received from God ourselves. Indeed, as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so, through Christ, does our consolation overflow. When we are made to suffer, it is for your consolation and salvation. When, instead, we are comforted, this should be a consolation to you, supporting you in patiently bearing the same sufferings as we bear. And our hope for you is confident, since we know that, sharing our sufferings, you will also share our consolations. ' There are three kinds of sufferings : Physical, Emotional and Spiritual. Physical sufferings can come to us in many different ways. There is just too many causes to write them all down. I'm sure that you could look at them all and see the different ways people suffer. Some are unfortunate instances which are beyond our control, some are caused by our own foolishness, like not using common sense. We cause alot of our own suffering because of our sins, mostly from our bodily passions. People don't like to look at things that we do for fun as sin. They'll come up with all kinds of excuses to justify pleasing themselves. The last two words says it all. Pleasing oneself - isn't this a form of pride? It's about you and no one else. You can go and do everything you want to do to make yourself happy using the things that the world has to offer, but look at the grief and suffering it has caused you along the way. What about the value of these pleasures, do they have any? No, they only become memories, which in time you will waste more time reminiscing. You see, it's still about you. I don't think anyone really wants to go through life suffering, so we are always trying to find ways to make ourselves happy and to please our flesh through our bodily senses and our minds. Look around and see all the different things man has created to please the flesh. It's our sinful nature to become self-absorbed and care about our welfare and being first. Emotional suffering causes a great of pain to the mind as well as the body. It can cause us to be ill or even worse, nervous breakdown, self-pity, depression, anger, stress and so on. Emotional sufferings main cause is pride. Most of the time when something doesn't go our way, we will react to it in a negative way. We don't like things going wrong for us, we lose our happiness. And until we gain control again, we will not be happy or at peace. And so, man always has to suffer to find happiness. The sad thing is, is that most people would rather suffer for temporary happiness then for happiness, peace and joy that will last forever. Suffering can ruin a person or it can make one strong, it all depends on what one is suffering for. You can look at suffering in a positive way or a negative way. One produces hope, compassion, kindness and love, and the other just flat out produces darkness and that darkness can go deep. Fear, worries and lack of faith will cause a great deal of emotional suffering. The whole thing behind suffering is how you see it and what you do with it. Jesus suffered here on earth so that He could experience the suffering mankind goes through. The reason Jesus experienced suffering is so that with the tremendous amount of love He has for us, He could have compassion for us and so that He could teach us true love and compassion that we need to have for Him as much as we also need to have for all our brothers and sisters. When we have love and compassion for others, we leave behind the pride of ourselves. When we suffer and we try to give ourselves compassion, we fall into self-pity which is one of the lowest forms of darkness there is. It doesn't matter how much you think you are suffering or how bad it may seem to you, there are millions of other people suffering also, and I'll guarantee you that there is at least one person suffering more than you or you could say, "worse off then you." Be grateful to God for your suffering, it could always be worse. You also need to look at your suffering in such a way as to how it might be giving someone else a blessing, like a person that might be taking care of you. Thank the Lord for it, appreciate it, and you will turn a negative into a positive. We are not talking about suffering by punishment that one deserves for doing something wrong. There's no merit in that kind of suffering, but make sure you correct yourself and turn a negative into a positive. I know it's hard to appreciate any kind of suffering but it's how we grow spiritually strong in love, gratitude and faith. I would really like to try to explain spiritual suffering, but there is no way that I know how to put it in words. It's something that one needs to experience, as it is with all spiritual things. Some things just can't be put into words. 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 ' Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In ALL THINGS give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you all. God Bless You Suffering Home About the Author I am a glazier by trade. I've also been learning about marketing. I enjoy writing articles like these hoping that they will help someone. My web site is http://www.itrustgodonly.com